Applications of a Case Library of Technology Integration Stories for Teachers

Stories are the most natural form of communication and learning among humans. In this article, we describe how we have designed and implemented a case library of technology integration stories to support preservice and inservice teachers learning how to integrate technologies into their teaching. The case library was built according to the artificial intelligence theory, case-based reasoning. We also describe how this case library may be used as an electronic performance support systems for inservice teachers and a learning support systems for preservice teachers engaged in case studies. ********** RATIONALE As the face of American classrooms continues to change with rapidly increasing technological changes, greater diversity, and a projected need for 2.2 million new teachers in the next decade, teacher-training institutions are faced with the challenge of graduating new teachers who will be adept at keeping pace with the technology explosion in the classroom. A 1999 study entitled Will New Teachers be Prepared to Teach in a Digital Age?--commissioned by the Milken Exchange on Education Technology and conducted by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)--documented that while teacher preparation programs are well-intentioned, they are not providing the kind of training and exposure teachers need to be proficient in integrating technology in their teaching (International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE], 1999). The ISTE study reinforced findings of a 1998 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) study, Teacher Quality: A Report on the Preparation and Qualifications of Public School Teachers, that although many educators consider technology as a vehicle for transforming education, only 20% feel well prepared to integrate technology into the classroom. To increase the level of technology integration in teacher education programs, the Milken study recommended that researchers, professional societies, and education agencies should identify, study, and disseminate examples of effective technology integration on an ongoing basis. Successful implementation of this recommendation hinges on four interrelated issues. First, while many teacher and teacher education communities have similar problems in terms of integrating technology into instruction, the lack of collaboration across communities or community members impedes collective efforts to address these problems. Second, while it is very likely that some teachers have successful experiences in integrating technology, their successes often occur in isolation and are not disseminated to other teachers in a systematic, enterprise-wide manner. Third, effective technology integration knowledge is often rooted in actions and experiences, making it difficult to elaborate and thus to communicate to others. While this so-called tacit knowledge (Polanyi, 1966) is the most valuable intellectual asset of a teacher or teacher education community, it is mostly hidden in individual minds. Without the explication of tacit knowledge, the community misses the opportunities to leverage existing knowledge. Fourth, in most teacher or teacher education communities, a small number of people know a great deal about effective use of technology in teaching and learning. Such institutional knowledge needs to be saved in a convenient format to avoid missing important details and generating unnecessary effort to track down the technology integration expert. In addition, without this knowledge preservation, the community puts its knowledge asset at stake if knowledge owners leave. Based on the needs and problems explicated by the Milken study, we are implementing a project, Knowledge Innovation for Technology in Education (KITE), funded by a PT3 (Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology) grant from the U.S. Department of Education that seeks to develop a case library of technology integration stories shared by teachers. …