ITCDF 2008

Overview:

The purpose of this project is to provide integrated online curriculum materials, resources and learnware to support computer lab activities related to use of adaptive technology in Initial Teacher Education.

These resources will support the Teacher Education Seminar, one of the required courses for all teacher candidates in OISE’s B.Ed. program. An important topic in this course is the study of Special Education, with a particular focus on learning how to teach students who have special learning needs, including the use of adaptive technology to assist in their education. 

Unique Features of the Project:

Programs, courses and students that will benefit:

There are approximately 1300 teacher candidates currently enrolled in the one-year B.Ed. consecutive program at OISE. In addition, students in the Master of Arts in Child Study and Education (M.A.) and in the Master of Teaching (M.T.) programs will be able to access these resources. All of these students would benefit from the availability of these curriculum materials, informed by the pedagogical expertise of Principal Applicant, Kathryn Broad, and partners, Evelyn Freedman, Carol Rolheiser and Karen Sheppard.

Additionally, this project could also benefit the cohort of approximately 350 students enrolled in the five-year Concurrent Teacher Education Program (CTEP) across seven university partners. The CTEP program will add additional cohorts each year.

The Concurrent Teacher Education partners include:

Course Embedded Responsive Learning Objects:
Developing Foundational Research Skills & Knowledge

Sheril Hook (UTM Library); Sarah Fedko (UTSC Library); Julie Hannaford (OISE Library); Esme Fuller-Thomson (Social Work); Christina Tooulias-Santolin (Robarts Library)

Overview:

The objective of this project is to develop an online collaborative casebook of effective Information Technology (IT) teaching and learning practices. This resource will be used to support instructors in the identification and refinement of best practices regarding technology integration. The Casebook will serve a variety of audiences, including University of Toronto instructors, pre-service teacher candidates at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI) students. It will contain a advanced search utility that will allow instructors to search by level of education (elementary, secondary, tertiary), technology type (e.g., Web 2.0 applications, classroom response systems, presentation software, learning environments, etc.), and keywords to retrieve descriptions of exemplary IT teaching/learning practices.

Each Casebook exemplar will describe:

• How a particular implementation of IT adds value to a learning situation;

• Best instructional practices for capitalizing on the strengths of the technology;

• Potential misuses of the technology and other impediments to learning;

• How to access and set up the technology;

• A discussion area to support collegial exchange and the iterative refinement of best practices.

Three prototype versions of the Casebook environment have already been developed: one for teachers in elementary and secondary schools (by Jim Hewitt), one for KMDI instructors (by Jim Slotta), and one for pre-service instructors (Clare Brett). Funding from this proposal will allow the three existing environments to be merged into a single integrated repository that is easy to navigate and search. Once developed, it is hoped that the Casebook will encourage an ‘education first’ perspective on the instructional use of IT, and foster a deeper understanding of how new media can be productively employed to promote knowledge advancement.

Web-based Multimedia Instructional Modules for
Elementary Pre-Service Language and Literacy Courses

Dr. Dale Willows, Program Chair (MA Child Study and Education, Institute of Child Study); Dr. Rhonda Martinussen, Faculty Member (MA Child Study and Education, B.Ed.)

Project Partners:

Dr. Kathryn Broad, Program Director – Elementary Pre-service Education (OISE)
Laurie Harrison, Director of Academic Technology – Education Commons (OISE) 

Overview:

This project is designed as a first step in the development of a website to provide OISE’s elementary pre-service teachers with the opportunity to understand, observe, reflect upon, and analyze the classroom practices of effective literacy teachers. This initial pilot of components of a knowledge base website will provide OISE students with a conceptual framework for effective literacy education, an introductory set of digital media resources (downloadable “learning objects” such as video clips of classroom practices and SMART Board activities), as well as a users’ guide for faculty. Specifically the proposed courseware product will: