Integration of Digital Technology into an Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Program in China

The rapid development of technologies has complicated its adoption and integration into early childhood teacher professional development in China. The government of China has developed policies and provided financial support to improve preschools’ ICT infrastructure. Whereas various studies have exa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEarly childhood education journal Vol. 49; no. 6; pp. 1165 - 1175
Main Authors Luo, Wenwei, Berson, Ilene R., Berson, Michael J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.11.2021
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Digital technology
Early Childhood Education
Early Childhood Teachers
Education
Educational technology
Field Experience Programs
Foreign Countries
Learning and Instruction
Positive Attitudes
Preservice Teachers
Self Efficacy
Sociology
Sociology of Education
Student Teaching
Teacher education
Teachers
Technology Integration
Young Children
China
Early childhood
Preservice teachers
Technology
China
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Summary:The rapid development of technologies has complicated its adoption and integration into early childhood teacher professional development in China. The government of China has developed policies and provided financial support to improve preschools’ ICT infrastructure. Whereas various studies have examined the digital technology development provided to preservice educators around the world, relatively little is known about technology professional supports for early childhood (EC) preservice teachers in China’s universities. In this research, we focus on a university in the central part of China as a case study to explore preservice teachers’ technology use and self-efficacy while engaged in their field-based student teaching experiences. We collected data through an online questionnaire from 55 participants. Despite preservice educators’ positive attitudes toward digital technologies, the results identified several issues that undermined EC preservice teachers’ self efficacy for technology use and limited their instructional practices integrating technology in the field. Nonetheless, with adequate supports, preservice teachers were more likely to develop high confidence in their practice, suggesting the importance of improving and upgrading the current teacher preparation program and opportunities for field-based implementation.
ISSN:1082-3301
1573-1707
DOI:10.1007/s10643-020-01115-8