INTIME Overview

INTIME enables educators to watch online video vignettes of PreK-12 teachers from various grades and subjects integrate technology into their classrooms using numerous teaching strategies.  This three-year grant is from the United States Department of Education’s PT3 program (Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology). 

INTIME resources are useful for (1) teacher educators creating case studies; (2) pre-service teachers learning about effective pedagogical techniques; (3) in-service teachers searching for ideas and independent professional development; (4) professional developers seeking resources to demonstrate good teaching and technology integration, and (5) administrators developing teacher quality initiatives and mentoring programs.

Teacher educators at five partner institutions are piloting INTIME resources to revise their methods teaching curriculum, model technology integration for future educators, and require novice teachers to integrate technology and quality teaching in their lessons and units.  The partner institutions are members of the Renaissance Group.  They include:  Eastern Michigan University, Emporia State University, Longwood College, and Southeast Missouri State University.  The University of Northern Iowa is the lead institution in this project of the Renaissance Group, a consortium of 30 higher education institutions with a strong commitment to teacher preparation.

The goal of INTIME is to work with methods faculty, students in teacher preparation programs, and teachers in classrooms to improve learning for all students by integrating technology into a robust educational environment.  Such an environment is based on the INTIME model, Technology as a Facilitator of Quality Education (TFQE).  This type of environment uses technology and incorporates specific teacher knowledge and behavior; a model of information processing; plus appropriate standards, content, and opportunities for improving student learning -- all in a democratic setting.

Since the INTIME grant began in September 1999, INTIMEgoals are being accomplished in these ways:

  • Extensive research on the Technology as Facilitator of Quality Education Model of teaching includes much of the current thinking on the seven elements of the model: 

    • Students at the Center of their Own Learning

    • Principles of Learning

    • Information Processing

    • Content Standards

    • Tenets of Democracy

    • Teacher Knowledge & Behavior

    • Technology

  • Sixty teachers from five participating states have been videotaped teaching lessons to students at all grade levels and content areas.  Each videotaped lesson is analyzed in nine versions: (Versions 1-7) descriptions of how the teacher demonstrates each of the seven elements of the TFQE  Model, (Version 8) a video of the teacher explaining the lesson plan and insights about the lesson, and (Version 9) an un-narrated activity overview.  By the end of the three-year project, nearly 600 video vignettes will be on the INTIME web site using video streaming.  The videos will also be disseminated in CD or DVD format in some cases.

  • Online video production steps include tape analysis, review, script editing, video editing, encoding, transcribing, synchronizing, and streaming from a media server at the University of Northern Iowa. 

  • Scrolling transcripts of all videos help viewers to follow the classroom activity and analyze teaching and learning situations.

  • Database development makes it possible to search for video by grade level, content area, and all elements of the TFQE Model.

  • Lesson plans, background information, and teacher reflections provide viewers with insights into each activity. 

  • Probing questions developed for each video vignette include focus questions for pre-viewing the video and reflection questions for post-viewing.  Questions are closely related to the content of the video vignettes as well as to well-known pedagogical theories and research.  The questions are intended to challenge students at all levels from undergraduates, to graduates, to teachers in the classroom.

  • The Case Studies Builder is a new INTIME website feature that enables educators to easily and efficiently make use of INTIME videos and other resources as case studies assignments for their education students.  Users are guided through a step-by-step selection process, starting with the selection of a topic from the TFQE Model (for example, Tolerance).  This gives the user a list of three videos recommended for teaching about this topic.  Next they select a video lesson from the list. From there, they automatically get background information on the lesson and a checklist of observable behaviors to note in the video.  Next, faculty can write questions for two final sections:  questions for reflection and activities for extended thinking.  The case study can then be printed and distributed to students.

  • University teacher education faculty at the partner institutions are revising 50 methods courses to integrate the use of the INTIME online video vignettes, the TFQE Model, and other INTIME web site materials.  All 35 university faculty are using INTIME videos and theTFQE Model in one or more of their methods classes. Teacher preparation students  find the narratives and actions of real teachers and real kids at real schools a valuable resource for developing their own ideas of using technology and teaching strategies effectively.

  • Uses of INTIME resources in methods classes include critiquing the videos for elements of the TFQE model, analyzing them for ways to accommodate lessons for all learners, examining the value technology adds to teaching, and building customized case studies for specific methods classes.

  • An INTIME online discussion forum actively engages university teacher education methods faculty and students in critical dialogue about the videos with the classroom teachers on the videos.

  • Linking INTIME to Standards is an ongoing effort to establish connections between educational theory and research, represented in the TFQE Model, and the teaching standards of a number of professional teaching associations.  The Model is aligned with standards from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), Renaissance Teacher Work Sample (RTWS), University of Northern Iowa Office of Student Field Experiences (OSFE), and the International Society for Technology in Education’s National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers project (ISTE NETS*T).

  • A Multicultural Education website expands INTIMEresources to address multicultural considerations in teacher pedagogy.

  • In collaboration with other university initiatives, INTIME translations have been developed and expand the reach of the project to an international audience.

  • Conference presentations to disseminate information about INTIME resources include numerous national and international presentations.

  • Two parallel evaluation efforts are designed to address the project effectiveness both formatively and summatively.  The main categories of the formative stage include (a) teacher reflective practice, (b) website resources, and (c) project progress.  At the end of the third year into the project, a professional evaluation team will examine summatively the effective impact of new learning resources and new standards developed.

  • A PT3 Promotional CD and print materials featuring a variety of projects of the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology program  have been developed to promote PT3 grants to over 300 institutions.  These materials have been distributed nationwide to hundreds of university presidents, provosts, deans, and other higher education staff.

INTIME provides a wealth of learning resources that are changing teacher preparation programs, the way technology is integrated in classrooms, and the way future educators think and learn about how to improve learning for all students.