The Development of a Technology Committee in Undergraduate Teacher Education Courses: Is This an Effective Strategy?

Preparing teacher education students for technology applications can be overwhelming considering the all the other information that needs to be addressed in teacher education courses. However, it is important for teacher educators to begin an integration of technology in many areas in order for graduates to have the necessary skills to work effectively in K-12 schools. In an effort to provide a beneficial experience with technology, a technology committee was formed in two undergraduate teacher education courses to facilitate a more effective integration. A survey was administered to determine the confidence level of using computers over a semester, a reflective computer log kept by students was analyzed, and the instructor's notes were included in the data collection. Results from the data analysis indicated that this was an effective strategy. The growing use of various technology is prominent in today's society. Schools offer the use of technology so that students will be prepared for further education, careers, and functioning in society. Teacher educators will need to expose preservice teachers to the use of a variety of technologies to effectively prepare them for educating today's children. According to LeBaron and Bragg (1994), if technology applications are valid for emerging school practice, then they should be included in teacher preparation. Effective integration of technology into teacher education is often limited to basic courses in technology applications and are not woven into the overall teacher preparation program (Lampert & Ball, 1990). Literature Perspectives Educational initiatives in many states are beginning to focus on the inclusion of technology (Fawson, 1992). State curriculum guides and mandates include technology objectives along with the content goals. However, many preservice and inservice teachers do not feel prepared to use new technologies and express concerns and fears regarding the integration of technology into their instruction (Heinich, 1991). Perelman (1992) suggested that failure to teach the necessary technological skills may result in a lack of preparedness that cannot be rectified in subsequent inservice training. Teacher education programs need to capitalize on this opportunity to prepare preservice teachers in order to build better schools for tomorrow (Parkway & Stanford, 1992; Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy, 1986). As stated by Langone, Wissick, Langone, and Ross (1998), "A teacher preparation program may be the first effort toward graduating teachers who are at the beginning stages of technology implementation" (p.295). Computer-related instruction has most often been included in teacher education programs as either a computer-specific course and/or incorporated into some education courses (Topp, 1996). According to Johnson and Harlow (1993), most teacher education programs offer, and some even require, a computer-specific course. However, several researchers support the integration of technology in teaching and learning activities within graduate and undergraduate methods courses (Weibe, 1995). In a study conducted by Flake (1990), the importance of effective, hands-on technology models for preservice teachers was emphasized. Flake found that student teachers who were initially resistant to the use of computers overcame this resistance due to the instructor's seamless integration of computer practice into instruction. Flake (1990) reported that not only did the students overcome resistance, but they also became powerful advocates for the integration of technology throughout the curriculum. Statement of the Problem According to Brush (1998), teacher education students are graduating with limited knowledge of "one of the most revolutionary sets of instructional tools of the past two decades," (p. 244). As K-12 schools increase the use of technology tools, they will expect teacher education programs to prepare new teachers with the ability not only to use technology, but to serve as models for other teachers (Brush, 1998). …