Curriculum-based, technology-enhanced field experiences These field experiences were designed to give preservice teachers firsthand experience integrating technology in K-12 classrooms. Preservice teachers from the University of Florida were paired with inservice teachers in Alachua County Schools to collaboratively develop and integrate technology-based, curriculum-focused activities. These partnerships were based on the notion of collaboration rather than on an expert/novice relationship. This meant the teachers’ experiences and knowledge (particularly, their knowledge of how real classrooms work) were combined with the preservice teachers’ experiences and knowledge (particularly, their knowledge of how technology may be used in instruction) to develop activities/projects that were useful to the inservice teacher and that improved both partners’ ability to integrate technology into the curriculum. The goals of the collaboration included: Providing inservice teachers with an opportunity to explore instructional applications of educational technologies in their own classrooms using their own curriculum, Providing preservice teachers in-depth experience with the use of educational technologies in a classroom setting, and Developing positive relationships between local public schools and the university. In the first three year of the Teaching and Technology Initiative, 32 preservice teachers and 35 inservice teachers from 8 different schools have participated in the experiences and have influenced over 875 students. A teacher inquiry component was added to the experience in the third year to enable preservice teachers to reflect on the significance of what they are doing with the teacher and students in the classroom. See results from these experiences. During the fourth year of the Teaching and Technology Initiative, we shifted our work from a collection of unrelated schools to the eight PDC schools with which the College of Education was working. Although our past efforts in the technology-based field experiences were valuable to the teachers and students in those classrooms, these efforts were not influencing the entire school. Therefore, we placed all of our preservice teachers participating in the technology-based field experiences in one school, Littlewood Elementary. We were pleased with the systemic change with respect to integrating technology into the curriculum that occurred at Littlewood. In order to prepare for all PDC schools to be prepared to host preservice teachers and enable them to have a rich experience that utilizes technology, the Teaching and Technology Initiative purchased Inspiration, The Graph Club 2.0, digital video cameras, digital still cameras, and other equipment for preinterns, interns, and teachers to use with students. Again, we are excited to see technology committees at each of the PDCs plan to effectively use these resources in daily instruction. Read an article about the evolution of these experiences. Snapshots of the Technology-based Field Experiences Showcase Year 1 Snapshots of the Technology-based Field Experiences Showcase Year 1  Each year of the grant, we have held a PT3 Showcase to highlight the activities occurring in the Teaching and Technology Initiative. These showcases have grown more impressive each year. During the third year of the grant, 54 students were presenting different activities associated with the grant. Please visit the Showcase page to learn more about these activities.
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