Review Article
Ritesh Chugh, Darren Turnbull
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 15, Issue 2, Article No: ep405
ABSTRACT
Gaming is becoming a popular method of engaging students in learning processes across all levels of the educational community. The effective integration of gaming activities into course curricula has the potential to enhance student learning, motivation, and knowledge acquisition in a range of disciplines. However, gamification of education is not without its opponents, with many educators concerned about the negative impacts of game use on effective learning. This study enhances our understanding of contemporary practices related to the areas, usage and characteristics of gamification in education. It is of particular relevance to educational institutions with a focus on developing innovative teaching methods and curricula that utilize gamification techniques in a multi-disciplinary, cross-national context across all stages of formal learning. Through the use of bibliometric analysis techniques, our study of the citation relations of 3,617 publications identified ten prominent themes dominated by gamification: mobile gaming, physical education, health and medicine, business, learning performance, programming and computing, English language, teacher adoption, primary & secondary education, and mathematics. Clear evidence of increased student motivation to learn and improved course results were evident in the examined literature. This study will benefit serious game designers, educators, and educational institutions to develop more inclusive and engaging pedagogies that exploit the ubiquitous availability of gaming technologies for inclusion in more traditional course delivery methods.
Keywords: learning strategies, information and communication technology, teaching practices, knowledge creation, gamification, bibliometric analysis
Research Article
Irene García-Lázaro, Jesús Conde-Jiménez, María Pilar Colás-Bravo
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 2, Article No: ep352
ABSTRACT
The presence and use of technologies in educational settings is constantly increasing. Therefore, initial teacher education needs to prepare future teachers to deal with this technological implementation from both practical and pedagogical perspectives. This paper examines the treatment of technologies that initial teacher education offers to early childhood education and primary education preservice teachers facing their practicum experiences. A bibliometric and thematic review during the 2010-2020 period is conducted in WoS, Scopus, PsycInfo, and ERIC databases. An analysis of co-occurrence of terms and the creation of bibliometric maps are considered. The thematic analysis follows an inductive approach. Three big areas are addressed through this approximation: consideration of technologies before practicum, the use of technologies at the schools, and the study of preservice teacher’s personal variables. Findings show the importance of working with technological preparation of university supervisors and cooperating teachers when teacher candidates do their practicum. In this proposal, to consider the self-efficacy and technological, pedagogical and content knowledge model of preservice teachers is encouraged. Conclusions underline the importance of teaching and strengthening pedagogical and reflective experiences during the practicum. Limitations are considered.
Keywords: initial teacher education, bibliometric review, practicum, TPACK, educational technologies, teaching practices
Research Article
Hatice Sancar Tokmak, Turkan Karakus
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 2, Issue 4, pp. 319-332
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how well initial teacher training in ICT prepare pre-service teachers to teaching profession. Eight pre-service teachers attending to the “School Experience” course from the Computer Education and Instructional Technology Department at the Middle East Technical University took part in this case study. Observation and interview methods were employed to gather data. Moreover, pre-service teachers’ lesson plans prepared for teaching activity were analyzed. The results showed that initial teacher training courses provided several affective teaching skills such as developing awareness about the importance of being well-prepared for each class, being calm for unexpected situations, and understanding the reasons of students’ misbehaviors in the class. However, according to ICT pre-service teachers, practical aspect of these courses was not enough. Most of them stated that they could not apply different strategies in different contexts. In addition, due to the lack of experience on classroom management they had difficulty in completing subjects although they left extra time for each activity in their lesson plans.
Keywords: Teaching practice, Initial teacher training, Case study, ICT pre-service teachers.