Press Release
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.