BEST PRACTICES IN ICT EMPOWERING PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

This paper draws on results of ICT integration and application of divergent tactics to engage undergraduate pre-service teachers who have enrolled in the Teaching of English as a Second Language (TESL) for primary schools. To be prepared to exploit IT tools in their future careers, students were plunged into the ICT learning environment using the MOODLE platform. The tool served as a communication tool to supply learning community, cooperation and collaboration whilst being used as a learning platform in which class lectures and assignments were posted as well. Students were motivated to reflect on their learning process and create their own content using blogs and forums. Moreover, the fully structured assignments played a vital role in enhancing their ICT skills and knowledge. Apart from creating weblogs, students were required to create English, Science, and Math courseware using the Interactive Whiteboard which was newly introduced to them in the course. Though being novice in using the tool, they came up with outstanding products in the end. This research project presents the events of the course, strategies applied by the instructor, and learning process of the students whose innovation and personalization were increased during the ICT course.