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Listening to our teachers
Yael Nissan
Listening to Our Teachers: The Role of Needs Analysis
in Teacher In-Service Training
Since the introduction of computers into education,
research investigating people's attitudes toward computing and technology
has become increasingly prevalent.In the last 15 to 20 years, a wealth
of information has been amassed concerning how students and teachers relate
to, feel, and think about computers and computing (Schnackenberg &
Savenye, 1997).However, very little research has explored how teachers
are being trained to utilize these new technologies.Schrum (1995) states
that "introducing information technologies to practicing teachers
is a non-trivial task" and that "teacher education institutions
and schools in general have not done enough to support and encourage a
thoughtful use of technologies to enhance the teaching and learning process."
While some research has been conducted on teacher
in-service training and staff development involving technology training
(Gilmore, 1995; Ryba, Anderson, & Brown, 1992), most of these studies
have involved the evaluation of the effectiveness of an implemented program.While
this type of research is crucial, front-end analyses are equally important
in implementing professional teacher in-service programs.Chin and Hortin
(1993) state that "in designing any technological in-service training
program, thorough planning must be done first." Chin and Hortin's
(1993) assertion illustrates the necessity for the occurrence and implementation
of front end, or needs analysis, in the process of developing teacher in-service
training in the integration of technology into education.
In an attempt to make educated decisions about "what
should happen next," a group of developers/researchers from Concordia
University , in partnership with a schoolboard in Quebec, have undertaken
a needs analysis as part of the process of developing effective teacher
in-service training for integrating technology into education.
Prior to the formulation of data collection instruments
for the needs analysis, both parties (the schoolboard and the university
team) agreed to the terms and conditions under which data collection would
take place.More importantly, the types of information sought were discussed
among both parties, thereby establishing a working partnership and equal
investment on behalf of each partner.
Development of data collection instruments was undertaken
by the university team using a creation-revision process to ensure quality
materials.Data were collected from school administrators and from approximately
20 teachers from two elementary schools via small focus groups and anonymous
surveys.All data collection measures inquired about the present use of
technology, the degree of integration of technology into teaching, and
the level at which integration would optimally occur.
At present, data is being compiled and will be studied
in order to make recommendations for future teacher training on the integration
of technology into teaching.The presentation based on this proposal will
include the data collection instruments, data collection process, compiled
data, and recommendations for a technology integration workshop based on
the collected data.
Chin, S. & Hortin, J.A. (1993).Teachers' perceptions
of instructional technology and staff development.Journal of Educational
Technology Systems, 22(2), 83-98.
Gilmore, A.M. (1995)Turning teachers on to computers:
Evaluation of a teacher development program.Journal of Research on Computing
in Education, 27(3), 251-269.
Rossett, A. (1987).Training Needs Assessment.New
Jersey: Educational Technology Publications.
Ryba, K., Anderson, B., & Brown, M. (1992).Computer
in-service training for teachers: A collaborative whole school approach.Computers
in New Zealand Schools, 4(2), 5-11.
Schnackenberg, H.L. & Savenye, W.C.(March, 1997).Preservice
teachers and the future of computers in education.Paperpresented at the
annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association; Chicago,
IL.
Schrum, L. (1995).Educators and the internet: A case
study of professional development.Computers in Education, 24(3), 221-228.
Students
at risk & EdTech
Cindy Katz (553-2)
Students At-risk and Educational Technology
Students at-risk of dropping out or who are performing
at a relatively low standard have become an increasing phenomena in the
United States (Norris, 1994).Alternatives to regular teaching practices
are currently being developed and evaluated.The "computer age"
is upon us, and technology is a major focus of the current research on
improving the learning context for the at-risk student.
An increasing body of evidence suggests a decline
in achievement test scores and an upward shift in school dropout rates
(Norris, 1994).This is indicative of the fact that the educational system
in the United States is not meeting the needs of all its students. The
focus for considering the effectiveness of technology in the classroom
for low-achieving students is one of utmost importance and urgency.The
youth of today represent the leaders of tomorrow.Therefore, evaluating
and implementing programs that address their needs and areas of weakness
should be of concern to all members of society,and especially to members
of the educational system.
A major determinant of effective software for at-risk
students is one which takes into consideration the pupils' psychological,
social and educational needs(Braun, 1993).If a student is experiencing
difficulties in school, he/she is vulnerable to any situation in the learning
environment that will lower or elevate his/her self-esteem.An at-risk student
can be experiencing a variety of problems simultaneously.Thus, the way
he/she is taught will have a major impact on his/her motivation and level
of effort.If previous practices have not been successful with this type
of student, other methods of teaching need to be considered.
Research has shown that the curriculum and teaching
of successful programs for at-risk students need to be individualized,
have clear objectives, have prompt feedback, concrete evidence of progress,
and place the student in an active role. (Whelage, Rutter, and Turnbaugh,
1987).
Technology is by no means the answer to all educational
ills.It is a useful tool that can be used to supplement current teaching
practices or can be considered when other forms of instruction have not
been successful. Students at-risk often respond positively to different
teaching strategies and methodologies (Norris, 1994).Technology offers
students who are at-risk due to a history of disruptive behavior, poverty,
unemployment, learning disability, or a host of other negative conditions
an opportunity to move beyond the circumstances that plague them.Being
classified at-risk, these students simply need creative, more individualized
and flexible learning environments, which can be customized to accommodate
their unique areas of weakness.
This proposal is for a research paper to be discussed
in round table format.The author will give symposium-goers an opportunity
to share their experiences in the area of students at-risk and technology.Students
at-risk will make up a large part of classrooms in the future, as will
technology.The combination of these two factors in classrooms must be explored
if education is to remain effective. As such, the theme of this round table
discussion directly relates to the theme of of the 6th Annual Concordia
University Education Department Student Symposium, Beyond the Classroom:
Education for a New Millenium.
Sailing
the Curriculum
Valerie Sabbah
Sailing the Curriculum Ship Together on the Technological
Sea
Technology continues to rock the anchored ship called
"curriculum", and as each wave hits, skepticism, confusion and
fear can set into the hearts and minds of elementary school teachers, who
see their students willingly jump overboard into this ocean of endless
learning. Teachers may feel they must make a choice: walk the plank and
drown, or take a deep plunge and learn to surf with their students.
The MEQ has allocated money to elementary schools
for hardware to support their school technology plans. Meanwhile, schoolboards
are scrambling to provide training via pedagogical days along with some
forms of online support. I asked myself: What are teachers to do with all
of this? How are they to learn to use technology effectively? What kind
of support do teachers need to get their feet technologically wet? What
cyber sharks are they afraid of? In a sea of learning via analytic, expressive,
reflective and explorational technology, how can teachers possibly keep
up with their eager students, who have nothing BUT time on their hands
to explore? Within the walls of the elementary school classroom, teachers
are faced with the challenge of finding ways to swim with their students
as they glide towards the power of technology. The only problem is the
feeling of isolation that is felt as teachers watch their students dive
in without them. As they try to keep up, teachers may not be using their
most essential resources -- their own creative wits and experience in tandem
with other teachers.
As a graduating Education student who believes technology
has a valuable place in the classroom, I pondered these questions and wanted
to see what inservice teachers had to say. So, I created and conducted
a survey at the 1997 PAPT/PACT conference and discovered some hopeful,
yet disturbing, results.
I invite you all to come and share in what I have
uncovered in my search for some possible answers as I will eventually join
you on this ship called "curriculum". I don't know about you,
but I hope and plan to dig that anchor out with you and sail with the winds
of technology to learning worlds which await all of us. I have a few ideas
about how we might broach this. Come join in them with me.
Virtually
Our Selves: Creatively Inhabiting Cyber-spaces for Intergenerational Collective
Learning in Education
Lauren Aslin, Sywia Bielec, Geoffrey Hipps, Tania
Marchitello, Jody Murray, Valerie Sabbah
Amethyst, BuzzingB, Code<E>, Drusilda, Lumento,
Lazuli, MudPuppy,Oni Mnemonic, Romany, Sentinel, Spin, //Slash
The current educational trend is towards the integration
of technology into the classroom. However, this imaging, imagining, and
telecommunicational technology takes curricula beyond the walls of the
classroom -- it may take curricula into the realm of psyches, solo and
collective. When technology as a reflective, analytic, explorational, emotive,
and expressive medium is added to traditional forms of curriculum, there
is more than an electronic exchange of cognitive information - there may
be a nexus of emotion and cognition, a meeting place of pedagogy and educational
psychology. Are we, as teachers and researchers, prepared for this advent?
We ask you then:
What if?
What if a Kindergarten, Grade 3 and Grade 7 class
(from different schools), their teachers, five preservice teachers, and
two graduate students were to connect creatively through cyber spaces to
work on a project, to exchange ideas and information mutually using multiple
cyber names to represent themselves to one another and to themselves? What
might happen? What if a vivisystem (Keely, 1994), a technologically-enhanced
living human collective were born?
Kyrie, A Liaison !
To undertake this "Community Learning Project",
supported financially by a POIP Grant, an intergenerational learning community
was formed in a liaison among three schools (one elementary, one highschool,
one university) and seven Concordia Education students. The computer-mediated
conferencing system supporting this multi-age learning community is SoftArc's
graphical e-mail system, FirstClass, which enables the sending of picture
messages as well as of text messages, and which permits the use of colours,
differing signature fonts, type sizes, and so on -- all of which may be
used creatively to shade text messages to mirror the human emotions embedded
in human thoughts expressed, shared, on-line.
You and I, and collective entity: We
As these Concordia students met on-line and off-line
to plan and to explore their participation and mentoring in this distance
education project, they found themselves forming and experiencing their
own learning community to support this larger learning community project.
They found themselves becoming a cogent group of persons, a collective,
generating their own definition of what a learning collective is and should
be: Sharing relationships with one and another in a safe environment where
risk-taking and honesty, which define authentic learning, exist, are promoted,
and are explored together. Through the process of this powerful experience,
this group of students started to ask themselves:
The possibilities and the perturbations....
What if learning were all about connection -- by
voice, eyes, ears, modem, tcp-ip, text, smell, touch? What if any student
could communicate in multiples of ways with any other student of any age?
What if learning could be emergent voyages into one another's psyches?
What if school subjects or learning projects or class lesson plans could
become shared metaphors for the discovery of one's self, one's thoughts,
one's vocation, and for the discovery of, respect for, and delight in others
as in one's self? What if learning could be transformational, and what
if technology with its attendant cyber spaces were a modus operandi that
could enable and enhance this? Please join us and share our experiences,
thoughts, and questions about this project and our participation in a "Cyber
Community Learning Project", where we may dare to be virtually our
selves.
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