Instructional Media & Technology

1. Instructional Media & Technology Tweed W. Ross Kansas State University twross@ksu.edu

2. Einstein Alive and Well • “Problems cannot be resolved at the same level of consciousness that created them.”

3. Setting the Discussion • Most pre-service teachers throughout the country take one or more ICT courses. • These courses vary considerably and are developed to meet complex local contexts and needs. • Research on the effectiveness of these courses in student teaching experiences and on the job is spotty.

4. Defining our Context • Instructional Media & Technology is a two credit hour required course. • Generally taken early in the professional program at COE-KSU. • 300+ students per semester in an on-line environment. • One tenured faculty + 3 graduate assistants • “Use technology to teach technology.”

5. K-State College of Education Environment • No computer lab classrooms. • Mobile computer labs. • Completely wireless for 4 years. • Checkout laptops (Macs) for student use. • Extensive in house faculty and IT support. • Some classrooms equipped with advanced technology-portability equipment for the others.

6. Outside Driving Forces • State licensing. • NCATE. • COE-KSU Conceptual Framework. • Charlotte Danielson, Framework for Teaching. • ISTE.

7. Personnel Driving Forces • Tenured faculty perceptions. • Inability to find faculty or graduate assistants with technology skills AND classroom experience. • Students with new skills and attitudes the embrace technology to-- • Communicate. • Access information. • Share. • K-12 environment changing

8. Course anomalies • Entirely on-line. • Only one face to face meeting for orientation. • Three tests • Efforts to insure test security. • Students can take test as anytime in the semester. • Contain two parts: randomly generated multiple choice + skill demonstration. • Course is asynchronous • Students can complete the course in anytime frame they choose prior to the end of the semester. • Seat time is not a factor. • Student maturity and time management are factors.

9. What We Know • Employer perceptions • Modest satisfaction • Technology to meet local environmental needs, application software, and level of sophistication. • Student perceptions • Ross & Wissman (2001) Redesigning Undergraduate Technology Education, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education 9(2), 231-44. • OEIE (2002) Technology Use in COE Methods and Clinical Courses, Manhattan, KS. • Center for Extended Studies/OEIE (2002-2004) Undergraduate Program Evaluation.

10. What We Don’t Know • How to insure that all students are able to ISTE NETS*T in: • Their methods classes. • Their supervised teaching experiences in our PDS schools. • Their actual classroom experience. • How to reach out to different non-KSU campus environments, particularly in SW Kansas. • Insure methods faculty have the technology skills to effectively evaluate and guide student technology in technology-rich content teaching experiences.

11. Changing Models of Perception=Unresolved Complex Issues • University courses undefined by clock hours. • On-campus classes offered to off-campus students. • Ownership and portability of course materials in a world where universities compete for students. • Defining success in a ways that do not rely on student relativity.