This study investigates the perceptions of pre-service teachers about integrating digital media into classroom teaching. It compares the perceptions of students at Machinga Teacher Training College in Malawi with those of students being trained as teachers at the University of Massachusetts, College of Education in Amherst. The study highlights three questions about effectively integrating digital media in a classroom. Firstly, how pre-service teachers perceive their preparation to use digital media; secondly, digital media tools they are familiar with and lastly challenges they expect to face.
The study is based on data collected from individual interviews from 4 Malawi pre-service teachers at Machinga Teachers Training College and 3 pre-service teachers in the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum in the College of Education at UMass Amherst. The study finds that, Malawi students focus mostly on hardware instructional technologies and focus primarily on software and applications for different digital media tools. The study indicates that pre-service teachers in both Machinga and Amherst receive little or no training on how to effectively integrate digital media in their classroom teaching. The study suggests that future policy makers strengthen the preparation of school teachers for effective use of digital media both in Machinga and Amherst. 6
