Home MembershipSpecial Interest GroupsSIGTE (Teacher Educators)JCTE—Journal of Computing in Teacher EducationPast IssuesVolume 25 Number 3: Spring 2009

Journal of Computing in Teacher Education (JCTE)
		Editors: Ann Thompson and Denise A. Schmidt Iowa State University Department of Curriculum and Instruction Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching N031 Lagomarcino Hall Ames, IA 50011-3192 E-mail: eat@iastate.edu or dschmidt@iastate.edu

Table of Contents
Volume 25, Number 3
Spring 2009

Columns

Editor's Remarks Times Are Changing Ann D. Thompson I am sure that my column title is not a revelation to any of our readers, but I do know that we must work to stay informed and proactive in these challenging economic times. It seems clear that both K–12 and higher education are deeply affected by the struggling economy, with differential effects experienced in different parts of the country. Read More     President's Message SIGTE, Where Y’At? Mike Charles In 2004, the year I began serving as an officer in SIGTE, the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) was held in New Orleans. In 2005 many of us watched in horror as the same convention center that hosted NECC served as a desperate gathering point for refugees from Hurricane Katrina. And in 2006 I returned to the area, this time with a group of high school students, as we gutted houses for local residents to assist in their efforts to rebuild. While there, a number of our students picked up one of the local colloquialisms. “Where y’at?” in New Orleans is akin to asking “How are you doing?” The common response, we were told, is “awright,” or the alternate, “what it is.” Read More

Articles

Unanticipated Findings: Gains by Cooperating Teachers via Video-Mediated Conferencing Jillian Ardley This article describes the transformations that took place as two veteran teachers grappled with the insertion of video-mediated videoconferencing (VMC) for practicums during an initial study that focused on teacher candidates. Through their stories, the following themes were identified: teacher as risk taker, VMC as a motivating device to promote student participation in learning, reassessment of teaching practices, and teacher change. Findings indicate that (a) cooperating teachers need to strive for realism and not for perfection during demonstrations, (b) school-university partnerships can be fostered through 21st-century technologies, and (c) informed and supportive stakeholders within the school community can impact participation and learning from newly implemented VMC supervision techniques. Lessons learned can be helpful for teacher educators, K–12 administrators and teachers, and technology support personnel who desire to assist teachers in embedding supportive technologies for teacher education. Read More        Digital Natives As Preservice Teachers: What Technology Preparation Is Needed? Jing Lei This study focused on “digital natives” as preservice teachers to examine their beliefs, attitudes, and technology experiences and expertise, identify the strengths and weaknesses in their technology knowledge and skills, and explore what technology preparation was needed to prepare them to integrate technology in their future classrooms. Results reveal that (a) the digital-native preservice teachers reported strong positive beliefs in technology, yet moderate confidence and reserved attitude in using technology; (b) the majority (80%) of them spent the most time on social-communication activities, and only about 10% of them spent the most time on learningrelated activities; (c) they were very proficient with basic technologies but were not familiar with more advanced technologies; (d) the scope of their use of Web 2.0 technologies was limited to mainly social-networking Web sites, and they lacked the experiences and expertise in using Web 2.0 technologies with great potential for classroom application; and (e) they lacked experiences and expertise in using classroom technologies, especially assistive technologies. The results suggest that, growing up with technology, digital natives as preservice teachers are savvy with basic technologies and social-communication technologies. However, their technology proficiency is limited by both the narrow scope and the lack of depth of their technology activities. Systematic technology preparation is needed to help them learn more advanced technologies, classroom technologies, and assistive technologies, and more important, to help them make the connections between technology and teaching and to help them make the transition from digital-native students to digital-native teachers. Read More     Teaching Formative Assessment Strategies to Preservice Teachers: Exploring the Use of Handheld Computing to Facilitate the Action Research Process Kristin Redington Bennett and Ann C. Cunningham Appropriate classroom assessment now tends to utilize formative measures with greater frequency, especially in the early grades and with learner groups at risk of not passing state-mandated standardized tests. Within the authentic context of an action research project, teacher candidates were given handheld computers equipped with data-collection software to assess the effectiveness of tutoring sessions with students identified with special needs. The data was collected and reviewed weekly as formative assessment and was also analyzed over time for performance trends. The goal was to explore whether the introduction of handheld data collection tools and new pedagogical practices embedded in an action research project is a feasible expectation for novice teachers. Results from postexperience questionnaires and analysis of recurrent themes in written reflections indicate that the teacher candidates valued the action research and formative assessment process. Although the hardware created a variety of challenges to data collection, all participants recognized the value of the handheld computer for classroom-based formative assessment. This study is the first step in a long-term research study on the efficacy of handheld tools to support formative assessment in the elementary classroom. Read More   Tools for Data-Driven Decision Making in Teacher Education: Designing a Portal to Conduct Field Observation Inquiry Gerry Swan Knowledge management (KM) and data-driven decision making (DDDM) are terms that are used with more frequency in teacher education. Although accreditation expectations and the increased focus on accountability have pushed these ideas to the forefront, the tools that support them are still not robust. Electronic portfolio assessment has been one approach that many schools of education adopt to address these gaps, but there has been little documentation on how electronic portfolios actually contribute to program-level assessment. This paper presents an application that provides an example of how data systems applied to existing practices can be used to support knowledge creation and DDDM in colleges of education. Read More

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