October 1996 — Features

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Lone Star 2000: Documenting Successful School or University Teaching and Learning

In January and February the teachers and interns were trained by a specially selected teacher. Paula McAllister, a Duval County teacher on special assignment with IBM, provided three days of training on IBM products. This covered PC hardware and selected IBM courseware: Teaching and Learning with Computers (TLC), IBM’s approach to instruction; and, LinkWay Live!, an IBM multimedia authoring system. Training included hands-on instruction in computers, a large-screen projection device, CD-ROMs and selected, curriculum-based courseware. Teachers and interns learned to use LinkWay Live! to produce electronic portfolios with text, graphics and sound to demonstrate their technology skills and display examples of the portfolio’s products they assisted their students in creating. The focus throughout the training, and the project, was on passing the technology skills and experiences on to the students as quickly as possible. UNF faculty and directing teachers at the school sites guided interns helping them make the connections to selected curriculum and instruction. The two school principals and the educational technology specialist at the middle school actively supported the project. Project Goals Some specific goals of the Lone Star 2000 Project were to: 1.Build a community of learners that affects real change in teaching and learning outcomes. 2.Help create exemplary classrooms that make educational technologies available to students. 3.Contribute to development of an exemplary teacher-education program. 4.Effectively educate K-5 and 6-8 students in selected curriculum areas using educational technology and document the work using portfolios. 5.Effectively educate elementary education pre-service teachers in new approaches to teaching and learning using educational technologies. 6.Create a framework for classroom instruction that accommodates selected outcomes legislated in Florida’s Blueprint 2000 and recommended in America 2000. 7.Incorporate Teaching and Learning with Computers (TLC) into classrooms and document students’ work via electronic folders. 8.Strengthen the link between partner school participants, including K-12 educators and students, families, university faculty and students, community professionals and volunteers. 9.Use authentic assessment tools to evaluate teaching and learning outcomes.

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