Prepared to teach ESL with ICT? A study of digital competence in Norwegian teacher education Fredrik Mørk Røkenes * , Rune Johan Krumsvik a Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Programme for Teacher Education, Jonsvannsveien 82, 7491 Trondheim, Norway b University of Bergen, Department of Education, Christies Gate 13, Postboks 7802, 5020 Bergen, Norway article info Article history: Received 11 June 2015 Received in revised form 25 February 2016 Accepted 26 February 2016 Available online 2 March 2016 Keywords: Digital competence Student teachers Teacher education Secondary education Pedagogical issues abstract The purpose of this study is to examine how secondary student teachers are educated to teach with ICT through an English as a Second Language (ESL) didactics course offered at a teacher education program in Norway. Using a case study methodology, four cohorts of postgraduate student teachers were examined over 4 academic semesters. The students were qualifying to teach ESL in secondary school. Data were collected through surveys, participant observations, and semi-structured interviews. A theoretical model for digital competence development was used as an analytical lens in the data analysis. Findings indicate that the mastery and appropriation of teaching ESL with ICT varies amongst student teachers. Through their studies, the overall digital competence development is both enabled and inhibited by a number of factors such as modeling, scaffolding learning experiences, linking theory and practice, reflection, access to resources and support, innovative assessment practices, and collaborative learning. The implications that these findings have for teacher education are discussed. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In Norway, the National Curriculum for Knowledge Promotion (Ministry of Education and Research, 2006b) regards digital competence as a basic skill along with writing, reading, arithmetic, and speaking. Pupils and teachers are required to use information and communication technology (ICT) 1 across all school subjects at all levels of school (grades 1e 13), including English as a Second Language (ESL), in order to meet curriculum competence aims (Ministry of Education and Research, 2006c; Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2012). Naturally, this is also the case in Norwegian teacher edu- cation programs where national curricula (grades 1e 7, 5e10, and 8e13) require student teachers to master the use of ICT for teaching subject disciplines in a competent and professional manner (Ministry of Education and Research, 2010, 2013). Consequently, researchers recommend that teacher educators need to move beyond only providing student teachers with mastery learning of basic digital skills, and instead look for ways of appropriating the “interpretive and creative potential of ICT into teacher training” (Tømte, Hovdhaugen, & Solum, 2009, p. 25). * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: fredrik.rokenes@plu.ntnu.no (F.M. Røkenes), rune.johan.krumsvik@uib.no (R.J. Krumsvik). 1 The umbrella term information and communication technology (ICT) refers “in principle to all possible technologies that are used for locating and processing information, communicating and producing digital media” (Aesaert & van Braak, 2015, p. 8). In this study, ICT includes computer technology, multimedia, the Internet, mobile devices, and so on where the integration of communications, audio, and video with computers make the individual technologies “nearly indistinguishable” (Anderson, 2008, p. 8). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers & Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compedu http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.02.014 0360-1315/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Computers & Education 97 (2016) 1e20