Technology and TESOL Teacher Education Programs

Presented by:  Dr. Karen Kuhel

The Need

Teaching English through ESOL or Bilingual Programs in P-12 schools requires attention to academic achievement of both content and language.  Because of this dual focus, teacher education programs in the United States must adhere to three sets of technology standards. All three sets overlap in intent and wording; however, the focus of each requires attention to different aspects of teacher development. It has to be said that meeting standards is not the intended outcome. The purpose of focusing on standards is to ensure a simultaneous increase in academic achievement and language proficiency through meeting the standards. Additionally, an unspoken intent of meeting technology standards is increased ability of teacher educators to effectively utilize various forms of technology in their own instructional planning and implementation.

• Accreditation

o National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) --

Accredited institutions should prepare candidates who are able to:

• Integrate technology and information literacy into instruction to support student learning (Standard 1.1b)

http://ncate.org/Standards/NCATEUnitStandards/UnitStandardsinEffect2008/tabid/476/Default.aspx

• General Education

o International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) -- National Education Technology Standards (NETS) -- Teachers should be able to:

• Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
• Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessment
• Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
• Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
• Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership 

http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx (for teachers)

http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students.aspx (for students)

• Language Development

o TESOL -- Technology Standards for Language Teachers – Language teachers are to:

• Acquire and maintain foundational knowledge and skills in technology for professional purposes (Goal 1)
• Integrate pedagogical knowledge and skills with technology to enhance language teaching and learning (Goal 2)
• Apply technology in record-keeping, feedback, and assessment (Goal 3)Use technology to improve communication, collaboration, and efficiency (Goal 4) 

http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx (for teachers)

http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document.asp?CID=1972&DID=12051 (for students)

The How

Overall, there are three main frameworks for integrating technology into teacher education programs:

• Stand alone technology course (Option 1)
• Introductory technology course + intentional systematic embedding of technology throughout rest of program (Option 2)
• Only intentional systematic embedding of technology throughout program (Option 3)

Each framework has its own challenges.  A solitary stand-alone course can lead to a disconnect from content since technology classes do not necessarily provide opportunities for modeling of integration of technology into P-12 classroom instruction and assessment.  Options 2 and 3 assume that all program content area instructors have a working knowledge of not only a variety of technologies but also how to effectively utilize them in instructional planning and implementation.  Option 3 is especially reliant upon individual program instructor knowledge of various technologies and a willingness to abide by the embedding plan since coherence and cohesion of technology implementation is the responsibility of each individual instructor.

The Form

What will the embedding of technology look like in the TESOL teacher education classroom?  It has been asserted that the introduction of technology alone has the potential to transform learning in the classroom (Ertmer 1995; 2005).  What has become increasingly clear, however, is that knowing what cannot be disconnected from the how; implementation is the foundation for the transformation (Sawyer, 2006).  In both the teacher education and P-12 classroom, the charge is to engage learners in authentic activities that encourage application of prior knowledge and opportunities for making connections to the world beyond the initial classroom activity.  Preservice and practicing teachers need to see and feel how the use of technology will manifest itself in their own classrooms and inform their own instruction (Richardson, 2003) and assessments.  To this end, teacher educators need to provide clear modeling of technology integration (Becker, 2000; Niederhauser & Stoddart, 2001; Norum, Grabinger, & Duffield, 1999).  This can be accomplished through utilization of

pedagogy that:

• Is situated within the content and context of the preservice or practicing teachers;
• Stresses active reflection on the effectiveness of all areas of instruction (content, language, and technology); 
• Utilizes project-based collaborative learning
• Draws on resources from others who have a long history of using technology to develop differentiation of instruction
• Universal Design for Learning  -- http://cast.org/udl/index.html