Using Hypermedia to Improve the Preparation of Elementary Teachers

Abstract

Expert/novice research suggests that prospective teachers' preparation needs improvement in four areas: pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of the learner, organization and manage ment skills, and planning and improvisation in instruction. A description is provided of how hypermedia teachnology is being used in content methods courses in Vanderbilt University's elementary teacher education program to achieve these improvements in preservice teacher edu cation. Evaluation data indicate that use of video examples in the mathematics methods courses influenced the way preservice teachers taught mathematics.