This paper examines how the design and implementation of a core teacher education course develops pre-service teachers' information communication technology (ICT) in education competencies in a mainland Chinese university. This course adopted a four-component instructional design system to develop its curriculum, incorporated an inquiry-based learning approach to develop pre-service teachers' pedagogical competencies, and used an online learning platform to facilitate the sharing of experiences of using ICT for teaching and learning. This case study demonstrates that innovative pedagogies together with more relevant course content supported by an online learning platform may enhance the effectiveness of a core ICT in education course.