Yusuf Olayinka Shogbesan1, Rukayat Oyebola Iwintolu1, Olufunke Favour Akindahunsi1, Yusuf Feyisara Zakariya2,3*, Stella Bolanle Apata4 and Adam Bolaji Abdulganiyu1
1Department of Arts and Social Education, College of Education, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria, 2Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway, 3TETFund Centre of Excellence in Pedagogy, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, 4School of Educational Studies, College of Education, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
Background: The demands of 21st-century classrooms require pre-service teachers to develop digital competencies that enable effective instructional delivery and collaboration.
Objectives: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a digital-age teaching module in improving pre-service teachers’ preparedness for future classrooms.Methods: Using a quasi-experimental design, the study engaged first-year education students and assessed changes in four competency domains: digital literacy, instructional planning, collaborative learning, and technology integration for teaching and assessment. A structured, theory-driven methodology grounded in the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework guided the intervention and evaluation. Quantitative data were collected through validated instruments and analysed to determine the module’s impact on participants’ instructional competencies.
Results: The study found that the preservice teachers exposed to the digital-age teaching module demonstrated significantly greater instructional competency across all four dimensions of the study (digital literacy skills, instructional planning ability, collaborative learning ability and technology integration ability) compared to those in the control group.
Conclusion: The study concluded that the digital-age teaching module had a strong positive effect on enhancing pre-service teachers’ instructional competency and remain substantial aspect of the teacher-training’s curriculum which prepared pre-service teachers for 21st-century classrooms and it recommended formal integration of the digital-age teaching module into pre-service teacher education programmes, structured monitoring and evaluation systems to assess the effectiveness of digital teaching modules, capacity building in technology and provision of adequate digital tools by the Government.
Shogbesan YO, Iwintolu RO, Akindahunsi OF, Zakariya YF, Apata SB and Abdulganiyu AB (2026) Future-ready educators: assessing the effectiveness of technology-driven intervention in preparing pre-service teachers for 21st- century classrooms.
Front. Educ. 11:1852986.
doi: 10.3389/feduc.2026.1852986
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© 2026 Shogbesan, Iwintolu, Akindahunsi, Zakariya, Apata and Abdulganiyu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.