Following A Technology Training Workshop:
Effects Of A Web-Based Support System
Jane Watkins
Department of Physics and Computer Science
Presbyterian College
Clinton, South Carolina
Technology Training Workshop
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Weeklong summer course
Academic credit
Teachers and Media Specialists
Taught by Business Professors
Classroom Technology Integration Using
Microsoft PowerPoint
My Questions
• What classroom technology integration methods
were taught during the workshop?
• How may we sustain the positive effects of the
workshop?
• How do we raise the level of classroom
technology integration?
Rubric for High-Level Technology
Integration
With the assistance of technology, the teacher has
created a learning environment where the
student must
• Analyze
– Distinguish, detect, employ, restructure, classify
• Synthesize
– Write, produce, plan, design, derive, combine
• Evaluate
– Argue, decide, compare, consider, contrast
After-Training Support System
(ATSS)
• Institute Content
• Best Practices
• Collaborative Ideas
• Discussion Forum
• Mentor
• Resources
http://web.presby.edu/~watkins/T&TI
Participants
• Seven teachers
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White
Middle-class
5 from public schools
2 from private schools
Grades taught range from first to high-school
Research Design
• Applied Ethnography
– An in-depth investigative technique used to examine
the important variables, processes, and interactions
for a particular culture.
Data Collection Methods
• Interviews
– Before ATSS
– After ATSS
• Observations
• Document Analysis
– Teaching Materials
– Students’ Work
Research Question
• What are the effects of a teaching and
technology workshop with an after-training
support system on classroom technology
integration?
Teachers’ Reasons for Taking the
Institute
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Create multimedia presentations using
PowerPoint
Learn more about technology in general
Re-certification and South Carolina’s
technology requirement
Teachers’ Perceptions of
Technology Integration
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“Showing them how to use a computer, the
things that they’re going to do every day”
“To bring it into all subject areas”
“Using the technology that’s available to you
whether it’s the TV or the VCR of the overhead
or the computer”
Technology in the Classrooms
Before the ATSS
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Publishing writings with computers (Synthesis)
Reading-level assessment through
computerized tests (Evaluation)
Problem solving with computers (Evaluation)
Using the Internet to write stories (Synthesis)
and to make reading more personable
(Analysis)
Frequency of Use of the ATSS
• Ranged from “three to four times a week” to
“twice a week”
• Teachers’ comments indicated that had the
ATSS been made a part of their school’s
curriculum, the teachers would have accessed it
more often.
“I just kept thinking, if I didn’t have so much else to
cover, I could spend more time exploring the web
site”
Useful Components of the ATSS
• Institute Content Web Page
– Presentation Slides
• Best Practices Web Page
– Let Your Students Use PowerPoint (Synthesis)
• Math and Reading
– Create A Tutorial For Your Students Using MSPowerPoint
• Social Studies
Useful Components of the ATSS
• Collaborative Ideas Web Page
– Cooperative Learning Example (Synthesis)
• Students taught one another how to incorporate graphics
into their published writings
• Students taught one another how to download a
screensaver
– Kathy Schrock’s PuzzleMaker
Useful Components of the ATSS
• Resources Web Page
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ERIC
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators
Scholastic Web Site
South Carolina Education
U.S. Department of Education
In
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Be
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Web Page
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Number of Teachers Who Used
Each Web Page from the ATSS
0
2
4
6
Number of Teachers
8
Instances of High-Level Technology
Integration
3.0
After
2.0
Before
1.0
Teacher
Trina
Sara
Rachel
Natalie
Kim
Hanna
0.0
Carol
Instances
4.0
Conclusions
• Prior to using the ATSS, only one teacher
envisioned PowerPoint as a tool for her
students, now one other teacher also visualizes
PowerPoint as a tool that her students can use.
• By altering how teachers perceive technology
integration through the ATSS, we may influence
how teachers integrate technology into their
teaching.
Conclusions
• Two teachers indicated an increase in the
instances of high-level technology integration
after using the ATSS.
• Had the ATSS been made an integral part of
each teacher’s curriculum, the teacher would
likely have used the ATSS more often.
Conclusions
• When teachers receive the needed support from
school administration, technology training will be
continuous and will raise the teachers’
technology integration from a basic level to highlevel methods.