Thirty-First International Conference on Learning

Abstract

The Teacher Education program at Brock University offers stand-alone courses on digital technologies. Given the rapid technological advancements and the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to reflect on teacher candidates’ (TCs’) preparedness in using educational technologies and to implement best practices in these courses to ensure that TCs strive in a digital world upon program completion. Accordingly, a team of teacher educators engaged in a rigorous process to review and redevelop the offered digital technology courses in the program. As part of the participatory curriculum review process, the team explored the needs of TCs and their feedback on previous iterations of the courses. The team also consulted with other faculty members to ensure curriculum alignment and examined relevant literature on course design in relation to TCs’ TPACK (technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge) development. This paper documents the curriculum revision process with a focus on how students were engaged in curriculum development. It presents the findings of surveys administered to Year 1 and Year 2 TCs and focus groups aimed at discussing their feedback and suggestions. It will also present the educational technology program that resulted from the curriculum review process. This research is timely and will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of teacher preparation in educational technology, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).