Communities of Designers: Transforming a Situation into a Unified Whole

A new player, digital technology, has entered into the already variegated and often contentious world of teaching and teacher education. This new player promises to disrupt existing practices in some as yet undefined way. It is not surprising that its eventual impact on learning or on educational equity is uncertain, when there is still great uncertainty around basic questions such as which digital tools ought to be considered or what they cost. The previous chapters in this book make a major contribution to the conversation about (digital) technology in education. They address three large questions: How should we integrate technology into learning? What happens when we do? How do we learn to do it (possibly better than before)?published or submitted for publicationnot peer reviewe

Preparing Tomorrow\u27s Teachers to Teach with Technology: Getting Past \u3ci\u3eGo\u3c/i\u3e in Science and Mathematics

We are teacher educators (in elementary science and mathematics) who are enthusiastic about technology as a teaching tool—though it is as new to us as it is to our university colleagues. We recently led a United States Department of Education Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant project entitled TechLinks. In an effort to encourage peer faculty members to connect methods instruction with current technology initiatives (namely the International Society for Technology Education [ISTE], 2000, and the National Council on Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], 1997), TechLinks provided faculty fellowships–$1,000 for equipment and materials and a technology assistant who provided just-in-time learning for up to six interested faculty members each year. This development money helped to generate a community of teacher educators who not only began to appreciate the power of teaching with technology but recognized new-found confidence in technology knowledge and skills. As members of this group ourselves, we developed a number of ideas for integrating technology into science and mathematics methods courses. We created a number of course assignments that incorporated technology teaching applications–helping future teachers learn about good science and mathematics teaching methods and new technology tools simultaneously. This article is intended to share examples of successful technology applications with others and to propose the usefulness of the Flick and Bell (2000) guidelines

Preparing Tomorrow\u27s Teachers to Teach with Technology: Getting Past \u3ci\u3eGo\u3c/i\u3e in Science and Mathematics

We are teacher educators (in elementary science and mathematics) who are enthusiastic about technology as a teaching tool—though it is as new to us as it is to our university colleagues. We recently led a United States Department of Education Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant project entitled TechLinks. In an effort to encourage peer faculty members to connect methods instruction with current technology initiatives (namely the International Society for Technology Education [ISTE], 2000, and the National Council on Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], 1997), TechLinks provided faculty fellowships–$1,000 for equipment and materials and a technology assistant who provided just-in-time learning for up to six interested faculty members each year. This development money helped to generate a community of teacher educators who not only began to appreciate the power of teaching with technology but recognized new-found confidence in technology knowledge and skills. As members of this group ourselves, we developed a number of ideas for integrating technology into science and mathematics methods courses. We created a number of course assignments that incorporated technology teaching applications–helping future teachers learn about good science and mathematics teaching methods and new technology tools simultaneously. This article is intended to share examples of successful technology applications with others and to propose the usefulness of the Flick and Bell (2000) guidelines

Teaching Security Defense Through Web-Based Hacking at the Undergraduate Level

The attack surface for hackers and attackers is growing every day. Future cybersecurity professionals must have the knowledge and the skills to defend against these cyber attacks. Learning defensive techniques and tools can help defend against today’s attacks but what about tomorrow\u27s? As the types of attacks change so must the cybersecurity professional. The only way for the cybersecurity professional to achieve this nimbleness is to understand the structural anatomy of the various attack types. Understanding the threat environment is the key to future success. Security defense through offensive techniques should and can be taught at the undergraduate level. Using the OWASP Mutillidae project [5], students can have a self-contained, sandbox environment for dissecting and discussing cyber attacks

Faculty development to help preservice educators model the integration of technology in the classroom: perspectives from an action research case study

This action research case study focuses on faculty development and finding better ways to educate the faculty in modeling technology in their classroom and in their curriculum. Three School of Education faculty members and the Director of Instructional Technology Services at a small, Midwestern, liberal-arts university teamed together using participatory action research to study their practice with hopes of coming to an understanding of ways to remove some barriers to technology literacy and pedagogical issues. Three articles suitable for publication make up the body of the study. Article one is a review of literature in the field of faculty development, media centers, modeling technology, and action research. It describes what is currently happening at other schools pertaining to faculty development strategies. Article two tells the story of three faculty participants\u27 views on modeling technology in the classroom and their cyclical evolution of technology modeling throughout the duration of the study. Simple, effective tools designed to provide technology literacy instruction are described. Article three describes a study of the personal practice of the instructional technology services director at a small, Midwestern, liberal-arts university. It provides insight into his evolution in teaching philosophy as he struggled with his concept of technology literacy instruction while searching for better methods of providing faculty development in that area. The cyclical nature of the participatory action research model he utilized assisted him in improving his practice and in developing an effective educational environment for his clients; the faculty. Barriers related to faculty use of technology in the classroom are explored and ways to help remove these barriers are suggested. Discussed in all three articles is the field of change theory and the concept of people\u27s perspectives and how they deal with innovations and change

The dance of sustaining technology innovations in teacher education: case of an award-winning program

This case study investigated the strategies, challenges, and leadership requirements for sustaining technology innovations in Iowa State University\u27s (ISU\u27s) teacher education program (TEP). In 1999, ISU\u27s TEP was granted 1.4 million dollars to renew pedagogy and practice in teacher education with technology. A qualitative case study approach was used to describe and analyze the process of sustaining technology innovations in teacher education. Activity Theory Framework (ATF) and Rogers Diffusion of Innovation Theory (R\u27DIT) were complementary theoretical lenses used to analyze this case study. Thirteen participants from five constituencies supporting teacher education were interviewed. Interview data were triangulated with evidence from document analysis and on-site observations carried out by the researcher.;Three major strategies for sustaining technology were identified from this study: (1) educating and supporting in-service teachers and teacher educators in using and integrating technology in their courses, through mentoring, course and curricular redesign, as well as co-curricular activities; (2) collaborative teamwork and partnerships among stakeholders across the five constituencies supporting teacher education; and (3) strong support from key personnel including administrators and master teachers.;Five major challenges also were identified as impacting the process of sustaining technology innovations in teacher education. They were time and funding, people, lack of resources, lack of support, and policy changes. These challenges mirrored the challenges found in the literature.;Finally, several characteristics of leaders capable of sustaining technology innovations in teacher education were identified. These characteristics were a goodness of fit with the literature reviewed on leadership and included being knowledgeable about technology and teacher education, visionary-building a shared vision, a systems thinker capable of seeing the big picture, a team player and team learner, strong communicator, good listener, ethos builder paying attention to organization climate and culture, thick-skinned as well as paying attention to community-building efforts, including formal and informal celebrations. The results of this in-depth case study provides valuable information not present in the literature on sustainability, with extensive detail of what makes an award-winning teacher education program succeed at sustaining technology innovations and it sets the stage for the development of an ecological model for sustainability

The University of Tennessee fifth year teaching program in a small rural school system

Teacher preparation institutions across the country are being scrutinized for the quality of the teachers completing their training programs. This study focuses on one specific group of students completing The University of Tennessee fifth year teacher preparation program. The participants in this study are the interns preparing in a small rural school system identified as the K - 12 Rural Schools Teacher Preparation Program. This study examined the preparedness for the present teaching position being held by the former teaching interns. The literature review, the intern survey and follow up interviews provided data on preparedness for the present teaching position and the factor having the most influence on their present practices in the classroom

The Importance Of Technology Usage In The Classroom, Does Gender Gaps Exist

A decade ago, access to technology was limited and wiring schools was one of the nation's highest education priorities (NCREL, 2005). Ten years of substantial investments have vastly improved this picture. According to the Secretary's Fourth Annual Report on Teacher Quality, virtually every school with access to computers has Internet access (99%), compared to only 35 percent of schools in 1994, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (Parsad & Jones, 2005). The Office of Technology Assessment report to Congress in 1995 stated that "Technology is not central to the teacher preparation experience in most colleges of education. …most new teachers graduate from teacher preparation institutions with limited knowledge of the ways technology can be used in their professional practice" (Office of Technology Assessment, 1995). The report, in which this statement appeared, titled Teachers and Technology: Making the Connection, was a wake-up call, and over the past years, much remunerative progress has been made. Many states are attempting to address educators’ technology skills through the creation of teacher or administrator standards that include technology; as of 2003, 40 states and the District of Columbia have such standards (Ansell & Park, 2003). A number of states have adopted technology requirements for initial licensure. For example, 13 states require teachers and/or administrators to complete technology-related coursework, and nine require them to pass technology-related assessments. In addition, a number of states have implemented policies to improve veteran teachers’ technological skills (Ansell &Park, 2003). Addressing the issues of technology integration into the curriculum, the Maryland State Department of Education’s (MSDE) PT3 consortium infused technology into the state's teacher education programs in three ways. First, the consortium used the Maryland Teacher Technology Standards to redesign both arts and sciences and education courses so they incorporate technology-related knowledge and skills. The Maryland Teacher Technology Standards included learning outcomes and, core learning goals and skills for success; it also specifies what students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade need to know and be able to do in English/Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The Maryland State Department of Education (1999) provided expectations for how technology can and should be used to support student learning and instruction. Second, the group developed performance assessments in order to measure the technological competence of teacher candidates. Third, the consortium developed a system for electronic portfolios that incorporates a student teacher's technology performance assessment. These portfolios can be made available to future employers to demonstrate technology-related proficiency. The consortium is statewide and diverse, including several public universities and two communities. According to a report titled, Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age (AAUW, 2000), Washington, DC; as violent electronic games and dull programming classes turn off increasing numbers of adolescent girls, the way information technology is used, applied, and taught in the nation’s classrooms must change. Furthermore, commensurate with rapid changes in technology, a remarkably consistent picture emerges: more boys than girls experience an early, passionate attachment to computers, whereas for most girls attachment is subdued. Margolis and Fisher (2002) reported that computing is claimed as “male territory” very early in life: from early childhood through college, computing is both actively claimed as “guy stuff” by boys and men and passively ceded by girls and women. Society and culture have linked interest and success with computers to boys and men. In the words of Margolis and Fisher (2002), “curriculum, teachers’ expectations, and culture reflect boys’ pathways into computing, accepting both assumptions of male excellence and women’s deficiencies in the field” (p. 4). Social expectations towards educational leadership in academic and economics terms depend on the integration of technology in every facet of society. The American family survival depends on the abilities and incomes of all adults. The type of technical skills needed to be creative and to survive in the job market escalates daily. Educational leaders must be aware that gender equity among middle school students with respect to the use of computer technology should be grounded in the development of programs that not only address the educational aspect of schools, but also allow students to develop their appreciation for, and understanding of the interrelationship among computer usage, careers, and values. With the implementation of such programs, schools could operate as equalizers for the sexes regarding computer competency and attitudes. Educational leaders have the ability to direct resources to show how computer technology may release the creative impulse in children and allow them to think and learn. Educators need to link the curriculum and technology with student interests. Both male and female students use computer applications that can be linked to the educational setting, such as word processing, Internet, completing homework, reports, and projects, as well as communication through email, self-expression, and personal interest. Educators who are developing these programs must understand how girls lose interest in technology and recognize the different learning styles of each gender. The role of training district school teachers to effectively utilize computer technology within the classroom is important if strides are to be made in supporting girls and women in choosing computer-related careers and using computers as a medium of expression. Institutions of higher education would provide opportunities and hold the responsibility of reviewing the technical construction of each teacher’s plan. Educational leaders will meet frequently with university representatives to review, discuss, record experiences, develop, modify, and evaluate plans and performances to ensure that teachers receive the training necessary to instruct all students utilizing appropriate computer technology. Degree attainment, certification, and re-certification should be linked to the variation of experiences, the structure, depth, detail, and impact of the program developed by the practitioner in consultation with representatives from higher education and the school district. Partnerships with local school districts and institutions of higher learner should be established to develop programs, which incorporate many of the tenets discussed above