By Sara Ballenger
Learning how to make a Web page, create an iMovie and complete a multimedia teaching project are just some of the skills 21 teachers from Santa Clara and San Mateo counties learned this month at the “Earn While You Learn” program at the Center of Innovation at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills.
The three-week instructional technology pilot program chose kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers of all backgrounds, disciplines and financial status to participate.
What makes this program stand out is that teachers are getting paid to learn how to integrate the latest technology into their classrooms.
“I came up with the idea of this program,” said Gay Krause, director for the Center of Innovation. “Normally teachers have to pay to take classes. All of our classes at Foothill College are regular college classes for which they get continuing education units, which work on their salary schedule from the school district.”
The low cost of tuition at the community college level is also appealing to teachers, Krause said.
Krause began campaigning for funding for the pilot program in April.
“We got funding from individual donors in our valley who understood that teachers need to be paid to actually spend some concentrated time to take these classes where they could actually develop ideas,” said Krause. “They also have time to learn some of the different computer programs as applied to classrooms, so it’s really practical.”
The basic idea of giving teachers the opportunity to learn current technology and to be able to use it in the classroom with students is what has driven the program, the participants and donations.
“I think the projects validate our belief in the program,” said Becky Morgan, a donor. “As CEO of Joint Venture of Silicon Valley, I realized what needed to be done for local teachers. I believe in helping teachers beyond what they get from the state budget.”
Once the funding was in place, it was time for the teachers to begin learning. Attending class from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., five days a week, teachers worked on developing their skills to apply towards their projects due at the end of class.
Projects ranged from interactive language skill programs to a tour of Washington, D.C., to an interactive history unit on ancient civilizations. The teachers entered their projects in the California State Media and Multimedia Festival, held last month at Foothill.
“My page is on measuring speeds of different things,” said Susan Mitchell, an eighth-grade teacher at Graham Middle School in Mountain View. “They have to figure out how to find the speed of these things, like how slow or how fast the San Andreas fault is moving.”
The projects must meet all state and national teaching requirements, depending on grade level.
“Calculating speed and velocity is one of the standards of the eighth-grade curriculum,” said Mitchell. “I am adding multimedia and they have to present it in a multimedia format. What we’re doing here, I see it as learning. The kids are going to be presenting in the same way.”
With their projects complete, teachers can look forward to a total of $5,000 for their efforts.
“It’s a scholarship so they won’t have to have income taxes taken out,” said Krause. “They get $4,000 at the end of the program, and then the other $1,000 at the end of the year and hand in their project and take the other classes. We want them to have an incentive.”
Teachers are required to use their multimedia projects in their classroom and take at least two more additional Instructional Technology classes at Foothill.
“I had never built a Web page before. Now I have done that. I’ve learned how to create animation and how to use presentation software,” said Susan Sherwood, who will be teaching at Blach Junior High School in the fall. “You learn what kind of learner you are and I think you develop an appreciation for what kids go through. You have to learn to be patient with yourself and to ask questions.”
Krause said interest about the pilot program has come in from across the nation and she hopes it will expand.
Not only does she hope the program will expand on a national level but also on a local level.
“We wanted teachers to be able to go back to their school sites and have an impact there,” said Krause.
It seems these teachers will be doing just that.
“The best way we can promote the program is go out and do a great job of using computers in our classrooms and teaching other teachers how to do it,” said Sherwood who will teach what she has learned to fellow teachers at Blach in the fall.
