Preservice Teacher Education Benchmarking a Standalone Ed Tech Course in Preparation for Change

In an effort to reform a teacher education program by strengthening content-area preparation and adding opportunities to practice by extending the time for student teaching, Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College eliminated a group of teacher education courses, including the standalone educational technology course. Educational technology faculty members were charged with developing an alternative approach of infusing technology into methods courses. Our first step was to conduct this benchmarking study of the standalone course to determine the successful lessons and practices that should be incorporated into the new program design. Results from analysis of pre- and post-course survey results and focus-group data indicated that candidates' confidence and TPACK scores increased in the standalone course. We will share benchmarks that arose from the study with program developers for adoption or adaptation to the new technology-infused courses where appropriate. Findings may also be useful to other teacher credentialing institutions that are changing to a technology-infused instructional approach.