Technology Integration through Collaboration

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Technology Integration through Collaboration
Innovation PT3

• Joshua Cox
• Aaron Grill
• Joe OBrien, Ph.D.
• Sean J. Smith, Ph.D.
• Steven B. Smith, Ph.D.
• University of Kansas
• http//www.learngen.org/aacte

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Cohorts - Who are They?

• Learning Generation
• Generating new ways of teaching and learning
  through the
• establish Innovation Cohorts
• examination of teaching practice and the use of
  technology.
• Cohorts generally consist of a combination of
• Preservice students
• Teacher Education Faculty
• Practicing K-12 Teacher
• University Faculty
• K-12 student

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Six Step ProcessGenesisConsultationPlanAccepta
nceProductionAssessment
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Genesis

• As a journey of a thousand kilometers begins with
  a single step, the beginning of a great cohort is
  an idea. Often these ideas come from students or
  practicing teachers who look to a faculty member
  in the KU School of Education.

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Consultation

• With an idea or problem to be investigated, or
  with a desire to find an idea, a KU School of
  Education faculty member meets informally with
  Dr. Steven Smith, functioning as a faculty
  liaison. This meeting is to discuss the idea or
  concept, or to help explore a number of ideas in
  the Faculty members field of study, which might
  be appropriate for developing a cohort.

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Plan

• After consultation the interested faculty member
  creates a written plan expressing the ideas and
  proposal for addressing the ideas. This may be
  done with assistance from students or others who
  may eventually become a part of the cohort. The
  general outline for such a plan is

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Plan - continued

• Title
• Brief Abstract
• Purpose/Vision/Need
• Members

• Scope of Work
• Deliverables
• Timeline
• Resources
• Evaluation

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Acceptance

• The plan is submitted to Dr. Steven Smith the
  official faculty liaison who submits the plan to
  the cohort review committee. This committee
  reviews plans, and submits the cohort plan to the
  Project Director who works with the faculty
  member to create a cohort support package.

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Production

• Cohort members meet and work according to their
  plan, with the resources supplied, and according
  to the timeline they established to produce the
  deliverables.
• Documentation (white paper) and product(s) are
  submitted to the LearnGen archive and
  distribution through Learning Generation web site.

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Assessment

• Each cohort assesses its work according to their
  submitted plan.
• This assessment is shared with the Cohort review
  committee with the information serving as a guide
  for future cohorts.

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Technology Integration Group

• Technology Integration Group (TIG)
• Non-cohort technology specialists
• Expertise is varied

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Six Step ProcessGenesisConsultationPlanAccepta
nceProductionAssessment
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A Case Example

• Online Legislative Track between Teacher
  Education High School Students

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A Case Study

• Technology Integrated across a Teaching Kansas
  Government Course
• Participants
• Non-cohort teacher education students
• Cohort faculty member in teacher education
• Cohort K-12 Teacher
• Non-cohort secondary students

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A Case Study

• The teacher education students surveyed high
  school government students' interest in issues
  before the 2000 session of the Kansas legislative
  and used the survey results to select the issues
  and to design a directed web-based search of the
  issues for use by the seniors.

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A Case Study - Product

• The web-based search was created using the Track
  Star program.
• Track Star is a simple to use program that allows
  the educator to select sites on a given topic and
  create a one stop shop for their students.
• The program is sponsored by the High Plains
  Regional Technology in Education Consortium whose
  web site is http//trackstar.hprtec.org.

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A Case Study - TrackStar
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A Case Study - Lessons Learned

• Despite the purpose of the assignment to explore
  the feasibility of electronic collaboration
  between teacher education and high school
  students, the teacher education students still
  felt a need to put a face on the students. The
  use of technology in such a collaborative effort
  needed to make the interaction more real,
  spontaneous, meaningful, and timely.

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A Case Study - Lessons Learned

• Our use of instructional technology came across
  at times as confusing and frustrating. This was
  due to our limited experience with certain types
  of technology, a limited support system, the
  newness of such an assignment, and the teacher
  education students' lack of familiarity and
  experience with instructional technology.

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A Case Study - Lessons Learned

• The teacher education students' perception of the
  effectiveness of our attempt at electronic
  collaboration was directly related to the amount
  and quality of response from the high school
  students' to a group's work, even though each
  teacher education student received all of the
  responses by the high school students. In turn,
  the teacher education concluded that their review
  of the responses resulted in a greater insight
  into the high school students.

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A Case Study - Lessons Learned

• Requiring teacher education students to design
  and post on-line an issues-centered assignment
  for high school students necessitates the need
  not only to provide more instruction on how to
  conceive of issues and to design instruction
  around them, but also the implications of
  interacting with on-line instructional material.

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A Case Study - Lessons Learned

• Time to reflect upon the key elements, i.e.
  instructional technology, collaboration with a
  high school government classes, and
  issues-centered instruction, was a critical,
  missing element. We expected students to acquire
  understandings in each of these areas without
  really offering them the opportunities to do so.

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Challenges and Conclusions
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Integration through Collaboration

• Cohorts
• School Partnerships

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Collaboration - Cohorts

• Faculty - School of Education
• Teacher education students
• Faculty - University
• K-12 Schools

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Collaboration - School Partnerships

• University of Kansas Professional Development
  School Alliance
• Representatives from each of the six districts
  serve on an advisory board. The advisory board
  serves several purposes.

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Collaboration - K-12 Schools

• First, the board offers project personnel a means
  to keep the districts informed about the status
  of the project.
• Second, the board is to provide input to the
  project about each district's technology needs,
  as well as how each district uses technology at
  the classroom and school levels.
• Third, the school district members are able to
  advise project personnel of teachers that are
  capable of serving on an Innovation Cohort.
• Finally, the board offers a means to ensure those
  teacher education students that serve on the
  Innovation Cohorts with a placement that enables
  them to apply the use of technology in a
  classroom setting.

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Sustainability

• Cohort Model
• Extension
• Future Evolvement
• School of Education
• Infrastructure
• Current Experiences
• TED
• Internship Experiences