Press Release
August 2002
Puget Sound Center Hosts Summer Technology Institutes
for Teachers at WWU
With
the assistance of the Puget Sound Center, over 175 teachers went back to
school this July and August to hone their technology skills and create
technology-rich projects for use in their classrooms throughout the school
year. Teachers spent a week in residence at Western Washington University
in Bellingham, where they attended classes in multimedia, WebQuests, and
peer coaching.
Teachers
participated in one of two programs, Teach the Teachers (TTT) or the Teaching + Technology Coaching Initiative (T2CI), which both focus on helping teachers
to effectively use technology in the classroom to improve academic achievement.
TTT, begun 5 years ago by the Seattle school district, the Alliance for
Education and private sponsors, offers week-long intensive seminars that
provide teachers with technology skills, and focus on creating technology-rich
activities that connect with state curriculum standards. Teachers work
in teams to create a project, learn the skills necessary to complete the
project, align the project to curriculum standards, and develop a scoring
guide.
TTT gives teachers the skills, confidence, time and motivation to integrate
technology into their classroom and help their students to learn in new
ways. Over 800 teachers have participated in TTT in the past 5 years, thanks
to the generosity the program’s sponsors: QFC, Microsoft, Compaq,
Troxell, Lexmark, Boeing Employees credit Union, Hewlett-Packard, the Harvest
Foundation, Seattle Public Schools, the Alliance for Education, Puget Sound
Center, and Western Washington University.
T2CI,
funded by a U.S. Department of Education Technology Challenge Grant, trains
teacher leaders to become technology coaches in their schools. Based on
the proven effectiveness of job-embedded professional development, the
T2CI program
provides teachers with training and resources to help other teachers in
their school to effectively use technology in the classroom. The T2CISummer
Academy combined technology skills training with preparation for peer coaching.
32 teacher leaders from the Seattle, Edmonds, and Mukilteo school districts
will focus on technology integration throughout the year in their local
schools.
The intensive summer institutes offered by TTT and T2CI ran from July
14 through August 16th, and were a great success with over 99% of participants
rating the program outstanding.