INTIME Six Month Report
University of Northern Iowa
March 31, 2000

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Brief Description of Project

UNI is the lead institution for the three-year INTIME (Integrating New Technologies Into the Methods of Education) project to enable future teachers to see video scenarios of exemplary ways to integrate technology in the classroom, regardless of the grade level or academic subject. The videos will show teachers how to improve learning for children by realizing the full potential of technology. Collaborating universities are Eastern Michigan, Emporia State, Longwood College, and Southeast Missouri State.

The INTIME project website will house the 50  video vignettes and make them accessible via video streaming. Each video will be analyzed in seven different versions, which will contain narratives about how the teacher is demonstrating one of the seven elements from the TFQE (Technology as Facilitator of Quality Education) Model. Elements of quality education from UNI's TFQE Model include (a) exemplary technology, (b) democracy in the classroom, (c) rich content, (d) information processing, (e) effective principles of learning, (f) exemplary teacher knowledge, and (g) exemplary teacher behaviors. The edited videos of approximately five minutes in length will be searchable at the project website by grade level, content area, and elements from the quality education model, which have been identified in the videos by the teachers and project personnel.

University teacher education faculty will revise education courses to integrate technology, including videos and materials from the INTIME  website. The videos will also be available on CD-ROM and DVD. Additionally, university faculty, preservice teachers, and inservice teachers will be able to engage in critical dialogue about the videos on the INTIME  online discussion forum. Finally, faculty will publish and present analyses of their experiences integrating technology into their courses.

Major Findings/Successes/Concerns

We were able to increase the technical quality of our video scenarios by hiring our own personnel to do the video recording and buying the top digital equipment to do the editing in-house. We have increased the credibility of the TFQE Model through extensive research. (We will also use this model to analyze our pilot video.)

Twenty-five of the selected teachers, who will be videotaped in the spring of 2000 conducting technology-rich activities in their classrooms, attended a workshop at UNI March 2-3, 2000, featuring elements of quality education and preparation guidelines for the videotaping process. After meeting with this group of exemplary teachers, we were confident that each video will be a prime example of quality teaching. We have a good variety of grade levels and content areas represented within the 50 teachers selected for the videos.

We were able to begin website development and work on the database, which will support online searching of the videos in the database.

PROJECT STATUS

Activities we planned to do September 1, 1999 - March 31, 2000:

We specified in the proposal that during Year 1 of the project, we would (a) identify and select teaching examples for video scenarios, (b) design and produce the project website, (c) sponsor a training conference for the teacher video participants, (d) document and produce 24 video vignettes on the project website, and (e) initiate the project evaluation process.

How our activities have advanced completion of each objective:

The above activities a-d of Year 1 of the project all support Goal 4, "New learning resources will be developed and implemented, along with new standards, into methods courses."  

Development of new learning resources:

We have completed the following activities in order to develop the new learning resources (the videos and documentation of the Technology as Facilitator of Quality Education Model at the INTIME project website.)

• Pilot Video. The completed pilot video was enthusiastically received at the Video Participant Workshop. The main video shows the classroom activity and is  narrated by the teacher, Vicki Oleson, whose comments complement the classroom activities. Supplementary videos focus on specific areas of the TFQE Model and feature narration written by the graduate assistants who researched elements of the model. Each video also features a scrolling text "transcript."
• First INTIME Video Participant Workshop. Twenty-five quality educators from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Michigan attended the first INTIME Video Participant Workshop March 2-3, 2000, at the University of Northern Iowa. These teachers viewed our pilot video and received in-depth training on the TFQE Model and instruction about the videotaping of their classroom activity.
• Model Research. A revised and enhanced TFQE Model was prepared for the Video Participant Workshop. As the graduate assistants complete their research documentation, these materials and the revised model will be posted on our website.
• Website Development. The INTIME project website continues development. Teachers attending the Video Participant Workshop viewed the site. Materials are added to the site as they become available. The next priority for the website is to put up the revised TFQE Model, add the last four narratives of the Vicki Oleson Pilot Video written by the graduate assistants, and add a form for the video participants to submit their learning activity information online.
• User Acceptance Testing. Some of our video participants will test usability of the website.
• Database. A database is being established to support search and retrieval of the videos and associated materials.
• Project Evaluation. The first two of four Stages of Concerns Questionnaire (SOCQ) evaluation surveys were completed by the Video Participants. Participants' responses to the general workshop evaluation were also very positive.