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DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER EDUCATION
INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS
The Department of Teacher Education at Bradley University offers undergraduate programs in Early Childhood,
Elementary, K-12 (Art, Foreign Language, and Music), Secondary (English Language Arts, Family and Consumer
Science, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies), and Special Education. The Department also offers a variety of
certificates of graduate study and a master’s degree programs in Curriculum and Instruction and Special Education.
One of the hallmarks of our undergraduate and graduate programs is the integration of technology. This process has
been greatly enhanced by the state-of-the-art facility and equipment in the newly renovated Westlake Hall, which
serves as a model for technology integration and a ubiquitous digital and online learning environment. What follows
are examples of the manner in which technology has been seamlessly integrated into the curriculum and teaching and
learning environment.
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Federal laws and recent technological advances have had a significant impact on the use of technology for students
with and without disabilities. LBSI and Elementary Education candidates in Teacher Education have access to the
Assistive Technology Center (WES212A) which is designed to offer teacher education candidates a state of the art
hands-on experience with special education technology and universal design technology. The lab houses assistive
technology devices organized into a number of categories (e.g., computer access, daily living, educational,
communication, early childhood, and universal design features) for demonstration and hands on experience. This
experience has helped teacher education candidates develop knowledge and skills to work with individuals with and
without disabilities.
ETE331 Assistive Technology addresses the assistive technology evaluation, selection, and
application process for individuals with disabilities in school, the workplace and the community. Emphasis is placed
on assessment of the individual, environment, and tasks required of the person prior to evaluation of technologies and
adaptations that enable the individual to function as fully as possible in his/her daily lives. Candidates develop skills to
utilize principles of universal design for learning and appropriate adaptation technology such as switches, adapted
keyboards, and alternative positioning to allow students with various disabilities full participation and access to the
core curriculum.
DIGITAL STUDIO
The Digital Editing Studio will be used by our teacher candidates to prepare for the Educational Teacher Performance
Assessment or edTPA. This national capstone assessment will be required by the State of Illinois of all teacher
candidates in order to obtain certification. A key component of the edTPA is a video of the teacher candidate teaching
a lesson in an actual classroom during student teaching. The video is then scored by outside reviewers. Students must
receive a passing score in order to be certified. Using the Digital Studio and its technology will ensure that our
candidates are well-prepared to create a high-quality video which will showcase their expertise as teachers. Our
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candidates are taught how to effectively use the requested audio and video recording equipment in their field
experience seminars and other methods courses. They are able to practice with the equipment in the Digital Studio
Classroom and check out the equipment from the Digital Editing Studio to use in the field. Candidates are also
instructed how to produce and edit video podcasts for the classroom using equipment that was selected to be
representative of what a classroom teacher might expect to find in a current school setting. This equipment is used by
all teaching majors at all levels throughout their experience at Bradley.
TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY
The management software for the Technology Laboratory is the hub of the laboratory. It enables the instructor to view
and select individual student's monitors and display them for the classroom as well as display information to the
SmartBoard. Teacher candidates can use the laboratory to gain proficiency using hardware such as the SmartBoard and
Web 2.0 software such as Prezi that will be standard in their future classrooms. The collaborative nature of the
Technology Laboratory allows students to practice using technology in groups as well as individual settings. The
Digital Studio and the Technology Laboratory assist our Bradley students in being well-prepared in the use of
educational technology for the classroom.
MATHEMATICS TEACHING LABORATORY
In ETE 339, technology are tools that are used throughout the semester, not about how to operate them, but how can
we use them in our future classes, and how can we use them for ourselves. We utilize math applets that are found for
probability, measurement, and other areas of math; the math videos that allow us to examine math classrooms as well
as examine work done by students at various grade levels; the blogging that each student does related to material
reviewed on the web; Prezi and Jing throughout the semester used to share presentations about math topics; other
video work for sharing longer presentations about the long term planning project; Geometer's SketchPad and Sketch
Explorer to examine and make conjectures related to 2-D and 3-D objects; Excel to explore graphs and to calculate
grades for the class; calculators for appropriate and inappropriate uses in various classrooms; and of course
SmartBoard for ways to share our ideas and for this one tool ways to actually operate the hardware/software. Yes, we
also get information and lesson ideas from the web and Sakai is used extensively, including the TurnItIn feature.
ETE 373, Secondary Mathematics Methods, uses very specific tools that are for the teaching of mathematics, such as
TI-Nspire calculators along with some of their probes, Geometer's SketchPad and Sketch Explorer for geometry,
trigonometry, calculus applications, Excel for statistics and graphs. We compare the Geometer's SketchPad, Geogebra,
and Core Math Tools (part of the NCTM membership) for usefulness, and features that help and hinder the concepts
taught at all levels of high school math. We also compare the use of those dynamic tools with the use of the TI-Nspire
calculator, as we may soon be asked to make recommendations about the different software or calculators. At the same
time, we also use small programs on the internet called math applets, which allows us to look at and run different
simulations as well as work with manipulatives, many of which would not be affordable in the physical form. We use
the math tools on the SmartBoard, analyze videos of math classrooms, create and present using Prezi & Jing, blog
using the Blogger to communicate our reflections and evaluation regarding certain assignments.