Today’s knowledge society calls for so-called 21st century skills, i.e. skills for learning, creative and critical thinking, collaboration, and the ability to take advantage of ICT for these areas (Binkley et al., 2012). These skills are also vital for today’s teachers in terms of developing new teaching methods and assessment tools, in order to better equip citizens to be able to function in this knowledge society (see Krokfors et al., 2010; Välijärvi, 2011). One of the major questions is how technology-supported inquiry-based learning environments can facilitate the acquisition of strategic learning, collaborative problem-solving and ICT competencies by pre-service teachers. In particular, the use of ICT in teaching and learning has not progressed consistently, and the European Commission’s (2013) report shows that a primary reason for using technology less in basic education is not about the lack of technology at schools, but rather the lack of knowledge on how ICT can be integrated in a meaningful way into teaching and learning, and that there is a negative attitude both towards new pedagogical approaches and ICT. Moreover, inquiry-based collaborative learning approaches are in a variety of use in schools, which depends rather on the individual teacher and his or her preference. Inquiry- and collaborative-based instructional approaches are often referred to as learner-centered, which requires the learner to observe, generate questions, discover gaps in one’s knowledge base and study resources to try to overcome these gaps (Hmelo-Silver et al., 2013). In order to change the student’s passive role as a receiver, inquiry-based teaching is comprised of a whole spectrum of instructional techniques which offers a variety of degree of use of inquiry practices such as generating questions, and giving and evaluating explanations (Chi et al, 1989). This project will focus on the process of inquiry from a pedagogical perspective, and we treat inquiry as a method for structuring activities in the classroom, especially focusing on inquiry-based instructional formats such as problem-, project- and case-based learning approaches. Earlier studies have shown positive, but also some mixed, results when studying the effects of inquiry-based learning approaches (De Simone, 2009; Derry et al., 2006; Gijbels et al., 2005; Hmelo, 1998; Kirschner et al. 2006). This research is based on the assumption that ICT-based inquiry learning methods can enhance students’ strategic learning skills, and collaborative problem-solving skills, as well as their skills and a positive attitude towards using ICT in teaching and learning. So far we do not have any systematic and long-term research on the impact of different pedagogical approaches towards the 21st century skills and attitudes, especially not in teacher education, both at national and international levels. According to previous work and our current understanding of the field of learning science, we have identified three main challenges in developing teacher education: a need for supporting and assessing students’ (1) strategic learning skills, (2) collaborative problem solving skills and (3) attitudes and skills towards integrating ICT into teaching and learning. The aim of the project is to study the development of teacher students’ 21st century skills and the influence of different pedagogical designs on these skills. The overall aim is to outline inquiry-based pedagogical designs where strategic skills, collaborative problem-solving skills, and a positive attitude and skills to use ICT are the central elements: what are students’ existing skills and attitudes towards the use of ICT in teaching and learning when they enter into teacher education studies? How do ICT-based inquiry learning approaches promote the particular skills and attitudes of the students? And how do the students develop these skills and attitudes during their teacher education studies?

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