A UB research center has announced a wide-ranging initiative that aims to ensure that every Buffalo Public Schools teacher will be computer savvy.
Through the "Push-In" Technology Training Program, UB's Center for Applied Technology in Education will provide personalized computing instruction to over 3,000 teachers in the city's school system by the end of this school year.
"We want to do the training right in their own building, hence the 'Push-In,'" said Michael Horning Jr., instructional technology trainer for CATE and lead instructor for the program.
The program is enabled by a federally funded program called Erate, which provides substantial money and resources for urban schools to upgrade their computing capacities.
But with the augmented technology, Vicky Zimmer, supervisor for instructional technologies for Buffalo Public Schools, realized the district needed to make sure its teachers were computer savvy enough to know how to properly use the new equipment. So she called UB.
"I've given them the vision, they developed the technology," said Zimmer.
According to Horning, the training takes place in an intimate, non-threatening environment where small groups of about five to seven teachers receive personalized computing instruction.
The level of training depends on the teacher's previous computing knowledge.
"Some teachers might be using e-mail for the first time, while some I might teach how to create a Web page for their class," said Horning.
"There's always a need for this type of training," said Donald Jacobs, director of CATE. "There's always a need for keeping skills up to date."
In total, three professional CATE instructors will spend about more than two hours with over 3,000 of the city's 3,700 Buffalo city schoolteachers this year. A smaller-scale, pilot version of the program last year trained the first 700 Buffalo school teachers, so every teacher in the district should have this training by the end of the year, according to Horning.
"The training will help them gain exposure in tools, strategies and models for integrating technology into both the classroom and into everyday work experience," said Horning.
The training occurs during the school day, where teachers are provided substitutes to cover their classrooms while they receive the training in their building, in adherence to the "Push-In" philosophy.
According to Zimmer, when the training is taking place in the building, it is expected that every teacher attend a session.
Though the program is just in its second year, Zimmer said the response of teachers and administrators has already exceeded her expectations.
"The feedback is incredible," Horning said.
The training also consists of an introduction to a Web site created and maintained solely by CATE. On the site, www.nylearns.org, teachers can research curriculum standards, parents can check the progress of their child and students can obtain homework help.
Jacobs said that the Web site and the training were developed specifically for Buffalo Public Schools, adding that while the program could eventually branch out into the suburbs, there are currently no plans for such a move.
Michael Klanac, a UB student intern for CATE, said he thinks the program still has potential to expand beyond the borders of Buffalo.
"Right now the Web site is just for the local (Buffalo city) schools," he said. "But it can go statewide or even nationwide."
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
