Technology Outreach: Boise State University Boise State University, a metropolitan university serving Southwest Idaho, in association with area school districts has developed a program designed to train teachers in the effective use of technology in the classroom. The districts have found that teacher training is one of the most costly phases of technology implementation. The cost of training rivals that of hardware in getting technology-intensive schools on-line. Training teacher education students before they enter the school system reduces the amount of money that districts will have to spend for training in the future. Area schools are collaborating with Boise State in three areas: software acquisition; training; and research. Considering the amount of time and money involved, it would be financially impossible for Boise State to duplicate software purchases made by area schools. Fortunately, however, when the schools make large software purchases, vendors often provide free copies of their software to the BSU teacher education lab. IBM provided approximately 75 different pieces of software which are used in area districts free of charge. This allows students in the teacher education program the opportunity to see and work with software which is used locally. The department has also created two technology classrooms which simulate the areaÕs technology- intensive classrooms. The classrooms, each of which contain five networked IBM computers, are used by faculty members to teach methods classes. Students are provided with both exposure to software and an opportunity to use it in a setting which is similar to that which they will encounter in the field. As teacher education students become familiar with the software, they can begin sharing their expertise with teachers in the Boise area. In the first of a series of three technology courses, students spend 15 hours helping a teacher in one of the technology-intensive classrooms. One of the most popular assignments for these teacher education students is helping classroom teachers use Linkway to produce electronic reports. The final and possibly most valuable product of the association between the districts and the teacher education department at Boise State is a series of joint research projects. The projects allow both the university and the districts to test and refine new and promising uses of technology in the classroom. In one project, the Army Research Institute wanted to transfer their expertise with asynchronous computer conferencing to public schools. They did this by funding two assistantships, one summer faculty position, and five computers. Computers link two 7th grade English classrooms in different districts. The project is intended to develop techniques for studying literature and culture through computer conferencing. Another objective of the project is for the students to develop skills in writing e-mail messages and to learn appropriate network etiquette. In another project, the university is working with teachers at several grade levels to study the ways in which a computer can be used as an instructional tool. Teachers are using databases and spreadsheets to develop critical thinking skills in the areas of science and social studies. An important goal, in this case, is to train a number of teachers who can, in turn, train their peers. The university and the public schools are working together to ensure that a number of prospective and practicing teachers develop skill and confidence in using technology, university faculty stay current with emerging school practice, and together they advance their understanding of effective applications of technology to promote learning. For more information, contact: Carolyn Thorsen College of Education Boise State University Boise, Idaho 83725 (208) 385-1451 acbthors@idbsu.edu .