TIE 593 - Seminar in Technology in Education
 
  Course Description
  Artifact
  Reflection
  Standards

Course Description:
This course provides a culminating experience for candidates in Technology in Education program. Emphasis is on current trends and issues, seminal readings, and research findings related to the use of technology in education. Issues related to curriculum planning, program development and evaluation, and staff development at the school and district level will be addressed.
 
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Artifact:
The artifact from this course is Student Computer Use and the Cooperative Learning Model, a research paper that I wrote after observing elementary school students in grades 1-5 in my home school district. Because I so often see students working alone with technology (one student per computer, doing his/her own thing), I wanted to explore the use of cooperative or collaborative groups in a technology-enhanced educational setting. My personal philosophy in education is that collaborative work and collaborative learning can be powerful tools for increasing students' understanding and higher-order thinking skills. My main questions were: Would students benefit when collaborative or cooperative activities are structured around computer use? And how to teachers plan for such peer learning opportunities?
 

Reflection:
The impetus behind the topic I chose for this paper was my own interest in evaluating the quality of computer integration when the quantity of computers is limited. This reflects my own personal philosophy that technology integration in schools does not have to mean each student touches a computer every day. As a technology consultant, I often heard teachers complain that they couldn't use technology in their classrooms because there weren't enough computers for all the students to use. To me, this implies that technology use is an individual and solitary endeavor. I wanted to explore the cooperative or collaborative learning model within a technology-enriched learning environment. I feel that creative means can allow students to have access to computers, even when there are only one, two or three in the room. As more and more schools move toward the computer lab model, and teachers find it increasingly difficult to have just-in-time technology learning experiences, it is important that teachers see that quantity does not always equal quality; or, more accurately, limited quantity does not mean no quality.

This project was personally very interesting for me, because it was an opportunity to observe how technology was being used in my home district. At the time I took this course, my children had not yet entered the public school system. I was able to observe several of the elementary schools and see if and how technology was integrated in the students' learning experiences. What I observed was that one principal or one teacher can make all the difference in how technology is allocated, used and integrated.

 

Standards:
The standards covered in this project include:
  Technology Facilitator Standard One (TF-1.B)
  Educational technology facilitators demonstrate an in-depth understanding of technology operations and concepts.
  This research project, which includes hours spent in observation and teacher interview, reflects a number of the ISTE-TF standards. The first one is the demonstration of in-depth understanding of technology operations and concepts. This paper involved a great deal of research into current studies about the role of cooperative learning in a technology-enhanced setting. This reflects a desire for continual growth in technology knowledge and skills, which is TF-1.B.
   
  Technology Facilitator Standard Two (TF-2.B,D,E)
  Educational technology facilitators plan, design, and model effective learning environments and multiple experiences supported by technology.
  Another area of standards correlation with this artifact is the planning and designing of learning environments and experiences. The focus of the research paper included determining whether cooperative learning models are effective in technology-enhanced classrooms, and how a teacher might structure these learning experiences. This reflects TF-2.B, D and E.
   
  Technology Facilitator Standard Three (TF-3.D, E)
  Educational technology facilitators apply and implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for utilizing technology to maximize student learning.
  Included in this paper are recommendations for teachers to use to increase the collaborative or cooperative nature of their technology learning experiences. These recommendations include: "Use the collaborative features and possibilities within the Internet to expand existing projects or create new ones within the curriculum;" "Seek out software which supports the cooperative learning model;" and "Give teachers more constant access to technology." These are all methods and strategies for utilizing technology to maximize student learning (TF.3) Multiple examples are given in the paper and reflect a number of different software applications and learning models.
   
  Technology Facilitator Standard Four (TF-4.B, C)
  Educational technology facilitators apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies.
  STE-TF.4 addresses the use of technology to facilitate assessment and evaluation. Part of my focus when observing students, was to keep track of students' behaviors when working with technology. I recorded their interactions with others and with teachers. In order to best be able to analyze this data, I used a database to keep track of what I observed. This database allowed me to easily sort and find information and to analyze my data at any time by any characteristic. I was also able to calculate percentages of time spent in each type of interaction and create graphs based on my data. (TF-4.B. and C.)
   
  Technology Facilitator Standard Five (TF-5.B)
  Educational technology facilitators apply technology to enhance and improve personal productivity and professional practice.
  ISTE-TF.5 focuses on the application of technology to improve professional practice. In the course of observing students, speaking with teachers and administrators and analyzing data from surveys and research studies, I was able to formulate ideas for improving professional practice. This evaluation and reflection on the data allowed me to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of student learning (TF-5.B).
   
  Technology Facilitator Standard Eight (TF-8.A,D,E)
  Educational technology facilitators will contribute to the shared vision for campus integration of technology and foster an environment and culture conducive to the realization of the vision.
  This project required me to evaluate and discuss current research in the area of instructional technology (ISTE-TF.8.A). It was a plan which suggested an improved vision for the school, and steps to fostering an environment conductive to the realization of that vision. In order to evaluate the school and make suggestions for the future, I needed to conduct an evaluation of the school's technology environment (TF.8.D), and engage in field-based experiences (TF-8.E).