Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for teaching and learning are continually
changing and being replaced by the newest “must have” technologies, so how valuable are skillsbased
technology courses in the long-term to pre-service teachers? While pre-service teachers
need to be competent and confident users of technology (Cowie & Jones 2005), the universities
also need to provide them with knowledge about attitudes, values and pedagogical understanding
in respect to ICTs (Cameron 2007). These pre-service teachers need to develop a fundamental
understanding about the nature of technological change and their own abilities to confront this
change (Phelps & Ellis 2003). It has also been determined that ICT-based courses will hold more
long-term value for the pre-service teachers if they promote generic technology skills involving
authentic, reflective activities that assist them in their continued learning throughout their careers
(Herrington, Oliver & Herrington 1999). Therefore, rather than simply provide and deliver
specific skills-based information, the lecturer’s principal function has shifted to create a
collaborative, challenging and supportive learning environment within which students were
introduced to a broad range of philosophical and pedagogical issues that arise from the integration
of a variety of technologies in today’s classrooms (Herrington & Oliver 2002).