Technology for Teachers

As we all get ready for Thanksgiving and many of us prepare to board a plane to visit family, I am reminded if Congressman George Miller's opening speech at our 2007 NCTAF Symposium. The Congressman compared schools to an airplane where students are asked to turn off their technological devices and disconnect themselves from the rest of the world. By pushing technology out of, or at best augmenting what all ready goes on in, the classroom we are not preparing students for the world of post-secondary education nor are we building a 21st century workforce. The jobs that K-12 children will hold require the ability to use technology in an integrated and collaborative way. Technology is how and where collaboration takes place, not simply a tool to accomplish the same workforce tasks. Rather than shutting technology out of the classrooms it can be used to build both the technical and soft skills necessary in today's
workplace: collaboration, critical thinking, computer literacy, and more.

The work must start with preservice teachers. Bringing technology into the classroom without teachers who are prepared to use it effectively is not useful. By embedding technology in each teacher preparation class teacher candidates have the integration of technology modeled as well as taught to them. NCTAF's Teachers Learning In Networked Communities project is helping to begin this process at University of Colorado Denver, University of Memphis, and University of Washington Seattle. Teacher candidates at each site participate in online communities of practice to communicate with their peers and professors during their preservice teaching. This develops their collaborative skills as well as building their knowledge of and comfort with online learning and communication. The teachers then take these skills into the classroom where they continue the community of support for teachers and build the technological skills in their students that they need to succeed.

What other work is being done to embed technology into teacher preparation programs that you know of?

Education & the New Administration

After last week’s historic election, Washington is switching gears to focus on President-elect Obama’s transition to power and his plans once he is sworn in as the 44th president. The major issue on everyone’s minds these days is, of course, the economy. In this morning’s New York Times, Nicholas Kristof writes about the importance of focusing on education, even in these tough economic times. While we at NCTAF and Mr. Kristof may quibble about what exactly should be done to improve education, we could not agree more that education must be a high priority in the Obama administration. Improving the education of our nation’s youth will create adults who are college- and work-ready and able to compete in the global economy.

We hope that President Obama will focus on education as the way to bring sustainable, systemic change and to strengthen our nation’s workforce. Here are a few initiatives that Senator Obama has mentioned during his presidential campaign that we hope he will make a priority as president:

• Improving math and science education: Recruiting more college graduates with math and science degrees to teaching will strengthen the teaching force and deepen the content knowledge of our secondary teachers. In addition, we must strengthen our K-12 math and science curricula to ensure that students graduate from high school with the 21st century skills they will need in a rapidly changing workforce.
• Recruiting teachers: Creating incentives for teachers to teach in high-need schools and subjects will broaden the pool of teachers. Innovative compensation systems will also attract more people to the field and encourage them to grow as teachers. This is especially important in high-need urban and rural schools that struggle to attract the best teachers and whose students need the most support.
• Supporting Teacher Residency Programs: Teacher Residency programs in places like Boston and Chicago have shown strong promise as a way to prepare teachers. With retention rates in the 90% range (while the average 5-year teacher retention rate hovers around 50%), these programs provide teacher candidates with deep clinical experiences that allow them to become successful teachers.
• Supporting mentoring and collaboration: Expanding mentoring time and offering incentives to schools and districts to give common planning time to teachers will create stronger professional learning communities that are able to collaborate to improve education outcomes for students.
• Expanding the role of service and service learning: Creating a way for retirees to engage in service projects will create a cadre of experienced individuals who will bring expertise in their respective fields to improving their communities. An increased emphasis on service learning will allow K-12 students to apply their classroom knowledge in practical applications that also benefit their communities.

As NCTAF blog readers, do you agree that these are the most pressing education issues for President Obama in January? If not, what issues do you think should be his primary focus?

The Future of Teaching

For the past three years, NCTAF and MetLife Foundation have been traveling around the country taking a close look at 21st Century teaching and learning, highlighting best practices and sharing lessons learned. Next week, NCTAF travels to Boston to take a close look at “The Future of Teaching in Massachusetts,” in a forum discussion, featuring education policymakers and practitioners.

Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville will set the stage for the forum discussion, highlighting Massachusetts’ need to transform teaching in ways that better prepare students to be active participants in a 21st century world. In a column last month, Reville addressed the need for the state’s schools to move forward, stating that most school systems are better suited to the 19th century.

“We must build a stronger, more robust education system, building on the success of the past 15 years of education reform, but addressing the immediate and long-term needs of students with greater urgency,” Reville said. It’s what we need to prepare every child in Massachusetts for success in the global 21st Century economy.”

The forum will also feature some of the best practices from around the Commonwealth, including the Boston Teacher Residency program and Clark University’s partnership with University Park Campus School. For a complete list of panelists and more information, click here.

Earlier this year, we visited Georgia and Colorado where we highlighted some of the promising policies and practices in each state and discussed ways to move the teaching profession into the 21st century. You can watch the forums through the NCTAF web site.

NCTAF will continue to shine a spotlight on best practices and urge the nation to rally around 21st century teaching. How are you transforming teaching in your state?