AN INITIAL COMPARISON OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY COURSES FOR TRAINING TEACHERS AT MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
ABSTRACT
Introducing a course in educational technology is vital especially to pre-service teachers in establishing early interest and long term habits. The initial disclosure and guidance in educational technology will determine the technique of beginning teachers at integrating ICT into their teaching-learning activities. Educators should feel comfortable in the utilization and deployment of proper instructional techniques. This is to ascertain the continuity of knowledge and skills obtained during the training program and consequently transfer in the real teaching situation. Institutions of higher learning that offers an undergraduate degree in education will include at least a course in the foundation of educational technology. However, the contents and emphasis of the curriculum differs from one institution to the next. Thus, there should be a standard or an indicator that essential areas of educational technology be met by pre-service teachers. This paper reports a small part of a larger ongoing research on the standards of ICT training curriculum and strategies for pre-service teachers throughout Malaysia. Specifically the curriculum and strategies at four local universities will be compared to the revised International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE’s) 2008 National Educational Technology Standards for teachers (NETS?T). An analysis of the extent of training curriculum in which the program adhere to the standards and the development of the field will be discussed.