Hyo-Jin (Helena) Yoon successfully defends dissertation in Learning Technologies

On October 26, 2012, Helena Yoon defended her doctoral dissertation, Examining the technological development of preservice and novice teachers: Cross-sectional case studies of teachers in a one-to-one laptop-infused teacher preparation program. She conducted eight teacher case studies, including six preservice teachers and two novice teachers who were graduates of the focal preparation program. She found that university and PK-12 school infrastructure tended to support teacher-directed activities, such as information delivery, through classroom displays. Preservice teachers predominantly used email, word processing, and electronic submission of assignments and observed their instructors using PowerPoint and learning management systems (e.g., BlackBoard). In some teacher cases, preservice teachers reported university instructors requiring them to not bring them laptops to class or to close their laptops during class. Exposure to technology integration in field-placements varied across teacher cases, as well. One cooperating teacher was particularly exemplary in modeling student-centered technology integration strategies in an early-childhood classroom, of which the preservice teacher described extensively. The novice teacher cases revealed barriers of access to technology that prevented implementation of technology-supported teaching. Helena discussed concerns regarding the limited exposure to a range of technological activities, including new media technologies, within the preservice teacher cases.  She also raised the importance of developing preservice teachers as technology leaders who would have more strategies for resolving barriers to technology integration in their future teaching career. Generalizability of this research should be limited to preservice programs with similar design (i.e., one-to-one computing environment) or should be determined by the reader (i.e., reader-based generalizations). Contact Dr. Yoon for more information or for access to the full dissertation.