Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Academic Exchange Quarterly

Technology-enhanced teacher professional development model.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The Partnership to Access Educational Resources (PAER) project was designed to build on existing resources, networks, capabilities and relationships in order to promote use of NASA and other relevant resources for science teachers. One of PAER's goals was to make teacher professional development relevant, accessible, and useful. PAER has assisted future and current teachers to infuse science, mathematics and technology into their teaching and prepare them to use technology to access NASA resources. PAER is a practical, functional demonstration program for NASA, the University of North Florida, and participating schools and school districts.

Introduction

Educators often lament the lack of meaningful support for teachers, while school districts struggle to locate and support effective professional development programs to nourish teachers and raise student achievement. This article discusses the development of an immersion teacher professional development model enhanced by technology. The model emerged from a series of experiences, but coalesced in Project PAER, a teacher professional development initiative rooted in studies of inquiry, learning theory, professional development, and technology.

Teachers Can Do It All and Integrate Technology

Teachers need good, relevant resources in order to teach specific content areas. In addition to traditional materials, many new information vehicles may be used in the classroom. These vehicles include videos, laser disks, compact disks, digital videodisks and the Internet. The Internet contains copious useable resources. During Project PAER, many web sites were identified, reviewed, evaluated and used in order to provide teachers with accessible resources that support teaching according to state and national standards. Several science related web pages were summarized and can be found at http://www.unf.edu/coehs/trda/elproject.html. Expectations of teachers in today's schools are high and teachers need viable partners and resources to do all that is expected of them.

Integrating Technology Resources in the Classroom

A cultural shift is occurring from use of print resources to increasing use of electronic resources. Undoubtedly, individuals are greatly advantaged if they gain knowledge about finding valid information using technology at an early age. In many ways computers possess an advantage over traditional materials as tools for learning. The student and teacher are able to access more information, faster, from the computer. The Internet provides greater access to a larger bank of knowledge for teachers and it may enhance the quality and quantity of information that teachers provide for their students. Technology can help some people to participate more easily in education, to learn more effectively, and to enjoy learning more (Palmieri, 1997). The teacher as the primary source of knowledge no longer suffices in a world where knowledge doubles every seven years and 10,000 scientific articles are published every year (Forman, 1987). The...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!