How do future teachers decide when and how to use technology in the classroom?
What is the title of the article, journal, or book?
Bridging the Digital Use Divide in an Online Simulation: How Contextual Knowledge (XK) Shapes Preservice Teachers’ Technology Integration Decisions
Where can it be located?
Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education
https://citejournal.org/volume-26/issue-3-26/current-research/bridging-the-digital-use-divide-in-an-online-simulation-how-contextual-knowledge-xk-shapes-preservice-teachers-technology-integration-decisions/
Citation of the article, journal, or book?
Weisberg, L. (2026). Bridging the digital use divide in an online simulation: How contextual knowledge (XK) shapes preservice teachers’ technology integration decisions. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 26(3).
Q: What core idea or moment sparked the creation of this book or article?
A: This study grew out of my dissertation research, which explored how we can better prepare future teachers to use technology meaningfully in their classrooms. I became particularly interested in an important problem: even when students have access to computers and the internet, they do not necessarily have the same opportunities to use technology in meaningful ways. Some students regularly use technology to create, solve problems, and explore their interests, while others primarily use it for activities like digital worksheets and test preparation. I wanted to understand how teacher preparation could help future teachers recognize and address those differences.
Q: In your own words, what is the most important question your work attempts to answer?
A: The central question is: How can we prepare future teachers to use what they know about their students to integrate technology in more meaningful ways? In particular, I wanted to know whether learning about inequities in how students use technology for learning could help future teachers move beyond simply asking, “Do my students have access to technology?” toward asking, “How can I help all of my students use technology in meaningful, creative, and empowering ways?”
Q: How does your publication challenge, refine, or expand the existing conversation in your field?
A: Teacher preparation has traditionally focused heavily on teaching future educators how to use different educational technologies. This study suggests that knowing how to use technology is only part of what teachers need to learn. They also need to understand why they are using it, how students’ backgrounds and experiences may shape their opportunities to learn with it, and how their own instructional decisions can either reduce or reinforce existing inequities in how students engage with technology for learning.
Q: What do you hope readers or future scholars take away as the essential message of your work?
A: Simply giving every student a device or internet access does not automatically create equitable digital learning opportunities. We also need to pay attention to what students are actually being asked to do with technology. All students deserve opportunities to use technology to create, explore, solve problems, communicate, and develop the skills and confidence they will need in an increasingly digital world.
Q: How does this publication connect to the broader themes or questions that shape your career as a scholar?
A: Much of my research asks how we can better prepare teachers to use new and emerging technologies in ways that genuinely improve learning and expand opportunities for students. I am especially interested in examining how teachers integrate technology, why they make particular decisions, and how teacher preparation coursework can help them make those decisions more thoughtfully.
Q: Were there any challenges or obstacles that significantly shaped the direction of this project?
A: One challenge was figuring out how to give future teachers realistic opportunities to practice making these kinds of decisions. Traditional classroom field experiences are valuable, but every future teacher encounters different students and situations. In the course in which this study took place, students did not have opportunities to practice integrating technology in actual classrooms. So instead, I created an online teaching simulation that allowed participants to make decisions about how to integrate technology as they learned more about their students' backgrounds. This created a structured way for them to practice applying what they were learning in my course.
Q: In what ways do you see your findings influencing practice, policy, or future research?
A: The findings suggest that teacher preparation programs should explicitly teach future educators about inequities in how students might experience and use technology for learning rather than focusing primarily on how to operate digital tools. They also highlight the potential of online teaching simulations, which can give future teachers a low-risk environment to practice making difficult instructional decisions before they have their own classrooms. Future research can examine whether these experiences ultimately influence how teachers use technology with students once they enter the profession.