From optional to essential: making technology integration the backbone of mathematics preservice teacher education in open distance e-learning systems in the Global South

Abstract

The expansion of Open Distance e-Learning (ODeL) systems across the Global South has transformed access to teacher education, yet this transformation has not been matched by corresponding pedagogical innovation. Despite the centrality of digital technologies in ODeL environments, technology integration in mathematics preservice teacher education remains largely peripheral, often treated as an optional or supplementary component. This article adopts a conceptual and reflective analytical approach to interrogate this misalignment and to advance a reconceptualisation of technology integration as a foundational element of teacher preparation. The study is positioned as a theory-building and conceptual analysis article rather than an empirical investigation. Drawing on contemporary scholarship in educational technology, digital inclusion, and mathematics education, the study argues that existing frameworks, particularly Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), are necessary but insufficient for explaining technology integration in ODeL contexts, given their limited engagement with structural and disciplinary dimensions. In response, the article proposes a Contextualised Technology Integration Framework that integrates technological access, institutional support, the ODeL learning environment, digital pedagogical competence, and mathematical content mediation. The framework is used to analyse current practices and to demonstrate how fragmented curricula, limited pedagogical modelling, and structural inequalities constrain meaningful integration. The article concludes by arguing that repositioning technology integration as the backbone of mathematics preservice teacher education requires systemic alignment across policy, curriculum, and practice. This study contributes to theory by advancing a context-sensitive, discipline-specific model and provides a foundation for future empirical and design-based research on ODeL systems.