ICT in ITE: Undergraduate perceptions of emerging confidence and competence

Abstract

There has been relentless growth in the use of ICT within schools, universities and the workplace in recent years. This presents a challenge to users' confidence and competence. Primary schools are typical of this trend; as the curriculum has expanded in range, greater computer literacy is expected of student teachers from the outset of their courses. As an initial step, this study investigates the skills, experiences, attitudes, confidence and competence of a cohort of first year students. They were embarking on a four-year Bachelor of Education Honours degree course at university in order to qualify as primary and nursery school teachers. The survey suggested that the majority of students are suitably experienced, confident and highly motivated within a fairly narrow range of ICT skills but limited beyond those. Furthermore, most student teachers tend to underestimate the ICT abilities already displayed by many primary school children.