Databus Issue: 2003 4 10/02/2003
Spotlight on Technology
Joyce Hinkson, Ed.D. ConsultantProfessional Development: Catalyst for Innovative Integration of Technology
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How did you spend your summer? Rafting? Visiting the Grand Canyon? Lying on a beach?
For a select group of 17 educators from around the country, summer vacation included a week of exploring the Pacific seafloor with the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Summer Institute.
The Institute focused on providing educators with Marine Science Geographic Information System (GIS) applications and included field trips on a research cruise in Monterey Bay and to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to collect data from the ocean floor.
Institute participants used various advanced technologies to get a better understanding of the fish and invertebrates in Monterey Bay and to gain knowledge about the terrain concealed below the ocean. MATE training is sponsored through funding from the National Science Foundation. A large portion of the funding supports professional development that promotes teaching and learning. There is no fee for participating in the Institutes. In addition, hotel accommodations, for participants living 50 miles or more away from the MATE center, were provided. The Summer Institute participants will take the knowledge they gained back to their classrooms and to their students.
Institute participants were selected through a screening process that started with a review of their applications. Qualifications to participate in the Institute included being a current educator at a high school, community college or university. In addition, participants with the greatest chance of being selected for the Institute were those who were somewhat proficient with GIS applications and willing to use the knowledge gained during the Institute to benefit their students’ learning. Of the 17 educators participating in the Summer Institute, that ran from July 27-August 3, 2003, nine were high school teachers and the rest were community college and university faculty members. Of the nine high school teachers, four were environmental and spatial technology (EAST) facilitators (three from California and one from Arkansas). Tami Lunsford, MATE Summer Institute coordinator, was not surprised at the high percentage of EAST facilitators being selected for participation. As part of the comprehensive EAST program, all of the facilitators had previous GIS experience, as well as access to the necessary equipment and software needed to utilize the MATE training in their own classrooms.
Steve Engelmann, one of the EAST facilitators from Palisades Charter High in Los Angeles Unified, plans to use the knowledge he gained from the MATE institute to provide guidance on two current service-learning projects. One project is to use technology to locate and eradicate non-native plants in the canyon around the high school, create a database of the type of plant and its location and to provide documentation to the Parks and Recreation department. A second student project, that will benefit from the MATE training, will be the study of pollution in the Santa Monica Bay and its relationship to marine life. Highlights of the Institute for Engelmann were exploring the seafloor with a remote underwater vehicle.
Eric Wheeler, EAST facilitator from the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART) in Clovis, first learned of the MATE training opportunity through the EAST listserv. Eric plans to utilize the information and the professional model of inquiry (with the analysis and visualization tools that GIS provides) demonstrated in the Institute in his classroom.
“I learned that we are still in the beginning stages of understanding and mapping our ocean habitats. Four of the 17 workshop participants were EAST facilitators,” Wheeler says. “This workshop was a chance for us to share ideas about how to best facilitate GIS projects in our EAST classrooms. The MATE model will help us with this and will give our students a common language to use in cross-lab projects. In fact, Chip made each us of talk about what a MATE project/workshop would look like in our area of the country. We talked about potential projects, how we might support them, and possible local mentors who could help the students. We left the workshop feeling enthused about the opportunities available to our students. The MATE training and the support of EAST will allow me to support and facilitate these types of advanced GIS projects in our EAST Lab at CART.”
Chip Fenenga, from Santa Ynez Valley Union High in Santa Ynez, is yet another EAST facilitator. He declared that the institute, “…was a great experience to participate with outstanding professionals doing real science. I was so impressed by the dedication of all the teachers and instructors.”
Chip is framing the map of the sanddab habitat created during the Institute and plans to exhibit it at his school. He admitted that he was so engrossed in the training that he forgot to call his wife on their anniversary! (We heard that a trip to Hawaii helped to make up for his oversight).
Even though the educators selected for the Summer Institute came from different parts of the country and from different curricular perspectives, each had something in common. They all recognized the importance the role professional development plays in effectively implementing technology to promote student achievement.
For more information on MATE Summer Institutes, contact Tami Lunsford at tlunsford@marinetech.org. There are a few scholarships available to offset travel costs to the Monterey facility for those selected for participation. The Web site may be accessed at http://www.marinetech.org.
For more information on EAST, contact Rowland Baker, western regional director at Rowland@eastproject.org. The Web site may be accessed at http://www.cde.ca.gov/east.
