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##  Preparing Urban Teachers To Use Technology for Instruction. ERIC                Digest.                                                                      

Since the early 1990s, the gap in the availability of computers and             Internet access between schools in affluent and poor areas has                  decreased dramatically. While most schools now have computer and                Internet access, many teachers still have difficulty with                       incorporating this new technology into instruction. This is                     particularly true in poorer urban school districts, where funding               and time for teacher technology training are often lacking. 
This              digest reviews the current state of teacher preparation for using               educational technology to improve student performance and                       achievement. It also describes some promising initiatives for                   improving teacher technology training. TECHNOLOGY SKILLS OF                   INSERVICE TEACHERSMost teachers have some familiarity with                  computers and are able to use a variety of computer software.                   Further, 94 percent of all respondents to a recent National                     Education Association (2000) survey, and 99 percent of the                      respondents under 35, are able to search the Internet. 
Many                   teachers do not know how to incorporate computer skills into                    classroom instruction, however, according to a National Center for              Education Statistics report (U.S. Department of Education, 2000a).              Almost two-thirds of all teachers reported feeling not at all                   prepared or only somewhat prepared to use technology in their                   teaching, but younger teachers, who grew up with computers and were             educated with them, indicated they felt better prepared to use                  technology than their more experienced colleagues. Not surprisingly,            teachers who reported feeling better prepared to use technology were            more likely to make use of it than those who indicated they felt                less prepared. THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN LOW-INCOME                            SCHOOLSEducational technology, when used to develop higher-order            thinking skills, can have a positive impact on learning, according              to a study by the Educational Testing Service (Wenglinsky, 1998).               But teachers in low-income schools often teach about the computer               itself, and use computers for drill and practice, rather than for               research, inquiry, and communication, as is often the practice in               wealthier schools. This strategy is based on the assumption that                children who lack basic skills need to learn them through drill                 before they can move on to higher-order thinking activities.                    Unfortunately, these children often do not get the opportunity to               progress to higher-order problem solving. Furthermore, research has             shown that in real-life situations lower-order and higher-order                 thinking are not separated; therefore, effective teaching should                combine the two (President's Committee, 1997). TECHNOLOGY TRAINING            IN TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMSCurrent Practice. A recent study by            the Milken Exchange on Education Technology (1999) and the                      International Society for Technology in Education found that, "in               general, teacher-training programs do not provide future teachers               with the kinds of experiences necessary to prepare them to use                  technology effectively in their classrooms." It emphasized that                 since the United States will need a projected 2.2 million new                   teachers over the next decade, "the time to examine and re-engineer             our teacher preparation programs is now." 
The study also pointed              out several other deficiencies prevalent in teacher education                   programs (Milken Exchange, 1999): 
* Approximately one-third of                teacher education programs are limited by their information                     technology facilities. 
* Most teacher training program faculty do             not model the use of technology in teaching. 
* Most teacher                   training programs do not have a written, funded, regularly updated              technology plan. 
* Most student teachers do not routinely use                 technology in their field experience and do not work with teachers              who can advise them on its use, although information technology is              available in the K-12 classrooms where student teachers get their               field experience. 
Recommendations for Improvement 
The most                  important recommendation of the Milken Exchange study is to                     integrate technology training into the entire teacher education                 program, since instructional time spent in other classes, such as               methods and curriculum courses, is much more useful for educating               student teachers about computer use than are formal stand-alone                 technology courses. The study also recommends that the following                strategies be incorporated into teacher training                                programs (1999): 
* Focus institutional technology planning on the             integration of technology in teaching and learning, not only on                 facilities. 
* Provide student teachers with more opportunities to             apply technology during field experience. 
* Give school of                    education  faculty the tools, incentives, and professional                      development they need to integrate technology into the teacher                  training curriculum. 
The Web-Based Education Commission,                      established by Congress in 1997, recommends making professional                 development in technology a high priority (U.S. Department of                   Education, 2000b). It cites several initiatives by Congress, the                states, universities, professional organizations, and the business              community which support intensive technology training for                       teachers: 
* The Higher Education Act Amendments, passed by                    Congress and signed into law in 1998, hold institutions of higher               education accountable for preparing teachers who are highly                     qualified not only in academic content areas but also in the                    effective use of technology in the classroom. 
* The majority of               states--42--now require that teachers demonstrate proficiency in                technology as one component for receiving certification. 
* The                National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE),                working with the International Society for Technology in Education,             is incorporating technology standards into its accreditation process            for teacher education colleges. While this effort is promising,                 NCATE is responsible for accrediting only 38 percent of the 1,300               teacher preparation programs in the United States. 
* The CEO Forum            developed a special StaR (School Technology and Readiness)                      self-assessment tool for schools and colleges of education. Over 240            institutions have undergone self-assessments to bring their programs            from "low tech," with little or no technology use, to "target tech,"            the model for innovative use of educational technology. CONTINUING            EDUCATION FOR INSERVICE TEACHERSOnly four states require                    technology training for recertification of teachers, so much remains            to be done in this area (Trotter, 1999). The CEO Forum on Education             and Technology (1999) recommends the following: 
* Every state                 should develop standards for effective continuing education on                  integrating technology into the curriculum. 
* Schools and                     districts should develop technology plans that include professional             development in the use of technology and proficiency standards. 
*             Every teacher and administrator should have access to information               technology. 
* Resources for technology-related professional                   development should be increased. 
* Every professional development             program should integrate technology into its curriculum. 
The                  Federal Office of Technology Assessment (1995) recommended that                 school districts devote at least 30 percent of their technology                 budgets to teacher training and support. However, only 6 percent of             the $4.2 billion that K-12 schools spent on technology in 1996 went             towards training (U.S. Dept. Of Education, 2000b). That figure                  increased to 17 percent for public school teacher technology                    training for the 1999-2000 school year, but it is still far below               the recommended amount (Market Data Retrieval, 1999). GOVERNMENT              SUPPORT FOR TEACHER TECHNOLOGY TRAININGA Presidential Panel                 report recommended that  teachers need in-depth, sustained                      assistance to integrate computer use into the curriculum and                    reconcile new methods of instruction which use technology                       extensively with traditional methods (President's Committee, 1997).             One program offering such training is the Teacher Led Technology                Challenge (TLTC) in Berkeley, California, funded by the U.S.                    Department of Education's Technology Innovation Challenge Grant                 Program; it provides teachers with extensive support, tools, and                professional development. A Classroom Technology Integration                    Specialist in each school plans and consults with teachers regularly            during times set aside for this purpose. The TLTC was designed for              adaptation by other school systems serving predominantly low-income             and racially diverse populations (U.S. Dept. Of Education,                      2000b). 
The U.S. Department of Education's Preparing Tomorrow's               Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) Program, begun in 1999, offers                 grants to support teacher preparation improvements--mostly in                   low-income communities, rural areas, and among minority groups and              special populations. In its first two fiscal years the program has              made a total of $300 million available to teacher preparation                   institutions. The funds will help them develop programs that prepare            prospective teachers to use technology for improved instructional               practices and student learning opportunities. By 2004, over one                 million teachers will have received technology training as a result             of these grants (see http://pt3.org/). 
The Federal government is              also facilitating technology learning through support of online                 learning environments, since the Internet can help isolated teachers            make new connections and expand access to new resources.                        Specifically, the Internet can provide collaborative learning                   environments where teachers reflect on their practice, share                    expertise, and build a common understanding of new instructional                approaches, by engaging with colleagues and experts in the field. An            example is the Maryland Electronic Learning Community, also funded              by the Technology Innovation Challenge Grant Program, which uses                email, videoconferencing, digitized video, and Internet resources to            support curriculum and professional development (Riel & Fulton,                 2001; see http://www.learn.umd.edu/ for a description). Two among               many online sites where teachers and students can engage in                     collaborative learning and reflection are TAPPED                                IN (www.tappedin.sri.com) and the International Education and                   Resource Network (www.iearn.org). REFERENCESThe CEO Forum on              Education and Technology. (1999). Professional development: A link              to better learning. Washington, DC: Author. (ED 428 747) Available:             http://www.ceoforum.org/reports.cfm 
Market Data Retrieval. (1999).            New teachers and technology: Examining perceptions, habits, and                 professional development experiences. Shelton, CT: Author. (ED 438              787) 
Milken Exchange on Education Technology. (1999). Will new                teachers be prepared to teach in a digital age? A national survey on            information technology in teacher education. Santa Monica, CA:                  Author. (ED 428 072) Available:                                                 http://www.mff.org/publications/ 
National Education                           Association. (2000). Annual NEA Today readership survey. Washington,            DC: Author. Available: http://www.nea.org 
Office of Technology                Assessment, U.S. Congress. (1995). Teachers and technology: Making              the connection. Washington, DC: Author. (ED 386 155) Available:                 http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~ota/disk1/1995/9541.html 
President's            Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, Panel on                       Educational Technology. (1997). Report to the President on the use              of technology to strengthen K-12 education in the United States.                Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President of the United                 States. (ED 410 950) Avail.:                                                    http://www.ostp.gov/PCAST/k-12ed.html 
Riel, M., & Fulton,                     K., (2001, March). The role of technology in supporting learning                communities. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(7), 518-523. (EJ 623                          015) 
Trotter, A. (1999, September 23). Preparing teachers for the             digital age: Technology counts '99. Education Week, XIX(4), pp.                 37-42. 
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education            Statistics. (2000a). Teachers' tools for the 21st Century. A report             on teachers' use of technology. Washington, DC: Author. (ED 444 599)            Avail.:  http://nces.ed.gov/spider/webspider/2000102.shtml 
U.S.               Department of Education, Web-Based Education Commission. (2000b).               The power of the Internet for learning: Moving from Promise to                  Practice. Washington, DC: Author. (ED 444 603) Available:                       http://www.ed.gov/offices/AC/WBEC/FinalReport/ 
Wenglinsky, H. Does            it compute? (1998). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. (ED             425 191) 
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This Digest was developed by the ERIC                        Clearinghouse on Urban Education, with funding from the Office of               Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education,             under contract no. ED-99-CO-0035. The opinions in this Digest do not            necessarily reflect the position or policies of OERI or the                     Department of Education.                                                     **Title:** Preparing Urban Teachers To Use Technology for Instruction. ERIC                Digest.                                                                      **Note:** Digest Number 168.                                                           **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, Institute for Urban and                  Minority Education, Box 40, Teachers College, Columbia University,              New York, NY 10027. Tel: 800-601-4868 (Toll Free). For full text:               http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu.                                             **Descriptors:**  Computer Literacy,  Computer Uses in Education, Continuing                     Education,  Educational Technology, Elementary Secondary Education,              Faculty Development, Federal Aid, Federal Government, Higher                   Education, Inservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teacher                      Education, Teacher Improvement, Teaching Methods, Urban Schools              **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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