Teacher Learning and Technology-Enhanced Teacher Education

Abstract

Technology and the advancement of digital media not only have the potential to change the way we learn languages, but also the way foreign language teachers learn to teach. Setting up and managing learning platforms, using learning software and educational apps effectively, designing complex web-based tasks, and using videoconferencing in the scope of cooperation projects are just a few examples of digital media use in the foreign language instruction of today’s technology-rich schools. However, in order for teachers to become competent, critical, and reflective users of information and communication technology (ICT) in and beyond the foreign language classroom, they need to develop knowledge, a certain set of skills, and a positive attitude toward digital media use – a learning process that ideally should start early in pre-service teacher education. Moreover, teachers need to continuously challenge and rethink traditional teacher and learner roles in technology-supported teaching and learning settings. The chapter aims at answering the question of what types of knowledge and skills pre-service language teachers need to acquire in order to become digitally literate. Following an overview of current approaches in technology education, course formats and pedagogical models conducive to a meaningful integration of theory and practice in teacher education that adequately prepare pre-service teachers for competent technology use in the foreign language classroom will be discussed. After a review of current research on key concepts and approaches to the development of pre-service teachers’ digital literacies, the chapter concludes with a framework for successful technology education of language teachers comprising aspects from the models and key concepts considered here.