National study to examine best ways to prepare new teachers to use technology
Primary Topic Channel: Research
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IU has teamed up with the Granato Group, a Vienna, Va.-based technology consulting firm, to complete the research. The project, called “Leveraging Education Technology to Keep America Competitive,” is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology.
Some ed-tech advocates believe the curriculum and pedagogy of many colleges of education have not kept pace with advancements in technology. The results of IU’s study could help change that.
“To our knowledge, the federal government … [has] never really funded a comprehensive study of how cutting-edge technologies are being used in pre-service education,” said Jonathan Plucker, director of the IU School of Education’s Center for Evaluation and Education Policy and deputy project manager of the study.
Plucker said technological advances have made this a vastly different society. “But a common criticism is that that’s not really changing the way that we teach,” he said. “It’s not changing the way we deliver education. It’s not changing the way that students learn.”
He added: “This study gives us the resources to go out and do a very comprehensive and careful study to figure out if those things are happening.”
The project will produce an overall assessment of technology’s use in the classroom by April 2009. While these final results will help direct federal policy toward technology in education, officials said, a series of white papers issued throughout the length of the project will give educators immediate insight into the issues the work is tackling.
A key part of IU’s research is a national study of how teacher-preparation programs instruct future teachers on how best to integrate technology into their instruction. Another task involves finding the best ways to get such “best practices” information out to in-service teachers.
IU Associate Professor Thomas Brush said the study should provide more structured guidance for education professors to follow when teaching instructional technology. He said professors now only get to compare notes at conferences and in other informal conversations.
“We can use that information both to inform the Department of Education and help [federal officials] in examining more broadly what teacher-preparation programs are doing,” he said, “but also to inform our program at IU and how we can improve the way we prepare our future teachers in Indiana to use technology effectively.”
The study’s broad scope also should provide insights for existing teachers, project organizers said.
“One of the most important things for me is looking at in-service teachers and what they find really meaningful” about technology’s use in the classroom, said IU Assistant Professor Anne Ottenbreit-Leftwich.
The study marks the first real focus on helping to prepare pre-service teachers to use technology effectively during the Bush Administration. A multimillion-dollar federal program called “Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology” existed during the Clinton Administration, but Congress killed the program in 2003 at Bush’s request.
Links:
Center for Evaluation and Education Policy
The Granato Group
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Research on High Performance Technology in Teacher Ed Programs
In the eSchool News announcement about IU & The Gemato Groups new project to study effective technology use in Teacher Education, they were nearly correct saying the no such research has previously been supported by the USDOE during the current GOP Administration. A four-year research project was undertaken and completed at the North Central Regional Laboratory and "Whitepapers" published as outcomes from that work are still available as downloads from these two sources: 1. The NCREL Technology and Education website at http://www.ncrel.org/tech/prep.htm , and the "Innovate Online" website at http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=4 My "objectivity" about them is questionable, because I was a contributor. They are qualitative, ethnographically-oriented "case studies" and hardly qualify as "Educational Science." There is much to be learned from these works completed by NCREL between 2001 & 2004. The pity is that the RELS (as they were then) are only a historical footnote. I hope educators and educational researchers remember and give consideration to NCREL’s legacy of Federally sponsored educational research and development on Technology in Education.
Posted By: bobblomeyer, 2007-11-21 12:17 PM
IU Missed some important existing research on tech in Teacher Ed
Professor Plucker and his colleagues at the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at IU have either missed or forgotton about an important research project titled "Preparing Technology-Competent Teachers for Urban and Rural Classrooms: A Teacher Education Challenge." (Fulton, Glenn, Valdez and Blomeyer, 2002) That study was once available from the NCREL website at this URL: http://www.ncrel.org/tech/prep.htm That particular white paper, and it's six case studies portraying "highly effective" technology in teacher ed programs inlocations serving high-poverty urban and rural populations. (Appalachan St. U., FSU, UT El Paso, UW Milwaukee, Western Il U and Xavier of New Orleans) is no longer available on the NCREL/LPA website. However two other more recent and derrivative white papers are still available there for downloading as PDF's. The original research was subsequently published by the "Innovate" online journal, in an adapted form titled "Effective Technology Integration in Teacher Education: A Comparative Study of Six Programs (Valdez, Fulton, Glenn, Wimmer & Blomeyer; 2004). It's available from Innovate Online: http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=4 The study was originally undertake and completed by what was then the "North Central Regional Educational Laboratory" (NCREL) under a contract with the USDOE as a Regional Educational Laboratory or REL. (2001-2005) eSchool News was correct saying that no such research has previously been supported by the US Department of Ed under the Bush Administration. This study was developed as part of the NCREL REL's "scope of work" under a 2001-2005 contract with the USDOE, but not during the Bush administration. THe study was developed and made one "deliverable in NCREL's 5 year "scope of work" by professional USDOE staff members (not political appointees) during the final year of Bill Clinton's second administration. It was a visionary and challenging project to implement and complete. IT IS NOT EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE. It is based on informationfrom six very thorough qualitative "case studies" that were conducted using "ethnographically-oriented" methods and written in a style commonly employed by mixed-method "policy research." I urge educators who are interested in giving serious consideration to improving the impact of encouraging & suporting pre-service teachers to employ educational technology "effectively" in their classrooms to read it. I also the study team for this new research effort being launched by IU's "Center for Evaluation and Education Policy" and "The Granato Group" to give these publications their consideration, lest they risk reinventing a very costly wheel. Robert L. Blomeyer, Jr. Ph.D. rblomeyer@earthlink.net http://www.blomeyerand clemente.com/
Posted By: bobblomeyer, 2007-11-21 9:40 AM
Pre-service training in technology
All I can say is it's about time! As a technology integration teacher in an elementary school, I have been frustrated and really amazed that I don't see new teachers coming in with any technology training. How can the teacher training colleges and universities omit this piece of the pie? I hope this study has a far-ranging effect on teacher training programs nationwide.
Posted By: lcarroll352, 2007-11-21 9:24 AM
Higher Ed needs to Lead the Way
I applaud the efforts of this study and wish more colleges of education would take the lead in the effort to train teachers to teach with 21st century methodologies. As efforts and resources are being devoted at the district level, it would go a long way in the eyes of our governing entities, school boards and state agencies, to see teacher training programs at the university level, integrate technology and project-based methodologies into their programs. A helpful tool in that endeavor is LoTi (Levels of Technology Implementation - see http://www.loticonnection.com/)
Posted By: sshook, 2007-11-21 9:15 AM
Technology Education to teachers
I am a preservice teacher at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Our Universtiy does an amazing job of making sure that all the preservice teachers are prepared to integrate technology in their teaching. Unfortunately I know that there are many other Universities are not as focused on preparing their students to use technology in their future classrooms. And more than that there are many in-service teachers who I feel are not taking the measures to stay up with the times and my hope for your study is that more teachers will become aware of the need for technology integration in their classrooms.
Posted By: mclareneed205, 2007-11-20 10:58 PM
How will "best practices" be identified?
This study is laudable, and a responsibility that falls within the Dept.of Ed. mandate, but as with the recent Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software study, it will prove difficult to prove anything if insights into relevant factors and parameters are not sufficient, or sufficiently attended. I fear when we read the "results" and "conclusions" of this project we will recognize the persistent limitations of research that either fails to build off existing understandings, or for which there are yet to be developed such understandings. Having recently delivered presentations to both the K12Online2007 and NYSCATE 2007 conferences,and as a participant in technology integrator and coordinator forums, the broad sweep of this teaching art and the broad range of opinions on what constitutes valid practices, let alone best practices is both striking and daunting. Frank Pirrone
Posted By: fpirrone, 2007-11-20 6:31 PM
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We are very successful!
Our School is very successful in teaching our teachers to use the technology and the way that we use it is making huge differences in the learning environment and test scores at our school. If interested in learning more please contact me. Ralph Worrell Associate Director of Instruction Beaufort Jasper Academy for Career Excellence 843-987-8107 ext. 216
Posted By: worrellr, 2007-11-26 7:52 AM