The educational and technical courses in the elt program in Turkey: Do they contribute to ict skills?

Abstract

The present study investigated the contribution of the educational and technical courses in the English Language Teacher Training Program (ELTTP) at universities in Turkey to the information and communication technologies (ICT) knowledge and skills of the students. The participants were 74 teachers/trainees who were attending their last year in the Faculty of Education at Uludag University or graduates of the ELTTP from nine different universities in Turkey. The data were collected by a Likert scale questionnaire by which teacher trainees were asked to rate each course that fell under the specific group of educational or technical courses that they attended during their education; and by interviews through which participants were asked to evaluate to what degree the technical courses contributed to their ICT-informed personal and professional development, and whether they felt ready to employ ICT in their classes as teachers. Results revealed that neither the educational nor the technical courses supported the ICT knowledge and skills of the participants at a satisfactory level, suggesting that the pedagogical knowledge that teacher trainees receive during their education is not in parallel with the technical knowledge that in fact should facilitate the implementation of pedagogical skills in the current age of technology. The present study speculated that the insufficient technical knowledge of the field and underdeveloped technical skills result in evasion of technology use and innovation in education. The study ended with suggestions related to teacher training programs and to the philosophies and approaches to English Language Teaching education.Subjects: Assessment; Curriculum; Education Policy; Higher Education; Higher Education Management; Information & Communication Technology (ICT); Pedagogy; Teaching & Learning