Achieving Technological Literacy in Arizona for Students and Teachers (AT LAST) focuses on increasing technological literacy in secondary education through a partnership involving the National Center for Teacher Education (NCTE) of the Maricopa County Community Colleges District in Arizona, the Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction and the Educations Professions program, a statewide program that prepares high school students for careers in education. The project is providing professional development workshops for future and current teachers to enable them to better prepare their students for an increasingly technology-driven society. AT LAST is also collaborating with the Arizona Technology Council and several ATE centers and projects to ensure alignment with regional industry and adapt existing technology instruction for the workshops. Arizona high school teachers, community college teacher education faculty and future teachers (students in the Education Professions Program) are the primary recipients of the training. Learning objectives include knowledge about the regional technology industries and skills for using instructional technology to teach technological literacy and to align instruction with the current pace of technology advancement. The project is guided by ITEA standards and focuses on key technologies associated with rapid-growth industry in Arizona, including Microsystems, semiconductors, electronic instruments, biomedical devices, and nanotechnology. Teacher participants implement technological literacy curriculum and develop Web-published learning objects and e-portfolios with a focus on technological literacy. The project is conducting research in concert with training and evaluation to explore variables that affect technological literacy, guide future teacher training, and prepare an adoptable model.
(ATLAST) is a four-year project supported by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advanced Technological Education Program. The performing unit is the National Center for Teacher Education of the Maricopa County Community College District in Tempe, Arizona. ATLAST is a project for increasing technological literacy in secondary education. This project provides teachers and future teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to prepare students for an increasingly technology-driven society. The grant focuses on the teachers and students who participate in the Arizona Department of Education’s Education Professions Program, a high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) program for students who have an interest in pursuing a career in the field of education. The goals of the grant are to: (1) Provide Arizona participants with the knowledge and understanding of the regional high-tech industry, impact on Arizona residents, and future career opportunities, (2) Enable participants to leverage Web 2.0 and other open-source, free emerging technology tools to attract students to technology subject matter and improve their overall technological literacy, (3) Enable participants to understand the purpose of technological literacy and its impact on student success, and (4) Integrate research within the ATLAST project that addresses key issues and questions about technological literacy in education. The design of ATLAST training is based on recent technological literacy research and proven best practices for teacher preparation and professional development. Taking what they learn from ATLAST training sessions, teachers design and develop their own technological literacy learning materials using web-based tools and collaborative learning. In addition, teachers and students work together in teams to implement technological literacy training in their schools and to promote knowledge sharing, mentoring, and peer support. Prior to the ATLAST project there was not a focused technological literacy training component within the Arizona Education Professions program. The grant has provided a means to provide support for teachers to implement new technology-focused curriculum in their courses. Findings from this project indicate that: (1) While teachers had used technology before, they do so now to a greater extent, (2) Teachers are now more comfortable using technology and exploring new applications for both professional and personal use, (3) Teachers are aware of challenges associated with digital technology and online tools and are better able to overcome them, (4) Teachers are eager to incorporate more technology based activities into their curriculum, but continue to be restricted by school and/or district policies that block certain technologies in the classroom. ATLAST project outcomes include: (1) Technology literacy has been infused/integrated into the activities and events of the Future Educators of Arizona, the Education Profession’s career and technical student organization. Students learn about technology in the classroom with their Education Professions teacher, and are able to demonstrate their knowledge at local, statewide, and national future educator student technology contests, (2) The ATLAST grant project contributed to the development of Education Professions technology state standards and curriculum. Education Profession students are being better prepared for continuing their path toward a teaching career and informing their own students about the importance of technological knowledge and skills. This integration and influence is contributing to the long term impact of the project on students and teachers in the Education Professions program. The training sessions and resources developed by the ATLAST project have applications for professional development of practicing educators in public schools and higher education. The ATLAST webpage (www.atlastproject.com) contains training session content and resources from 2008 to 2012 that are available for anyone to adopt or adapt.
