Sun Associates

Educational Technology Integration

USVI Summer 1998 Technology Institute
August 18 - 21, 1998

The USVI Department of Education -- in partnership with SEIR*TEC and Learning Innovations (a Division of WestED) -- hosted the territory-wide Summer Technology Institute between August 18th and 21st, 1998. Facilitation, professional development, and workshop materials were produced by Sun Associates.

By all accounts, the Institute was a huge success! Teacher/administrator teams from every school in the Territory were represented. In total, over 140 individual participants attended a two-day Institute offered in both the St. Croix and St. Thomas/St. John Curriculum Centers. Participants were provided with hands-on training in core school technology applications such as Netscape, Eudora, and ClarisWorks. More importantly, these hands-on sessions were bracketed by sessions on developing technology-enriched curriculum units and choosing/using technology tools.

At the Institute, each school team produced a curriculum unit or lesson plan which is designed to be implemented with technology currently in-place in their schools. Approximately 1/2 of the time the teams spent at the Institute was devoted to meeting with their fellow team members and planning activities that they can -- and will -- do during the 1998/1999 school year.

Underscoring the importance of planning and reflection in classroom technology integration, many participants noted in their final Institute evaluations that this "team time" was the most valuable aspect of their Institute experience.

Of course, as with any professional development activity, it's the follow-up that makes all the difference between just an interesting experience and one that truly produces change. The USVI Summer Technology Institute includes a number of follow-up activities that are designed to weave the Institute experience into the fabric of daily life for USVI teachers. These activities include:

• Email/phone contact with Sun Associates' facilitators to solve problems and offer support as projects are implemented;
• Development of an Institute website which will share the current projects (and materials as they are developed) with all school teams/individuals;
• A comprehensive software application and curriculum integration resource guidebook;
• Distribution of print materials generated by Institute teams at the Institute (print materials are produced for those teams and individuals who do not have on-line access and thus cannot access the Institute website);
• A series of follow-up meetings held within each district during the 1998/1999 school year

Most importantly, the teams that came together at the Institute will continue to work together as teams within their schools. In many cases, these teams were cross-disciplinary and/or cross-grade teams that might not have come together except at a function such as the Summer Technology Institute. While their initial focus might be on creating and implementing a particular technology project, it seems likely that many teams will continue to function as problem-solving units on a wide variety of teaching and learning issues.

Institute Materials

Check out some of the materials produced by Sun Associates for Institute participants...

• Institute agenda (St. Croix or St. Thomas/St. John)
• PowerPoint presentation on Introduction to Technology Integration
• Presentation on Developing Technology-Enriched Curriculum Units
• Website for the Introduction to Netscape/WWW workshop

Materials Developed by Teams

Take a look at the unit/lesson plans developed by some of the Institute teams. This is just a start...more will be posted on this site and on the follow-up site as time goes by.

• Charles Emanuel School's unit on weather
• Central High School's unit on tourism
• Charlotte Amalie High School's school webpage project

Return to Sun Associates' technology integration workshops

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Last updated August 24, 1998