October 2012 Volume 15 Number 4 - Educational Technology ...

However, Singer and Maher (2007) explored the interventions of two pairs of preservice teachers and their mentors
in a technology-rich curriculum and determined that the beliefs of preservice teachers about student learning with
technology were far from those of their mentors. That is, pedagogical beliefs of preservice teachers may be
influenced by other aspects, such as teacher education courses. Moreover, Sahin (2008) demonstrated that many
preservice teachers were not exposed to extensive use of technology during their internships because not all mentors
used technology while teaching; this may have affected preservice teacher beliefs about technology use. In contrast
to previous studies of effective mentoring, the study by Sahin indicated that mentors do not provide preservice
teachers with the skills needed for technology integration. Grove et al. (2004) argued that mentors must develop
knowledge about how to teach innovatively with technology, have access to technology to practice and develop
lessons, and learn how to mentor preservice teachers in teaching in ways that are consistent with existing standards.
Moreover, in terms of preservice teacher beliefs, beliefs of teacher educators at universities can affect preservice
teacher beliefs (Bai & Ertmer, 2008), and mentor beliefs influence the beliefs of preservice teachers. Freese (1999)
designed a framework that guides preservice teachers in systematically analyzing their lesson plans before, during,
and after teaching. Freese suggested that modeling, interaction, and lived experiences while co-constructing and coreflecting
on teaching with mentors was valuable and impacted the beliefs and practices of preservice teachers.
Kajder (2005) demonstrated that mentor pedagogical beliefs, as perceived by preservice teachers, markedly
influenced preservice teacher beliefs about technology use during practice teaching. Therefore, school-based field
experiences with mentors directly or indirectly through teaching beliefs influence preservice teacher technology
integration.
Brief summary and hypothesized influence model
Several studies analyzed teacher education courses that affect technology integration by preservice teachers (Brown
& Warschauer, 2006; Leu & Kinzer, 2000; Singer & Maher, 2007). Notably, school-based field experiences with
mentors influence preservice teacher technology use during practice teaching (Grove et al., 2004; Haydn & Barton,
2007; Judge & O’Bannon, 2007; Singer & Maher, 2007). Additionally, some studies identified the shape (Keys, 2007;
Lambert et al., 2008) and the effects (Sang et al., 2010; Valcke et al., 2010) of preservice teacher beliefs about the
integration of technology and instruction. However, exploring each factor influencing technology integration
individually is difficult, especially when trying to interpret the perspectives of preservice teachers on technology use
when teaching students in a practicum context. Moreover, teacher education courses and school-based field practice
are two important processes in which diversity trainings provide preservice teachers with professional skills.
Consequently, when exploring preservice teacher technology use during practice teaching, one must examine teacher
education courses in colleges and field experiences with mentors in the practicum context, while also examining
teacher beliefs about technology integration. By identifying direct and indirect relationships among factors, this
study develops a multivariate hypothesized model (Figure 1).
Research Methodology
Research design
courses
experiences
beliefs technology
integration
Figure. 1. A multivariate hypothesized model
This study evaluates a multivariate hypothesized model that predicts the significance of, and relationships among,
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