Computer Literacy for Elementary Teachers

Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, the lead school in Region I of the 
IBM Educational Consortium, is using the hardware and software that was 
received through the teacher preparation grant for the benefit of both 
pre-service and in-service teachers.  Pre-service teachers are involved in 
the use of computers for educational purposes through their enrollment in 
the course entitled "Computer Literacy for Elementary Teachers."  A number 
of education faculty have taken advantage of the grant and have integrated 
the use of computers into their classrooms. 

Graduate students have also continued to be actively involved in the use 
of the grant materials.  A team of six graduate students have worked with 
Professor Brian Monahan on a project involving the use of Logo in the K-8 
curriculum.  The project began with a thorough review of the research on 
the use of Logo and drew the conclusion that the results of that research 
are mixed.  To help the team assess the current status of Logo use in the 
classroom, a survey of practicing teachers was conducted as part of Iona's 
Summer Institute in Educational Computing.  The results of that survey 
suggest that those teachers who use Logo are highly committed to it.  
Those that do not, fail to do so because they lack the training or access 
to the facilities.  

The results of the project were presented at a meeting of the local Phi 
Delta Kappa chapter, who helped fund the research project.  An article 
based on the project will be published in Educational Technology magazine.  

For more information on this project, contact: 
Brian Monahan
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
Iona College
New Rochelle, NY, 10801
(914) 633-2461

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