Grant to aid in technology
A prestigious $740,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education will help Georgia College & State University improve teacher preparation in the area of instructional technology
The three-year “Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology” — or PT3 — grant program supports teachers in the classroom, so they may be technologically adept and ready to serve the needs of their students. These are students who are growing up in a world that is becoming much more reliant on technology.
Charles Martin, an associate professor of Middle Grades Education and faculty associate in the School of Education, is in charge of the grant’s administration here at GC&SU.
“We will receive approximately $240,000 in the first year of the grant, and the grant lasts three years,” said Martin.
The grant money will be matched, and then some, by GC&SU in the sum of $380,000. The money will be used to fund laptop computers for teacher education students, help fund training for GC&SU faculty in the use of technology in the classroom and support for the graduates of the education program during their first year of teaching to help them use technology more effectively in their new schools and classrooms.
One of the reasons Martin decided to look into and pursue this grant is because of the unique two-year cohort program that the education department offers its students.
“Our two-year cohort program is unique in Georgia and to much of our nation. Our partnerships with the public school systems give us the opportunity to give our students a variety of experiences during these two years,” explained Martin. “These students will have these experiences alongside expert teachers in their field.”
The new relationship between the School of Education and the Liberal Arts Faculty in the reorganized College of Arts & Sciences will provide the education faculty an opportunity to work with GC&SU faculty to bring a strong liberal arts focus to teacher preparation.
“Technology needed to be part of these efforts to distinguish the unification of these separate efforts,” Martin said.
The PT3 grant will also allow GC&SU to fund the Prometheus Project, which is being co-directed by Autumn Grubb. The Prometheus Project is a community-based, open architecture software platform that meets the online infrastructure needs of educational institutions. The Prometheus Project will focus on utilizing technology across all of these efforts.
Martin said he expects the effects of the grant on GC&SU to be immediate.
“We will use the money to bring faculty from across campus together to work on integrating technology into classes in the core and in the teacher education program,” said Martin. “With the help of Dr. Jim Wolfgang, we will be acquiring about 100 laptops with wireless Internet capabilities.”
The wireless Internet option available on these laptops will be accessible on campus and in the public school placements. The first public school to have this ability will be Oak Hill Middle School here in Baldwin County.
“According to Dr. Gormly, Vice President & Dean of Faculties, this is one of the largest competitive grants ever received by GC&SU,” said Martin. “This grant puts GC&SU in the position to compete for other grants by pointing to the Prometheus Project and using it for leverage, showing other funding agencies that we are on the cutting edge of integrating technology in a liberal arts education.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 7 2001. Filed under News.
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