Today’s teachers are charged with transforming education through technology, providing all learners with access and meaningful experiences across content areas in ways of teaching and learning they may never have experienced themselves. This dissertation examines the effect of increasing preservice teachers’ prior personal learning experiences using digital instructional tools has on their self-efficacy, intent to use, levels of technology integration, and instructional features described in context of their future teaching using similar digital tools. Set within an educational technology teacher preparation course, the aim of this quasi-experimental study was to describe the effects resulting from intentional pedagogical changes using existing course content and assessments for teacher technology preparation improvement. Interventions to increase personal learning experiences using three focal tools (Interactive PowerPoint, Webquests, and Digital Storytelling) were administered in three of six course sections prior to participants completing course activities using these tools to create teaching materials. Surveys were administered in all sections to investigate changes in participants’ overall digital self-efficacy and their stated intent to use the focal tools. Written reflections about possible future focal tool uses in teaching and technology integrated lesson plans written at the end of the course were analyzed to examine differences in technology integration levels using the Replacement, Amplification, and Transformation framework (Hughes, Thomas, & Scharber, 2006). Additionally, key instructional features in the written descriptions (student learning, instructional methods, curriculum/content, and structural factors) were investigated. Students in both the control and treatment sections showed significant growth in computer self-efficacy during the course. The intervention changes to increase prior personal learning experiences did not result in a significant difference between groups in self-efficacy growth or stated intent-to-use. A significant difference between treatment and control groups was found in the described integration levels for Webquest as well as the number of instructional features described related to structural factors for Interactive PowerPoint. No significant differences between groups were found in the descriptions of future use for Digital Storytelling or the final Technology Integrated Lesson Plan.
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