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Editor's Remarks
Advocating for Educational Technology (PDF,
141 KB, PDF Instructions)
Glenn Bull and Ann Thompson
For the past quarter-century, the nation has invested substantial amounts
in educational technology each year. Technology has changed almost every
other facet of our lives—in commerce, in entertainment, and our social
lives.
President's Message
SIG Collaboration Blossoms in San Diego (PDF,
137 KB, PDF Instructions)
Arlene Borthwick
Attendance at NECC always provides me with a "booster shot"
of up-to-date information. Face-to-face connections—though brief—ground,
energize, and often reorient my thinking about teaching strategies, research
priorities, and service opportunities for the coming year. Session presenters
affirm that I'm on the right track (usually!), and networking with colleagues
enables my own progress by providing a support system, whether mentors
or collaborators. You, fellow SIGTE members, are the infrastructure of
the support system we provide for one another.
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A Comparison of Teacher Education Faculty and Preservice Teacher Technology
Competence (PDF,
217 KB, PDF Instructions)
James B. Carroll, Ph.D. and Patricia D. Morrell, Ph.D.
Technology skills and attitudes were compared between 51 school of education
faculty members and 378 student teachers in teacher education programs
in six Northwest liberal arts colleges. Few significant differences were
found between the groups. In general, faculty members had higher levels
of knowledge of a greater number of technology-based tools but students
reported higher levels of skill with online communication tools and graphing
calculators. Evidence did not appear that suggests student teachers believe
themselves to be more technology competent or know more about educational
technology than school of education faculty members.
“Teacher-Created, Teacher-Centered Weblogs: Perceptions and Practices
(PDF,
194 KB, PDF Instructions)
Beverly B. Ray and Martha M. Hocutt
This paper describes the findings of a qualitative research study examining
the perceptions and practices of inservice teachers who blog. Open-ended
interviews and electronic dialogues were conducted with 16 K–12 bloggers
to identify emergent themes. A content analysis of each participant's
Weblogs was conducted to confirm these findings. Findings suggest that
when used by teachers, Weblogs can promote 1) reflective practice, and
2) collaboration and social interaction among users. Ethical issues related
to the use of Weblogs are discussed as well. Reporting of this data may
assist in forming a deeper understanding of the perceptions and practices
related to teacher created, teacher centered Weblogs.
Methods for Evaluating Online, Resource-based Learning Environments for
Teachers (PDF,
241 KB, PDF Instructions)
Christine Greenhow, Sara Dexter, and Eric Riedel
Online delivery methods offer much promise for anytime, anywhere adult
learning. As a method of outreach, and to provide support for just-in-time
learning, teacher educators are increasingly deciding to design Web sites
that are online, resource-based learning environments for teachers and
preservice teachers. Automated evaluation tools and data collection methods
can help such Web site designers develop and use online, resource-based
learning environments to meet their goals of providing high quality learning
opportunities for teachers. This article presents a three-pronged approach
for evaluating issues of pedagogical design and user-centered functionality
in online, resource-based Web sites. Checklist, Web site traffic analysis,
and talk aloud protocols are each described and then illustrated through
their application to a site aimed at educating teachers about technology
integration. We discuss the relevance for developing effective learning
environments when teacher educators apply this evaluation approach to
resource-based learning environments.
The Re-Envisioned Educational Technology Course: If Addition Isn’t
Possible, Try Division (PDF,
467 KB, 73 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Melissa Pierson and Mary Thompson
This paper presents a new model for the required preservice technology
integration course. We situate our model within the literature on the
dominant stand-alone model, as well as the alternative models that have
been explored. We then detail our restructured model of three one-hour
courses that include focus on Introduction and Development, Integration
and Evaluation, and Implementation and Assessment. We will highlight the
challenges we have faced as well as our plans for continued course development.
We argue that not only is our technology integration class sequence a
feasible transition from stand-alone educational technology courses to
a fully integrated model, but it also has unique merit for the cognitive
development of our students in and of itself.
Promoting Reflection among Science Student Teachers using a Web-Based
Video Analysis Tool (PDF,
375 KB, PDF Instructions)
Lynn A. Bryan, Ph. D. and Art Recesso, Ph. D.
Recent efforts to design teacher education experiences using reflection
as a philosophical orientation (Abell & Bryan, 1997) have shown that
such experiences are influencing the way that teachers think about their
practice, specifically teachers' personal beliefs about teaching and learning.
In this paper, we introduce the design and implementation of a video analysis
tool that we are using to promote self-reflection and collaborative reflection
in capstone courses for student teachers. Our use of this video analysis
tool, VAT (http://VAT.uga.edu/), is based on a theoretically grounded
rationale that draws on the parallels between conceptual change teaching
(Strike & Posner, 1992) and coaching reflective practice. The description
of our VAT implementation in student teaching courses is organized according
to the three elements of the parallels between conceptual change learning
and reflection in teacher development. In addition, we discuss the central
role and necessity of student teachers working through tensions in thinking
in the processes of learning to teach and refining one's practices.
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