Student teacher learning with Ozobots and Makey Makeys during a workshop and field experience
Cristyne Hébert, Trudy Keil · Technology Pedagogy and Education · 2024
This pilot project examines the experiences of a small sample (n = 4) of elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) as they designed and attempted to implement a series of short lessons, or mini-units, using Ozobots or Makey Makeys during their field experience. Results indicated that, despite the fact that none of the PSTs were able to deliver their mini-units as originally planned, all were able to gain comfort with the tools, recognise their adaptability and articulate how they might be used in future practice. An unanticipated finding, PSTs also reported on cooperating teachers’ (CTs) technological learning, with CTs relying heavily on PSTs for general technological training during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results have important implications regarding PST training and field experiences, namely, providing PSTs with the opportunity to see technology use enacted during their field experiences and matching PSTs with CTs interested in and trained on technological integration.