GRANT HELPS TEACHERS
BE BETTER USERS OF TECHNOLOGY

Sue Kiger works with a student in a School of Education computer lab

Since joining ISU’s curriculum, instruction and media technology (CIMT) faculty in 1995, Powers has been influential in training teachers and future teachers about technology — about how to use it and how important it is to the our children’s futures.

In her latest role, Powers is serving as principal investigator on an Eisenhower Grant for nearly $40,000. The grant, which runs through May of 2002 (18 months), is enabling Powers and colleagues Sue Kiger and Della Thacker to teach educators about unique ways to integrate technology into their curriculums while, at the same time, creating “technology-rich” environments for their students.

About 28 middle and high school teachers from Vigo and Clay counties will participate in the MITTS (Masters Instructional Technology Teachers) Project.

“The purpose of the project is to have teachers in the field who can integrate technology and, therefore, model the use of technology in the classroom,” said Powers, associate professor of CIMT. “Ultimately, it will increase the pool of technology-rich classrooms that we can put our teacher education students into. Plus, once the (MITTS) teachers are taught technology techniques, they can become experts and mentors for their own schools as well.”

Right now, the teachers are participating in an extensive online technology assessment. By the end of February, the group will have put together individualized growth plans based on information gathered from the assessments. And from March through June, Powers and her colleagues will help the teachers with one-on-one training and pair them up with other teachers in the field. Participants also will come to campus July 10-12 for three days of intensive, hands-on training.

“If a teacher is skilled in electronic communication but has never used presentation software such as PowerPoint, we can assist them in training to focus on those areas where they lack the most knowledge or want to acquire the most knowledge,” Powers explained.

The purpose of the project is three-fold:  to strengthen the skills of the teachers involved, to help them integrate technology into their classrooms and to enable them to mentor future teachers.

“The people we work with on this project may not radically change what they do,” Powers said, “but hopefully, down the road, our work will indirectly impact someone else and have a chain reaction, because you can’t reach everyone through training.”

CLICK HERE to read more about area teachers who are involved with the MITTS Project.