In Do Your Teachers Need a Personal Trainer? Aileen Owens discusses a partnership between the Duquense University Instructional Technology Department and Mt. Lebanon School District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This partnership arose when the district’s instructional technology coordinator and author of this article, Aileen Owens, realized that although she and the teachers in the district were achieving positive results from their work together, their process was flawed; it was time-consuming and labor-intensive. When Owens approached Dr. Carbonara at Duquense University about a solution the result was what became the Student Internship Program for Instructional Technology. Students who were highly trained in educational technology spread out and acted as interns throughout the district based upon the teachers' needs. The interns created lessons with the classroom teachers, who provided and helped with the integration of the classroom content. Both the teacher and intern clearly benefit in this circumstance. The classroom teacher's lessons are augmented with the use of technology and the teacher also learns valuable technological skills; and the intern creates and implements lesson plans and lessons that he or she is then able to put in his or her portfolio.
Might there be any drawbacks to a program like this?
I imagine that there might be some teachers who feel that the district is better suited for another system or way of integrating technology into their classrooms. Some might feel that the preservice interns are not well-suited to take on this role because they have not yet had experience teaching in the classroom and so they might not know as well as someone who has already had classroom experience how to integrate the lessons with technology. I also feel however, that after seeing the students work, they would likely be pleased with the outcome and see the evidence of the students' vast experience in technology and their knowledge of curriculum, lesson planning, and classroom management as well.
What method is used to match teachers with their preservice interns?
According to Owens (2009), students are matched to "teacher needs" (p. 15). The article does not, however, give insight into what process is used to match students. If it is the teachers' needs that are most highly considered, the teachers are most likely given questionnaires or some sort of survey on which they can respond regarding their technology wants and needs in the classroom. The interns, or preservice teachers, are then likely placed according to what grade level they are going to teach upon receiving their credential and what their area of technological specialty is.
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