Technology for Teachers - Pearson Education



Technology for Teachers! Study

Cincinnati, Ohio

Prepared for

Dr. Selma Popovich

President, Technology for Teachers!

Prepared by

Allen Cooper

Director for Ohio

Date March 14, 2004

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INTRODUCTION

Technology for Teachers! (TFT) has completed a three-year study of the technological training programs and workshops that TFT offers as well as the clients it serves in its Cincinnati, Ohio, campus. This introduction presents the description of TFT services and clients, the scope of this three-year study, and the format for this report.

Report Format

This report includes the following sections: (1) methods and materials, (2) data and discussion, and (3) conclusions and recommendations.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Technology for Teachers! has kept accurate records of attendance in all of the courses and workshops it has taught. It also has kept and tabulated other data from registration forms, with permission granted by the participants. In total, the following data have been tabulated and used for this report:

• Attendance in the courses and workshops

• Subjects and grades taught

• Computer training background

Project Description

Technology for Teachers! has been in business since 1995 in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, and it has campuses in seven other cities. TFT provides training courses (six-weeks long) and workshops (one-day long) in various types of technology useful to teachers, especially computer software, and methods in how to integrate technology into the classroom. This study covers five of the twelve training courses and four of the twenty workshops at the Cincinnati campus and the clients it has served during the last three years (2000-2003).

Scope of the Study

The purpose of this project was to study the enrollment trends in the main courses and workshops and to study the range of the client population that TFT serves in order to identify needs and trends and thus determine the future focus of Technology for Teachers! These nine courses and workshops are the ones offered most often at the Cincinnati campus.

Programs

• Photoshop for Teachers

• Creating Classroom Web Pages with Netscape Composer

• Making the Most of Microsoft Word

• Developing Online Courses

• PowerPoint for Visual Learners

Workshops

• Classroom Newsletters

• Top Technology Tips

• Online Grade Books

• Teachers and Technology

Client Population

• Subjects and grades taught

• Computer training background

DATA AND DISCUSSION

This section shows results of data tabulations in TFT courses, workshops, participants.

Attendance

The study wished to see the trend in the attendance in both the five courses and four workshops isolated for this study. The five six-week courses are as follows:

• Photoshop for Teachers

• Creating Classroom Web Pages with Netscape Composer

• Making the Most of Microsoft Word

• Developing Online Courses

• PowerPoint for Visual Learners

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Figure 1: Course Attendance from 2001-2003

The chart in Figure 2 shows the attendance in the four one-day workshops isolated for this study. As the chart indicates, all of the four workshops in this study increased in attendance over the three-year span; however, there is little increase between 2002 and 2003 in the Top Technology Tips and the Teachers and Technology workshops. On the other hand, the Online Grade Books workshop has steadily increased in attendance.

The study also examined the trend in the attendance in the four workshops isolated for this study. The four one-day workshops are as follows:

• Classroom Newsletters

• Top Technology Tips

• Online Grade Books

• Teachers and Technology

Subjects and Grades Taught

It was important for the study to address the subjects and grades the participants teach in order to better understand what the participants need for their classrooms. As the chart in Figure 3 shows, more than half (54%) of the participants teach various subjects, which means that most likely they teach elementary grades and are thus responsible for several subjects the students study. The next most common subjects the TFT participants teach are math and sciences, and (perhaps not surprisingly) the least common are languages and history. The “Other” category contains a mixture of art, music, physical education, and various less common subjects, mostly at the secondary levels of middle and high school.

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Figure 2: Workshop Attendance from 2001-2003

The chart in Figure 1 shows the attendance in five six-week programs taught at the Cincinnati campus during the last three years. As the chart indicates, the attendance in four of the five programs has increased during the three-year period studied; only Making the Most of Microsoft Word has declined in attendance.

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Figure 3: Subjects and Grades Taught

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Figure 4: Computer Training Background of Participants

Computer Training Background

The study sought to examine the background the participants have regarding computer training to see if more courses and workshops need to be offered for teachers with no computer background or if more advanced computer courses and workshops are needed. As the chart in Figure 4 shows, participants are approximately evenly divided among the three levels of computer training. However, some of the participants have moved from the “No Training” category to the “Some Training” category over the three years of this study because they have taken multiple courses and/or workshops at Technology for Teachers!. Likewise, some participants have moved from the “Some Computer” category to the “Significant Training” category because of TFT training.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This section includes the major conclusions and recommendations from this study on courses and workshops taught at the Cincinnati campus of Technology for Teachers!

Conclusions

Generally the course and workshop attendance has increased steadily over the three-year period in this study (2001-2003). Specifics regarding attendance are as follows:

• Three courses (Web Pages, Online Courses, and PowerPoint) have steadily increased each year. Interest in these courses remains strong.

• One course (Photoshop) increased more during the 2001-2002 period.

• One course (Microsoft Word) decreased, most likely due to the increased number of participants who already have learned how to use this common program.

• Two workshops (Newsletters and Online Grade Books) increased significantly, largely due to these practices being perceived as helpful to teachers.

Generally the TFT participants teach various subjects because more than half of them are elementary teachers. Specifics regarding courses and grades taught and specifics regarding the computer training of the participants are as follows:

• More than half (54%) are elementary teachers, which suggests that TFT is meeting their needs in the classroom.

• Math and science teachers at the secondary levels (middle school and high school) are the next most frequent participants in TFT courses and workshops; however, they (at 15% and 10% respectively) trail far behind the elementary teachers.

• Participants are divided fairly evenly into the three levels of training: (1) no prior computer training, (2) some training, and (3) significant training. This suggests that TFT meets the needs of teachers at a wide range of computer literacy.

Recommendations

Based on the findings in this study, I recommend the following actions for the Cincinnati campus of Technology for Teachers!

1. Continue offering the wide range of courses and workshops for the varying computer literacy recorded among the TFT participants.

2. Expand the number of workshops for Online Grade Books because the demand is growing significantly.

3. Expand the number of courses for Web Pages, Online Courses, and PowerPoint because of the significant increase in the demand for these courses.

4. Decrease the number of course offerings for Microsoft Word because the enrollment is decreasing.

5. Conduct a study of the specific needs of middle and high school teachers to better determine which courses and workshops would be beneficial to them and to TFT.

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