February 21, 2001

Increasing Instructional Technology Skill Of New Teachers Goal Of WKU Education Project

Bowling Green, Ky. - Once upon a time, classroom instructional tools were low-tech: a chalkboard, a film-strip projector or a new set of encyclopedia.
Today, however, classroom instructional tools have gone high-tech: software, a computer presentation or the Internet.

Whether the instructional tools are as low-tech as a No. 2 pencil or as high-tech as Powerpoint, teachers must know how to effectively use them in the classroom learning environment.

Increasing instructional technology skills of new teachers is the goal of a $1 million project in Western Kentucky University's College of Education and Behavioral Sciences.

"The focus of the project is to ensure that our students are prepared to integrate technology into classroom instruction in the P-12 setting," said Dr. Sam Evans, associate dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences.

Kentucky has made substantial strides in buying computers, hiring computer teachers and wiring schools for Internet access, but recent surveys show that many teachers don't know how to use technology effectively, said Dr. Leroy Metze, director of Educational Technology and project coordinator.

The project, which will begin May 31, will do more than teach teachers how to use technology, Dr. Metze said. "We want to teach them to know what will accomplish their needs and to assess emerging technologies," he said.

The project, which includes $450,000 in federal appropriations secured by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, "is a partnership between teacher education, arts and sciences at Western, practitioners in the field and students," Dr. Evans said.

Project goals include ensuring that university faculty from teacher education, arts and science disciplines can model technology-rich instruction for prospective teachers; increasing the number of new teachers who are able to use technology to enrich instruction and assess student learning; using a web-based or electronic portfolio to gather data for the evaluation of teacher performance; and setting up an electronic clearinghouse that will give educators access to technology-rich lesson plans and assessments.

Project teams will include Western faculty from the teacher education program and from the content areas in arts and sciences, public school teachers, graduates of Western's teacher education program and public school students, Dr. Metze said.

"Teaching technology changes teaching in general," he said, adding that with rapid changes in technology, teachers must learn about technology and what is available.

"You can't just teach the subject," Dr. Metze said. "You teach students to learn the subject."

Dr. Evans agreed. "Our focus is now on learning not teaching," he said. "This is one thing we hope will make a difference."

For more information, contact Dr. Sam Evans at (270) 745-4664. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.