Roundtable Discussion
at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
Annual Meeting in
Dallas, March 1-4, 2001,
Saturday, March 3,
2001, 7:45 - 8:15 AM
Hyatt Regency, Pegasus
B, Table 7, lobby level
also found at http://www.csudh.edu/soe/faculty/NMach/aacte2001cyber.html
and http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/stoloff/aacte2001cyber.html
on the WWW
Nada Mach, Ph.D. |
David L. Stoloff, Ph.D., |
Introduction
How do Schools, Colleges, and/or
Departments of Education (SCDEs) use the World Wide Web (WWW) for the recruitment
and retention of caring and competent teachers? How can they take
advantage of the WWW's potential to recruit and retain the best teacher
candidates and overcome the difficulties encountered in a climate of excessive
criticism of teachers and teacher education programs? How do SCDEs
accommodate the increasing demand for teachers and the tendency of many
states to expand emergency, alternative routes to teaching? Do their Web
sites reveal customized programs, professional development efforts, and
attempts to expand communication? How do SCDEs provide Internet,
World Wide Web (WWW) curricular resources and experiences that assure integration
among the best prospective teachers, superintendents, principals, school
psychologists, school counselors, and special educators?
Literature Review
"Cybercasting," the dissemination
of information on computer screens using the World Wide Web, is analogous
to broadcasting. Those who produce and view SCDEs’ Web sites have the tools
to widely and freely share information and ideas.
This roundtable discussion is designed to be a catalyst for discussion of the uses and potential uses of the World Wide Web by SCDEs through reviewing 70 of their Web sites during 2001. It will extend the discussion first presented in a 1999 AACTE poster session, and further developed in a 2000 AACTE Roundtable, on how the World Wide Web is used by SCDEs to forge community links and serve learners. It will also extend the research on the use of the Internet as a support in the teacher education process.
Blenz-Clucas (1996) examines the use of the Internet to connect students, parents, teachers, and other community members with PK-12 schools. Casey (1994) examines how TeacherNet, a community of student teachers linked by electronic mail, supported pre-service experiences by "increasing student reflectivity, rapport with supervisors, team support, self-esteem, knowledge and use of information access and retrieval, and use of computers at home." This presentation will go beyond this research to explore the potential of the WWW in improving recruitment and retention of teachers. In addition to the issues of professionalism that emerge from alternative routes to credentialing, this study will also be placed in the context of social issues generated by the use of information technologies ? in the areas of intellectual property rights, privacy, evaluation and assessment, and access to technology.
In the research study presented in the 1999 poster session on cybercasting by SCDEs, the Web pages of over fifty AACTE member institutions and SCDEs for several other countries were reviewed for the quantity and quality of information at their sites. Each Web site was analyzed with a checklist of informational items, including school address, faculty directory, program listings, course descriptions, course syllabi, detailed program descriptions, interactive course syllabi linked to other resources, faculty works in progress and papers, SCDE reports online, student works in progress online, and Web pages with surveys for formative evaluation of the programs. The presenters concluded that consideration should also be given to the ease of navigation within a school’s Web site, as well as other special features of content and presentation. A Web page on this research study was developed and is readily accessible. The study has been reproduced as an ERIC document (Document # ED429942, 1999).
Last year's study, " Cybercasting for Integrating Leadership by SCDEs: A Y2K Review," focused on how seventy SCDEs made use of Web-based interactivity to prepare individuals who are skilled in the integration of school leadership roles. Web sites were featured that were designed to serve as virtual forums for discussions across disciplines and professional roles. Extrapolating from these exemplary models, the presenters suggested strategies for enhancing professional conversation on student learning and community development. One unexpected finding was that a number of the features explored within the evaluation model developed in the researchers' first study were no longer available to the outside observer, such as interactive course syllabi. Passwords to internal servers were necessary.
This year, the researchers intend to focus their efforts specifically on how SCDEs' Web sites reveal efforts to recruit and retain good teacher candidates. Recruitment to both traditional and alternative programs leading to credentialing, as well as evidence of professional development programs will be examined.
Contribution
This roundtable will serve to continue
an ongoing discussion on the use of the World Wide Web by Schools, Colleges,
and Departments of Education. In the March 2001 Roundtable, the discussion
will focus on how SCDEs make use of Web-based information-sharing to develop
conversations and unified action plans to improve public relations on the
professional image of teachers, while addressing the needs of the emergency
credentialed candidates and the increasing shortage of teachers, particularly
in the inner city.
Discussion at this roundtable will
also include such topics as the applications of online courses, program
evaluation for distance learning, and future integration of educational
technology into teacher education curriculum. The research for this
presentation will also include the development of another Web page that
will catalog the innovative uses of the World Wide Web by AACTE members
during March 2001, and discuss the evolution of this technology since February
1999. Highlighted on this research Web page will be the SCDEs’ efforts
at maximizing networking among educational professionals.
Criteria for Evaluating Websites of SCDEs
In their efforts to recruit and retain caring and competent teachers, SCDEs have used a variety of means that are evident on their Web sites. A few of the techniques used in recruitment and retention include:
Exemplary School-University Collaborations by SCDEs
Centers - many of the SCDEs on this list have developed webpages for their institutes and research centers. It is interesting to note that several of the Canadian universities visited tended to emphasize the team nature of research and special projects. Models for these lists of Centers may be found at Ohio State University, New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
PK-12 Resources - these resources may include summer institutes for future teachers, academic programs for middle and high school students, and internet resources online. Models on this list include Washington's Community of Mathematics Learners, Kent State's Educational Resources for Everyone, University of British Columbia's The First Nations House of Learning, and Cal. State, Dominquez Hills' Allied Signal Challenger Learning Center.
PDSs - webpages on professional development schools are not as often found within a SCDE's information. Models include The Learning Bridge at Ohio State, Quebec Learning Consortium at Bishop's University, and the Los Angeles Accelerated Schools Center at Cal. State, LA.
Regional collaborations were found on the webpages of several SCDEs, including Stanford's Bridges to the Community, the AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY, and Quebec English Schools Network hosted at Concordia University.
School homepages
were hosted by some SCDEs, including the student-college homepages at Eastern
CT State University, Drake University's Headstart
,
and O'Farrell Community School
project with San Diego State.
2. Bank Street
College
Includes a Guide to Experts, online forums, and links to Bank Street
Educational Products and educational reform and outreach projects. Listed
on the home page are links to special events and a variety of interesting
articles from the New York Times Learning Network. The Division of
Continuing Education has a number of interesting professional development
opportunities that are available to teachers, including the New Beginnings
in Newark , New Perspectives Continuing Professional Education Program,
Bank Street/Stevens IKE and Alliance+ Projects, the Center for School Restructuring
of Middle Schools, The West Farms School Project, Bank Street Music Initiative,
The Wyandanch Middle School Project. Other collaborative projects are listed
and accessed under "Graduate School: Centers and Institutes" (http://www.bnkst.edu/html/graduate/centers.html)
Some of these have their own home pages, used mainly for informational
purposes. New and events are posted and a newsletter entitled "Street Scenes"
is available in PDF format. Interesting articles are available as links
as well. Bank Street is one of five national resource centers for the National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards (http://www.bnkst.edu/html/nbpts/index.html),
that has as its goal the support the community of accomplished teachers.
3.Binghamton University,
SUNY
Includes mission statement and plans for new building. Three
collaborative projects are described at http://sehd.binghamton.edu/liberty/lib.html,
one of which has its own informational Web page. The Division of Professional
Development and Research (PDR) provides career development for "adult learners."
"PDR specifically addresses the distinct continuing education needs of
individuals working or volunteering in educational or human service settings.
Emphasis is placed on the development of skills to enhance service delivery
to specific populations and/or knowledge of specific issue areas. A Certificate
Program in Administration is offered through the division." Many of the
special events/conferences announced on the Web site are open to the public.
4.Bishop's University
Webpages on Life as an Education Student and documents in English and
French on the mission of the School of Education and other research topics.
The University is a partner in the Quebec Learning Consortium (see http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/qlc/),
sponsoring and collaborating on the planning of a number of professional
development activities for teachers with surrounding Quebec school districts.
There are professional development workshops for both new teachers and
their mentor teachers, and the Society of Teacher and Administrator Researchers
(STAR), a new group committed to the practice of action research.
5. Boston University
Easy to navigate, Boston University's School of Education has a number
of publications available on line, including a digest of their current
Journal
of Education.From the School of Education Home Page, a click on
"Centers and Resources" (http://web.bu.edu/education/centersresources/index.html)
will led to information on two of the school's on-going collaborations
with pk-12 schools. A click on "Research and Curriculum Development"
(http://web.bu.edu/education/news/researchandcurriculum.html)
brings more information on funded collaborations. The Microcosmos Project
in the Science Education Program (http://web.bu.edu/education/centersresources/microcosmos.html)
serves students and faculty in both the School of Education and University
communities by advocating an interactive approach to teaching. It includes
many resources and a self-guided tour that shows the linkage of the program
to its curriculum-design and national professional-development programs.
An active alumni association allows alumni to subscribe to listservs, to
learn about special events, and to update current information for the alumni
newsletter which is available online and in hard copy.
6. Bridgewater
State College
Links to Teacher
Test Resource Page, program descriptions, and faculty homepages accessible
from Bridgewater Home Page. No evidence was found of partnerships with
the k-12 community, also on the Teacher Test Resource Page there is a link
to an on-line forum on the Massachusetts Teacher Test, and other pertinent
information for teachers. Basically, this site is one long page that provides
an online copy of the catalogue entries for the School of Education and
Allied Studies.
7. Brigham Young University
Links to Advisement and Certification Center, BYU-Public School Partnership,
Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling (CITES),
Learning Resource Center, National Network for Education Renewal,
and Partner Schools. See http://msed.byu.edu/centersAndPartnership/index
for further information. Through the Associates Program (http://msed.byu.edu/cites/programsandprojects/associatesprogram/index.html)
teachers and administrators from the public schools, the university and
the State Office of Education participate in a series of retreats to discuss
selected readings focused on the moral dimensions of teaching (Goodlad).
Participants from all groups report significant changes in their own reflectiveness
and in school, district, and state level practice. Other partnership projects
with school districts are evidenced (http://msed.byu.edu/cites/programsandprojects/programsandprojects.html),
such as the "Balanced Literacy Project," the "Bilingual/ESL Endorsement
Project," and professional development schools. While the partnerships
appear to be numberous, the Web pages were largely informational and did
not allow much interactivity. There are links to important state
Web sites in education, however. There is a Web page that provides a few
links to various education employment resources both inside and outside
of BYU (http://msed.byu.edu/eac/employment/index.html).
8. California State University,
Chico
Features K-University Education WWW Links: a collection of useful websites
for student teachers, teachers, and administrators and information on electronic
portfolios for teaching and learning. A link to lesson plan design and
rubrics is helpful for both students and those in the field. A Web page
that lists school/university partnerships provides evidence that the university
is providing outreach to beginning and experienced teachers out in the
field. The Beginning Teacher Support and Assistance Project (BTSA), funded
through the State Department of Education is one example of this type of
outreach. See http://www.csuchico.edu/educ/funproj.html
for descriptions of this and other professional development efforts.
9. California State University,
Dominguez Hills
CSUDH is actively involved a many projects designed to recruit and
retain teachers, as is evidenced by the Web page devoted to a long list
of such school/university partnerships, grants and other initiatives (http://www.csudh.edu/soe/programs.htm).
Professional Development Schools, and outreach programs are numerous, and
include a DELTA project, LAEP projects. The Beginning Teacher Support and
Assistance Project (BTSA) also is prominently featured on this campus Web
site. Further, there are links to on-going subject matter projects on http://www.csudh.edu/soe/subject.htm.
Includes links to the School's Teacher Recruitment and Development Programs,
graduate options and certificate programs, and NCATE/CTC information.
Faculty vitae, in addition to home pages, are available. The School of
Education Newsletter is available on line, with listings of faculty accomplishments
and interesting symposia held.
10. California State University,
Hayward
Intricate graphics, including a mapped conceptual framework, and links
to online reservation for technology resources. A number of partnerships
with the k-12 community exist, including a "school-to-career" academy and
professional development schools for teacher training. There is also
the "Urban Teacher Academy," that has as its aim the recruitment, mentoring
and preparation of teachers (http://edschool.csuhayward.edu/services/urban/index.html).
Through the Center for Educational Leadership, CSUH works with the schools
and their districts "as equal partners in the areas of leadership and governance,
new educator preparation, curricular reform, staff development, supportive
learning environment, parent and community participation, and action research."
The Web sites tend to be descriptive rather than interactive, with the
exception of a list of "Curriculum Links" that are available to both teachers
and their students. There is an alumni listserv, but it is not easy to
find, nor does there seem to be evidence of an active alumni association.
A search of the School's site revealed a committee that plans events in
an effort to stay in touch with alumni.
11. California State
University, Los Angeles
Searchable Website, informative links, many faculty have interesting
and innovative homepages with links to on-line course syllabi. School-University
collaborations include DELTA and the Accelerated School. Centers include
the "Literacy Cluster," which is interactive and has links to resources
for students and teachers. The Los Angeles Accelerated Schools Center (LAASC)
(http://www.calstatela.edu/centers/asp/)
has as its main function the support of existing "Accelerated School communities"
in nine Accelerated Schools "and to provide additional support to accelerated
schools nation-wide in terms of outreach, networking, research, and dissemination."
In addition, as the Reform Cluster for the Charter School of Education,
the Center’s staff also supports additional schools in the process of reform
whose reform models share features that are consistent with the accelerated
schools model. Faculty accomplishments listed on individual home pages.
Lists and descriptions of degrees and certifications offered are available
in PDF format. Lists events held in the past, but not announcements of
future events.
12. Clark University
Easy to navigate, this Website features information on community projects
with which the university's Education Department is involved. Change
in server for 2/99. Clark and the Worcester Public Schools have collaborated
on the development of this exemplary grade 7-12 neighborhood PDS - the
centerpiece of a neighborhood renewal project. In addition, they
have developed five other PDSs within the Worcester Public Schools that
are used as teacher training sites. There is no separate association for
Department of Education alumni.
13.Colorado
State University
There are detailed program descriptions and SCDU reports accessible
at the School of Education Website. Faculty homepages, email addresses
and on-line courses are only available through the Faculty directory of
the campus as a whole. One of the teacher recruitment projects, "Project
Promise" (http://promise.cahs.colostate.edu/PP/Info.html)
seeks out candidates who have bachelor degrees and who have decided to
make a career change. Instructors model best practices in an intensive
training program that will prepare them to teach in rural or urban settings.
Although not easy to find, a list of outreach project links is available
at http://www.colostate.edu/Level2/outreach.htm
from the Colorado State Home Page rather than through the School of Education.
In particular, the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education
has interactive links and resources for teachers and students. The Research
and Development Center for the Advancement of Student Learning researches
and evaluates innovative programs to advance educational theory and practice.
Is has links to important reports posted in PDF format online (http://www.colostate.edu/depts/r-dcenter/completedprojects.html).
The Interwest Equity Assistance Center is one of 10 regional Equity Assistance
Centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title IV of the
1964 Civil Rights Act. The Educational Equity Center (http://www.colostate.edu/programs/EAC/)
provides training and technical assistance within the larger context of
school improvement to public school personnel, school board members, students,
parents, and other community members. It assists public school staff
in providing equitable, high-quality education to all learners. Employment
links for prospective teachers are also available. A newsletter for alumni,
listing symposia and faculty accomplishments is available in PDF format.
14. Columbia University
Teachers College has well-developed webpages for program and course
information and links to the Distance Learning Project and resources for
faculty, staff, and students. Columbia does it all. Many collaborations
between Columbia Teachers College and the k-12 community exist, but are
not always accessed easily. For the most interactive experience in
learning about these collaborations, go to http://www.tc.columbia.edu/%7Eadmissions/catalog9900/2overview/2prep.htm.
Active alumni association, with many events scheduled, library privelages
travel opportunities, and listservs. Several journals are available online,
including the Teachers College Press, Teachers College Record,
and Current Issues in Comparative Education.
15. Concordia University
Department of Education pages with program listings, faculty addresses,
some courses - especially those online. No collaborations listed. Only
two out of the 31 faculty listed have homepages with publications listed,
though most have email addresses.
16. Cornell University
Easily accessed on-line interactive course syllabi, replete with Bulletin
Boards on outside reference links. Faculty home pages are interesting,
informative, and have a place for on-going research projects to be posted.
Helpful links to a variety of Web sites of educational interest, such as
educational journals and professional organizations are available. There
are several outreach projects. (1) Cornell Education Resources Program
(Cornell ERP) is a nonprofit agency of the Department of Education in the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. It serves
educators or individuals interested in developing and/or procuring curriculum
and instructional materials related to agriculture, food and fiber systems,
natural resources and life sciences education. (2) Rural Schools
Program: An organization of some 300 small rural school districts in New
York State. (3) Institute on Science and the Environment for Teachers:
An in-service education program that supports curricular innovation on
environmental topics by teams of New York State science teachers. (4) The
Global Seminar is a consortium of educational institutions that are concerned
with the future of our planet in terms of the environment and a sustainable
food supply. Leading-edge online communication tools support intellectual
discussions using an interdisciplinary approach among students, faculty,
and international leaders. (5) The Rural Literacy and Community Development
Initiative was designed to help Literacy Volunteers and other adult
literacy program members take full advantage of their potential to
forge the link between literacy education, community development, and citizenship.
17. Drake University
Includes newsgroups and online conferencing for learning community
discussions. Syllabi available online, as well. Online School newsletter
is available, as are some faculty home pages with publications listed.
A partnership was apparently forged with the Seymour Papert Institute,
the Desmoines Public Schools, the Norwalk Public Schools, and Head Start,
but the links on the site are not up-to-date.
18. Eastern Connecticut
State University
Includes annotated syllabi with links to student projects and other
resources, including online bibliographies, electronic textbooks, and software
review and interview forms. Home page is easily navigable. Some alumni
homepages are up, but no evidence of listserv for alumni. Publications
of some faculty listed on home pages. Outreach projects easily accessed.
19. East Tennessee
State University
Home page is easy to follow. Faculty are listed and have home
pages that consist of curriculum vitae. Some list their publications.
Courses are listed as catalogue entries, and now more actual syllabi are
available online than they were just one year ago. There are some
instructional media student projects posted. Alumni home page has a downloadable
newsletter, and invites alumni to submit recent information. It looks as
though there may at some point be a place for Alumni to post home pages,
but this is not yet available. Several outreach programs and partnerships
have been established (http://coe.etsu.edu/community/solutions/index.htm).
21.
Florida State University
Includes links to university TV program on Education, "Your
Voice", and Inquiry
Skills Resources . The Center for the Study of Teaching and Learning
is committed to enhancing Florida's Educational Programs through the promotion
of educational partnerships with the Florida State Department of Education,
local businesses, and the Florida On-line High School, among others.
The Florida State University School is a k-12 public school that has a
partnership with the School of Education (http://www.fsus.fsu.edu/)
22.
Harvard University
Faculty listing reads like a veritable "Who's Who" in the field of
education. Many interactive syllabi on-line, some faculty have informative
homepages with links to resources, research, and coursework. School of
Education homepage has links to the Harvard Education Letter on-line,
the Harvard Educational Review online, faculty research and publications,
interesting events and symposia, and doctoral student homepages for posting
research in progress and accessing information. Very active School of Education
alumni association, with regional activities in every major city in the
United States.
23.
Illinois Wesleyan University
Includes links to careers in education and an online
student handbooks, although no alumni page exists. Mini home pages
are available, and some faculty have listed their publications on them.
Online syllabi are not available, but catalogue descriptions are posted.
Descriptions of student organizations such as Kappi Delta Pi are linked
to the homepage.
24.
Indiana State University
Includes model NCATE Review
and regional Sycamore
Education Network, "...a consortium of ISU alumni, faculty, parents,
administrators, and members of the community who are working together to
strengthen existing or build new partnerships between the faculty, staff,
and students of the School of Education and our colleagues in the schools
and related agencies." No further information is revealed. Alumni Home
page for entire university is linked to the "Sycamore Education Network."
There is a page where past events are listed. Faculty home pages exist
for some faculty, but are minimal in content and not linked to the School
of Education. Links are available to online journals and accreditation
bodies.
25.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Includes strong listing of Centers
and Institutes and Partnerships.
Links are available to sites for career placements in teaching. There is
a k-6 laboratory school on the campus (Indiana University of Pannsylvania
School). Professional Development School is in the process of being developed
(established in 1998) with a local elementary school. A number of faculty
have home pages, with a variety of sophistication. Students from Indiana
University of Pennsylvania and Clarion University who are enrolled as teacher
education majors in all certification areas are eligible to participate
in a half-semester student teaching program in one of six overseas sites:
London, ENGLAND; Paris, FRANCE; Malahide, IRELAND; Kingston, Jamaica; Poznan,
POLAND. Students are assigned to a teaching site in the United States for
the first half of the semester. The second half of the student teaching
experience is completed in an overseas site.
26.
Iowa State University
Features include educational links, faculty listings with email information
by program, and faculty homepages exist, but minimally. A few courses
have syllabi on line. Some make use of "Classnet" for Internet communication.
Very easy to navigate, this site evidences a strong alumni association
and connection. Many interesting events are announced. There are a number
of outreach projects that are easily accessible from the home page.
27.
Kent State University
Includes College of Education job opportunities, a paper of special
interests with a link to virtual reality in education homepage and the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a "meet the Dean" link,
and information on the Kent Educational Network for Tomorrow.
28.
Louisiana State University
Impressive online documentation for NCATE
review and PDS
agreements.
29.
Loyola University Chicago
Includes information on Cohort
Program and Career
Center .
30.
Makerere University, Uganda
School of Education, one of the University's Study Centers, provides
program descriptions. The University's homepage has links to the
African
Virtual University.
31.
McGill University
Faculty of Education webpages includes a link to a Jan. 1997 webpage
on Canadian
Faculties, Colleges, Schools and Departments of Education on the World
Wide Web by Jim Harris, Manager, Educational Media Services, Faculty
of Education, McGill University, a course in Global
Education with student webpages.
32.
New York University
Interesting links to a variety of educational resources and faculty
research in progress. Courses offered on-line include Web-based communication.
33.
North Carolina State University
A searchable database of on-line courses is notable, and a number of
faculty have informative homepages posted. Current position papers
regarding different issues in the School of Education are posted on the
"Teacher Education Forum" homepage, linked to the main homepage.
34.
Northwestern University
SESP Alumni Board Hompage
serves as a medium for outreach to the community.
35.
The Ohio State University
Includes Points of Pride, a
site map, and online faculty, staff, and student directories.
36.
Oswego State University, SUNY
Links include an Information
Request Form, online alumni directory, NCATE
acccreditation information, Teaching
and Assessment Resource Site, and "The
Gateway to Educational Materials."
37.
San Diego State University
Truly easy to navigate, this Website has links both to on-campus and
off-campus Websites of interest to prospective and current educators.
Many faculty have attractive and interactive homepages, and on-line syllabi
are readily available. Both the School and individual courses have
bulletin boards for discussion of issues.
38.
Slippery Rock University
Links to special projects in College of Education, including the History
of Education Quarterly, the Multicultural Heritage Center, and partnership
programs.
39.
Southwest Missouri State University
Includes information on a Site-Based
Program .
40.
Stanford University
Includes Research
and Projects discussions.
41.
Texas A & M
Includes a page of links of research proposals under development and
other research resources.
42.
Université de Montreal
Faculte des sciences de l'education webpages include faculty interest
pages, searchable course catalog, and teaching job posting.
La
faculté virtuelleTM provides links to courses in
TIC (les technologies de l`information et de la communication (TIC) en
éducation.
43.
Université du Québec a Montreal
Provides both PDF files and html pages for program information - including
faculty and course schedules. Impressive emphasis on community partnerships
for this urban campus. Mostly in French with some links to partnership
programs in English.
44.
Université de Sherbrooke
Provides information on Student Life, Faculty Services, and (MITIC)
an online Microprogramme sur l'intégration des TIC à
la pratique pédagogique.
45.
Université Laval
These webpages provide multiple contact telephone numbers and
email contacts.
46.
University of Alberta
Provides detailed online program descriptions and planning sheets.
47.
University of Bridgeport (CT)
The School of Education and Human Resources' webpages provides program
description. The University homepage features UBOnline and distance
learning and options for translated pages in Japanese and Korean.
48.
University of British Columbia
Attractive Web design, and easy to navigate. Faculty profiles
are posted, and some have more detailed homepages.
49.
University of California, Berkeley
Faculty profiles and email addresses are readily available; faculty
homepages are in process. The few on-line courses available use a
multimedia bulletin board entitled "Speakeasy"
for the students to communicate with the professor and each other. Links
are available to research in progress, as educational resources.
50.
University of California, Los Angeles
Faculty homepages, current faculty research projects and easily accessed
course syllabi for a number of courses are features that stand out.
On-line discussion groups and other forums are available for alumni and
students.
51.
University of Chicago
Contains links to a self-study
and a report on the Department of Education, including ranking statistics
on Schools of Education nation-wide, and pages with student work, alumni
listing, faculty webpages, and other information on the University
of Chicago Lab Schools.
52.
University of Colorado at Denver
Includes Center
for Collaborative Educational Leadership and link to Colorado
Education Online .
53.
University of Connecticut
Features linking map of PDS/Partner
Schools and active listing of Centers
and Labs.
54.
University of Georgia
There are many exemplary features on this site - clear links to the
programs, faculty, and many projects and collaborations. Faculty
have home pages, but interactive course syllabi may be restricted to on-line
courses. There is an excellent on-line newsletter from the College
of Education, and the University of Georgia is home to the "League
of Professional Schools," a "network of schools" focused on developing
"democratic learning communities."
55.
University
of Maryland Eastern Shore
Includes Special
Programs and Internet
Resources and Services
56.
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
A virtual video tour of the School of Education, the university, and
Ann Arbor are available on the Dean's homepage. Educators' links
and course schedule available on-line.
57.
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Includes Key Links, University
School Teacher Education Partnership, and Affiliated
Groups.
58.
University of Oklahoma
Links to Partnerships
and Community Outreach, including the Oklahoma
Networks for Excellence (O.N.E.).
59.
University of Ottawa
Attractive homepage with information in French and English, a history
of the Faculty of Education, and information on awards and bursaries.
60.
University of Pennsylvania
Includes information on the GSE's Global Network and online publications.
61.
University of Pittsburg
Pages on School of Education services and labs, research projects,
missions and goals, and a link to Phi Delta Kappa. The School
of Education Research and Projects website lists links to 18 regional,
national, and international projects.
62.
University of Southern Mississippi
Includes Online
Resources for Teachers and Students and Southern
Education Consortium.
63.
University of Texas at Arlington
Includes Special
Projects and Links
.
64.
University of Victoria
Clear list of contacts within the Faculty of Education, faculty and
alumni news, links to continuing education courses, programs, and learning
resources. Connections,
the the University of Victoria Faculty of Education Research Conference,
has conference papers online.
65.
University of Virginia
Tremendous ease of navigation and a searchable Website are featured.
Faculty home pages are underway, and those that already exist are attractive
and informative, and are linked to on-line courses, many with interactive
discussions posted. Students and alumni may maintain home pages, as well.
University-School
Project Supporting Teaching and Reflection is designed to engage participants
in face-to-face and online discussions about teaching and learning across
the school year. Education
Policy Pavilion, a comprehensive, interactive resource for education
policymakers in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia
School-University Partnership is "comprised of the Curry School of
Education at the
University of Virginia, eight Central Virginia school divisions and
the District of Columbia Public Schools.
Presently, eighteen Central Virginia School Divisions and the
Curry School are involved in the Partnership." The goal of its Professional
Development Consortium is to provide effective professional development
programs for teachers and administrators in order to improve instruction
and the achievement of students. There is also links to the Summer
Enrichment Program for middle high school students.
66.
University of Washington
Features faculty profiles and some homepages, a number of which are
linked to on-line course syllabi. Contains searchable database for information
or people. Links are maintained to relevant educational Websites,
including the Center
for Effective Schools, Institute
for the Study of Educational Policy, The Community
of Mathematics Learners, Office
of Educational Partnerships, with examples
of 6 partnership programs.
67.
University of Wisconsin (Madison)
Includes a report on the annual alumni
survey, a "For Alumni" page, and information on outreach projects,
including the College
Access Program, Academic
Skills Development Workshop for high school students, Programs
for Youth.
68.
University of Wyoming
Includes links to Wyoming Teacher
Certification and Employment, Inquiry
Projects, and Helpful
Links .
69.
Wayne State University
Includes interesting links to the Council
of Great City Schools and a regional Technical
Support Consortium.
70.
Western Washington University: Woodring College
of Education
Includes links to useful educational Web pages, as well as to public
school Web pages with interesting eduational resources. A number
of online courses are available, but few faculty have their own home pages.
The primary home page is well-designed with clear links to programs and
other information available at the university.
A 1997 review of Canadian Faculties, Colleges, Schools and Departments of Education on the World Wide Web by Jim Harris, Manager, Educational Media Services, Faculty of Education, McGill University, began to examine all of the teacher education programs in Canada. It was also an attempt to learn about exemplary uses of the WWW to incorporate in the education programs' own webpages.
One of the ways in which the 51 sites examined for the original presentation have evolved over time (please see "Cybercasting SCDEs: A 1999 Review" and "Cybercasting for Integrating Leadership by SCDEs: A Y2K Review") is that the technology of the pages has become more sophisticated with time. They are more easily navigated, more attractive, and faculty homepages are far more common, although not necessarily as informative as one might like. Online courses now proliferate, whereas in 1999 they did not. When syllabi were found in 1999, they were open to review by the casual observer. Now more and more frequently, the pages are created within a closed system for which a password is necessary, as in Blackboard or WebCT.
In our exploration of the websites of the various schools, colleges and departments of Education, we were able to draw certain conclusions about the limitations of our categorization of efforts on the parts of SCDEs to recruit and retain students, as well as their role in the professional development of experienced teachers. We assume that there are more ways in which SCDEs may be evidencing efforts at recruitment and retention than are described on Web pages. In addition, there may be other Web pages, for example those announcing interesting events, that are not readily found by a first-time visitor to the SCDE's webpages. A third point has to do with alumni services. Many schools actually have more than is evident on the Web sites, as the Department of Education is rather small (as in the case of such campuses as Clark University), whereas the campus makes available certain services, such as the hosting of Home pages (e.g.,at Harvard).
The goal of this pilot study was to suggest exemplary models for online communication between schools of Education and prospective, current and former students. Much has been learned and will continue to be learned from the uses these early adopters make of computer-mediated efforts toward the recruitment and retention of teachers. We look forward to hearing from others about this ongoing research and their applications of information technologies to integrate leadership in their schools and regions.
Last Updated on 2/26/01
By
Nada L. Mach, Teacher
Education Department, California State University, Dominguez Hills (http://www.csudh.edu/soe/faculty/nmach.htm).
David L. Stoloff,
Education Department, Eastern Connecticut State University (http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/stoloff.html)
and
Proposal available on line at:
http://www.csuch.edu/soe/faculty/NMach/aacte2001cyberproposal.html