In the mid-1980s, the Curry School of Education (University of Virginia) reorganized both the education school and its associated teacher education program. Educational technology was one of three strands (along with special education and multicultural education) designated for integration throughout the program. The innovation or strategy that has led to the current level of integration in the teacher education program has been based on the following two facts.

• The on-going process of integration has been sustained over a fifteen-year period through the tenure of three separate deans.
• This initiative has engaged a broad spectrum of faculty members rather than remaining the province of a few who are technologically oriented.

The key to the success that the Curry technology integration program has enjoyed does not rest on any particular technological innovation or solution. Rather, it is based on the concept that if a broad range of faculty members address an issue from a variety of perspectives over a sustained period of time, useful results are likely to emerge.

The end goal of this effort is to ensure that pre-service teachers will be prepared to integrate appropriate uses of educational technologies in their own teaching after graduation, and serve as leaders for other teachers. After working on this goal for an extended period of time, the Curry School faculty members have reached several shared values or conclusions regarding the most effective means of attaining this goal.

• The focus should be on teaching with technology rather than teaching about technology.
• Many uses of educational technology are specific to particular subject matter and content areas.
• Partnerships with local school divisions and state policy makers are essential elements of this strategy.

Technology Across the Curriculum

Future teachers take their cues from the practices they observe in classrooms during teaching internships. If students are taught the latest technologies as part of their teacher education program, but do not see effective technology practices in the schools, they are unlikely to incorporate technology use in their own teaching. Recognizing that fact, the Curry School and local school divisions have been working together to ensure pre-service teachers are likely to encounter best practices in K- 12 schools.

The Curry School, the Albemarle County schools and the Charlottesville City schools have been collaborating on a project designed to support one another and align the technology efforts of each partner. The Technology Across the Curriculum (TAC) project is developing appropriate in-service educational technology standards based on the premise that appropriate uses of technologies differ by content area and grade level. For example, the Geometer's Sketchpad is an appropriate tool for a tenth-grade geometry teacher, while Kid Pix may be more appropriate for a kindergarten teacher. Teams of local teachers and faculty from different grade levels and content areas are jointly developing standards for in-service education. The Curry School, in turn, will make use of this information to identify content appropriate for integration in Curry School pre-service courses.

Technology Infusion Project

In a related collaborative effort, the director of the Technology Infusion Project (TIP) works with the Albemarle County school division technology coordinator to pair pre-service teachers with local classroom teachers. The pre-service teachers are enrolled in an educational technology course that requires them to implement technology practices in real classrooms. Each team spends a semester identifying ways to appropriately integrate educational technologies into the specific classroom practices and curriculum of the participating teacher.

The TIP program is jointly funded by the Curry School and the Albemarle School Division, as an act of conscious symbiosis that signals that both partners benefit equally. The school division benefits through more effective integration in local classrooms, while the Curry School benefits because the program helps ensure that the practices observed by pre-service teachers will be state-of-the art.

Institutional Mission and Context

The University of Virginia, founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, has long been recognized as one of our nation's premier public universities. U.S. News and World Report has ranked UV as the nation's top public university for most of the 1990s. The central purpose of the University of Virginia is to enrich the mind by stimulating and sustaining a spirit of free inquiry directed to understanding the nature of the universe and the role of mankind in it. The University of Virginia enrolls about 18,000 students in eleven schools, and serves them with a faculty approximating 2000.

The Curry School of Education, recently ranked 13th among graduate schools of education by U.S. News and World Report, has two major missions. The first is to prepare personnel to work in America's educational system, pre-kindergarten through collegiate levels, and to conduct research and scholarship that address problems and issues of importance to our educational system. Through partnerships with other organizations and educational institutions the Curry School is committed to developing exemplary and innovative approaches to address those issues and problems. The second major mission is to enhance human potential performance by preparing professionals and conducting research in such areas as psychological/emotional development, physical development and fitness, and speech/language/auditory development. These areas contribute to the betterment of the human condition and are directly related to increased learning and successful experiences in our educational system.

The Curry School enrolls approximately 900 graduate students. Teacher education occurs through two routes: a five-year program in which students earn a bachelor's degree from the College of Arts and Sciences and a master's degree from the Curry School, with both degrees being awarded simultaneously; and a two-year post-baccalaureate master's program.

Key Partnerships

University of Virginia Partnerships

University of Virginia Digital Libraries; Electronic Text Center; Digital Media Center; Special Digital Collections; Geographic Information Center; Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities; Virginia Center for Digital History; College of Arts and Sciences; Information Technology and Communications

Partnerships with External Associations

Association for Advancement of Computers in Education; Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education; Association for Education of Teachers in Science; Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators; Council for English Education; National Council for Social Studies College and University Faculty Assembly; Virginia Educational Technology Alliance; The Concord Consortium; Technology Infusion Project: Albemarble County School Division

For further information, contact:

Dr. James M. Cooper
Curry School of Education
405 Emmet St. South
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Phone: (804) 924-0860
Fax: (804) 924-0747
jmc2n@virginia.edu

Dr. Glen Bull
Curry School of Education
405 Emmet St. South
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Email: gbull@virginia.edu

Dr. Cheryl Mason
Curry School of Education
405 Emmet St. South
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Email: clm3x@virginia.edu

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