Scheduled for Pedagogy and Special Populations Posters, Thursday, April 1, 2004, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Session


Effectiveness of Technology Modules in PETE

Darla M. Castelli, Champaign, IL

The Illinois State Board of Education requires preservice teachers to document competencies in eight core technology standards as part of teacher certification (ISBE, 2000). Initially, university technology courses were delivered by direct, teacher-centered methods, and focused on computers (Beck, 2000). More recent literature suggests that teacher training in technology include: (a) collaborative learning environments (Beck, 2002), (b) constructivist or indirect instructional strategies (Crawford, 2000), and (c) a project-based approach (Dempsey, Springer, & Holder, 1999). Modules are a way of organizing content to promote critical thinking, problem solving, and cooperative learning (Moser, 1996). In this study, modules were created to align a technology standard with specific technologies (Power Point, Macromedia Director, Fitnessgram, imovie, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), Excel, web consumerism, and web page development). Each module contained a probing question, an assignment task, and assessment criteria. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using modules to present content in a physical education teacher education (PETE) technology course. Twenty-four physical education preservice teachers were recruited from a PETE technology course to complete a survey, focus group interview, weekly reflections, and nine technology modules. The instructor of the course was also a participant and was interviewed individually. A descriptive statistical analysis of the survey revealed that Power Point was the most interesting and enjoyable module, while Macromedia Director was most difficult and viewed as having little application to physical education. Preservice teachers felt they had learned the most in the imovie and web page development modules, as few participants had prior knowledge or experience with these technologies. A constant comparison method (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) was used to analyze focus group interviews, instructor interview, weekly reflections, open-ended survey questions, and technology modules. Preservice teachers felt they were most likely to use Power Point and web pages as professionals because of the versatility of the software (e.g., presentations, pictures, web pages). The instructor and the preservice teachers agreed on all module effectiveness with the exception of web consumerism. Preservice teachers felt they were already competent in web consumerism and suggested dropping this module from the course. Collaborative interactions were viewed as the most valuable facilitator to completing the modules. These findings suggest that modules can be effectively utilized to organize content on Power Point, web pages, video capture and editing, and PDA observational assessment. The modules of web consumerism, Fitnessgram, and Macromedia Director were viewed as less effective.
Keyword(s): research, technology

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