Rationale

Research on the use of technology in teaching, learning and administration in higher education:

 * ASU Working Definition of Educational Technology**

The College of Education Technology Committee uses the ISTE (International Society for Technology Education) definition of Educational Technology. (Source/Date? We need to cite using APA)

“Educational computing and technology (ECT) is an emerging field, which encompasses many sub-disciplines. This field includes knowledge about and use of computers and related technologies in:

(1) integration of technology and curriculum to support learning; (2) delivery, development, prescription, and assessment of instruction; (3) effective use of computers as an aid to problem solving; (4) school and classroom management; (5) educational research; (6) electronic information access and exchange; (7) personal and professional productivity; (8) technical assistance and leadership; and (9) computer science education.”

__REVISED 2007__
Increasingly, technology is poised to revolutionize teaching, learning, and assessment. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE, http://www.ncate.org/) is the official body for accrediting teacher preparation programs. In keeping with new demands for teachers skilled in integrating technology into instruction, NCATE adopted standards that place added emphasis on several areas, including technology. NCATE has also taken part in several initiatives designed to spread technology knowledge to university faculty, teacher candidates, and teachers already in the classroom.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE, [|http://www.iste.org]) provides leadership and service to improve teaching, learning, and school leadership by advancing the effective use of technology in PK–12 and teacher education. The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS, [|http://cnets.iste.org]), which provide standards for students, integrating curriculum technology, technology support, and standards for student assessment and evaluation of technology use, have been adopted by the Alabama State Department of Education.

Arthur E. Wise, president of NCATE, noted that "As technology moves from the periphery to the center in P–12 schools, it should also move from the periphery to the center in teacher candidate preparation. We must all work together to help ensure that tomorrow’s teachers are prepared for the challenges of teaching in the 21st century."

According to the NCATE report, **//Technology and the New Professional Teacher: Preparing for the 21st Century Classroom//**,

//Teacher education institutions must prepare their students to teach in tomorrow’s classrooms. Rather than wait to see what tomorrow’s classrooms will be like, they must experiment with the effective application of computer technology for teaching and learning in their own campus practice. Today’s teacher candidates will teach tomorrow as they are taught today.

With a vision in hand, the teacher education faculty need to plan how their vision can be realized. The "plan" must be more than a technology acquisition plan that focuses on how to acquire, allocate, and amortize hardware and software. The plan must be tightly linked to other planning processes in the college and include suggestions for integrating technology across the curriculum, for providing faculty development, and for building the support structure the program will require. Steps for reallocations within the existing budget as well as ideas for seeking external funds are also a part of a good plan. The budget planning process must also include the recurrent costs associated with technologies - which include maintenance as well as upgrading.

Perhaps the most important part of a sound plan is the specified outcomes for the students who are enrolled in the teacher education program. What knowledge, skills, and attitudes will they acquire from the teacher education program that are essential for them to perform successfully in technology-enriched P–12 classrooms?//

For these reasons, the Alabama State University College of Education strives to develop and implement a sound technology plan as described that will continue to drive teaching, learning and administrative practices into the 21st century.