Abstract:

The paper presents the results of a qualitative study with prospective teachers (n=87, subject German, TU Dortmund) during their practice phase in the master's program. However, the structural changes towards digital teaching in times of the corona crisis force schools and, thus, also students to make enormous changes in their habits in the short term, for example, by using digital learning environments. These changes are in contrast to the rather media-skeptical attitudes of German student teachers [1], also to be stated for the here researched group in a survey before the start of the practical training.

We want to investigate to what extent the students now perceive changes in their private and professional media use behavior, which of these they consider to be sustainable, and whether they request a different media education.

In preparation for their practical training, students attend an obligatory theory seminar in the semester before. The syllabus includes Media Competence Framework NRW [2], Universal Design for Learning [3], ITPACK [4], and reflection on their media biography.

For the study, the master students independently conduct group discussions [5] in groups of 4 or 5 persons using the tool Zoom.us. The group discussions are recorded and then qualitatively analyzed [6] using the MAXQDA [7] software. The following questions are discussed in the group discussions:
1) How has the private and professional media use of students changed in the time of the Corona crisis?
2) Do the students believe that this change will be sustainable?
3) Do the students expect changed media habits of their pupils and long-term changes in the organization of teaching due to digital learning environments?
4) Do the students see specific media-related competences as particularly necessary to learn due to their changed media use and expected changes in the school system?

On the meta-level, there is the task to discuss which education the educators need and if there is a necessity to adapt to the new challenges, e.g., by enabling or self-enabling the university educators for new ways of teacher training.

References:
[1] M. Rath und M. Delere, “Media Skepticism as a Prejudice – Attitudes of German Prospective Teachers towards Digital Media”, in INTED 2020 Proceedings. 14th International Technology, Education and Development Conference, Valencia, Spain, March 2020, S. 5851–5858, DOI: 10.21125/inted.2020.1582.
[2] A,-K. Schlüter; I. Melle; F. B. Wember, “Unterrichtsgestaltung in Klassen des gemeinsamen Lernens: Universal Design for Learning”, in Sonderpädagogische Förderung heute (A. Leonhardt; K. Koch; H. Weiß; C. Lindmeier, E. Moser-Opitz eds.), (3) 2016, pp. 270-285.
[3] Medienkompetenzrahmen NRW: Retrieved from: https://medienkompetenzrahmen.nrw
[4] G. Marci-Boehncke, “Von der integrierten zur inklusiven Medienbildung”, in Medienpädagogik – Herausforderungen für Lernen und Bildung im Medienzeitalter (T. Hug ed.), Innsbruck: Innsbruck University Press, 2018, pp. 49-64.
[5] T. Kühn, K.-V. Koschel, Gruppendiskussionen. Ein Praxis-Handbuch. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2011.
[6] P. Mayring; A. Hurst, “Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse” in Qualitative Medienforschung. Ein Handbuch (L. Mikos; C. Wegener eds.), Konstanz: UVK, 2005, pp. 494-502.
[7] U. Kuckartz, Einführung in die computergestützte Analyse qualitativer Daten. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2010.

Keywords:

Pre-service Teachers, Self-Reflection, Digital Learning Environments.