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Editor's Remarks
Expanding Our Network: New Frontiers for Technology in Teacher Education
(PDF,
820 KB, 2 minutes, PDF Instructions)
Ann Thompson and Denise Schmidt
This past summer, we led a weeklong faculty seminar on Technology in Teacher
Education for the Faculty Resource Network at New York University (NYU).
This positive experience suggested the need for similar faculty seminars
across the country.
President's Message
If We Missed You in Philadelphia... (PDF,
625 KB, 97 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Melissa Pierson
It is a good time to be an ISTE SIG member. ISTE has made a renewed commitment
to SIGs, even coining this as the “Year of the SIG.” These
efforts include reorganizing the Eugene ISTE office to better serve the
needs of SIGs and hiring a new Membership Director and Membership Manager
who will be directly involved in addressing our needs.
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Technology and Teacher Preparation in Exemplary Institutions: 1994 to
2003 (PDF,
239 KB, 37 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Mark Hofer
In a 1994 study commissioned by the Congressional Office of Technology
Assessment, Mergendoller, Johnston, Rockman, & Willis (1994) examined
four exemplary institutions to identify their approaches to integrating
technology into teacher education. A decade later, the field would benefit
from a comparison of current approaches of infusing technology into teacher
education to the 1994 findings. This study examines the approaches of
the first seven teacher education programs to receive the ISTE NETS Distinguished
Achievement Award. Current approaches to the process are outlined, including
the identification of the key factors impacting their implementation.
A comparison of the 1994 and the present study reveals that the systematic
coordination of experiences in the teacher preparation program, a unifying
theme throughout the program, and a shared vision of technology and teaching
are instrumental and may help guide future efforts of technology integration
into teacher preparation.
“Not Quite Teaching for Real:” Preservice Secondary English Teachers’
Use of Technology in the Field Following The Completion of an Instructional
Technology Methods Course (PDF,
181 KB, 28 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Sara B. Kajder
This qualitative study examines the ways in which graduate preservice
secondary English teachers integrate technology into their practice during
the semester immediately following a content-specific course in methods
of teaching with technology. Findings indicate the necessity of establishing
connections between introductory coursework and subsequent methods courses.
If the programs aim at producing technology-using teachers, then teachers
must be equipped with hands-on experiences and critical examination of
instructional models offered. Faculty must move from talking about technology
to modeling effective teaching with technology. Similarly, if preservice
teachers are expected to integrate technology into their fieldwork, they
must be placed with supportive cooperating instructors who will provide
the instructional autonomy needed to investigate new uses of new tools.
School Administrators’ Perceptions of the Use of Electronic Portfolios
In K–8 Teacher Hiring (PDF,
133 KB, 21 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Suzanne Painter and Keith Wetzel
This study analyzed the responses of K–8 human resource directors
and principals to teacher education students’ electronic portfolios
used for hiring. From the focus groups several themes emerged. First,
because the principals do not have much time to examine portfolios of
any kind, the ideal electronic portfolio would include only a few clearly
organized, relevant, and concise elements. Two artifacts may make the
hiring portfolio more compelling: evidence of K–8 student achievement
as a result of the applicant’s teaching and a video clip of the
applicant engaging children in learning. Principals found the video clips
helpful in distinguishing among the candidates, but noted that a poor
video could eliminate the applicant. The extent to which teacher education
faculty should assist students in construction of artifacts was discussed.
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.
Using Sociocultural Theory to Guide Teacher Use and Integration of Instructional
Technology in Two Professional Development Schools (PDF,
420 KB, 66 seconds, PDF Instructions)
Joan L. Whipp, Ellen Wexler Eckman, and Leigh van den Kieboom
This article demonstrates how sociocultural theories can be used to support
strategic structuring of professional development activities for preservice
and practicing teachers on technology use and integration. Examples are
drawn from the authors’ experiences with teachers in two professional
development schools that participated in a four-year Preparing Tomorrow’s
Teachers in Technology (PT3) project. After a review of sociocultural
theory and their context, the authors describe three “activity systems”
in these schools: one for practicing teachers, one for preservice teachers,
and a joint preservice/practicing teacher system. Important supports for
use and integration of technology built into each of these activity systems
included: varied activities aimed at both beginning and advanced technology
users, multiple levels of “assisted performance,” and a collaborative
culture that offered numerous opportunities for shared work. Lessons learned
and implications for teacher educators involved in similar partnerships
are outlined.
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