This overview focuses on how teacher preparation programs at Appalachian State University integrate educational technologies into teaching and learning and how programs help students meet the state required National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). Within the Reich College of Education's conceptual framework, technology is viewed as an important teaching tool. At both undergraduate and graduate levels, candidates have numerous opportunities to study technology as academic content, see technology applications modeled in university teaching, use technology to support and increase their own learning, and apply technology to their own planning, teaching, and professional development activities.

ASU is committed to enhancing students' experiences with technology in undergraduate and graduate education. At the undergraduate level, ASU requires students to take a number of courses that are designated as technology enriched. These courses rely heavily on students using educational technology to learn course content. In addition, graduates of undergraduate teaching programs must produce evidence that they can address the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). Candidates in undergraduate teacher preparation programs are required to demonstrate technology competency by collecting, organizing and sharing products through a technology portfolio, or preferably a teaching portfolio for their program, that addresses the NETS-T. This is required to receive a satisfactory grade in student teaching. This student teaching requirement assures that students have demonstrated the ability to integrate educational technologies into teaching. This is also a requirement for licensure in NC.

SPE/CI2800 is designated as a computer course.  Our graduates are expected to possess skill in using technology to enhance their teaching, learning and their efforts to create and participate in exemplary educational communities. CI/SPE 2800 is our first point of contact with students entering the college. It is here that we begin our college wide effort for assisting students in acquiring technology competence and begin a monitoring process that will help them through the curriculum and on to licensure. All entering students have the opportunity thru the course of CI/SPE 2800, Teachers, Schools and Learners, to be introduced to the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) and the technology requirements for student teaching and initial licensure. Completing a web based  technology self appraisal is a requirement for all 2800 students. Introductory NETS-T workshop/class sessions are provided if a thorough class based introduction to the NETS-T and the technology expectations is not delivered by the instructor. The online appraisal form sends the appraisal results via email  to the students and provides an artifact for a program portfolio that addresses the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T), Ia and Ib. A list of the students that have completed the "NETS-T self appraisal" is shared with the instructors. Students can search for this records during their student teaching experience, reappraise and note change.

The Reich College of Education (RCOE) faculty in consort with program area faculty are responsible for designing course and field experiences that assist students in meeting these requirements. Many teacher education programs require a professional teaching portfolio that is constructed and evaluated before graduation. For example, the History department requires students (as part of their secondary education degree) to produce a teacher webpage , which necessarily demonstrates the integration of technology into teaching and learning. This is also true of the Elementary Education Program which now requires an online professional teaching portfolio. These portfolios are available on the World Wide Web for review. (See http://www.taskstream.com/main/?/church3/BeccasSummerBlockIIPortfolio.html for an example.)

In a similar fashion, educational technology is a strand that runs through the graduate programs. These programs build on and expand the technology standards required in initial programs and also required of teachers in school settings. At this level the focus on technology is not limited to the current application and use of technology, but includes planning, developing and effectively applying tools and techniques of existing/emerging media and computers. The State of North Carolina in 1998 required all Teacher Education Master Degree programs to redesign their curriculum. One component that was required of the redesigned programs was the integration of technologies in teaching and learning. The outcome is that these programs are now technologically enriched. (See the program proposals for North Carolina Masters Degrees.) Additionally, requirements of action research projects and student products of learning have assured that students in masters' programs integrate technology in their own learning as well as their teaching and the learning of public school students. For example, Reading Education Masters Degree students construct a product of learning (electronic portfolio) as a culminating product of their education.Examples of these portfolios can be viewed at http://.htm

Technology Modeled in University Teaching

Across the university there has been an infusion of technology into courses; assignments require students to use technology as a learning tool. The university's General Education program requires that all students at ASU complete at least two courses carrying computer designators. There are many new web-based, and web-assisted courses, and WebCT is a university sponsored web delivery system, supported by faculty development workshops. In the RCOE, technology in teaching has been emphasized across the teacher education programs.

This begins with the teacher education core curriculum. In RCOE Core courses, CI/SPE 2800 and CI/RE/FDN 3850, technology is modeled in teaching and examined as a teaching tool. Student teaching (CI/SPE 4900) now requires the completion of the teaching and/or technology portfolio. In addition, there has been increased emphasis upon the integration of technology into each major. Many content area methods courses now use technology as a teaching and learning tool (see RE 4620 as an example). Virtually every program now employs such teaching/learning strategies as web-based discussions, desktop publishing, and the use of Internet resources. A number of programs are adopting the use of multimedia, and several programs have begun piloting both elementary and secondary electronic portfolios.

Examples of increased use of technology in teaching include the following:

• Content Area Reading, CAROL (Content Area Reading On Line)
• Special Education faculty use webpages in teaching............
• P.E. faculty developed and researched (continuing) a computer learning package for the detection of errors in manipulative skills and sport skills. They also have students examine text and video using computer technology, and they use online quizzes and prepare graphical representations of collected data using spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel.
• Business Education faculty integrate technology in a variety of ways into the teaching and learning environments of all the business education classes. They model the use of various forms of technology in instruction and provide guidelines for evaluating the uses of technology in teaching and learning. Computer conferencing, e-mail applications, Web Board, Internet activities, chat rooms, multimedia presentations, and applications using word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and presentation software are all part of instruction.
• Music Education faculty use appropriate software for music composition, score production, skill development, and program management.
• Science Education faculty expose their students to state-of-the-art research systems in ....
• Communications Disorders faculty use power point presentations, webpage resources, videos, 3-D models with ELMO, etc., all of which allow students to become comfortable with the use of technology in the activities of their profession.
• Elementary Education integrates technology in teaching, as evidenced by the lessons students produce in ....

Technology Used by Students for Learning

In general, across the university technology is used to assist student learning. Assignments in most classes regularly involve some aspect of technology. Information is gathered from the web and is presented in reports published to the web. Teaching standards are accessed on the web as is the NC Standard Course of Study. Many program use email and discussion boards for students to submit reactions (reflection), papers, and other assignments. Programs also teach students how to use databases for grade management, for example, Excel spreadsheets.

Examples of increased use of technology by students for learning also can be found in individualprograms:

• Sciences student extensively use labs at ASU for many learning activities. These labs are equipped with the latest technology. For example, physics students use computers to acquire and analyze data during the laboratory portion of courses. Students utilize various programs like Maple and Mathematica to analyze complex physical systems. Spreadsheets, word-processing and graphics software are used for student presentations and reports.
• PE students develop an inventory database to track equipment used in physical education programs. In addition, video cameras, wireless transmitters, down load clip art and images from selected Internet sites are used, as well as digital cameras, scanners, etc.. Students create and maintain a ZAPEA web page. PE students also research and identify lessons or activities at selected Internet sites.
• History students are required to research topics online and to use technology to present findings; students are provided training to do these activities.
• French and Spanish Education students are required to complete many assignments using technology. Most of the language textbooks include ancillary materials which require technological competence on the part of both instructor and student.
• Family & Consumer Sciences students include in their portfolio a video tape of their micro teaching presentations, which they have viewed and on which they have completed a self evaluation.
• Special Education students are expected to integrate the NC student computer skills curriculum into two of the first four lesson plans they write.

Technology Applied to Field Experiences & Professional Development

Technology is also incorporated into students' field experiences. One field experience for CI 2800 is the Fifth Dimension, a technology based program where candidates are paired with children, grades K-8, twice weekly for 45-60 minutes in an after-school session at one of five sites (four at school sites and one on the ASU campus). Candidates guide, facilitate, and help the younger students work through a maze of twenty virtual rooms using both computer software games and board games. Candidates write field notes and submit these to a database.

In internships students are required to document the use of technology in placement settings, and they are asked to work with students as they use technology in learning. The "RCOE Teacher Support Pages" permits student teachers to communicate electronically with supervisors, filing their teaching schedules, submitting lesson plans, posting reflective journal entries, receiving advice, and participating in on-line discussions with other student teachers.

The Reich College of Education has also made a substantial commitment to build an appropriate infrastructure to support faculty, students, and staff in the effective use of technology. Three technology positions have been created. The college's computer technician is charged with keeping networks current, upgrading machines, and troubleshooting for the college. The college's technology facilities coordinator is charged with supervision and maintenance of the college's labs and classrooms in terms of equipment and furnishings. The college's technology curriculum specialist works directly with faculty to assist them in integrating technology into their instruction. He also is responsible for maintaining the college's technology resource page, which provides candidates and faculty with valuable information about the appropriate uses of technology (see http://www.ced.appstate.edu/techresource.html) The college also has a webmaster and data manager.

The computer labs are continuously upgraded, and all the classrooms are technology enriched. The entire culture and climate in the RCOE have moved to embrace appropriate uses of technology in teaching and learning. A technology plan for the college is in place, a technology advisory committee provides input to the Dean's Office and a support stucture for media and technology operational to insure that all elements are addressed in a systematic way. In addition to the resources of the college, faculty and staff have access to numerous professional development opportunities sponsored by the university. .