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IU CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION RECEIVES $312,736 GRANT FROM KELLOGG FOUNDATION FOR TEACHER EDUCATION PROJECTS
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- From a small college seminary in southern Indiana to large school systems in northern Indiana and Michigan, teachers and administrators are finally getting a grip on the fast-changing information environment and its impact on teaching and learning, thanks to assistance from researchers at the Indiana University Center for Excellence in Education (CEE).
The CEE, a national leader in providing opportunities for practicing teachers and administrators to review school-restructuring theories and to study implications for the use of new technologies, has been awarded a $312,736 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation based in Battle Creek, Mich. The grant is for the development of "technology audits" and teacher education support programs. Both are designed to increase the effectiveness of school districts and teacher education institutions in using technology to enhance curriculum and help improve instruction and student learning.
The Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 to "help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." Since 1992, the foundation has been a steady supporter of the Center for Excellence in Education and its mission to link IU to schools and other colleges and universities in the Midwest and beyond, helping them improve the effectiveness of technology in education.
"The Kellogg Foundation recognizes that the major problem in education reform isn't hardware," said Howard Mehlinger, director of the Center for Excellence. "It's in how human factors change to take advantage of new technology."
Tools such as computers and CD-ROMs have demonstrable instructional value in classrooms when properly used, but teachers and administrators are often confused by which system or product to purchase.
Furthermore, many teachers are unable to take instructional advantage of the technology their school system has purchased because they lack the training.
To date, large investments in technology by many schools have produced neither significant gains in learning nor more cost-effective instruction in much of the nation. In an effort to address the problem and to ensure the success of the technology revolution, researchers at the CEE will use the Kellogg Foundation grant to assist more school districts in the development of technology plans tailored specifically to their needs.
IU researchers are creating technology audits for schools in Indiana and Michigan to review each district's hardware, software and infrastructure; to study the technical support and professional development services each school provides its teachers; and to appraise the ways in which technology influences curricula, teaching practices and the assessment of student learning.
According to Mehlinger, the main idea behind technology audits and teacher education support programs is that the business of schools is learning, and the reason schools invest in technology is both to improve student learning, and to improve the learning of the teachers who create the environment in which the student learning occurs.
"The hard part is how to change the way people teach and how to prepare teachers and administrators so that they are able to think about schools in new and different ways, taking advantage of technology," he said.
(Erik Novak, Office of Communications and Marketing, 812-855-0089, enovak@indiana.edu)