InTime Publicity

On-line grant project hopes to educate teachers

When the crew arrived Tuesday morning lo film Sterling High School business instructor Jackie Krueger and her students in keyboarding/computer applications class, it was only the beginning of a project Krueger hopes will help other teachers across the country to better use technology in schools.

Krueger, along with 49 teachers nationwide, was selected to participate in a $1.6 million grant project called INTIME which stands for "Integrating New Technologies Into the Methods of Education."

"Technology is such a big part of the workplace, the home, and life in general that it's important for everyone to become more comfortable with it," Krueger said.

“I hope this project will be something others can benefit from by providing some ideas for how they as teachers could use technology."

The grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, was written by the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in cooperation with Emporia State University, Eastern Michigan University, Longwood College of Virginia and Southeast Missouri State University.

The objective of INTIME is to help university-level faculty who train teachers, as well as beginning educators, to better use technology in all areas of curriculum.

Krueger's career exploration project earned her a place in the online video program. Her students will be shown working on their multimedia Power Point presentations as the culmination of their research about various jobs.

"My project allows students to demonstrate a lot of different information technology skills," Krueger explained.

These skills include on-line and library research, use of scanner and digital camera, word processing and spreadsheets.

"The most exciting thing about the taping session was that we were all able to just be ourselves," Krueger said. "It was really business as usual except for trying to walk around cameras."

The crew filmed for two hours while the class worked. Krueger's comments as she facilitated the session were picked up by wireless microphone. Two students were also miked to pick up their interaction.

"We are all anxious to see the finished product, " Krueger said. "The kids did a great job. It made us all feel important."

The videotape of Tuesday's class, along with clips of an interview with Krueger, will be edited and narration added before it finally appears in seven different versions on the web and in CD-Rom and DVD formats.

Before the finished product is posted on-tine, Krueger will have a final chance to see the video and

The IN TIME website, which will have half of the 50 videos on-line by the fall of 2000, will also offer interested students and teachers resources like objectives, lesson plans, and an email link to teachers involved in the project. Currently, according to Krueger, the site, located at www.intime.uni.edu, is under construction.

Krueger spent three days at UNI earlier this spring, all expenses paid, training for the video session. Now she is “waiting for the go-ahead" to do the final paperwork: plugging her lesson plans into an online template for other teachers to access.

By Sarah Berblinger

Sterling Bulletin, 4/20/2000