JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY AND TEACHER EDUCATION, V1,N1, 1993 -------------------------------------------------------- >From the Editors: ---------------- Welcome to the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education! With this first issue, the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education (JTATE) joins the growing group of focused journals in educational computing and instructional technology. The Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, an international journal, is a topic-specific outlet for scholarly work that addresses the use of information technology in teacher education. It deals with information technology as a topic of study and as a medium for delivering instruction on other topics in teacher education. It accepts papers that deal with large and small units of analysis. Papers that look at national or international policy issues, for example, are welcome as well as papers that present microlevel analyses of student and teacher behaviors. The Journal is not atheoretical, but it recognizes that no one theory and no one perspective on the appropriate relationship of theory to practice is so well established that it should be adopted as a standard. With that in mind, authors should make informed decisions about theory and practice issues. And in the same vein, the Journal does not prefer one research methodology over another, but methodology is important. The methodology used should be appropriate to the goals of the research and in terms of quality it should reflect, or improve upon, the current standards in the area studied. (For an examination of the field of information technology and teacher education, and the overall scope of JTATE, see "Defining a Field: Content, Theory, and Research," in this issue beginning on page 5.) A decade from now, in the year 2003, we hope all of us will look back on the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education as a publication that, in its first decade, helped define the field of information technology and teacher education. Whether it achieves that goal will, to a great extent, depend on the Editorial Board, contributors, and readers. As you read this first issue, we hope you will begin to think about ways you can advance this field. And when your work bears fruit, we look forward to reading about it in an issue of the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. Jerry Willis and Dee Anna Willis, Editors -------------------------------------------------------------------- Defining a Field: Content, Theory, and Research Issues Jerry Willis Center for Information Technology in Education, College of Education University of Houston, TX 77204, USA Abstract The emerging field of information technology and teacher education (ITTE) can be defined in many different ways. This paper proposes that ITTE be defined through a subject matter focus on the use of information technology, in all its forms, in teacher education. Although all of us prefer certain theories and methods of scholarship, there are many reasons to avoid defining, and thus limiting, the field by defining it in terms of a particular theory or research methodology. We should be thoughtfully eclectic when it comes to theoretical frameworks as well as the way in which theory is developed, used, and modified. We should be thoughtfully eclectic when it comes to methodology. There are many sources of information. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Design and Evaluation of an Interactive Multimedia Program for Teacher Education Kris Bosworth and Thomas M. Welsh Center for Adolescent Studies, School of Education, Room 253 Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA Abstract Teaching With Groups! is an interactive multimedia primer on group process skills for preservice and inservice teachers. This two screen program, developed using HyperCard, is targeted for national distribution. The conceptual basis for the program includes using contextual modelling of classroom situations, multiple perspectives on examples, and teacher verbalization of their thoughts during activities. The program was designed to bridge the gap between the classroom and the computer lab. Functions for encouraging the integration of this program with existing preservice teaching curricula include a note-taking and printing facility built into the system. In a pilot evaluation of Teaching With Groups! with 31 preservice teachers, the program contributed significantly to student confidence in facilitating group activities as well as to students' intention to use group activities in their classrooms. This article addresses both the theoretical basis underlying the design of Teaching With Groups! and the results of the pilot evaluation. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Integrating Technology with Elementary Mathematics: Effects of Training and Support Dale S. Niederhauser and Trish Stoddart Department of Educational Studies, College of Education University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA Abstract This paper uses case studies of two public elementary schools to examine differences between how these teachers have implemented computer-assisted mathematics instruction in their classrooms. The two schools have differing views about how technology can be used most effectively for mathematics instruction. Thus, they have adopted different computer software programs as well as different approaches to staff development. The authors discuss how these different approaches have influenced teachers' perspectives about mathematics instruction, their perspectives about the role of computers in instruction, and the impact of computers on their classroom practice. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Relecting Through Technology: A Computer-Laserdisc Model of Cooperative Learning Eunice M. Merideth School of Education Drake University, Des Moines, IA 50311, USA Shahnaz Lotfipour School of Education California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768-4050, USA Abstract This article traces the development and application of IC MODELS, offering a social mode of instruction--cooperative learning--through the technological means of a laserdisc linked to an interactive HyperCard program. The HyperCard program acts as a tutorial about the theory and syntax of cooperative learning, while the laserdisc features classroom scenes of cooperative learning in action, as well as interviews with students and teachers. Simply working through a tutorial on cooperative learning or listening to a presentation about it is not as effective as seeing it. Inservice training with cooperative activities can imitate a classroom in action but cannot replace it or replicate students at a certain grade level. Interactive computer/laserdisc programs, however, can create the environment for active, cognitive learning about a concept even as they project the user into different environments at the click of a mouse. Preliminary research results indicate significant cognitive growth (p<.001) about cooperative learning for preservice education students using the program and a more favorable attitude for those students using a content-focused handout with the program. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Models for a National Public School Computing Network Glen L. Bull Curry School of Education University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA Harold L. Cothern Information Systems Virginia Department of Education, Richmond, VA 23216, USA Connie Stout Texas Education Agency, Austin, TX 78701, USA Abstract Passage of the High Speed Communications Act, resulting in establishment of the National Research and Education Network (NREN), increases the probability of a national education network which encompasses both K-12 education and higher education. The Internet has already become a de facto networking standard for institutions of higher education. Virginia and Texas are among the first states to provide universal access to the Internet for all public school educators as well. Similarities and differences in approaches to establishment of statewide public school computer networks provide models for other states which may be contemplating development of similar statewide systems linked to the Internet. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Effect of Teacher Involvement in Curriculum Development on the Implementation of Calculators Susan E. Willimas, Juanita V. Copley, and Shwu-Yong L. Huang Department of Curriculum & Instruction, College of Education University of Houston, TX 77204-5872, USA George W. Bright School of Education University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC 27412-5001, USA Abstract The integration of technology and mathematics instruction has been advocated by researchers and other leaders in the mathematics community for the past two decades. Numerous studies have shown that calculators are not detrimental to student retention of basic skills, and gains in problem solving are evident. Activities have been developed to assist the teacher, but the pace of actual implementation of the technology has been extremely slow. Research in curriculum development without technology suggests that implementation of innovative changes often results in disappointing outcomes when teachers are not involved in the development of the innovation. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in the classroom implementation of calculators between teachers involved in the writing of calculator curriculum and those merely provided the technology and the developed activities. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cooperative Participation in a Computer-based Teaching Simulation Harold R. Strang Department of Educational Studies, Curry School of Education University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA Maureen Hoffman Thomson Elementary School, District of Columbia Public Schools Washington, DC 20005, USA Marcia Abide Department of Educational Studies, Curry School of Education University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA Abstract This 2-year project addresses the efficacy of allowing preservice teachers to collaborate during a computer-based simulated teaching experience. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to determine whether the cooperative teaching experience offered benefits in skill training and/or implementation efficiency over a standard individual teaching experience. The findings suggest that practice with the simulation facilitated future performance. However, simply allowing subject pairs to complete the simulation simultaneously did not necessarily yield skill-training benefits. Factors including the simulation's physical configuration, participant rapport, and individual communication styles appeared to mediate how the assignment condition impacted skill learning. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The English National Curriculum and the Information Technology Curriculum for Teacher Education Brent Robinson Department of Education University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QA, UK Abstract England is currently experiencing unprecedented Government legislation aimed at reforming the national education system at several levels. This has direct and indirect implications for the technological education offered to student teachers. This paper outlines existing legislation aimed at teacher educators in England and discusses the ways in which information technology is currently delivered in initial teacher education. The views of teacher educators on core and permeation models of delivery are presented. The paper then discusses the National Curriculum which has been imposed on schools and the ways within it in which schools have been called upon to include technology. Some examples from different curricular areas are given together with examples from the specific information technology curriculum. The point is made that information technology is expected to permeate all subjects within the National Curriculum. The resultant skills which are now required of teachers are identified. The paper then considers the implications of technology in the National Curriculum for teacher education, suggesting that a permeation model reflecting school practice is appropriate. The problems with a permeation model are presented and teacher education at Cambridge University is given as an example of the model in practice. The paper draws attention to the problems schools are having in implementing technology and what this means for teacher education in technology which is school based. T he paper concludes with an overview of the most recent legislative changes to teacher education forcing it to become more school-based. It discusses the problems this will create for the technological training of new teachers and suggests some of the ways in which teacher educators and classroom teachers will have to work together to ensure that information technology can be put to really effective use in English schools. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Collaborative Readings of Hypermedia Cases: A Report on the Development and Testing of Electronic Portfolios to Encourage Inquiry in Teacher Education Brian Reilly and Glynda Hull School of Education University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA Cynthia Greenleaf The HERALD Project San Francisco, CA 94116, USA Abstract Case methods of instruction have recently begun to play a role in the education of teachers. Typically written as narratives, cases often describe a classroom situation relevant to the practice of teaching, and serve as starting points for discussion about theoretical issues bearing on teaching and learning. We have developed software which assists in the construction of interactive, hypermedia cases, and used this software to build cases using qualitative data from a long-term research project on "remedial writing" at the college level. Our cases are collections of student writing, interviews, commentaries, and source texts, and are available in print, image, audio, and video formats. Unlike most cases, ours are designed as intellectual puzzles, which readers are free to read, re-read, browse, listen to, and expand. The unconstructed nature of our hypermedia cases seems to encourage inquiry and reflection throughout the process of reading by facilitating the development of a collaborative work space. This collaborative space is constructed by the readers of the case as they negotiate their way through the variety of materials available to them. ------------------------------------------------------------------- A Computer-based Physics Curriculum and Instruction Course Janice E.J. Woodrow Department of Mathematics and Science Education University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6T 1Z4 Abstract The integration of computer technology and the teaching of physics was adopted as the basis for the development of a Physics Curriculum and Instruction course. The course was designed for physics majors, most of whom enter the course with at least a modest degree of computer literacy. Computer technology is used in the course in three ways: as a supplement to the presentation of the lecture component, as an instrument of physics classroom instruction both in the theory and the laboratory components of the curriculum, and as a professional tool. The computer is used in some fashion in virtually every meeting of the class, either by the instructor or by the students. On the basis of three years of trial and development, it appears that the approach adopted promotes favorable attitudes toward use of computers in teaching physics. ==================================================================== .