A NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY TO INVESTIGATE PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS ABOUT PREPARATION TO USING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES

This paper reports the results of a needs assessment survey that was conducted to find out pre-service teachers' background knowledge, experiences and perceptions about their preparation for technology integration at a university in the Middle East USA. A questionnaire with both closed and open-ended items was administered to a group of student teachers. Participants seemed neutral with regards to feelings of being adequately prepared to use technology in their teaching but perceived that they needed more training. Majority knew how to use office tools, webpage design, and presentation tools. However, they did not feel comfortable using spreadsheets, databases, concept mapping, hypermedia, WebQuest, simulation tools, and video editing. In addition, the overall results suggested that pre-service teachers still used technologies within the objectivist model of teaching and learning. Based on the findings, teacher education programs need to provide pre-service teachers with additional and alternative technology training programs. The characteristics of such programs were discussed to help pre-service teachers learn how to use technologies as instructional tools to enhance their teaching and students' learning.