1. Building Different Bridges: Technology Integration, Engaged Student Learning, and New Approaches to Professional Development.
- Author
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Jacobsen, D. Michele
- Abstract
The human and organizational infrastructure that is required to support the efficacious use of technology by teachers in the classroom was studied in three elementary schools in Alberta, Canada. The resulting impacts on engaged student learning were also studied, and the usefulness of Alberta's Galileo Educational Network Association initiative for professional development and support in supporting the integration of technology in the classroom was evaluated. The investigation involved biweekly visits to the 3 schools from April to June 2000 and interviews with 30 teachers and 48 students in grades 1 through 7. Administrators and teachers expressed complete satisfaction with the Galileo Network's approach to onsite professional development and support. The interviews with students and observations show that the student learning tasks developed through the Galileo Network bore a close relationship to real world problems, and that they were complex and integrated. A narrative account of visits to one of the classrooms shows some of the constructivist approaches used under the Galileo Network's program. Findings show that the Galileo Network provided extensive professional development support to teachers and administrators at the three schools. Students were presented with opportunities to explore new questions, and they were introduced to new ways of using technology. Teachers implemented different learning and teaching strategies and also integrated new technologies with the support of the Galileo Network. (Contains 31 references.) (SLD)
- Published
- 2001