Abstract
The Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to use Technology Project (PT3) at the University of Pittsburgh encompasses public and private schools, a nonprofit educational consortium, industry partners and the University of Pittsburgh. The purposes of the project are (a) to encourage throughtful technology integration by mentor teachers, student teachers and university faculty; and (b) to support innovation, adoption and resource sharing by creating Collaborative Communities of Learners (CCOLs). These goals are achieved by engaging participants in a number of activities, including individualized training, summer camp, monthly professional development meetings, a Celebration of Successes for sharing projects, and technology skill workshops. Support is also provided through project on-site support staff, an interactive Web site, minigrants, and loans of equipment and software. Evaluation of the project is an ongoing iterative process. Data are collected through self-reporting instruments, event evaluations, journal entries, project checklists, videotaped presentations, and interviews. Currently, in its third year of four including a pilot year, the project involves 98 mentor teachers and 20 university faculty. This project documents the importance of technology support people who have excellent interpersonal skills, experience with instruction and the flexibility to adjust strategies to adopter needs, skills, and personalities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow. (1999). Apple learning professional development design principles. InApple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT): Vol. 1999/2002.
Beattie, M. (1995). New prospects for teacher education: Narrative ways of knowing teaching and teacher learning.Education Research, 37(1), 53–70.
Bickel, W.E., Millett, R. & Nelson, C.A., (2000).Challenges to the role of evaluation in supporting organizational learning in foundations. Unpublished article. Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh.
Brown, A.L., & Campione, J.C. (1994). Guided discovery in a community of learners. In K. McGilly (Ed.),Classroom Lessons: Integrating cognitive theory and classroom practice (pp. 229–270). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press/Bradford Books.
Brown, A.L., Ash, D., Rutherford, M., Nakagawa, K., Gordon, A., & Campione, J.C. (1993). Distributed expertise in the classroom. In G. Salomon (Ed.), Distributed cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations (pp. 188–228). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, J.S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning.Educational Researcher, 18(1(Jan–Feb)), 32–42.
Campbell, S. (2002).Experiences of school of education faculty members in learning to use computer technology: Positive supports as well as barriers. Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.
Campbell, S. & Ozgül, S. (2002).Intensive technology teacher training project: Lessons learned. Unpublished manuscript, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.
Coughlin, E., & Lemke, C. (1999).Professional Competency Continuum. Professional Skills for the digital age classroom. Milken Exchange on Education Technology. Santa Monica, CA. [online: www.milkenexchange.org]
Crawford, B.A. (1996).Examining the essential elements of a community of learners in a middle grade science classroom. Dissertation (Ph.D.), University of Michigan.
Dewey, J. (1933). Why reflective thinking must be an educational aim. InHow we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process (pp. 17–34). New York, NY: D.C. Health and Co.
Dufour, R. & Eaker, R. (1998).Professional Learning Communities At Work: Best Practices For Enhancing Student Achievement. Reston, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Fenstermacher, G.D., & Richardson, V. (1993). The elicitation and reconstruction of practical arguments in teaching.Journal of Curriculum Studies, 25(2), 101–114.
Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (Eds.). (1992). Understanding teacher development. New York: Teachers College Press.
Hord, S.M. (1997).Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) (2000a).National Educational Technology Standards for Students: Connecting curriculum and technology. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education.
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) (2000b).National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
Jenlink, P.M., & Kinnucan-Welsch, K. (2001). Case stories of facilitating professional development.Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 705–724.
Johnson, S. (1998)Who moved my cheese? An amazing way to deal with change in your work and in your life. Carlsbad, CA.
Knowles, J.G., & Holt-Reynolds, D. (1991). Shaping pedagogies through personal histories in preservice teacher education.Teachers College Record, 93(1), 87–113.
Marx, R.W., Blumenfeld, P.C., Krajcik, J.S., Blunk, M., Crawford, B., Kelly, B., & Meyer, K.M. (1994). Enacting project-based science: Experiences of four middle grade teachers.The Elementary School Journal, 194(5), 517–538.
Mattingly, C. (1991). Narrative reflections on practical actions: Two learning experiments in reflective storytelling. In D.A. Schön (Ed.).The Reflective Turn: Case Studies In And On Educational Practice (pp. 235–257). New York: Teachers College Press.
McCain, T. & Jukes, I. (2001).Windows on the future: Education in the age of technology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
McCotter, S.S. (2001). Collaborative groups as professional development.Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 685–704.
Molenda, M., et al. (1970).Diffusion of innovations in education simulation game. Bloomington IN: University Consortium for Instructional Development and Technology (UCIDT), Indiana University.
Morrissey, M.S. (2000).Professional Learning Communities: An ongoing exploration. Austin, TX: South-west Educational Development Laboratory.
Palincsar, A.S., Magnusson, S.J., Marano, N., Ford, D., & Brown, N. (1998). Designing a Community of Practice: Principles and Practices of the GIsML Community.Teaching and Teacher Education, 4(1), 5–19.
Prawat, R.S. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning: A constructivist perspective.American Journal of Education, 354–395.
Rogers, E.M. (1995).Diffusion of innovations. Fourth Edition. New York: Free Press.
Roup, R.R., Gal, S., Drayton, B., & Pfister, M. (Eds.). (1992).LabNet: Toward a community of practice. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Sandholtz, J., Ringstaff, C, & Dwyer, D. (1997).Teaching with technology. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sarason, S.B. (1993).The case for change: Rethinking the preparation of educators. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Sarason, S.B. (1996).Revisiting the culture of the school and the problem of change. New York: Teachers College Press.
Schön, D.A. (1987).Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
Seels, B.B., & Richey, R.C. (1994).Instructional Technology: The definition and domains of the field. Washington, D.C.: Association for Educational Communications and Technology.
Sergiovanni, T.J. (1994).Building community in schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Soloway, E., Krajcik, J.S., Blumenfeld, P., & Marx, R. (1996). Technological support for teachers transitioning to project-based science practices. In T. Koschmann (Ed.),CSCL: Theory and practice of an emerging paradigm Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
Talsma, V., Messineo, L., Seels, B., Balach, C., & Campbell, S., (2002 April),“Here, I am not afraid to admit what I don’t know:” Case stories from a collaborative community of learners preparing teachers to use technology. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA [On-line]. Available: http://www.pitt.edu/vtalsma/papers/pt3ccol
Wald, P.J. & Castleberry, M.S. (2000).Educators as learners: Creating a professional learning community in your school. Alexandria, VA: Association for Curriculum Supervision and Development.
Zulich, J., Bean, T.W., & Herrick, J. (1992). Charting stages of pre-service teacher development and reflection in a multicultural community through dialogue journal analysis.Teaching and Teacher Education.8(4), 345–360.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
They are coinvestigators for the PT3 project described in this article.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Seels, B., Campbell, S. & Talsma, V. Supporting excellence in technology through communities of learners. ETR&D 51, 91–104 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02504520
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02504520