Shawna Smith's INTIME Journal

Final Course Report

Brief Summary of the Project:

The INTIME project (Integrating New Technologies into the Methods of Education, www.INTIME.uni.edu) was created in order to provide the necessary resources for methods faculty to revise their courses, model technology integration, and require pre-service teachers to integrate technology and components of quality education in their lessons and units. A consortium of five participating Renaissance Group universities has been working together in this project to create new learning resources and implement new standards for technology integration in pre-service teacher preparation. The basis of the INTIME project is focused around the Technology as Facilitator of Quality Education (TFQE), model that was established by the INTIME coordinators. 

This project is intended to produce change in teacher education programs in three ways. First, it has generated new learning resources on the web to support new teaching and learning processes in education methods courses. New learning resources include video scenarios of PreK-12 teachers effectively integrating technology, along with components of quality education, in a variety of grade levels and content areas. These videos are accessible online nation-wide. Second, methods faculty in the five Renaissance Group universities who were selected by their content areas are revising their courses to model technology integration using the video scenarios and other online services provided by I
NTIME. Finally, methods faculty will share strategies for integrating technology and course revisions with other faculty involved.

Theoretical Framework of INTIME:

These Technology as Facilitator of Quality Education (TFQE), model contains seven dimensions that provide a way for educators to view the integration of technology related tools into a robust educational environment. The model identifies key points at which technology should be implemented and evaluated to determine its impact. It simultaneously allows for the integration of new research findings into the appropriate segments of the model while maintaining the structure to evaluate the impact of technology tools on these new findings as part of an ongoing evaluation process. In so doing, it allows a variety of users (preservice teachers, teachers, administrators, and others) to see the complex process that is education and how technology is affecting that process. 

The model was used as a framework for the project, also as an assessment doe teacher observation. The project has collected many video vignettes of exceptional teachers that are used to show the importance of the different dimensions of the models, as well as a way for students to observe various forms of technology use in the classroom. The videos are an effective way to not only observe the model, but to also observe the different teaching styles.

Using all of the various components of the I
NTIME website provides for an easily assessable technological resource for the university methods faculty to use. The framework also allows for flexibility to be used while applying this program to their own individual courses. While some faculty focus more on the video vignettes, others have the ability to focus more on the model. There isn’t one “cookie cutter” model that all faculty follow when setting up the program for their course.

Evidence of Improved Student Learning

In my health education methods course, at Emporia State University, the students used the model to create a rubric-type assessment. This way they learned about all of the components of the model while establishing their assessment. From there, they observed several of the video vignettes, as well as other faculty teaching in our department, in order to apply the model assessment tool. This was a really good way for the students to learn how to create an assessment tool, create a better understanding of the model, and to observe teachers with an appropriate assessment tool. Also, while viewing the video vignettes, it gave them an opportunity to see various ways that technology can be used in a classroom, so that in itself was a great way to incorporate various teaching styles using technology in an effective and appropriate manner.

While looking at the videos, they also critically analyzed various things about the different teaches. Here is where there was a reflection factor that instituted into the requirements. Several open-ended questions that followed each teaching video that allowed the student to be critical and creative. The videos were really because of the fact when they observe faculty members they know them personally, so they don’t tend to be a critical as when observing a stranger on a video.

Technology as Facilitator of Quality Education (TFQE), model
My assignments were all based around the model rather than the technological aspects of the project. I used the entire model, where the students had to understand every dimension in order to create their own rubric and assess the videos with that rubric. Since my methods course was the health methods course, we used the health content video vignette as a starting point during the demonstration. From there the students explored various different videos at their own choosing.

Professional Reflections

I think that it is crucial for our future teachers to have the ability to use all forms of technology available to them while teaching. I also think that it is important for them to use that technology in an appropriate and effective manner. What this means is that I don’t like the idea of using technology in a lesson just for the sake of using technology, rather use it when it appropriately advances the effectiveness of the lesson. However, our classrooms are all technology-equipped and our students have the opportunity to explore the use of any of the technology that we have in their lessons. We also require some lesson to contain some form of technology.

Currently, as a team (Kathy Ermler, Bill Stinson, and myself) of HPER faculty has submitted a proposal to present the I
NTIME projects at the KAHPERD (Kansas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance) 2002 Conference. 

Conclusions & Recommendations

I like the ideas and concepts of the INTIME project, and have developed a use for the model in my methods course, but I think that there would be more success if the project were used in the required technology course for education majors. In methods, we do not have the ability to spend a lot of time covering basic technology; we are preparing them for their student teaching. All of our education majors are required to take a technology course where, in my opinion, the INTIMEproject would better fit into. 
The pre- and post- test that assessed technology knowledge was given in our methods course, but wasn’t taught in the course. That is information we leave to the technology courses to cover. In my opinion, the assessment tool didn’t assess in use of the I
NTIME model, but rather the development of technology skills, which isn’t the focus of a methods course. However, if that same test were given to students enrolled in the educational technology course, then you would have seen a bigger difference over the semester. Either the INTIME project needs to change the assessment for the project in the methods courses, or they need to change the course that the INTIMEproject focuses on.