Academy for Educational Development

Evaluation of Teacher Education Programs Reveals Technology Gaps

Government agencies, school districts, and private donors have spent billions of dollars to equip schools with computers and connect them to the Internet. Still, many American teachers do not feel well-prepared to use and teach with the new technologies.

In Pennsylvania, the AED Higher Education Management Services Center, or HEMS, is working with six universities to prepare teachers who are well-versed in using technology for instruction purposes and their own professional development through the federal Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology, or PT3.

Over the past four years PT3 has reached thousands of student-teachers. "This project has helped more than 2,000 pre-service teachers, 100 classroom teachers, and 100 college faculty become more technologically proficient over the past four years,"   said Arati Singh, a senior program officer with the center.

The Pennsylvania PT3 project is working in six different universities: Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pa.; Clarion University, Clarion, Pa.; Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pa.; West Chester University, West Chester, Pa.; and Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, Mansfield, Pa.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education oversees the grant and HEMS serves as the external evaluator.

E-Portfolios

As part of the PT3 program, student-teachers are required to create e-portfolios, which look like Web sites and showcase their coursework, personal reflections, lessons plans, and even testimonials from parents of children they have taught.

This tool helps prospective employers get a sense of how prepared the student-teacher is, while also helping the university better evaluate the effectiveness of its teacher-preparation program.

“Colleges have been using portfolios for years, but having them in an electronic format makes the tool more dynamic,” said Paul Bucci, vice president and director of HEMS.

In their evaluation HEMS found that the six universities are at different stages of implementing e-portfolios. Clarion University gave e-portfolios particular importance in their program and has gone from trying the tool with a handful of teaching students to institutionalizing the tools. Now 100 percent of pre-service teachers at the school use them, Bucci said. “This is a valuable way for students show their mastery of state standards, and helps the students assess where they are going professionally.”

Improvements in the Field

Meanwhile, Indiana University of Pennsylvania trained their sites on increasing access to technology in the field. Faculty there found that the schools in which their teaching candidates conducted their student teaching were not as well equipped with technology as the university. In addition, the level of technology expertise at those schools lagged behind.

So the university put more of its resources into helping teachers in the field. Bridging this gap between how prepared new teachers and veteran teachers are to use technology became a large part of the PT3 program in Pennsylvania, Singh said.

Mini-grants were awarded to individuals and teams to help schools upgrade their equipment and train their teachers. HEMS found that now, three years later, many of those schools have revamped their curricula to include technology, increased professional development opportunities for their teachers by using technology, and even started technology clubs for their students.

The PT3 Web site highlights instructional technology, pedagogical, and career resources—including a grant-developed self-assessment rubric—for use by educators in Pennsylvania and beyond.

For more information on HEMS, contact Paul Bucci.

For more information on AED’s work with colleges and universities, visit our Higher Education page.

To read more stories about how AED is working to create a better future, visit our Story Archive.