Journal of Computing in Teacher Education (JCTE)

Editor's Remarks
Second Life: A Tool for Teacher Educators
Ann D. Thompson and Cynthia Garetty

Using Second Life as an educational tool is an idea that is rapidly gaining attention and activity in our community. The high visibility of Second Life projects and activities at NECC 2008 was one indication of the growing number of people interested in exploring the potential of Second Life as a tool to expand and enhance student learning experiences. Read More

Anecdotal accounts from teachers have long suggested the possibility that virtual teaching experiences have a positive impact on face-to-face teaching practices, a so-called “reverse impact” phenomenon. Survey and focus group data collected as part of a statewide evaluation of a virtual school offered an opportunity to explore this impact. Findings from a study of teacher perceptions indicate that three quarters of teachers who teach in both virtual and traditional environments felt that virtual experiences improved their practice in face-to-face classrooms. The authors discuss three types of impact reflected in teacher comments and discuss tentative implications for teacher preparation programs and for bolstering the rationale for using technology in education. Read More

 
Distributed Collaborative Research Model: Meaningful and Responsive Inquiry in Technology and Teacher Education
Melissa Pierson, MaryFriend Shepard, and Robert Leneway

Researchers in technology and teacher education have been charged with designing inquiry methods that speak broadly about the impact of technology in the preparation of teachers, beyond what is possible through the use of localized case studies and small-scale investigations alone. The Distributed Collaborative Research Model (DCRM) is proposed as a way to develop a collaborative inquiry process for conducting research across multiple teacher education institutions, allowing researchers to access larger populations by capitalizing on known contacts in our professional technology in teacher education community. This paper explores lessons learned from past distant collaborations, details the present development of DCRM, and invites colleagues in technology and teacher education to collaborate to demonstrate sound educational research in our field. Read More

This study aims to develop a scale, the Educational Technology Standards Scale (ETSS), to determine how effectively and appropriately preservice teachers use educational technologies. For the development of the scale, the internationally approved NETS•T standards from 2000 were used. These NETS•T standards were used for determining what proficiencies teachers should have for the use of education technologies. A total of 460 seniorclass preservice teachers (189 male and 271 female) from six departments in the Education Faculty of Selçuk University in Turkey participated in this scale-development study in the academic year of 2005–2006. As a result of the analyses, six factors took place in the 41-item scale. In general, the ETSS (at the international level) reveals the general situation of the education given about educational technologies in the education faculties of universities in Turkey. In particular, the scale (at the national level) helps universities in Turkey evaluate themselves for their education about educational technologies. Therefore, the results of the study are expected to contribute to the field of teacher training. Read More

Positive teacher attitudes toward computers are widely recognized as a necessary condition for effective use of information technology in the classroom (Woodrow, 1992). To measure attitudes toward technology, it is important to have valid and reliable instruments. In this study, the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to verify construct validity for the Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Computers (TAC) Questionnaire, an instrument created from 32 well-validated scales, as a more parsimonious questionnaire covering areas assessed by previously existing instruments in the field. Since its creation as 284 items in 1997, this Likert- and Semantic Differential–based instrument has undergone two major refinements, each of which was designed to reduce the number of items while retaining subscale internal conshhhncy reliabilities in the range of .8–.9. The 51-item version of the TAC (v. 6.1) produced acceptable goodnessof-fit indices for its nine subscale constructs, based on analysis of 1,179 teacher responses from 2003. High internal consistency reliabilities were also verified for additional sets of 2006 teacher data and 2008 preservice teacher preparation data. This led the authors to conclude that the TAC is a well-validated, reliable instrument for teachers’ self-appraisal of their attitudes toward computers, worthy of continued use in multiple language and cultural environments.   Read More