Preparing Qualified Elementary School Teachers: Connecting Mathematics and Science by Integrating Data Collection Technology into Methods Courses

Introduction

Our technology-based society is advancing at such a rapid pace that universities are struggling to prepare students with the technology skills they need for today. Millions of dollars are being poured into the purchase of technological equipment for today's classrooms, but the hardware is worthless if school faculty members are unfamiliar with its function and educational application (Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, 2003). Over the last two decades, many government agencies have set up relevant curriculum standards to direct the implementation of educational technology, including the International Society for Technology in Education (2008). Further, non-government organizations such as the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (http://site.aace.org/), founded in 1990, promote research and practice in the use of technology in teacher education.

There is, however, an ongoing debate regarding how teacher education programs can most effectively prepare teachers to use technology in their teaching. Kay (2006) recently completed a meta-analysis of sixty-eight refereed journal articles that suggested various strategies on how to incorporate technology into preservice teacher education. The following ten strategies for the incorporation of technology emerged from his review: 1) Delivering a single technology course; 2) Offering mini-workshops; 3) Integrating technology in all courses; 4) Modeling how to use technology (i.e. faculty using technology in their own teaching practice); 5) Using multimedia (i.e. technology case studies, online courses, electronic portfolios); 6) Collaboration (i.e. establishing partnerships among universities, colleges and K to 12 schools to create technology-rich learning experiences); 7) Mentor teachers (i.e. continuous professional development); 8) Practicing technology in the field (i.e. actively support the production and delivery of technology-based lessons by preservice teachers); 9) Focusing on education faculty (i.e. faculty development); and 10) Improving access to software, hardware and/or support (i.e. laptop programs).