Abstract

This study investigated how information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being applied in teacher education programs in Rivers State, Nigeria, in terms of inclusion and usage. Five research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. A questionnaire titled ‘Application of ICT in Teacher Education’ (AICTTE) and faculty brochures were used to collect data from final year pre-service teachers and educational technology teacher-educators in three of five higher education institutions, which were randomly selected. Frequencies, percentages, mean scores, and z-tests were used for data analysis. The findings revealed that the three higher education institutions are not exposing pre-service teachers to the culture of e-learning; pre-service teachers and educational technology teacher-educators do not engage in reciprocal intergenerational mentoring; document analysis revealed that educational technology courses does not contain adequate ICT-based contents and activities; and that education method courses do not involve the use of ICT-based tools for designing and creating ICT-based activities. Based on these findings, the following recommendations were made: higher education institutions should adopt UNESCO recommendations on how to integrate ICT into teacher education programmes by infusing ICT into all courses; situating ICT facilities and resources in all faculties of education; using ICT tools/activities for teaching/learning and assignments/examinations; and using social network technology platforms for dialogue and collaboration to build communities of practice.