Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of TPD Programs Under the Lens of Emerging Technologies in STE(A)M Education

Introduction

This chapter aims to provide practicing educators, teacher trainers and researchers in the field of educational science with directions for designing TPD programs for integrating emerging technologies, such as Augmented Reality (AR), in interdisciplinary STE(A)M based instructional scenarios, especially in the level of Secondary general (Gymnasium and Lyceum in Greece) and (Post)Secondary Vocational Education (EPAL - Vocational Lyceum) and IEK (Institution of Vocational Training in Greece). The suggested directions arise as a result of the evaluation process of specific components of TPD programs, where the authors have been involved in the evaluation process.

The chapter begins with an overview of the current situation concerning the trends for transformation and evolution of teaching practices through innovative pedagogical approaches and emerging technologies (Adnan & Tondeur, 2018; Darling-Hammond, 2017; Ramírez-Montoya, Andrade-Vargas, Rivera-Rogel, D & Portuguez-Castro, 2021; Tarling & Ng'ambi, 2016). Changing teaching practices is proving difficult to achieve, while it seems that many teachers (at least at European level) remain unprepared to effectively employ technology-enhanced teaching practices. This is a fact that has been highlighted in many studies (Cochran-Smith & Maria Villegas, 2015; Dotong, De Castro, Dolot & Prenda, 2016; Kaufman, 2014) and has recently emerged, during the global situation of the pandemic COVID-19 (Whalen, 2020; Winter, Costello, O’Brien & Hickey, 2021), where critical issues have raised concerning the need for ready-to-instruct teachers in the 21^st century. Teachers attend numerous training programs on a variety of topics, including STE(A)M education, ICT in education, interdisciplinarity in education, 21^st century skills etc. As a result, they gain fragmented knowledge having difficulties in connecting it and bringing it to practice (Santos, Franco, Leon, Ovigli & Donizete Colombo Jr, 2017). The main question that still needs to be answered is whether nowadays teachers are appropriately prepared to support their students to strengthen their 21^st century skills and become human resources responding to the demands of the modern labor market. Teachers face challenges in deploying smart learning environments, since the development pace of information and communication technologies (ICT) and devices that could be applied in education, far exceeds the development pace of educational studies concerning the effectiveness of each technological innovation integration within the educational process (Lasica, Meletiou-Mavrotheris & Katzis, 2020a). Emerging technologies as well as any innovative tool introduced into the educational process, should be treated as a concept, taking into consideration numerous factors, rather than a sole technological tool offering new teaching and learning opportunities (Vitsilaki & Pitsikalis, 2017). It is critical not only for teachers, but also for those involved in the educational process (researchers, designers and developers of educational content, decision makers in education, school administrative staff etc.) to have opportunities for adequate training.