Teachers need to get on "friendly" terms
with their technology. Technology training is an on-going
process. To be effective, computer skills should be taught on a
“need to know” basis in the context of an assignment. [Dooling,
2000]
The integration of technology with math and science
places the computer in a real world context: assisting education instead
of being at the forefront.
Hands-on training and development is essential.
When teachers are passive participants in "one shot" in-service training
sessions where an "expert" exposes them to new educational ideas, there
is little likelihood that it will lead to a significant change in
instructional practice.[i]
[Gilbert]
[i],
Valdez, Gilbert PhD, (2001) Director of the Teaching, Learning,
and Curriculum Center at the North Central Regional Educational
Laboratory,
Designing and Implementing Professional
Development
http://www.ncrel.org/tandl/implem1.htm
Carefully constructed, effective course design can
have a major impact on the achievement of the learning objectives.
The Comma Method of instruction enables both women
and men to succeed at finding and using appropriate information,
resulting in exceptionally high rates of course completion and
achievement.
Comma training, in addition to being gender
balanced goes well beyond typical/traditional training programs that
focus on “tools and tasks” and use a “page-turning” approach to
learning.
The Comma Method engages students in a highly
interactive way, and teaches them how to use tools/commands in a way
that will produce useful, practical, and often innovative results.
