Most teachers-to-be are introduced to educational technologies during their teacher education programs for initial licensure. This is done through stand-alone courses that feature widely used tools -- spreadsheets, PowerPoint, digital portfolios -- or through the integration of such tools into courses on theories, methods, and subjects of teaching. There is much interest in improving such courses
... [Show full abstract] and in figuring out how teachers might best develop what is known in the field as "technological pedagogical content knowledge." But rather than ask teachers and teachers-to-be to learn about digital tools in a mostly decontextualized way -- as discrete skills to acquire and then to use at a later time - the authors advocate immersing them in tool use and artifact generation in much the same way that kids acquire expertise in using digital technologies out of school to socialize, solve problems, explore interests, and make things.