Critical Handling of Online Information by Prospective Teachers: A Complementary Analysis Using Narration and Reconstruction Approaches

ABSTRACT Background In the Information Age, prospective teachers increasingly rely on online sources for research and lesson preparation. This entails dynamic, situation‐specific interactions within digital environments, which are increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Objectives This study demonstrates how prospective teachers' information reception and interpretation in online environments can be made accessible through the complementary qualitative methods of narratology and reconstruction. Methods Through the exemplary analysis of two contrasting case studies, the study highlights mostly hidden yet salient textual and visual elements of a complex digital environment. It identifies the narrative framings, stylistic devices, meanings, and normative assumptions present in the online sources used by prospective teachers, as reflected in their written essays on the health benefits of e‐bikes. Results and Conclusions The qualitative analysis indicates whether, and in what ways, the reception of Internet information by prospective educators is influenced by specific features of the sources, such as narrative framings and normative assumptions. The study employs a novel methodological combination of narrative analysis and objective hermeneutics and outlines potential directions for further research on digital learning in higher education.