Radical Change in a Traditional Setting: Lessons Learned
PROCEEDINGS
larry grooters, Alan Olson, Gary Thompson, Dale Hoskisson, Dave Bass, Valley City State University, United States
Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, in Nashville, Tennessee, USA ISBN 978-1-880094-44-0 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC USA
Abstract
In an age when change is a norm, lifelong learning a critical mandate for prosperity, and technology a revolutionizing force, transforming traditional education practice is a central theme at Valley City State University (VCSU). Beginning with the distribution of IBM notebook computers to all faculty in January of 1996 and to all students at the start of the 1996-97 academic year, VCSU became the first notebook university in North Dakota and of a small number across the country. With the universal access to notebook computers, the teacher education faculty at VCSU altered teaching and learning significantly. Teacher education faculty can walk into nearly any classroom knowing that they will be able to display presentations developed with PowerPoint, ask the entire class to find resources on the worldwide web, work with on-line courses at any time, and receive e-mail documents which they can display as a basis for class discussion. Technology has provided VCSU faculty in the teacher education unit with tremendous capacity to revolutionize education both on campus and in the public schools. Integration of technology into the elementary education classroom has been a very important goal of the unit the past three years. To help achieve this goal, the VCSU elementary education department has formed partnerships with six other educational entities to strengthen and improve learning with technology. The department is also in the second year of their PT3 Grant that seeks to provide opportunities for VCSU elementary education faculty, preservice teachers and classroom teachers from the Valley City area to work together to integrate technology into their courses and to create a learning community among themselves for the purpose of using technology to improve learning. The grant goals include creating a learning community and developing complex reasoning and problem solving skills. VCSU faculty, K-6 teachers, and candidates participate in collaborative projects designed to develop complex reasoning and problem solving skills. Cooperating teachers representing the various consortium schools collaborate with VCSU faculty and candidates to restructure learning experiences in their classrooms that reflect current best practices for using instructional technology strategies and tools. Another goal prepares elementary education graduates to use technology to help their future students improve learning by developing complex reasoning and problem solving skills. The success of the PT3 grant is a reflection of the direction VCSU has been moving the past eight years. VCSU has been a national leader in instructional technologies and the resources available at VCSU ensure that successful efforts continue and the university will be an example for others to follow. As VCSU has moved in this direction, we have learned many lessons. The collaborative projects have brought a new level of authenticity to the technology training of VCSU students. But this authenticity has required VCSU faculty to be willing to give up control of the learning setting and be willing to share it with the student and the classroom teacher. We have also learned that our students need to know how to be consultants when they work with classroom teachers. The teachers are at varying stages of readiness to integrate technology into their classrooms. Some are already deeply involved while others still feel unprepared. We have sponsored workshops to help the teachers gain skills and brainstorm ideas. We are preparing consultant guides for our students to help them better meets the needs of the teachers, especially those who are in the beginning stages of technology use. Besides the above, this session will include in-depth results of the evaluations of the workshop and collaborative projects and the strengths and challenges the data reveals.
Citation
grooters, l., Olson, A., Thompson, G., Hoskisson, D. & Bass, D. (2002). Radical Change in a Traditional Setting: Lessons Learned. In D. Willis, J. Price & N. Davis (Eds.), Proceedings of SITE 2002--Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 1798-1799). Nashville, Tennessee, USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 6, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/17506/.
