RESEARCH General Education

TEACHER EDUCATION
Technology becoming standard issue for UI teachers-in-training

Craig Chamberlain, Education Editor
(217) 333-2894; cdchambe@uiuc.edu

12/1/2001

Photo by Bill Wiegand Cathy Thurston, director of the Office of Educational Technology in the College of Educatin, is one coordinator of the project that aims to weave technology throughout the teacher-training curriculum.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The past decade brought a rush of technology to education. Many teachers, however, still lack the know-how to use the new tools effectively.

With $3.2 million in funding over the next three years, the College of Education at the University of Illinois is revamping its program to address the need.

The initiative, under way this fall, will complete an effort to weave technology throughout the teacher-training curriculum, as well as provide equipment and support for student teachers and their sponsoring teachers to use technology in their school classrooms.

In addition, the funding will provide technology training and support for almost all the faculty members in the college, and money for continuing research on the effectiveness of various methods.

Only a few years ago, using computers, multimedia and the Internet in teaching was considered novel, said Susan Fowler, the dean of the college. "Now it’s a permanent teaching tool."

The college, she said, is in a good position to take this next step in teacher education. "We’ve been at the forefront in many ways in integrating technology into teaching at all levels."

Faculty, staff and students in the college have developed concepts such as online apprenticeships and interactive papers, and even a Web search engine that caters to classroom needs. They’ve also brought technology skills to more than a thousand Illinois educators through summer workshops, found corporate grants to do the same for a third of the college faculty, developed two online master’s degree programs, and used online mentoring in a program that supports new teachers.

"We’ve had a lot of pretty exciting precursors to this that make it possible, and faculty that are really committed and excited about working with it," said Cathy Thurston, director of the college’s Office of Educational Technology and one coordinator of the project.

The project, dubbed TALENT (for Technology Across Learning Environments for New Teachers), had been planned for several years but lacked the necessary funding. That came this year in the form of a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education – more than $1.5 million promised over three years. It’s matched with more than $1.5 million from the UI, along with additional support from corporations such as Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Microsoft; local school districts and a regional office for the state board of education.

One goal of the project, as with all technology efforts in the college, will be to find and develop technologies and methods that enhance traditional teaching, rather than replace it for the sake of change, Thurston said. "What we’re doing is starting with the kids, starting with the curriculum, and seeing in what ways might technology enhance what we’re already doing in the classroom … finding ways that technology is going to make this experience deeper, better, more diverse, appeal to kids with all different kinds of learning styles, provide resources they don’t already have."