Following A Technology Training Workshop: Effects Of A Web-Based Support System

Jane WatkinsDepartment of Physics and Computer Science

Presbyterian CollegeClinton, South Carolina

Technology Training Workshop

• Weeklong summer course• Academic credit• Teachers and Media Specialists• Taught by Business Professors• Classroom Technology Integration Using

Microsoft PowerPoint

My Questions

• What classroom technology integration methods were taught during the workshop?

• How may we sustain the positive effects of the workshop?

• How do we raise the level of classroom technology integration?

Rubric for High-Level Technology Integration

With the assistance of technology, the teacher has created a learning environment where the student must

• Analyze– Distinguish, detect, employ, restructure, classify

• Synthesize– Write, produce, plan, design, derive, combine

• Evaluate– Argue, decide, compare, consider, contrast

After-Training Support System (ATSS)

• Institute Content• Best Practices• Collaborative Ideas• Discussion Forum• Mentor• Resourceshttp://web.presby.edu/~watkins/T&TI

Participants

• Seven teachers– White– Middle-class– 5 from public schools– 2 from private schools– Grades taught range from first to high-school

Research Design

• Applied Ethnography– An in-depth investigative technique used to examine

the important variables, processes, and interactions for a particular culture.

Data Collection Methods

• Interviews– Before ATSS– After ATSS

• Observations• Document Analysis

– Teaching Materials– Students’ Work

Research Question

• What are the effects of a teaching and technology workshop with an after-training support system on classroom technology integration?

Teachers’ Reasons for Taking the Institute

• Create multimedia presentations using PowerPoint

• Learn more about technology in general• Re-certification and South Carolina’s

technology requirement

Teachers’ Perceptions of Technology Integration

• “Showing them how to use a computer, the things that they’re going to do every day”

• “To bring it into all subject areas”• “Using the technology that’s available to you

whether it’s the TV or the VCR of the overhead or the computer”

Technology in the Classrooms Before the ATSS

• Publishing writings with computers (Synthesis)• Reading-level assessment through

computerized tests (Evaluation)• Problem solving with computers (Evaluation)• Using the Internet to write stories (Synthesis)

and to make reading more personable (Analysis)

Frequency of Use of the ATSS

• Ranged from “three to four times a week” to “twice a week”

• Teachers’ comments indicated that had the ATSS been made a part of their school’s curriculum, the teachers would have accessed it more often.

“I just kept thinking, if I didn’t have so much else to cover, I could spend more time exploring the web site”

Useful Components of the ATSS

• Institute Content Web Page– Presentation Slides

• Best Practices Web Page– Let Your Students Use PowerPoint (Synthesis)

• Math and Reading– Create A Tutorial For Your Students Using MS-

PowerPoint• Social Studies

Useful Components of the ATSS

• Collaborative Ideas Web Page– Cooperative Learning Example (Synthesis)

• Students taught one another how to incorporate graphics into their published writings

• Students taught one another how to download a screensaver

– Kathy Schrock’s PuzzleMaker

Useful Components of the ATSS

• Resources Web Page– ERIC– Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators– Scholastic Web Site– South Carolina Education– U.S. Department of Education

Number of Teachers Who Used Each Web Page from the ATSS

0 2 4 6 8

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Conclusions

• Prior to using the ATSS, only one teacher envisioned PowerPoint as a tool for her students, now one other teacher also visualizes PowerPoint as a tool that her students can use.

• By altering how teachers perceive technology integration through the ATSS, we may influence how teachers integrate technology into their teaching.

Conclusions

• Two teachers indicated an increase in the instances of high-level technology integration after using the ATSS.

• Had the ATSS been made an integral part of each teacher’s curriculum, the teacher would likely have used the ATSS more often.

Conclusions

• When teachers receive the needed support from school administration, technology training will be continuous and will raise the teachers’ technology integration from a basic level to high-level methods.