Preparing Tomorrow's Science Teachers to UseTechnology: Guidelines for Science Educators

Proposed Guidelines for Using Technology in the Preparationof Science Teachers

1. Technology should be introduced in the context ofscience content.
2. Technology should address worthwhile science withappropriate pedagogy.
3. Technology instruction in science should takeadvantage of the unique features of technology.
4. Technology should make scientific views moreaccessible.
5. Technology instruction should develop students'understanding of the relationship between technology andscience.

1.Technology should be introduced in the context of sciencecontent.

The first principle is centered on the notion that technologyshould not be taught merely for its own sake in the preparation ofscience teachers. Features of technology should be introduced andillustrated in the context of meaningful science. In other words,technology should be presented as a means, not an end. Thisprinciple has implications for teaching science content, as well asfor science teacher preparation. For example, preservice teachersin science education programs are often required to take a genericeducational technology course taught by an instructional technologyexpert. In this class, the preservice teachers are supposed todevelop a variety of technology-related skills, including theability to use word processors, presentation software,spreadsheets, and the Internet. Preservice teachers typically arethen left to apply their newly developed technology skills toteaching content in their subject area.

This approach is backwards. Teaching a set of technology orsoftware-based skills and then trying to find scientific topics forwhich they might be useful obscures the purpose of learning andusing technology in the science classroom—to enhance thelearning of science. Furthermore, this approach can make scienceappear to be an afterthought. Preservice teachers are, in essence,left to develop contrived activities that integrate a set ofdecontextualized instructional technology skills into the contextof their classroom.

If the purpose of technology in science teaching is to enhancescience teaching and learning (rather than for the technology'ssake alone), a different approach is necessary. For example,teacher educators at Oregon State University and the University ofVirginia are collaborating on a project designed to teach Internetand spreadsheet skills to preservice science and mathematicsteachers in the context of an exploration of the El Niñoweather phenomenon. Considering its impact on local weather andclimate, El Niño holds both interest and relevance to theaverage student. Certainly, it has provided meteorologists andclimatologists with a powerful framework for interpreting andpredicting weather patterns.

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