Editors, Editorial Board, Consulting Editors

The Effect of Computer-Mediated Collaborative Learning on Solving Ill-Defined Problems

Daniel Uribe
James D. Klein
Howard Sullivan

Scaffolding Students' Problem-Solving Processes in an Ill-Structured Task Using Question Prompts and Peer Interactions

Xun Ge
Susan M. Land

Introduction to the Special Issue on Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3)

Thomas Brush, Guest Editor

Project THREAD: Technology Helping Restructure Educational Access and Delivery

Neal Strudler
Leanna Archambault
Lisa Bendixen
Don Anderson Risa Weiss

This article describes Project THREAD (Technology Helping Restructure Educational Access and Delivery), an initiative funded by the U.S. Office of Education through its PT3 grant program. The project's overarching goal is to prepare teachers to integrate modern technologies to fundamentally enhance teaching and learning in K-12 schools. Project initiatives include: (a) a series of in-service workshops for university faculty, administrators, field supervisors, and mentor teachers; (b) one-on-one follow-up support provided by project staff; (c) a minigrant program to support the development of technology-based learning activities for university courses; (d) expanded opportunities for students to apply technology in their courses and field experiences; and (e) a redesign of selected courses that impact a large number of teacher candidates. The project's evaluation is described, along with a discussion of outcomes and lessons learned. In recognition of the project's scope and accomplishments thus far, the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), was named the 2002 winner of the Best Practice Award for the Innovative Use of Technology by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).

Integrating Technology in a Field-Based Teacher Training Program: The PT3@ASU Project

Thomas Brush
Krista Glazewski
Kathy Rutowski
Kimberly Berg
Charlotte Stromfors
Maria Hernandez Van-Nest
Laura Stock
Jean Sutton

Technology Collaboratives for Simultaneous Renewal in Teacher Education

Ann D. Thompson
Denise A. Schmidt
Niki E. Davis

The Technology Collaboratives (TechCo) for Simultaneous Renewal in Teacher Education project, based in John Goodlad's theory of simultaneous renewal (1994), is described. The project is a systemic approach to using technology to help facilitate renewal in both teacher education and K-12 schools. Project features include cohort groups of students with laptop computers, faculty development programs, teacher development programs for collaborating schools, and curriculum development in both teacher education and K-6 partner schools. Evaluation for the project uses a descriptive approach that includes a model developed for the project to better evaluate the systemic change goals of the project. Evaluation results suggest changing attitudes and capabilities of preservice teachers, major course changes from faculty, plus the strength of the mentoring model for faculty and teacher development. The project is beginning to demonstrate simultaneous renewal of teacher education and four K-6 schools.

Supporting Excellence in Technology Through Communities of Learners

Barbara Seels
Shirley Campbell
Valerie Talsma

The Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to use Technology Project (PT3) at the University of Pittsburgh encompasses public and private schools, a nonprofit educational consortium, industry partners and the University of Pittsburgh. The purposes of the project are (a) to encourage thoughtful technology integration by mentor teachers, student teachers and university faculty; and (b) to support innovation, adoption and resource sharing by creating Collaborative Communities of Learners (CCOLs). These goals are achieved by engaging participants in a number of activities, including individualized training, summer camp, monthly professional development meetings, a Celebration of Successes for sharing projects, and technology skill workshops. Support is also provided through project on-site support staff, an interactive Web site, minigrants, and loans of equipment and software. Evaluation of the project is an ongoing iterative process. Data are collected through self-reporting instruments, event evaluations, journal entries, project checklists, videotaped presentations, and interviews. Currently, in its third year of four including a pilot year, the project involves 98 mentor teachers and 20 university faculty. This project documents the importance of technology support people who have excellent interpersonal skills, experience with instruction and the flexibility to adjust strategies to adopter needs, skills, and personalities.

Three AMIGO³s: Using "Anchored Modular Inquiry" to Help Prepare Future Teachers

The PT3 Group at Vanderbilt

We discuss three case studies associated with Vanderbilt's PT3 (Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology) grant. The studies explore some initial effects of attempts to enhance the education of preservice teachers in three areas: (a) How People Learn, (b) Mathematics, and (c) Adolescent Psychology. The case studies to be described each build on Vanderbilt's AMIGO³ project, which involves technology architecture for flexible modular design that was developed to be consistent with principles of How People Learn. Three different research teams used the AMIGO³ architecture and rationale to design, implement, and study their own courses. All teams agreed on some basic guidelines, but then proceeded independently of one another. The purpose of this report is to compare similarities and differences in the experiences of the teams.

Transforming Teacher Education: Visions and Strategies

Peggy Ertmer

The five projects highlighted in this special issue represent a range of approaches to transforming teacher preparation programs. In this article, I describe how these programs are scaffolding teachers' change efforts through the use of three powerful approaches: collaboration, modeling, and reflection. Similarities and differences among the five projects are described and suggestions are made for future research.

Qualitative Inquiry Award 2003

Young Researcher Award