Inquiry Learning and Technology: A Model for Teacher Education Programs

PT3 implementation grant funds have been used to restructure a teacher education program to meet the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) defined by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). The Brigham Young University PT3 implementation grant supported design teams of teacher education and content area faculty who enriched pre-service teacher education courses and K-12 curricula with inquiry-based technology integration. The teams modeled technology-enhanced instruction to pre-service teachers who then wrote similar lesson plans that they implemented during K-12 field experiences. Technology-enhanced unit plans written by pre-service teachers were coded to see which NETS were met. A correlation study was done to compare the innovation of the lessons and the NETS standards. The results of this study indicate that, when inquiry-based instruction is a focus of technology integration, learning is collaborative, student-centered, and develops critical thinking skills in students. (C) 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.