Powering Up: Learning to Teach Well with Technology

Despite many powerful visions of how technology can improve teaching and learning, the use of computers in schools continues to be limited. This in-depth study of a computer-using school analyzes the relationships among teachers’ knowledge, their ongoing learning, school organizational culture, and policy to understand how the school developed high-quality use of computers. The author traces the experiences of five teachers in a large public high school who have all used technology to augment core elements of their teaching, with particular attention to the use of computers for constructivist teaching.

Features:

• Provides real-life examples of teachers who are successfully using technology.
• Demonstrates a solution to the problem of how to “get teachers to use computers in the classroom.”
• Shows how teaching and learning must be at the center of computer use, helping new and established teachers develop creative ways to enhance curriculum with technology.
• Examines how the policies, structure, and culture of a school can support teachers who are learning new practices.

Eileen M. Coppola is a researcher in the Center for Education and a lecturer in the Department of Education at Rice University.