Technology: Meeting the Critical Need for Professional Development

Purpose:
This project is designed to assess the impact of the New Technologies Institute as a model for fostering change in the use of technologies by K-12 foreign language educators.

Project Personnel:
Mari Kemis, Program Coordinator, Research Institute for Studies in Education, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Marcia Harmon Rosenbusch, Director, National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Denise Schmidt, Program Coordinator, Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching, Iowa State University
Karen Willetts, Institute Leader, French Teacher and Chair, Foreign Language Department, Springbrook High School, Silver Spring, Maryland

Overview:
The long-term impact of participation in a technology institute on teachers' professional practice and growth will be examined.

Procedures:
Participants in five technology institutes offered by the Center since 1994 will be surveyed using a Web-based survey instrument in winter 1998-99. Analysis of the results will address teachers' use of technology in the foreign language classroom and the impact of their participation in the technology institute on their professional growth. The results of this study will be reported at professional conferences and a paper prepared for a professional journal.