Home PublicationsJRTEPast IssuesVolume 37 Number 1

	Edited by Dr. Lynne Schrum, University of Utah
formerly Journal of Research on Computing in Education

Volume 37 Number 1 Fall 2004

Mentoring Toward Technology Use: Cooperating Teacher Practice in Supporting Student Teachers
Karen Grove
University of Louisville
Neal Strudler
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Sandra Odell
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Abstract
This paper investigates the mentoring practices of 16 cooperating teachers as they prepared student teachers to integrate technology into teaching and learning activities. Data were gathered from multiple sources during a semester of student teaching. A complex variety of contextual and conceptual factors influencing the integration of technology into student teaching experiences are presented, including access to technology, on-site support, and beliefs about mentoring. Findings describe the practices of cooperating teachers in mentoring student teachers toward technology use. In order for student teachers to learn how to support student-centered lessons with technology, they need knowledgeable mentor teachers and adequate access to technology to practice and develop those lessons. Recommendations for other school district/university partnerships attempting to integrate technology in field experiences include the implementation of frequent professional development sessions for mentors that help them build knowledge about how to teach in reform-minded ways with technology and how to mentor student teachers to teach in ways consistent with reform standards. Mentors should be introduced to new practices integrating technology with curriculum-based, student-centered activities that expose them to new models for teaching and learning and learn to encourage novices to teach in similar ways through modeling, practicing, and analyzing teaching together.

Contributors
Karen Grove works with the Teacher Education Model Program (TEMP) Grant in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville. Her research interests include mentoring practice supporting technology integration, and technology integration in teacher preparation and proprofessional development.

Neal Strudler is a professor of educational computing and technology in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and is the director of Project THREAD, UNLV’s PT3 project. His current research addresses various aspects of technology integration in teacher preparation programs as well as the work of technology coordinators in K­12 schools.

Sandra Odell is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her areas of special interest are teacher education, teacher learning, and teacher mentoring.

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Contact
Karen Grove
Department of Teaching and Learning
University of Louisville
2301 S. 3rd St.
Louisville, KY 40292-2001
karen.grove@louisville.edu

Neal Strudler
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
University of Nevada­Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV 89154-3005
strudler@unlv.nevada.edu

Sandra Odell
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
University of Nevada­Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV 89154-3005
odells@unlv.nevada.edu

Copyright © 2004, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.