ERIC Identifier: ED424212
Publication Date: 1998-10-00
Author: Beck, Judy A. - Wynn, Harriet C.
Source: ERIC
Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education Washington DC.
Technology in Teacher Education: Progress Along the Continuum.
ERIC Digest.
Schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) may be placed along a
continuum in their integration of technology. The 1995 Office of Technology
Assessment (OTA) report, "Teachers & Technology: Making the Connection,"
spoke to one end of the continuum when it raised two important points--that
"technology is not central to the teacher preparation experience" and that "most
technology instruction...is teaching about technology...not teaching with
technology across the curriculum" (p. 165). However, the other end of the
continuum has been captured by Pellegrino and Altman in the design dimensions
outlined below. These dimensions illustrate "changing courses and changing
thinking" and provide a conceptual framework to describe the work of Peabody
College at Vanderbilt University (TN) in incorporating technology in teacher
education:
The first design dimension...involves moving students
from consumers and participant observers of technology-based
learning applications to producers of content applications
appropriate for their own teaching.... The second design
dimension...involves the shift of technology
applications from supplementary to central in a given
course's learning activities....The third design
dimension.... represents a gradual and progressive
increase in the sophistication and complexity of the
technology-based applications that students experience in a
course. In part, this dimension captures the fact that over
the length of their teacher preparation program students
mature in their own understanding and sophistication with
respect to content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge,
and knowledge of technology. (1997, pp. 96-99)
This Digest will review preservice student and teacher education faculty use
of technology and SCDE institutional capacity. Several examples of SCDE programs
that have integrated technology into teacher education will be presented and
factors supporting change will be highlighted.
A SNAPSHOT OF SCDE INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY
During the
fall of 1996, a survey on technology was distributed to member institutions
responsible for teacher education programs as part of the American Association
of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) and National Council for Accreditation
of Teacher Education (NCATE) Joint Data Collection System. The study shows a
number of positive aspects of the use and potential use of both basic and
interactive information technologies within teacher education (Persichitte,
Tharp, & Caffarella, 1997). While there is room for improvement in
technology utilization, the idea that schools of education are technologically
bankrupt is not supported. To the contrary, in student use, faculty use, and
institutional capacity, SCDEs are moving forward and in some cases, leading the
way.
PRESERVICE STUDENT USE OF TECHNOLOGY
At 40% of the
responding SCDEs (n=466; 63% return rate), students are required during the
on-campus part of their program to design and deliver instruction incorporating
various technologies. Students at another 50% of the SCDEs are required to
demonstrate the use of at least one technology during their on-campus classes.
At 28% of the SCDEs, students are required to design and deliver instruction
that incorporates various technologies during the student teaching experience.
Almost all institutions provide students accessibility to basic word processing,
spreadsheet, and presentation programs. Students at 57% of the SCDEs have access
to advanced electronic technologies.
As the survey results indicate, trends for using technology in on-campus
classes are positive. However, use of technology does drop off during student
teaching. Schools of education have been encouraged to continue to identify and
implement technology-rich instructional strategies within required preparation
course work.
FACULTY USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Faculty members at 45% of the
SCDEs responding regularly use computers, televisions, and VCRs as interactive
instructional tools during class periods. Faculty members at another 53%
occasionally use some technology to present information during class periods. In
addition, 81% of SCDEs require students to use computer applications to complete
assignments. Faculty use of e-mail is primarily to communicate within the SCDE
(93% of institutions). However, at 67% of responding SCDEs, faculty use e-mail
to communicate with colleagues at other institutions and to collaborate on
projects.
These findings are encouraging as current literature continues to stress the
importance of the use and modeling of multiple technologies by higher education
faculty responsible for the preparation of future teachers. Faculty use
technology to present information during class, to conduct research, and to
communicate with peers.
INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
At the time of the survey, 42% of
the SCDEs responding had classrooms wired for the Internet. Fully 98% of the
institutions reported that they have classrooms with televisions and
videocassette recorders available for instructional purposes. In terms of
planning, 55% of SCDE had budgeted a plan to purchase, replace, and upgrade a
variety of educational technologies, while 38% had a plan but did not have a
supporting budget.
The majority of preservice students have access to some advanced electronic
technologies and software applications. SCDEs generally have well-equipped
classrooms and their information infrastructure is generally part of a budget
plan for purchase, replacement, and upgrades.
PROGRAMS MODEL TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION
Three schools of
education that have been identified as having implemented long-term efforts to
integrate technology throughout their programs are Curry School of Education at
the University of Virginia; College of Education and Human Services, Western
Illinois University; and College of Education, Michigan State University (AACTE,
1998).
CURRY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
In the
mid-1980s the Curry School designated education technology as one strand for
integration throughout the program with the goal of ensuring that preservice
teachers will be prepared to integrate appropriate uses of educational
technologies in their own teaching after graduation, and serve as leaders for
other teachers. The school developed partnerships with local school divisions
and state policy makers as essential elements in the work. Specific programs
include TeacherLink, a regional telecommunications network; Public Education
Network (PEN), one of the nation's first statewide K-12 Internet systems;
CaseNET, a series of case-based courses on the World Wide Web; the Technology
Infusion Project (TIP), pairing preservice teachers with local classroom
teachers; and others. The Curry Educational Technology Center provides support
and resources within the school (Curry School of Education, 1997).
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN SERVICES, WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
The College of Education and Human Services, Western Illinois
University, aided by remarkable success in achieving external and state funding,
developed interactive multimedia laboratories, developed numerous electronic
classrooms, established an instructional video lab and a faculty development
lab, made use of compressed video to link to school districts, established a
distance learning program with a middle school located 90 miles from campus,
developed technology competencies for its teacher education program, redesigned
the curriculum in 12 different courses, and employed instructional designers to
assist faculty in course development (Smith, Barker, Baker, & Dickson,
1996).
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
The College
of Education at Michigan State University designed its technology integration
program to achieve four objectives: (1) to prepare a new generation of K-12
teachers who are able to use technology creatively and critically to enhance
student leaning, (2) to prepare a new generation of teacher educators who are
able to use and model the use of technology to enhance student learning, (3) to
prepare a new generation of educational researchers who are able to investigate
educational uses of technology, and (4) to support K-12 schools in their efforts
to enrich student learning through the use of technology. Michigan State
mobilized top graduate students to support teacher educators and teacher
candidates in integrating technology in their teaching and learning and
established unique laboratories to support research on teaching with technology.
A technology exploration center, authentic assessment of technology competencies
for teacher education students, and implementation of an educational technology
certificate program are a few of the other program components (Michigan State
University, 1997).
SUPPORT FOR CHANGE
The OTA report cited "time, limited
resources, faculty comfort level and attitudes, and little institutional
encouragement for technology use" as barriers to a more integrated use of
technology in SCDEs (1995, p. 187). A group of deans from teacher education
institutions in the northeast cited a similar list in late 1997--with lack of
funding leading the way. Of the 93% of responding institutions to the 1996
AACTE/NCATE survey that have plans for purchasing, replacing, and upgrading
technology, only 55% have budgets for such actions. Up to this point, federal
and state monies that have been made available for educational technology
advancements and professional development have not been accessible to higher
education. The E-Rate discounts do not apply to schools of education or their
libraries. SCDEs are learning to make the case within their own institutions for
technology-related funding and are forming partnerships and consortia to
strengthen resources.
NCATE is in the process of revising its standards for implementation in the
year 2000. Current unit standards reflect recommendations from the International
Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). New standards for the infusion of
technology in teacher education programs and a vision for what skills and
understandings graduating students should bring into the classroom will be a
significant facet of the revisions (NCATE, 1997). As states require more
capability with technology through licensing and certification standards,
schools of education will align programs to produce new teachers able to meet
those requirements.
POSITIVE MOVEMENT ON THE CONTINUUM
The National Commission
on Teaching & America's Future, in its report "What Matters Most: Teaching
for America's Future" (1996), posed this challenge: "Schools of education...need
to model how to teach for understanding in a multicultural context, how to
continually assess and respond to student learning, and how to use new
technologies in doing so" (p. 77). America's schools, colleges, and departments
of education are doing much more to meet that challenge than is commonly
believed. The teachers of tomorrow are being prepared today in environments that
increasingly are infused with technology, moving toward the reality of the 21st
century.
REFERENCES
American Association of Colleges for Teacher
Education. (1998). BEST PRACTICE: INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY AWARD. Press
release. Washington, DC: Author.
Curry School of Education. (1997). THE CURRY SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY STRAND.
Unpublished manuscript, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Michigan State University. (1997). LEARNING AND TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY.
East Lansing: Author.
National Commission on Teaching & America's Future. (1996). WHAT MATTERS
MOST: TEACHING FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE. New York: Author. ED 395 931
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. (1997). TECHNOLOGY
AND THE NEW PROFESSIONAL TEACHER. PREPARING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY CLASSROOM.
Washington, DC: Author.
Pellegrino, J. W., & Altman, J. E. (1997). Information technology and
teacher preparation: Some critical issues and illustrative solutions. PEABODY
JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, 72(1), 89-121.
Persichitte, K. A., Tharp, D. D., & Caffarella, E. P. (1997). THE USE OF
TECHNOLOGY BY SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, AND DEPARTMENTS OF EDUCATION: 1996. Unpublished
manuscript, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Washington,
DC.
Smith, B., Barker, B., Baker., & Dickson, M. (1996). TOOLS FOR TEACHING
WITH TECHNOLOGY. THE WIU APPROACH TO INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO TEACHER
EDUCATION. Macomb, IL: Western Illinois University. ED 404 307
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. (1995). TEACHERS &
TECHNOLOGY: MAKING THE CONNECTION. OTA-EHR-616. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
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