State Gives $32,000 to NSU Summer Computer Institute

TAHLEQUAH - Northeastern State University recently received a $32,576 telecommunications grant from the Oklahoma Department of Education for the 2002 Advanced Summer Computer Institute Interchange (ASCII) to be held on the NSU Tahlequah campus June 10 through 21.

The Institute will address the need for teachers who possess technology experience in their instructional delivery in Oklahoma public schools and the need to provide a hands-on, interactive learning environment for high school students in utilizing skills in technology, communication, higher cognition, and graphic design for life-long learning.

The ASCII objectives are to increase retention during the induction process by strengthening support systems for teachers who are enhancing their instruction with technology in their initial years in the classroom; to build partnerships with the public schools and other colleges within the University system; and to ultimately elevate the level of public education through improved student achievement and enhance interest and literacy in technology. ASCII also benefits teachers and students involved in the GEAR UP program..

Students will be designing course web sites for various NSU faculty who will act as clients, said Dr. Donna Wood, NSU associate professor and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. It is a very unique program which allows both students and faculty to act as mentors. The high school students and teachers will receive instruction in Dreamweaver 4 and Adobe PhotoShop 7 software. Instruction will also include mentoring others in instructional technology use and the aesthetics of web design. The high school teachers will create their own course site, and the high school students will create a course web site for NSU faculty. The NSU faculty/clients will be interviewed by the students regarding their needs for a course site. Students will design and create the course site, present their finished work in a public setting, then mentor the NSU faculty in how to maintain their newly created course sites by using the software the students learned."

Course sites for faculty members may contain accessible information including syllabi, course descriptions, instructional activities, curriculum, class activities, calendars, lecture notes, and Power Point presentations. The high school teachers participating in the program will create their own course sites and will be responsible for mentoring colleagues in these skills upon returning to their own school. The NSU faculty will benefit by obtaining a course site and will contribute to a collaboration between NSU and the public schools in the region.

Because the assessment methods are authentic, meaning they are applicable to real life, and are by nature accountability-based,students may approach this task with more focus. In other words, if I knew that I would be displaying my work before the public, or if I knew that I would need to know how to do something well enough to show someone else how to do it, it would have more meaning to me. And, not only that, if I knew that I was providing a service for someone, it would have more meaning to me, Wood said. Students gain so much more from authentic assessment than traditional assessment (like a multiple choice test) at the conclusion of a learning experience. Ive seen it time and time again. And, students enjoy it more."

The instructors for ASCII will be Dr. Bill Rosener, NSU College of Business and Industry; Mr. Kip Finnegan, NSU Center for Teaching and Learning; and Ms. Lisa DuVall, Woodall Public Schools. Dr. Wood and Dr. Melissa Becker, NSU College of Education, are co-directors.

The GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) schools, of which the high school teachers and students are a part, is a federal program designed to better prepare middle and high school students for college through mentoring programs, scholarships, and new academic preparation and awareness programs for students and parents. This national initiative began in 1998 to encourage more American youth to have high expectations, stay in school, study hard and take the right courses to prepare for college.

6/3/02

Published: 2002-06-03 00:00:00