Committee Members:

Steve and I have been busy.
Please give me your concent or rejection and/or revision suggestions ASAP.
We are trying to get this to John Leonard before his Friday meeting this week.
John and Mary Nelle, if you have any comments, please let me know.
thanks,
Carol



Draft of Technology Committee letter to SPA chairs

Dear SPA Chair,

In an effort to complete the NCATE review process, the Technology Committee is trying to understand the nature and scope of technology infusion at SFA.Technology use seems to be ubiquitous and omnipresent.  This makes it difficult to spot in totality.  Yet, we need to be aware of its presence, use and effectiveness.  We need to consider technology infusion from the standpoint of the Faculty, the Teacher Candidates, and the Students impacted by our field based program. 

According to NCATE, all programs must verbalize and demonstrate a commitment to the effective integration of technology at the professor delivery level and the teacher candidate level, which is then expected to positively impact public school classroom students and then move on into the community. http://www.ncate.org/states/techcurrent.asp?ch=113   NCATE will be expecting us to have begun this "process."

Our committe has set up an electronic page that is intended to introduce the COE's committment to the integration of technology in all we do.  Each SPA report will be linked to this page.  Your SPA report will be an important part of this "evidence."

We are asking you to determine how best to demonstrate the "evidence" of technology integration in your program, to collect the "evidence" that "proves" it, and then to give us the link to that information (or the exact word document name, so that we may link your document to ours once everything is placed online).

To make things easier for you, we have created an online technology survey.
Professors may go online through MySFA to complete it and data will be compiled for you. All you will need to do then will be to look at your data to determine strengths, weakness, and recommendations for your program. You will then send us the link to that summary page.

This technology survey is just like the course evaluation links we use each semester. As with the course evaluations, you (SPA chair) will be given the option to make a few changes to adapt it to your particular program before releasing it to those in your program who will complete it.  In this way, we will be able to collect data across programs, as well as, look at particular and more relevant strands within a program.

Use of this survey is completely optional. We are just trying to help direct you in this, but you may have other and better ideas.  Please approach this in any manner you feel would best demonstrate the intergration of technology into your particular SPA program.  Feel free to supply any additional information you deem important in your area as it relates to technology.  You can use your discretion as to the method for compiling data.  For instance, you may delegate the task to a committee member, you may wish to ask each faculty member who teaches a significant course within your program to complete it, or you may think of some better plan. Ultimately we are hoping to survey teacher candidates, as well, but for this semester, we are preferring to keep it more manageable as we explore the best ways to demonstrate our commitment and success toward integrating technology throughout the COE.


Let me remind you what NCATE (and we) are requesting:

LINK(S) to:
1 - your SPA statement of commitment to integrate technology throughout your program which ultimately will impact student learning in K-12 grades
2 - your SPA "evidence" that "demonstrates" your program's success (so far) with this
3 - your summary page listing: strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations for your SPA program (charts are encouraged)


Following are two links which best summarize what NCATE has in mind:
NCATE's - future classrooms
http://www.ncate.org/states/technology21.asp?ch=113
NCATE - our nation's future (powerpoint)
http://www.nationaledtechplan.org/docs_and_pdf/NETP2005.ppt

I realize you have much to do. Hopefully our survey will help make this more manageable.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to call or email me.

Sincerely,


Carolyn Abel, Chair
http://www.education.sfasu.edu/ele/classes/abel/NCATE_technology.html
936-468-1794
cabel@sfasu.edu
Committee Members
Robert Judy
Steve Josephsen
Edward Wittell