Over the past two decades, both in the UK and in many other education systems, it has been seen as increasingly important that teachers coming into the profession are able to use new technology to improve teaching and learning in their subject teaching. In spite of substantial investment in both equipment and training, it has proved more difficult than envisaged to train teachers so that they are all adept and accomplished users of ICT. The most recent reports by the Office for Standards in Education in the UK note that there are still substantial variations in the extent to which new teachers are able to use new technology effectively in their teaching (Ofsted, 2010).

The paper reports on the UK strand of an OECD comparative study, ICT in Initial Teacher Training, which aimed to develop insights into how courses of initial teacher training prepare student teachers to use ICT effectively in their teaching. The UK strand of the research was funded by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA).

The aim of the project was to focus on the practice of initial teacher education providers who were found to be particularly effective in getting their student teachers to make good use of ICT.  The study also aimed to provide insight into the views of teacher educators who were thought to be exceptionally accomplished in getting their students to use ICT well, in terms of what strategies and interventions were helpful to students’ progress in this field, and what approaches and experiences had been unhelpful.

The research approach took the form of three case studies. In line with the suggestions made at OECD preparation seminars in October 2008 and February 2009, an attempt was made to involve at least one institution which could be considered to be particularly effective or successful in the area of preparing student teachers to use ICT effectively in their subject teaching, and one institution which had the credentials of being a high quality provider, without necessarily being outstanding in the field of ICT. In terms of theoretical perspectives and frameworks, the approach falls within the paradigm of ‘professional voice’, where there is an attempt to gain greater insight into educational situations, issues and problems by eliciting the views of experienced professionals.

Given the various assessment and auditing tools which are used in the English education system, it was comparatively easy to identify institutions which fall into these categories, through a combination of ‘league tables’, publicly available reports on the quality of initial teacher training providers, and an annual audit of newly qualified teachers’ views on various facets of their teacher education/training (TDA, 2009).

In addition to these three case studies, some reference is also made to a UK evaluation study in the area of ICT in pre-service training, commissioned by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (Hadfield et al., 2009). This evaluation focused on assessing the impact of a five year programme which provided funding for ITT providers to explore ways of improving the preparation of student teachers to use new technology in their subject teaching. 

Gibson, W. (1984) Quoted in Media Guardian, 21 September: 3. Hadfield, M., Jopling, M., Royle, K. and Southern, L. (2009) Evaluation of the Training and Development Agency for Schools for Schools’ funding for ICT in ITT projects, London, TDA. Haydn, T. (2009) Case studies of the ways in which initial teacher training providers in England prepare student teachers to use ICT effectively in their subject teaching, online at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/39/45046837.pdf. Last accessed 14 January 2012. Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) (2010) The Annual report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector for Schools, London, Ofsted. OECD (2009) ICT in initial teacher training, Paris, OECD. Training and Development Agency for Schools (2009) NQT survey. Online at http://dataprovision.tda.gov.uk/public/page.htm?to-page=providersNqtSurvey. Last accessed 9 January 2012.