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Editor's Remarks
A Proactive Approach to a Research Agenda: A Call to Action
(PDF,
151 KB, 24 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Ann Thompson, Glen Bull, and Lynn Bell
The gap between the promise of technology in schools and the realization
of this promise has been the focus of much discussion recently. Continuing
advances in speed and capacity have produced powerful computers available
at modest prices. The National Education Technology Plan recently released
by the U.S. Department of Education reports that virtually all classrooms
are now linked to the Internet.
Despite the growing capability and presence in schools, advanced technologies
have had limited documented impact on school improvement. Changes in schools
have been limited to “islands of excellence” rather than the transformed
landscape that is the ultimate objective.
President's Message
National Technology Leadership Summit: The Last Mile Challenge (PDF,
72 KB, 11 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Melissa Pierson
Teacher educators devoted to the use of technology to prepare new teachers
convened the third week of September 2004 in the Library of Congress in
Washington, DC for the sixth annual National Technology Leadership Summit
(NTLS). My colleague Ann Thompson (see facing editorial) has been a regular
participant of the group at previous summits, representing this journal.
This year, for the first time, SIGTE itself was officially represented,
at the urging of Glen Bull, founder of the group, and with the support
of ISTE CEO Don Knezek.
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Preparing Current and Future Teachers to Teach With Technology: An Examination
of School-University Collaborations (PDF,
254 KB, 40 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Richard Hartshorne, Richard E. Ferdig, and Kara Dawson
Recent research as well as local, state, and national mandates promote
an increased role of technology in teaching and learning. In response
to this call, K–12 institutions and colleges of education are faced with
preparing current and future teachers to teach with technology. The current
models of inservice and preservice teacher preparation with technology,
although sometimes effective in developing technology skills, often fail
to address numerous other issues related to integrating technology into
the curriculum. One solution to these issues is for schools and universities
to collaborate and improve teacher preparation simultaneously. This paper
discusses issues with current technology and teacher preparation models,
reasons for school-university collaborations, various models of school-university
collaborations, and the positive results of these collaborations. This
paper also provides a much needed categorization system that enables teacher
educators to explore matters related to various types of school-university
collaborations as well as acts as a catalyst for conversation and a tool
for developing collaboration models that work in a local context.
A Preliminary Investigation of the Effectiveness of CaseQuests in Preparing
Family-Guided and Technologically-Competent Early Childhood Interventionists
(PDF,
235 KB, 37 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, Teresa Brown, Amy Senderak, and Joseph Walsh
Selecting and using effective instructional strategies is a challenge
facing those involved with preservice teacher education. Two instructional
strategies with emerging empirical support include WebQuests and Case
Method Instruction; however, both have limitations. This study examined
the effects of using a CaseQuest—a hybrid of WebQuests and Case Method
Instruction—on early childhood intervention students’ competence related
to working with families of young children with disabilities and utilizing
technology to deliver intervention services. Twenty-eight graduate students
participated in the CaseQuest project. Findings indicate students’ reported
family-guided skills and work practices increased following the CaseQuest
experience. Students also reported increases in their technology skills
and knowledge following the CaseQuest experience. Implications for preservice
programs are discussed.
Teachers Learning Technology by Design (PDF,
255 KB, 40 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Matthew J. Koehler and Punya Mishra
Although there has been much debate about what teachers need to know about
technology, less attention has been paid to how they are supposed to learn
it. Teacher preparation programs need to go beyond merely training teachers
in how to use specific software and hardware tools, and instead focus
on developing an understanding of the complex set of interrelationships
between artifacts, users, tools, and practices. In this paper, we introduce
and advocate a Learning By Design approach that can help teachers develop
a flexible and situated understanding of technology. In this approach,
inservice teachers work collaboratively in small groups to develop technological
solutions to authentic pedagogical problems. We introduce the Learning
by Design strategy and provide examples of its use in three different
courses. We summarize what teachers learn in this approach, focusing on
learning about technology, learning about design, and learning about learning.
Integrating Service-Learning into Technology Training in Teacher Preparation:
A Study of an Educational Technology Course for Preservice Teachers
(PDF,
210 KB, 33 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Rick Voithofer
Based on a partnership between a teacher preparation program and an urban
school district, this study evaluates a project that used a service-learning
model to connect preservice teachers to working teachers to help the working
teachers integrate technology into their teaching while giving the preservice
teachers an authentic context for their assignments. Using multiple data
sources including questionnaires, class projects, interviews, and field
notes, this study looked at the success of service-learning in technology
instruction in terms of student satisfaction and student learning related
to technology skills, technology integration strategies, and issues that
teachers confront teaching diverse populations. The results of the study
provide suggestions for the successful integration of service-learning
for technology training in teacher education.
Workshops That Work!: Building an Effective, Technology-Rich Faculty Development
Program (PDF,
241 KB, 38 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Berhane Teclehaimanot and Annette Lamb
To prepare preservice teachers for the technology-rich environment of
today’s schools, faculty involved with the preparation of teachers must
model technology use in their own instruction. The purpose of this PT3-funded
project was to design and implement a faculty development program focusing
on the effective integration of technology into courses taken by teacher
education students. The three-year project involved a series of workshops
and guidance for faculty to assist them in modeling effective technology
integration. The evolution of this professional development program incorporated
nine elements: popular technology topics, hands-on learning, modeling,
individualization, technology infusion, efficiency, mentoring, sharing,
and motivation. It was found that well-designed faculty development workshops
are effective in training teacher educators to create technology-rich
university curriculum.
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