Elizabeth Willis

Power, language, and identity: Voices from an online course

Abstract Distance learning, especially in computer-mediated environments, is the new trend in education. Universities fear that they will be left behind or even become extinct if they do not offer online courses ( Roblyer, 1999 ). Very little is known about effective pedagogy in online environments, much less the power, authority, and control relationships that occur when conversations are not face-to-face. The course described in this article is a bilingual education course in which participants were involved in extensive writing and publishing of their ideas on the Web. Through bulletin board postings, power relationships between majority and minority students became evident during the semester. Students described their struggles with living and working in a society that, in many cases, institutionalizes racism. Included in this article is a discussion of how the race factor is usually turned “off” ( Kolko, Nakamura, & Rodman, 2000 ) or is in its “default,” White mode ( Lockard, 2000 ) in online environments. Finally, the authors offer implications for interactions between instructors and students and student peers in online environments.

Contextually Based Professional Development.

In this article, the authors detail a study of a three-year professional development project designed to increase in-service teachers’ classroom technology integration. Participants engaged in learning activities that modeled technology integration from a contextually based perspective that included technology, and pedagogical and content knowledge. Although participants reported having very limited technology skills before professional development began, after two years they reported a significant increase in using technology skills. In addition, participants reported increased comfort and confidence in using technology to the level where they changed their teaching practice to integrate technology. Indeed, between years two and three, participants reported a significant increase in technology use for learning by their students.

Through the looking glass … preservice professional portfolio's

Abstract This article shares one institutions experiences using professional portfolios to assist future teachers in becoming effective practitioners and making the transition between school and work. It describes the portfolio development process and the exit presentations. Both give students a peer/faculty forum to showcase their competencies, growth, and promote reflection, self‐confidence, job search preparedness, and an increased awareness of professional standards. In order to ascertain students’ perceptions regarding the development of a professional portfolio, faculty administered a questionnaire. Student feedback highlighted the benefits of portfolio development and offered suggestions for future improvements. They overwhelmingly viewed the invested time as worthwhile, saw the process as an appropriate program exit assessment, and recommended its continuation with future students. In addition, their suggestions held implications for portfolio use in teacher training programs.

Does Requiring a Technology Course in Preservice Teacher Education Affect Student Teacher’s Technology Use in the Classroom?

Abstract In this article, we discuss findings of a preliminary study of preservice teacher education students taking a technology course in fall 1999 and serving as student teachers in spring 2000. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of this required one-semester technology course on reported attitudes toward, self-efficacy with, and use of technology by elementary preservice educators at a university in the southwestern United States. The study informed us in many ways, some of which were disappointing but enlightening. From this study, we determined that one undergraduate technology course does not necessarily cause student teachers to use technology in their curriculum. Perhaps an investigation of this kind should also look at new teachers in the first year of their careers for demonstration of technology use from their teacher education program.