Abstract The purpose of the Field Experience Cohort is to enhance and enrich the practicum/student teaching experience of University of Kansas School of Education students. The initiative will take place by matching students who have a strong technology background with teachers (schools) who also have a strong background, but also use technology effectively in educational settings. The cohort will develop guidelines for the placement of preservice teacher education students with schools and technology proficient teachers. These guidelines will include a site visit once a school/teacher has been identified as technology enhanced. During the site visit, a cohort member will survey the school/teacher to determine if the school/teacher actually meets the criteria. A pilot study will take place during the spring semester. The cohort will determine what schools and teachers will be used depending on the information received through the guidelines. The pilot will consist of 2-4 field experience students placed in an elementary school and a secondary school. The expected outcome for this cohort is to enrich the field experiences of all involved through closely matching experiences. Members Members include: KU School of Education Staff Member Janel Hinrichsen janel@ku.edu 214 JR Pearson University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045 785-864-9601 KU School of Education Faculty Member Mike Neal mneal@ku.edu 214B JR Pearson University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045 785-864-9603 KU School of Education Faculty Member Fred Rodriquez fredrod@ku.edu 214C JR Pearson University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045 785-864-7030 KU School of Education Faculty Member - Secondary Joe O'Brien jeobrien@ku.edu 337 JR Pearson University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045 785-864-9663 KU School of Education Faculty Member - Special Education Sean Smith seanj@ku.edu 406 JR Pearson University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045 785-864-0693 KU School of Education Faculty Member - Elementary New Faculty - TBA KU School of Education Student Member TBA KU School of Education Student Member TBA Field-Based Superintendent/Principal Member TBA Scope of Work Planning meetings Create guidelines and parameters for preservice teacher education students, schools and teachers Create tools of inquiry to obtain information regarding use/knowledge of technology Site visits to schools and with teachers to determine if criteria has been met. Using a Palm Pilot a cohort member will survey teachers and schools to find out how many computers are in the classroom, where computers are located, are students working on the computers, and supporting technologies in the classroom or school. Expand existing plan for matching students with school sites/teachers based on technology expertise Pilot system (perhaps with 2 schools in two different districts) Place new system into current field experience files Deliverables White paper Tools for obtaining information (guidelines) New system merged with current system Presentation at conferences Reports of project Timeline Cohort Start Date: 6/10/02 Cohort End Date: 7/31/03 June-July-August: Complete guidelines for students, school, and teachers August-September: identify interested students, confirm teacher participation with site visits to schools September-October: Place student interns for Spring semester with technology strong teachers January: Pilot program February-May: Evaluate preservice interns’ teaching experience May: Preservice students demonstrate technology materials/lesson plans to field experience school and to School of Education faculty and students Resources The cohort will require use of two laptop computers for preservice teacher education students and software to develop websites. A Palm Pilot will also be needed to collect data. In lieu of Janel Hinrichsen and Mike Neal’s compensation, a student-hourly will be hired to help with the project. Institutionalization/Extension Once the guidelines have been shown to be effective and feasible, they will be considered for adoption into other areas of field experience (special education, math, etc). Evaluation The cohort will survey participating students, teachers and school administrators to determine if the placements enhanced the practicum/student teaching experience. The field experience students placed within the technology rich experience will demonstrate all technology created teaching materials/lesson plans to the field experience school staff and to the faculty and students of the KU School of Education.

Learning Generation, University of Kansas, 2005.