Standard 2 (8): The unit must ensure each program provides effective instruction on the knowledge and skills needed to engage students with technology and deliver digital and blended learning curricula.

UED teacher candidates receive instruction to gain the knowledge and skills needed to engage students with technology and deliver digital and blended learning curricula. Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education candidates learn about how to select and use technology—computers, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, digital cameras, social media platforms and networks, software applications, the Internet, etc.—to facilitate the teaching and learning process in the classroom while completing the Information Technology for K12 Education (EDU 383) course. On the other hand, secondary education teacher candidates are taught how to integrate technology and digital skills to facilitate student learning while enrolled in the Urban Middle and High School Method (EDU 306/606) course and the Managing Learning in Urban Grades 5-12 (EDU 415/615) course as well as their specific content methods classes in their licensure program. Additionally, UED teacher candidates are instructed on the legal and ethical concerns with the use of educational technology and how to appropriately use technology for information collection, analysis and management in the instructional setting.

In their programs, teacher candidates explore a variety of technology tools and learn strategies for utilizing technology to enhance instructional practices and empower students. While examining how these technology tools can be used to transform the classroom into a student-centered, technology-rich environment, teacher candidates are encouraged to apply the knowledge gained to develop lesson plans for immediate implementation in their classrooms. Teacher candidates are introduced to on-going resources that will enable them to remain current in the usage of technologies that support the teachers’ use of technology.

During the first year of COVID-19, we received a grant to develop an Online Learning Tools website to support student teachers, cooperating teachers and school partners as everyone was forced rapidly into online learning environments. This website is shared with our students during their student teaching semester and shared often with our school partners.

Prior to the pandemic, almost all instruction within the UED was in person in physical classrooms because faculty in-person education before and during the pandemic has shown to create more student-instructor and student-student interaction which can promote better engagement for most students. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic all in-person opportunities for formal and informal learning ceased, and faculty converted almost all courses to an online, synchronous format through at least fall 2022 given the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic. This online, synchronous format has provided teacher candidates with direct experience participating in and digital and blended technology formats giving them ideas of things to do and not do with their own students. Thus, candidates have come to understand the pedagogical shifts necessary when moving between multiple environments, and demonstrate the ability to establish highly interactive, collaborative, productive, inclusive and safe online and blended learning environments.

Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education teacher candidates are required to successfully complete the Information Technology for K12 Education (EDU 383) course. The instructor who teaches the Information Technology for K12 Education (EDU 383) course has a Masters degree in ESL, and completed 18 graduate credits in the area of instruction and a state-approved teacher preparation program. Additionally, the instructor has Minnesota State teaching licenses for K-12 ESL and K-12 Teaching French and has over 10 years teaching experience. In addition, the instructor has extensive knowledge and hands-on educational technology experience having served as an Instructional Technology Specialist in their school district.

For secondary education teacher candidates, they are strongly recommended to take the Information Technology for K12 Education (EDU 383) course but approaches to integrating technology are taught in Urban Middle and High School Methods (EDU 306/606) and Managing Learning in Urban Grades 5-12 (EDU 415/615) courses as well as their specific content methods classes across the program. Instructors of these various courses have direct experience using instructional and curricular technology tools in secondary school learning environments.

Special education teacher candidates successfully complete the Supporting Inclusive Education through Differentiation and Technology (SPED 410/604) course. To assist in the academic development of diverse learners, it is imperative to introduce technology as a tool to support their literate endeavors. In doing so, SPED teacher candidates are introduced to the SAMR model to include in their instructional planning. SAMR is an acronym that stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition. As SPED teacher candidates integrate technology tools into their instruction, the SAMR is used to determine whether the technology application is enhancing or transforming the student’s learning experience. SAMR was created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, and it has four levels that explain the increasing impact of the technology integration: from substituting another traditional learning method (such as writing with pen and paper) to creating a completely new learning style (such as students complete and present a team project using global videoconferencing and a virtual classroom). In this course, SPED teacher candidates explore the powerful model of understanding good technology integration, then prepare their activity that utilizes the SAMR model. The instructor of the course is UED’s sole full-time SPED faculty member and coordinator with extensive experience integrating technology to support the learning of students with mild to moderate disabilities.

Evidence of effective instruction is derived from the signature assessment in the Information Technology for K12 Education (EDU 383) course. The course instructor uses a rubric built and accessed in Taskstream to score the assignment to demonstrate candidate proficiency with technology. Starting in the fall of 2022, all teacher candidates also complete a questionnaire in TaskStream just before starting student teaching and at the completion of student teaching about the effectiveness of instruction they received related to this component and all other components of Standard 2. Wherever and whenever either candidates’ scores or questionnaire responses point to the need for improvement to ensure instructional effectiveness, these data are used to re-examine course curriculum, assessments and instructional methods to ensure effectiveness.