THE LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM:
KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES
Names of Presenters:
Susan Ridout, Associate Professor
Carl deGraaf, Professor
Jane Riehl, Instructor
Kaye Ardrey, 4th Grade Teacher
Barbara Dooley, 4th Grade Teacher
Diane Holz, 5th Grade Teacher
Steve Smith, 5th Grade Teacher
Objectives:
1.To disseminate to other Teacher Educators a potential model for program changes in the
Language Education Methods Block regarding technology.
2.To demonstrate to elementary school personnel what one model of technology use looks like.
Summary:
Since the onslaught of computer technology, a serious problem faced by educators who want to
see computers used in elementary schools is that of training pre-service teachers so that in the end
the teacher will be a true user of technology. At Indiana University Southeast (IUS), this problem
was discussed and it was decided to update the Language Arts/Reading Methods block of courses
to reflect today's technological world.
The students who participate in this project are undergraduate junior and senior level elementary education majors at IUS who are enrolled in a team taught, six semester hour block of Language Arts/Reading Methods, which has a field experience component. The site for the practicum is a rural elementary school where the IUS students work with small groups of fourth and fifth graders. This particular school was selected due to its commitment and access to technology. For the most part, the faculty members in the IUS Division of Education have a tradition of being compartmentalized, non collaborative, and "low tech."
The following strategies/concepts are employed in this project:
Teaching of Integrated, Theme-based Units; Cooperative Learning; Selection of Software; Scaffolding;
Critical Thinking; Problem Solving; and Collaboration.
Successes achieved:
1.Students who have left our program and found employment are using technology as a vital
component of their overall curriculum.
2.Students are doing a terrific job of integrating technology into their field-based language arts lessons.
3.Other university faculty members are starting to use technology in their courses.
4.After sharing our program with other teacher educators and public school teachers, some have
made significant changes in their traditional classroom programs.
5.The Teacher Education program at IUS is beginning to train our students for the classrooms of
the Twenty-first century.
Methods of Presenting:
The College faculty members involved in the project and the elementary school teachers who work
with the IUS students will share the evolution of this project. To enable the conference participant
to begin a similar program, a full description of requirements will be available in a handbook that
will be distributed. Data will be presented (collected each semester from children and IUS students
involved in the project.) Additionally, student products will be shared via computer laptops and
video tapes.