Supporting field experience in teacher education course by using cloud services and mobile technology

Field experience (PE) is an essential component in a teacher education course. It encourages student teachers to innovate and reflect on their practice within a supportive environment. Besides, it also facilitates the creation of a learning community in which student teachers, supporting teachers and Institute supervisors can learn together and so mutually enhance their professional development. On the other hand, mobile technology and cloud services help to facilitate the creation of this kind of learning community in which student teachers can get support from their Institute supervisor and peers at anytime, anywhere and any place. Cloud services offer many possibilities to educators for its use, for example, communicating with students through social networking services. Meanwhile, Institute supervisors can make use of mobile devices to access cloud-based storage and services during the school visits. The digital forms of FE documents are also convenient for student teachers and Institute supervisors to build their own e-portfolio. This study aims to explore the potential of using mobile technology and cloud services to create a convenient and efficient environment to enhance student teachers’ professional development in FE. Copyright © 2013 MIT Departmental Seminar.