Students-Future Teachers' Self-Assessment of Competence for Computer-Assisted teaching

Teaching has, as expected, changed over the course of time. Except the content itself, modernisation of organized education often emphasizes the material which is used to complement the lesson. The IT equipment is generally highlighted in that matter, especially during the last curricular reform. However, the competence of the teacher who will be using that equipment must not be neglected, which is why his qualifications for work on the highest technological level are being discussed. That is why a research has been conducted which enquired into the opinions and views of students about new technological possibilities in their future profession. The research has been conducted via a questionnaire amongst the fifth year students of a teaching college. The focus was on the students' self-assessment of their competence for using the IT equipment, as well as their opinions and views about teaching by using the aforementioned equipment at the expense of the so-called "chalk/chalkboard" method, which dominated the classrooms until recently. The participants have also proposed how much they intend to use the IT equipment to reach their didactical goals. For instance, the research has shown that the participants regard themselves as competent for teaching with the IT equipment and that they plan to use multimedia content, but also that not many of them expected to work in a school that will enable them to do so. That could be significant considering that many of them feel that their performance would be enhanced with a computer, a projector and an internet connection. The participants expect their students to be skilled in working with a computer as well since they plan to assign homework that can only be completed with a computer. In conclusion, the participants regard themselves as competent for teaching by using the computer. Although they claim that they had practiced teaching without the IT equipment, if given a chance, they would like to enrich their classes with multimedia content. This shows that they are ready for the highest technological level in their profession, which is accordant with the expectations of the curricular reform.