Eric Riedel

Why Improving Preservice Teacher Educational Technology Preparation Must Go beyond the College's Walls

To prepare new teachers to use technology within their programs of preparation, schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) can develop and require coursework in which students learn how to operate and teach with technology and set expectations that students demonstrate their integration abilities during student teaching. This survey of student teachers found that setting these expectations for designing and delivering instruction using technology was effective in getting student teachers to use technology during clinical experiences. However, additional factors beyond the control of SCDEs were equally important, such as the level of access to technology and the support of and feedback from cooperating teachers at the student teaching site. The authors discuss the implications these factors hold for SCDEs extending efforts “beyond their walls” to prepare new teachers to use technology.

Social Capital and Community Electronic Networks: For-Profit Versus For-Community Approaches

In this article, the authors discuss the implementation of a community electronic network in a rural Minnesota town. The network is intended to help the community keep up with global technological progress by increasing access to the Internet. The current project compares this community approach to electronic networks with an economic, for-profit approach utilized in a nonequivalent control community. Drawing on the theory of social capital, the authors consider the relative impacts of privately oriented social engagement versus publicly oriented political engagement in relation to collective outcomes. The findings to date show that in the presence of a broadly based community electronic network, political as well as economic resources are linked to the use and knowledge of computer resources. The implications of these findings for larger issues of fair and equitable access to technology are discussed.

The Impact of High School Community Service Programs on Students’ Feelings of Civic Obligation

Proponents of community service programs often claim that such programs succeed in educating youth for democratic citizenship where traditional civics instruction falls short. Yet it is not clear that all service programs envision such citizenship as linked to political engagement and participation. It is hypothesized that only service programs that frame service within a wide political context and offer opportunities for public action increase political engagement as measured by feelings of civic obligation. This citizenship framework may likewise be incorporated in traditional social studies classes with similar effects. This hypothesis is confirmed using panel data comparing the effects of different high school service programs and social studies courses. Path analysis, analyzing a subsample of students in a particularly effective service program, shows that political socialization effects remain even when accounting for self-selection processes.

Experimental evidence on the effectiveness of automated essay scoring in teacher education cases

Research on computer-based writing evaluation has only recently focused on the potential for providing formative feedback rather than summative assessment. This study tests the impact of an automated essay scorer (AES) that provides formative feedback on essay drafts written as part of a series of online teacher education case studies. Seventy preservice teachers in four teacher education classes were assigned to complete two cases. Each student was randomly assigned to either a condition where the AES was available (experimental condition) or a condition where the AES was unavailable (control condition). Students in the experimental condition who opted to use the AES submitted more highly rated final, human-scored essays (in the second of two case studies) and conducted more relevant searches (in both of the two case studies) than students either in the control condition or in the experimental condition who chose not to use the scorer.

Social capital and community electronic networks

In this article, the authors discuss the implementation of a community electronic network in a rural Minnesota town. The network is intended to help the community keep up with global technological progress by increasing access to the Internet. The current project compares this community approach to electronic networks with an economic, for-profit approach utilized in a nonequivalent control community. Drawing on the theory of social capital, the authors consider the relative impacts of privately oriented social engagement versus publicly oriented political engagement in relation to collective outcomes. The findings to date show that in the presence of a broadly based community electronic network, political as well as economic resources are linked to the use and knowledge of computer resources. The implications of these findings for larger issues of fair and equitable access to technology are discussed.

Electronic Communities Assessing Equality of Access in a Rural Minnesota Community

The recent implementation of a community electronic network is examined. The network is intended to help the rural community of Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota keep up with global technological progress. The present study is a baseline examination of social, political, and technological conditions in the community. Changes in social capital are hypothesized as a result of the wide-area network. Focus groups and survey research are used to assess inequalities in knowledge, access, and use of technologies as they relate to underlying inequalities in socioeconomic status and social capital. Results suggest that initial adoption of technological advances occurs among those with greater resources. Those with resources of social, but not necessarily economic, capital follow suit once an opportunity arises. Among the implications of the studys findings is that citizens lacking such resources need to be actively recruited into using the new technology as a means to bolster their existing resources.

ETIPS: Using cases with virtual schools to prepare for, extend, and deepen preservice teachers’ field experiences

Field experiences are identified as an important component in the prepara tion of new teachers. As such, methods to supplement field experiences with pre and post activities that ready preservice teachers to effectively learn from them warrant further examination. This paper presents one tool that has been used successfully to improve preservice teachers’ instructional decision-making knowledge about technology integration, with the unintended outcome of readying them for field experiences in general.

Methods for Evaluating Online, Resource-based Learning Environments for Teachers

Abstract Online delivery methods offer much promise for anytime, anywhere adult learning. As a method of outreach, and to provide support for just-in-time learning, teacher educators are increasingly deciding to design Web sites that are online, resource-based learning environments for teachers and preservice teachers. Automated evaluation tools and data collection methods can help such Web site designers develop and use online, resource-based learning environments to meet their goals of providing high quality learning opportunities for teachers. This article presents a three-pronged approach for evaluating issues of pedagogical design and user-centered functionality in online, resource-based Web sites. Checklist, Web site traffic analysis, and talk aloud protocols art each described and then illustrated through their application to a site aimed at educating teachers about technology integration. We discuss the relevance for developing effective learning environments when teacher educators apply this evaluation approach to resource-based learning environments.

Online Ph.D. Program Delivery Models and Student Success

The purpose of this study was to provide information to an online university that offers Ph.D. programs in three formats: knowledge area modules (or KAM, a type of faculty-led, self-directed doctoral study), course-based model, and mixed model (a combination of the KAM and course-based models). The investigators sought to determine why students choose a particular delivery model; their satisfaction with the model; and if they switch, why they do so. A mixed-method approach was utilized using quantitative student characteristics and survey data as well as qualitative survey and interview data. Results indicate that students enrolled in a course-based online Ph.D. program are more likely to be retained and more satisfied than students enrolled in other online delivery models.