Embedding Digital Pedagogy in Pre-Service Higher Education To Better Prepare Teachers for the Digital Generation

Abstract

In preparing pre-service teachers for their professional practice in the information age, we need to impress upon them that the children in their classrooms will be Digital Natives, with skills for digital fluency rather than skills in the orthodoxy 3Rs developed with talk, chalk and board; paper, pencil and pen. Since most of our pre-service teachers belong to the pre-digital generation without the skills for 21st century digital fluency, there is a great need for us as higher education practitioners, to prepare them well for the new classrooms they will work in so as to prevent a mismatch between them and their students where they could be seen as illiterate teachers trying to teach literate children. Embedding digital pedagogy in the skilling of these teachers is urgently needed to help them appreciate the role of technology in the teaching of pedagogy and content knowledge (TPACK). Fortunately enough, a wide range of apps are available for use on iPads, Androids, eTablets, Smart Phones and other platforms, which our pre-service teachers could apply in their teaching. One example of how this was achieved in higher education with two cohorts of 2nd year B.Ed pre-service teachers is discussed in this paper. The paper demonstrates that social media digital tools can be embedded in pre-service higher education to help train pre-service teachers so they appreciate the TPACK model. The paper concludes that it is incumbent upon higher education providers, to ensure that graduates are well prepared to be effective teachers for the digital generation.