Developing A Dual Enrollment Course In Educational Technology

Abstract

During the past two years as part of the PDS program, a dual enrollment course in educational technology has been offered at a local high school. This course has provided students and teachers opportunities and experience in technology application and integration.

 

Developing A Dual Enrollment Course In Educational Technology

King High School/USF College of Education Dual Enrollment Course:
EME 2040 Introduction to Educational Technology

Terence W. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.

University of South Florida

College of Education, Instructional Technology

cavanaugh@tempest.coedu.usf.edu

During the past two years as part of the Professional Development Schools (PDS) program, a dual enrollment course in educational technology has been offered at King High School. An early request from the high school was assistance in developing the area of educational technology. The course was part of the response to that request. The principal at that time stated that the school needed improvement in the area of technology and specifically asked for assistance with their Academy of Teaching Professionals, a special teaching academy program offered at King to their students. Administration at the college then selected a PDS liaison based upon his expertise in educational technology and public school teaching experience. Working together the liaison and the administration from the College of Education and King High School decided it was possible to offer the undergraduate course "Introduction to Educational Technology" to the teaching academy. This course would also act as a model for their students and teachers in technology integration, and provide technology materials for the school.

The course "Introduction to Educational Technology" is part of the state standards in teacher preparation. Technology has become an important part of the teacher education program. In the state of Florida the course, "An Introduction to Educational Technology" is one of the three prerequisite courses for entrance into any of the state's colleges of education. Current course topics range from evaluating and applying educational software, to ethical and social issues, to models for integrating technology into instruction. The course focuses on integrating computers and technology and the role of technology in the teaching and learning processes.

As part of the course development at the high school, a partnership was initiated between the university liaison and the teaching academy coordinator. The first task was find space for the class and ensure on-line computer access. With the assistance of the school councilors, computer lab space for the course was made available in the "School to Work" lab, since the course was part of a "job" preparation program. The teaching academy coordinator then advertised the course to her students and throughout the school while the school administrator in charge of curriculum set up the scheduling and registration of the students. An analysis of the computer and technologies in the available lab resulted in a list of needed items to be able to effectively offer the course. But since the PDS had grant support form a local business we were able to purchase equipment such as scanners, digital cameras, video projector, and CD-ROM burning drives for the course. Along with the purchase of technologies, funding was made available to supply the students books and manuals at no expense to them. Beyond the grant support an area instructional technology center donated software and allowed access to their lab for the students to visit and experiment in. The only major problem that has consistently occurred is with the university cashiers office having trouble identifying and processing dual enrollment students. This problem causes their office to repeatedly send bills to the students for course costs and late fees, even though dual enrollment high school students should not be charged for classes.

During its first offering, the student population enrollment in the class was restricted to high school seniors with a grade average of at least "C". Unfortunately due to the two block-schedule programs in place at King, the International Baccalaureate (IB). students were not able to participate in the course. The following year, the program was opened to any student in the teaching academy and any student expressing an interest in education as long as they had the required grade point average. In the first offering, there were twelve students enrolled, and in the next year, the number of students increased to sixteen. Since the course is lab and web intensive, and the only lab that is available for the class to use has fifteen computers, it is currently necessary to limit the number of students to about sixteen.

The students at King have been motivated just as much as, if not more than, the university students. In order to have the course qualify as a prerequisite for admission into the college of education, a student must earn at least a grade of a "C." In the two times that the course has been offered, the proportion of King students earning at least a "C" has been equal to or better than the proportion of students taking the same class at USF. These high school students enter the class already highly technology active. The are interested and stimulated by the possibilities of the technology, along with the idea of being college students now.

The course requires very few adaptations for adjustment to the high school. The students there are participating in the same lectures, labs and activities as the college students. The high school class was able to go beyond what the university course did by attending a FDLRS workshop on assistive technology for creating toys for handicapped children. This opportunity was possible because of the size of the class and the flexibility of the school schedule.

In addition to the in person lecture and lab assignments, the students are able to access course websites. Students are required to use the website to access lab instructions, complete given assignments, maintain lines of communication with the course instructor, and among themselves. Students are encouraged to use e-mail as an additional communication method with the course instructor for questions and dialog. At the course website, students can access lecture notes, even before class occurs, and they are encouraged to review these notes before class. Many of the students do so to the extent of printing these notes and bringing them to the class lecture. This practice streamlines the lecture process in class in addition to providing students with an advance organizer for that day's topic. Instructions and requirements for all lab activities along with additional resources are posted on the website.

The course works well with the current block schedule program of the school with the students being in the educational technology course two days a week. The students use the other three days of the week for completing labs, doing on-line research and additional work with the class or extending their practicum time in local elementary schools. These additional days have also provided flexible time for the students to tour the university campus, visit the college library, and participate in other field activities.

The students participating in the program have become excited by the possibilities of educational technology. They have created works such as the "Hour in the Life of King," where they used digital cameras to record the activities that occurred during class throughout the school, and then was placed as a slide show on a web page. The students created their own personal web pages and presentations, and then placed them onto a common CD, which all student got at the end of the course. Many of the students have begun applying the technologies they learned in class by creating additional web pages, helping other teachers in creating presentations, creating working for bulletin boards for teachers, and using the advanced features of word processors and text readers to improve their own writing abilities.

The course has sparked interest with the current high school teaching staff concerning the integration of technology into their programs, and a member of the current King staff has even taken the course with the students. One example of the impact the course has had concerns two students who after taking the course changed their college plans to education and enrolled in the University of South Florida upon graduation. After completing the course the teaching academy students have an additional advantage over the university sophomores who take the course, in that they have a greater background with education and are prepared now to use technology in way that will benefit their upcoming college experiences.

An outgrowth of the dual enrollment course has been the development of offering of a master's level course in educational technology. With grant support this course was offered after school and on-line to the PDS teachers at a reduced cost.