19 Teachers and technology: pre-service training for mathematics Dave Miller Keele University Staffordshire United Kingdom Abstract New criteria in England and Wales require that all newly qualified teachers must be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of information technology to a certain standard. The first part of this paper illustrates an innovative approach taken by one institution while the second part provides more details of the IT component for mathematics. Keywords Information technology, innovation. teacher education. teaching methods. 'For all courses, those to be awarded Qualified Teacher Status must, when assessed, demonstrate that they have a working knowledge of information technology (IT) to a standard equivalent to Level 8 in the National Curriculum for pupils, and understand the contribution that IT makes to their specialist subject(s).' (DfEE, 1997, pp7,8) The standard equivalent to Level 8 is as follows: 'Pupils select the appropriate IT facilities for specific tasks, taking into account ease of use and suitability for purpose. They design and implement systems for others to use. They design successful means of capturing and, if necessary, preparing information for computer processing. When assembling devices that respond to data from sensors, they describe how feedback might improve the performance of the system. They discuss in an informed way, the social, economic, ethical and moral issues raised by IT.' (DfEE, 1995, p.7) In addition. it is a common requirement for all National Curriculum subjects, except Physical Education. that 'Pupils should be given opportunities, where appropriate, to develop and apply their information technology capability in their study of the subject' (SCAA, 1996, p.6) Hence all intending teachers must have the necessary generic and subject based skills and understanding to be able to enter the profession. Information and Communications Technologies in School Mathematics J.D. Tinsley & D.C. Johnson (Eds.) © 19981FIP. Published by Chapman & Hall