Pre-service teachers' perspectives of the diffusion of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the effect of case-based discussions (CBDs)

This study investigates pre-service teachers' perspectives of the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in elementary education and the effect of case-based discussions (CBDs). The sample consisted of 170 first-year pre-service teachers from elementary teacher education programs of the largest teacher education college in Turkey. The cases used in the study were obtained from a case repository at http://ornekolay.org, indexing teaching cases from elementary classrooms of the capital city of Turkey. The cases were mainly text-based and presented stories of elementary teachers' in-class usage of ICTs. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was executed to test the effect of pre-service teachers' perspectives on ICTs diffusion in elementary teaching. Three scales were developed based on Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory (2003) to measure pre-service teachers' preferred innovativeness, innovation perceptions, and innovation decisions in the use of ICTs. The results showed that pre-service teachers had pre-established perspectives, mainly positive, about the diffusion of ICTs in elementary teaching; their perceptions about innovativeness and relative advantage were the main indicators of persuasion and decision; and CBDs positively affected their perceptions such that their computer-related persuasion and decisions positively increased.

► Introduces a case repository and use of CBDs in teacher education.
► Pre-service teachers' perspectives on ICT use in teaching are generally positive.
► CBDs improve pre-service teachers' perspectives on ICT use in teaching.
► Explores indicators of persuasion and decision to use ICT in teaching.