Pre-service teachers’ ICT adoption in preschool settings in Hong
Kong
Hu XinYun, Annie
The Hong Kong Institution of Education
Hong Kong
xinyunhu@ied.edu.hk
Abstract: This paper reports on the investigation of 15 pre-service teachers’
information and communication technology (ICT) adoption during teaching
practicums at seven preschool settings. Surveys, classroom observations, interviews,
and teaching resources were analyzed to examine the extent to which technologies
were applied. In addition to defining eight specific categories of ICT-related
pedagogical strategies, this study provides evidence that pre-service teachers
generally use ICT more for teacher-directed activity than for teacher-guided or
children-initiated activities. Pre-service teachers working within preschools that
allocated higher levels of teacher authority in the curriculum decision-making
process and provided a rich ICT environment reported using ICT more often in
classroom learning activities.
Abstract
This paper reports on the investigation of 15 pre-service teachers’ information and
communication technology (ICT) adoption during teaching practicums at seven
preschool settings. Surveys, classroom observations, interviews, and teaching resources
were analyzed to examine the extent to which technologies were applied. In addition to
defining eight specific categories of ICT-related pedagogical strategies, this study
provides evidence that pre-service teachers generally use ICT more for teacher-directed
activity than for teacher-guided or children-initiated activities. Pre-service teachers
working within preschools that allocated higher levels of teacher authority in the
curriculum decision-making process and provided a rich ICT environment reported
using ICT more often in classroom learning activities.
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1. The context and the purpose of this study
1.1 The context of this study
A comprehensive review of the literature showed a gap in understanding about
pre-service teachers’ information communication technology (ICT) adoption in
instructional practice specific to the early childhood education area. Presently in Hong
Kong, there are no formal guidelines for the pedagogical role of ICT in the early
childhood curriculum. Moreover, information is lacking on the preferred ICT
pedagogical activities being adopted by early childhood teachers. Without such
guidance, individual preschool teachers are left to decide for themselves whether to
integrate ICT into their pedagogical practices as well as when and how to use
technologies. At this stage, the official policy in Hong Kong seems to categorize
technology as merely a teaching aid or general tool rather than an integral part of an
innovative pedagogical approach to curriculum development and instructional
practice in the early childhood education environment. It is this gap in the literature
that this study addresses.
1.2 The purpose of this study
The study explored pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) ICT adoption in their teaching
practicums in different preschool contexts. The aim was to understand what types of
ICT was adopted and explore the school-level conditions influencing the PSTs’
ICT-related pedagogical strategies.
2. The conceptual framework
Wang, Berson, Jaruszewicz, Hartle, and Rosen (2010) argued that understanding ICT
as a means of supporting learning requires more than merely inquiring about what
technologies have been used. Educators must seek to understand a number of
contextual factors at varying levels. From the literature, numerous school-level factors
were identified as having an impact on ICT use in teacher practice (see Figure 1). Five
school-level factors guided the design of this study:





ICT infrastructure (OECD, 2006; Plowman & Stephen, 2005; Price, 2009 )
School vision for ICT use (Pelgrum, 2008)
Decision making in pedagogy and curriculum (Ho, 2010; Li, 2006)
School-based curriculum (Hu, 2008; Plowman, Stephen, and McPack,
2010)
Professional support system (Niess, 2008)
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Figure 1. The conceptual framework of this study.
Moreover, three research questions further focused the study:
1. To what extent and in what ways is technology used in pre-service teachers’
teaching practicum?
2. What ICT-related pedagogical strategies are applied by pre-service
teachers?
3. What school-level conditions influence pre-service teachers’ ICT use?
3. Research methods
This study adopted an interpretive paradigm, using multiple case studies to collect
both quantitative and qualitative data. The participants were 15 female pre-service
teachers (PSTs) who were majoring in early childhood education (ECE) at a teacher
training institution in Hong Kong. Each participant was assigned to a teaching
practicum group at one of seven preschool sites and was supervised by this study’s
researcher.
To answer the three guiding research questions, quantitative and qualitative data were
collected from surveys, one-on-one interviews, and the PSTs’ teaching practicum
portfolios. The quantitative data represented each PST’s ICT adoption, and the
qualitative data provided additional narrative that contributed to an understanding of
why different ICT adoption strategies were used as well as the school-level conditions
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and PSTs’ perceptions that may have impacted decisions to utilize ICT in the teaching
practicum.
4. Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials
4.1 ICT Equipment Adopted in the Teaching Practicum
The PSTs submitted teaching practicum portfolios, which included their teaching
plans and learning activities. According to the collected portfolios, the PSTs used five
types of ICT-related equipment. Of the 15 pre-service teachers’ ICT usage, 73.56 %
involved desktop computers, 16.52% entailed use of a CD player, 4.19% of usage was
digital camera, 3.08% was laptop computers (notebooks) usage, 1.10% involved the
use of voice recorders, and 1.10% of ICT use was facilitated with digital toys (see
Table 1).
Table 1
ICT Equipment Adopted in the Teaching Practicum
ICT Equipment
Number and Percentage of Use
1. Desktop computer
334
73.56%
2. CD player
75
16.52%
3. Digital camera
19
4.19%
4. Laptop computer
14
3.08%
5. Voice recorder
7
1.54%
6. Digital toys
5
1.10%
4.2 ICT-Related Pedagogical Categories and Related Learning Activities
The PSTs’ teaching portfolios were collected as research data. Each PST submitted 30
days of teaching plans, which included different types of learning activities. Analysis
revealed three categories of ICT-related learning activities: (a) teacher-directed
activity, (b) teacher-guided/teacher-initiated activity, and (c) teacher-guided/
children-initiated activity. Also identified were eight types of ICT-related learning
activities associated with the three pedagogical categories. Lastly, the total number of
learning activities used by the 15 pre-service teachers was compared with the number
of ICT-related learning activities.
Study findings indicated that the teacher-directed pedagogical category comprised
82% of all learning that took place at the seven preschool sites. Furthermore, 83% of
the teacher-directed learning activity involved the use of ICT. The teacher-guided/
teacher-initiated category of pedagogy comprised 16% of all learning that took place
at the seven preschool sites, and 17% of the learning activity involved the use of ICT.
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Lastly, the teacher-guided/children-initiated category of pedagogy comprised a mere
1% of all learning that took place at the seven preschool sites, and none of the
learning activity involved the use of ICT (see Figure 2). Moreover, study findings
revealed that another approach—children-initiated pedagogy—was minimally
adopted by the PSTs at the seven preschools.
Figure 2. Percentage of learning activity by pedagogical category and percentage of
ICT-using learning activities across seven preschools.
4.2.1 Eight Types of ICT-Related Learning Activities
Only 1% of the 15 PSTs used teacher guided/children-initiated learning activities
during their teaching practicums, and none of these activities involved the use of ICT.
A mere 1.4% of the learning activities involved teachers providing guidance and
support for children-initiated activities, and no ICT was used for this activity. As for
children’s free play activities, none of the 15 PSTs reported any incidence of this
children-initiated activity (see Table 2).
Table 2
Learning Activities by Pedagogical Category and ICT-Using Learning Activities
Pedagogical
Category
Types of Learning Activity
No. of
Learning
Activities (%)
A.
A1 present information
214 (16.40)
No. of
ICT-Using
Activity (%)
123 (27.09)
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Teacher-directed
B.
Teacher-guided/
teacher-initiated
C.
Children-initiated
A2 give instruction
423 (32.41)
172 (37.89)
A3 lead and participate in
structured activities/games
439 (33.64)
81 (17.84)
B4 focus and stimulate
children’s learning interest
77 (5.90)
51 (11.23)
B5 provide guidance and
support for
teacher-initiated activity
91 (6.97)
17 (3.74)
B6 suggest and make
arrangements for necessary
resources
42 (3.22)
17 (2.20)
C7 provide guidance and
support to
children-initiated activity
19 (1.46)
0 (0)
C8 children’s free play
0 (0)
0 (0)
4.3 Comparison of Total Number of Learning Activities and Number of
ICT-Using Learning Activities
To further analyze the types of learning activities adopted by the 15 PSTs across all
seven preschools, a radar diagram was generated (see Figure 3). The blue line on the
radar diagram reflects the total number of learning activities used by the 15 PSTs. The
red line shows the number of those learning activities that involved the use of ICT. As
Figure 3 graphically shows, of the total number of learning activities across all seven
preschool sites, a small number involved the use of ICT.
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Figure 3. Radar diagram showing the total number of learning activities and the
number of ICT-using learning activity.
5. The school-level conditions on using ICT
Based on the report from pre-service teachers (PST) through survey, teaching
portfolios and interviews, two types of preschool models were categorized in using
ICT in the school level. School 4, 5 and 6 belong to the school level ICT decision
making model. School 1, 2, 3 and 7 are in teacher level ICT decision making model. It
is clearly seen from the figure 4 that the ICT use frequency in school level ICT
decision making model are higher than the teacher level ICT decision making model.
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The mean of ICT use frequency in seven preschools
50
40
30
20
10
0
School 1 School 2 School 3 School 4 School 5 School 6 School 7
Figure 4.The mean of ICT use frequency in seven preschools
5.1 School-level ICT decision making model: school 4, 5 and 6
In schools 4, 5 and 6, the school-level of decision making model for using ICT was
clear. School 5 had a written ICT-related school vision: “support using information
communication technology.” Therefore, school 5 was equipped with a sufficient ICT
infrastructure, including abundant equipment and an educational technology software
program for delivering the school-based curriculum.
School 4 and school 6 lacked a written school vision for ICT usage. However, the
schools’ mentoring teachers modelled ICT usage, which contributed to the PSTs’
understanding of the application of ICT to classroom practice. Particularly, mentors
demonstrated routines for using ICT in whole group activities, influencing the PSTs’
adoption of pedagogical strategies. The data showed that ICT was most frequently
used during whole group theme-based activities.
In schools 4, 5, and 6, the common ICT learning scenario involved a large group of
children in a whole group activity. Classrooms were equipped with projectors and
pull-down screens, and the PSTs co-taught with their mentors. Normally, the mentor
teacher controlled the computer, and the children were seated in rows while watching
the learning content projected on the screen. The PSTs’ role entailed managing the
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computer and computer accessories. This whole-group approach was commonly used
as a means of accommodating the schools’ structured curriculum that was based on
textbook usage. In this scenario, ICT was used to transmit knowledge through
PowerPoint presentations, video clips, pictures, and Internet resources helpful for
displaying learning resources.
5.2 Teacher level ICT decision making model: school 1, 2, 3 and 7
Schools 1, 2, 3 and 7 lacked a clear school vision for guiding teachers’
decision-making about adopting ICT in classroom practice. The PSTs, however, were
authorized to utilize appropriate ICT during their teaching practicums. In these four
preschools, the ICT infrastructure and mentors’ demonstrations were important factors
that influenced the PSTs’ ICT adoption. School 1 had little ICT equipment and with
there were limited mentor demonstrations, thus, the PCTs assigned to this preschool
seldom used ICT. School 1’s PSTs limited their ICT adoption to the use of laptop
computers to display Internet-based audio-visual resources.
School 2 had an abundance of ICT equipment, and the teacher mentors utilized
different pedagogical strategies when utilizing the ICT. Similar to school 1, the two
PSTs at school 2 followed their mentors’ ICT-related strategies. One of the PSTs
displayed innovative application of ICT in the classroom while extending her
mentor’s practice by providing children additional opportunities to engage the
available ICT. For example, children were involved in operating the digital camera
and voice recorder and applying these experiences to multifunctional uses of
computers in project-based activities. Contrarily, another PST at school 2 followed her
mentor’s example and did not use the computer for learning activities.
School 3 had basic ICT equipment available. The teacher-directed approach to ICT
usage was modelled by the teacher mentors. The PST followed the mentor’s
ICT-related pedagogical strategy of displaying video for children to observe in the
teacher-directed activity.
In school 7, the PSTs had authority to utilize ICT during their teaching practicum. The
school provided basic ICT equipment, and mentor demonstrations of ICT-related
classroom activities were limited. The PSTs followed their mentors’ strategies for
applying ICT in music activities rather than classroom-based learning activities.
6. Conclusion
The results of this study indicated that ICT was prominently applied to the
teacher-directed pedagogical approach of giving instruction (A2), and leading and
participating in structured activities/games (A3). The children-initiated pedagogical
approach was minimally adopted by the PSTs at the seven preschools. Two
school-level conditions significantly influenced PSTs’ ICT adoption during their
teaching practicum: (a) the authority level for ICT decision making and (b) mentors’
modeling of the use of ICT in classroom practice. The most innovative use of ICT was
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demonstrated wherein decision-making rested at the teacher level and mentors
modeled positive use of ICT.
Moreover, findings from this study showed that ICT is used differently in westernand eastern-based preschool contexts. For example, Plowman and Stephen (2005)
reported that the majority of children in their study of western-based preschools were
offered daily opportunities to use a computer during free-play periods. Conversely, in
eastern countries, based on a belief that knowledge transference and learning about
different areas is important (Ho, 2008), some preschools apply a tightly structured
curriculum. Thus, the school-level conditions should be considered as important
factors for pre-service teachers’ adoption of ICT in classroom practice.
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