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August 15, 2002

Training the Teachers (cont'd)

Ohio State's Multidisciplinary Approach

Integration is an important theme in the College of Education on the Mansfield campus of The Ohio State University. For the students and professors in the Integrated Teaching and Learning program, this means developing a multidisciplinary approach to elementary education that builds technology into classroom learning in a variety of meaningful ways.

Primarily a graduate program, Ohio State's ITL program attracts experienced teachers working toward master's degrees in specialty areas such as math and science and technology, and master of education students earning grade K-3 or 4-8 teaching licenses in conjunction with their degrees.

Technology labs run concurrently with methods courses in mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies. According to ITL assistant professor Terri Teal Bucci, participants in the lab courses are "encouraged to play and explore a variety of technologies that can be used in the classroom." Students experiment with a wide array of technology tools, from basic word processors, databases, and spreadsheets, to more sophisticated programs and hardware, such as multimedia software, digital video cameras, scanners, dissecting microscopes, and scientific and graphing calculators.

As Dr. Bucci explains, "The technology isn't just something that's tacked on. Our M.Ed. students create educationally-sound, technology-enhanced lessons that they take to the field and use with kids." Recent classroom projects developed from methods and technology lab courses include recording school events using digital cameras and PowerPoint; using Web-based resources to demonstrate such hard-to-show concepts as solar and lunar eclipses; and teaching young people how to be critical online researchers.

In addition to integrating technology into lesson development, students in the ITL program use it to learn from experienced teachers and monitor their own progress. Using digital video cameras, students team up to record each other teaching for later critique and analysis. They can also visit the school's online library of Web-based classroom teaching case studies and participate in online discussions with practicing classroom teachers who serve as coaches.

Ohio-Mansfield's program also builds in a great deal of self-reflection to foster professional growth. Using the International Society for Technology in Education's National Education Technology Standards, ITL students write narratives explaining how they have addressed each of its core competencies-with a hyperlink to electronic versions of their teaching materials, including interactive lessons and student work.

As students complete the electronic template related to the NETS competencies, they are asked to indicate which technology skills and applications they've found most helpful and those they're still interested in learning. In addition, they evaluate how their courses prepared them to incorporate technology into their teaching endeavors. All of this information is then synthesized into a "Researching Our Practice" report that allows for ongoing feedback and development to improve Ohio-Mansfield's award-winning program.

Where to Learn More

Whether you're researching what to expect from tomorrow's teachers or interested in having your district collaborate with an innovative school of education, the following Web sites will help you locate the leaders in the field.

NCATE The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education offers guidelines on what to look for in a teacher preparation program and has set a clear agenda of both program and professional standards for colleges and universities that prepare elementary and secondary teachers for the classroom.

ISTE At the NECC conference in June 2002, the International Society for Technology in Education awarded its second round of Distinguished Achievement Awards to institutions that have exhibited exemplary models of integrating the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) into their teacher education programs. All three programs featured in this issue's What Works-along with three other institutions-received ISTE/NETS Distinguished Achievement Awards in the first year they were given. Visit the ISTE Web site to learn more about the winners from both years.

PT3 The Department of Education's Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) program has awarded over 400 grants to education consortia since 1999, with the goal of reforming teacher preparation programs in order to meet the demand for teachers prepared to educate 21st-century learners. The PT3 Web site lists grantees, with links to their sites; allows visitors to search for projects using keywords; and offers articles on successful strategies used by PT3 institutions in areas such as e-portfolios and faculty development.

AACTE The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, with support from Microsoft Corporation, honors one institution each year with its Innovative Use of Technology Award. This best-practices award was developed to recognize teacher education institutions that model the innovative use of technology for others in the profession. The Curry School was the recipient of the first AACTE technology award in 1998. To see a list of subsequent winners, read briefly about the 2002 honoree-the University of Nevada, Las Vegas-or download a call for entries, visit the AACTE site.

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York, in partnership with other funders, recently announced Teachers for a New Era, a multiyear reform initiative aimed at stimulating the creation of exemplary, state-of-the-art programs at schools of education. Although technology is not expressly listed as a required component of such programs, it is likely that many of the participating institutions will incorporate technology into their reform efforts. A press release, names the four higher education institutions that were invited to submit proposals in April 2002. It also includes additional information on the initiative, which is expected to include several more institutions by 2004.

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