Editorials

English/Language Arts Education

Is Technology Used as Practice? A Survey Analysis of Preservice English Teachers’ Perceptions and Classroom Practices

by Donna L. Pasternak
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This survey study of preservice teachers analyzed if technology is used as practice in the English language arts classroom, and if these practices transferred from the methods classroom to the field experience and beyond. The author examined which technologies and experiences were valued and used by preservice teachers to discover if they thought it possible to transfer these methods from theory into practice. Teacher candidates’ perceptions of integrating technology into their practices revealed their comfort or frustration with nontraditional teaching practices and classroom structures.

Mathematics Education

Digital Tablet PCs as New Technologies of Writing and Learning: A Survey of Perceptions of Digital Ink Technology

by Kevin Reins
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The purpose of this study was to investigate effective uses of digital ink technology in an elementary mathematics methods course.  A survey methodology was used in the study to examine the participants’ perceptions toward this technology for teaching and learning.  All of the items on the survey produced response means between 5.0 and 6.0, with a median standard deviation of 1.095, on a 7-point Likert-type scale.  The findings indicate positive perceptions regarding the benefits of the use of digital ink technology.

Science Education

Social Studies Education

“You Think for Me, So I Don’t Have To.” The Effect of a Technology-Enhanced, Inquiry Learning Environment on Student Learning in 11th-Grade United States History

by Adam M. Friedman & Tina L. Heafner
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In a study investigating the effects of student engagement in inquiry learning through the development of Web sites, nearly every student reported having enjoyed the project, and the majority scored an A or B for their project grade. However, neither enjoyment nor high achievement on this performance task necessarily translated into high scores on the unit test. Therefore, this paper explores why success in a technology rich inquiry environment did not translate to measurable changes in student learning. Results demonstrated that students were not accustomed to this type of pedagogy and that the assessment did not match the task.

General

The Online Learner: Characteristics and Pedagogical Implications

by Nada Dabbagh
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Globalization has stretched the scope of the online learner population from a homogeneous profile of mostly adult, mostly employed, place-bound, goal-oriented, and intrinsically motivated to one that is heterogeneous, younger, dynamic, and responsive to rapid technological innovations. This paper describes the emerging characteristics of the online learner and ensuing pedagogical implications and suggests that exploratory and dialogical online learning pedagogical models are most effective for supporting and promoting these characteristics.

Current Practice

The Effect on Cooperating Teachers of the Teacher as Web Site Developer Program

by David Whittier
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This article describes the impact on cooperating teachers of a programmatic stage of teacher preparation to use technology. The Teacher as Web Site Developer is an arrangement for linking a university-based instructional technology lab with preservice teacher placements in a pre-K-12 public school classroom.  The preservice teachers consider their cooperating teacher as the client for their work in the technology lab.  The purpose of the program is to better prepare tomorrow’s teachers to use technology.  However, anecdotal evidence suggested that the program also has an impact on the technology expertise of the cooperating teacher.  A pilot study found that the program positively influenced those teachers who actively participated but that there were procedural weaknesses in the program.  After making changes to address the identified weaknesses, a follow-up study found significantly higher compliance with the program and continued evidence of its contribution to the technology expertise of the participating cooperating teachers.  The research suggests that the program is another way in which to improve use of technology in teacher preparation as well as to improve the technology mentoring of participating cooperating teachers.  It also identifies obstacles to these improvements.