Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education -------------------------------------------------------- SITE News --------- Contents: 1. STATE'S Name Changed to SITE 2. New President-Elect Announced 3. Report on the STATE 94 Conference 4. STATE Conference Awards 5. Two Perspectives from STATE 94 Conference Participants 6. Plan to Attend SITE 95 in San Antonio, Texas STATE's Name Changed to SITE ---------------------------- The announcement was made at the STATE 94 conference; the STATE--Society for Technology and Teacher Education has changed its name to SITE--Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. The primary reason for the change is that often STATE is misconstrued to mean one of the states in the U.S. New President-Elect Announced ----------------------------- Also at the STATE 94 conference, it was announced that Glen Bull, Univ. of Virginia, has become President-Elect of SITE. His term as President will begin in March at the conclusion of SITE 95 in San Antonio, Texas. He will succeed Jerry Willis, the Founder and first President of the Society. Report on the STATE 94 Conference --------------------------------- The Fifth Annual Conference of the Society for Technology and Teacher Education, Models and Methods for the 90s, was held in Washington DC, March 16-19, 1994. With an attendance of about 400, it was easy to meet new people and to renew existing friendships. As the United States moves closer to setting national standards for elementary and secondary education, it becomes increasingly important that teacher educators from across the country meet formally and informally to discuss a multitude of teaching and learning issues. Faculty involved in technology-based learning, a dynamic and vital discipline, have a particular need to meet and to share successes, promises, and pitfalls. The STATE conference has, once again, provided a forum for professional growth in an atmosphere of collegiality. On behalf of all the participants, thank you to the Program Committee, chaired by Jerry Willis, Bernard Robin, and Dee Anna Willis. To the host institutions, Gallaudet University, George Washington University, James Madison University, and the Universities of Virginia and Maryland, thank you for lending us your faculty, students, and audio-visual equipment. It appears the Technology and Teacher Education Annual, 1994, may have set a new record for size, 806 pages. The table of contents organizes more than 300 papers into 17 different categories. There is a comprehensive author listing at the end. Some of the categories are Technology Diffusion, Concepts and Practices, and Diversity and International Perspectives. The general editors, Jerry Willis, Bernard Robin, and Dee Anna Willis coordinated the efforts of 11 associate editors and 17 section editors. Everyone involved in teacher education in the 1990s should own a copy of this large and eclectic volume. Readers who missed the conference may obtain a copy from AACE. The general session on Friday morning featured Edward A. Fitzsimmons, Special Assistant for Education and Training, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President. Mr. Fitzsimmon's topic was "The Second Revolution: Access to Excellence through Information Technology." It was an informative, encouraging, well-prepared and well-delivered presentation. At one point, however, I heard Mr. Fitzsimmons compare teaching teachers to use technology in their classrooms to teaching a hunter to use a gun. Did anyone else catch this statement? Am I alone in feeling discouraged that, even in the highest echelons, educational technology is thought of as a skill or a set of skills? What must we do to make the world at large understand and appreciate the multiple facets of technology in education? Is technology-based learning simply the pencil of today or are we creating new paradigms for learning? If you feel as strongly as I do and have an opinion to share or a solution to proffer, please write. Review by: Trudy Abramson, coeditor 77 Highview Road Suffern, New York 10901-4017 (914) 357 - 2765 One of the most interesting sessions was tilted "Products in Progress: Multimedia, Faculty, and Publishers." This was a commercial session and told a lot about the state of the art. The presenter was Robert Kern from the New Media division of Prentice Hall. What was interesting was to find a well known publisher who was seeking out and encouraging multimedia publishing for education. New Media is serious enough about encouraging educational multimedia publishing that they have been cooperating with MacroMedia to market Authorware Academic for under $150 and an educational version of Director for under $100. Those prices will put powerful multimedia tools into the hands of anyone who is seriously interested in authoring. Another session that showed some of the progress we are making in educational technology was presented by Nichole Leigh Morgan. Nichole's presentation was "Integration of Technology and Education: Distance Learning, A Student's Perspective." She talked about some of the experiences of students in teaching in a distance education setting. But it was Nichole's own comfort level with the technology that showed our progress. She enjoyed working on the system and was looking forward to doing so as a full time teacher. Nichole is an undergraduate at Southwest Texas State University. Our students are coming to us with a more and more sophisticated experience with technology. Nichole is a good example. Robert Mufoletto of the University of Northern Iowa presented a thoughtful session on "The Discourse of Change: Technology and School Reform." He pointed out that "Public education, as a social institution, has historically reflected the dominate 'ways of knowing.' The contemporary school and its modern day curriculum, caught up in the debate on change, reform, restructuring and technology, reflect not only visions, wishes, and concerns, but the interests of those who control the discourse: what is said, who hears it, and who is allowed to say it." The essence of his discussion was that before we jump into reform we need to strip away the rhetoric of the reform slogans and look beneath at the particular causes that are being pushed and who is pushing them because behind all reform there is the issue of who is in control. One of the challenges we face is, after getting technology into schools, is getting it used in schools. Mike Johnson and Jan McMahill reported on a research project that examined the of problems of diffusing technology into schools and getting it used. University faculty and public school teachers cooperated in an effort to introduce multimedia technology and constructivist instructional strategies into the high school classroom. The research is not finished but they presented some interesting preliminary results. One that might seem obvious but that we sometimes forget is that teachers want to see a genuine advantage in increased learning and student motivation. For me, though, the great value of the conference does not stop with the presentations. I personally find that the most interesting part of the conference is meeting people. You can meet people from all over the world at SITE. I even got to dust off my French this year to talk to the editor for Journal du Multimedia in Paris. There was Koroly Fobricz from the JATE University in Szeged, Hungary. He speaks only English to his daughter, had never been to the United States before, makes excellent puns in Englishy. He works with computer translation programs for over 60 languages including Zulu. And Esther Javetz, currently teaching in Michigan. She grew up in a small town in Israel and had some insightful thoughts and experiences in different educational cultures. There was an abundance of individuals with fascinating ideas and interesting conversations. The people in SITE are worth meeting. They are diverse, thoughtful, and stimulating. In closing, we ask our readers to set aside March 22-25, 1995 for the Sixth Annual SITE Conference. It will be held in San Antonio, Texas, a truly beautiful and exciting city. Review by: Dale Hoskisson, coeditor Division of Education and Psychology Valley City State University Valley City, ND 58072 hoskisso@vm1.nodak.edu STATE 94 Conference Awards -------------------------- Best Information Technology Course: A model for using anchored instruction in preservice educational technology classes Jeffrey W. Bauer & Eric R. Ellefsen, Univ. of Northern Colorado & Adele M. Hall, Rutland Public Schools, Rutland, VT Best Use of Information Technology in a Graduate Course: HyperCard based courseware: A tool for facilitating learning in graduate education Julie A. Poage, Dorie E. Munson, Deborah Ransay, & Dennis Conners, Gonzaga Univ., & John Evavold, Columbia Elementary School, Mukilteo, WA Best Professional Practice Paper: Technological competence: Training the teacher Kevin Cawley, Iona College Best Multimedia Teacher Education Program: An interactive media environment to enhance mathematics teacher education Janet Bowers, Linda Barron, & Elizabeth Goldman, Vanderbilt Univ. Best Reading/Language Arts Software: Authentic uses of technology for curriculum planning within a language arts curriculum Kathryn I. Matthew & Nancy L. Williams, Univ. of Houston Best Integration of Technology into Early Childhood Education: Computers and crayons: Training teachers in developmentally appropriate computer use Bernadette M. Caruso, Chris Trottier, & Daniel D. Shade, Univ. of Delaware Best Integration of Technology into Mathematics Education: A computer-based multimedia science education course Janice E.J. Woodrow, Univ. of British Columbia Best Research Paper: Communicating with computer-simulated pupils: The search for feedback patterns Susanne M. DeFalco & Harold R. Strang, Univ. of Virginia Best Conceptual Research Paper: The relationship between teachers beliefs about computer assisted instructoin and their practice Dale S. Niederhauser, Univ. of Utah, & Trish Stoddart, Univ. of California, Santa Cruz Best Analysis and Synthesis Paper: A model for integration of telecomputing in precollege curricula Judith B. Harris, Univ. of Texas, Austin Best State Teacher Support Project: Doing more with less: A cooperative model that works Donna J. Baumbach, Mary Bird, & Sally Brewer, Univ. of Central Florida Best Regional Project: Preparing teacher educators to integrate technology into required courses: WTEG Barbara C. Freeouf, Westchester Education Coalition, & Sandra Flank, Pace Univ. Best National Project: Using technology to enhance geography education: The educational technology leadership institute Sarah W. Bednarz, Texas A&M Univ. Best Integration of Instructional Technology in a Teacher Education Program (tie): The Marietta College model: Integration of content, methods, materials, and technology Dorothy J. Erb & Constance S. Golden, Marietta College A three year plan to infuse technology throughout a teacher education program: Year 3 update Ann Thompson & Denise Schmidt, Iowa State Univ. Outstanding Contribution to the Society: Dee Anna Willis, Univ. of Houston Two Perspectives from STATE 94 Conference Participants ------------------------------------------------------ The STATE 94 conference was held in Washington DC, March 16-19, 1994 and involved almost 200 presentations. The proceedings from the conference, published as the 1994 Technology and Teacher Education Annual consists of 800 pages divided into 17 different topic areas such as: diversity and international perspectives, research in instructional technology and teacher education (ITTE), concepts and procedures, preservice teacher education, hypermedia/multimedia, mathematics, science and social studies, reading and language arts, telecommunications, and many others. While the proceedings document the substance of the conference, they do not convey the impressions or experiences that one takes away from attending such a meeting. We thought it might be interesting to ask a few participants to breifly describe the value of the conference to them. Here are their views: Listening to various presenters at the STATE Conference reminded me of the crucial interdependence between the K-12 community and higher education. For example, those of us working in the K-12 environment seek out college and university courses to update our skills. Although one of the keynote speakers suggested that a master teacher from another century would be equally successful in today's classroom, I would beg to differ. Even though I graduated from college twenty years ago (three-quarters into the present century), new technologies are having such a profound impact on my job that I enrolled in a master's program in educational technology to more effectively meet the needs of staff and students. Communication between school-based educators and those preparing preservice teachers is critical so that these future teachers will be adequately prepared to face the challenges unique to the K-12 setting. I was encouraged by the number of collaborative projects between higher education and K-12 that were described in the sessions. Electronic communication is starting to improve the exchange of ideas and information among educators at all levels. For many K-12 educators, this has been made possible through the generosity of a local college or university sharing its Internet account. Unfortunately, lack of Internet training within our own school districts will continue to be an issue for many K-12 educators, so we will turn to workshops and courses available through higher education. The STATE Conference provided the opportunity of networking in a more traditional sense with fellow students who also attended the conference. Authored by: Sally Ladd, Media Specialist, Oxon Hill High School, Oxon Hill, MD The purpose of the conference was to provide many opportunities to share ideas and expertise about technology and teacher education--preservice, inservice and graduate education in all areas. As a first-time participant I attended this conference with the following objectives as my primary focus: (1) the acquisition of information and teaching strategies that will allow me to enhance and improve technology learning experiences for inservice courses, (2) the acquisition of information regarding future trends and improvements in technology, and (3) the identification and establishment of networks and resources in technology. The Seminars, group discussions and individual chats with attendees and presenters (that included expert technicians to stellar award-winning authors and trend setters) exposed me to many different ideas, plans, and programs. I was able to accomplish all of my intended objectives. STATE 94 focused on the use of technology in higher level education courses, but educators can adapt most of the presented material to curriculum at any level. The possibilities seem limitless. The resources given and the contacts made were not only beneficial, but provided enough ideas and strategies on which to base and modify existing programs in The Atlanta Public Schools. The continued sharing of ideas and experiences_both successful and unsuccessful will enable educators and technicians to work together to develop a classroom environment in which children use technology interactively. Authored by: Joni Newman, Staff Development, Atlanta Public Schools, GA Edited by: Greg Kearsley, George Washington University Plan to Attend SITE 95 in San Antonio, Texas -------------------------------------------- The Sixth International Conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education will take place in San Antonio, Texas, March 22-25th. You are invited to attend. Sessions will address theory, research, and applications of the uses of information technology in teacher education and instruction about information technology at all levels of education and across content areas. The 1995 Conference will feature session strands in specific content areas such as: > Diversity and International Perspectives > Early Childhood/Elementary Ed. > Mathematics Education > Reading and Language Arts > Science Education > Social Studies > Special Education Tours and workshops are planned to focus on the use of technology in the state of Texas. See Call for Papers section in main menu of AACE Information Server for more details. +------+ | AACE | +------+ .