Journal 1

Owens, Aileen, M. (2009, June/July). Do Your Teachers need a personal trainer?. Learning & Leading With Technology, [36 (8)], [14-17].

Duquesne University found a solution for the problem of not having sufficient instructional technology coordinators for the teachers of the Mt. Lebanon School District in Pittsburgh. Initially, a coordinator worked with teachers before school, after school, and during lunch through a series of 45-min weekly meetings. The teachers and the coordinator enriched lessons by identifying available resources, technologies, and instructional strategies to increase learning or enable the teacher to teach the concept in a new way. This was great, and the teachers were able to retain the information learned, however, it was impossible to reach all the teachers in need. Aileen Owens and Professor Carbonara created a Student Internship Program for Instructional Technology. Students whose skills matched up with teacher's needs worked together to create technology rich lesson plans. This experiment was extremely successful and the information learned has been put on Wikki for teachers in other districts to learn from. Some of the accomplishments were: second graders learning Microsoft Word and creating reading fluency portfolios and a skills center link was created for kindergarteners. The program was a win-win situation for all, students gained experience from being in the classroom and the teachers received the support they needed. To top it off, the program is cost effective and needed in today's educational environment.

Question 1

Would it be beneficial to have the teachers who were able to receive assistance from the interns turn around and educate other teachers at their school with similar needs?

Yes, face to face interaction is always beneficial. Sharing the experience and how it affected their teaching style would greatly benefit the teachers who weren't able to participate in the program. Hearing first hand from the newly trained teachers would only add to the information already provided by the program.

Question 2

Would it benefit the outcome reports to describe the elementary student's feelings of learning through strategies centered around technology?

Yes, adding their feelings would add even more depth to the results of the training. The children where part of the process and their voices would be appreciated by their teachers and interns alike.