Abstract The proposed cohort would be the beginning of a self-sustaining entity within the School of Education that would provide ongoing technology instruction, support and awareness through individual and group experiences. The goal of this cohort is to provide faculty/staff a variety of technology-rich opportunities to learn about and integrate technology into their teaching or research. The phases of this proposed program are: a) personalized individual instruction and b) group "brown bag sessions" for more general and "discovery" related activities. Purpose and Need for the Cohort Due to the increased use of technology in all areas of education, it has become essential that higher education faculty and staff increase their familiarity with different educational and non-educational technologies and develop new strategies for effectively using technology in their research and teaching. Time and accessibility are often barriers to individual pursuit of advanced understanding and skill development in the use of technology. A technology cohort designed to deliver one-on-one, individualized instruction and guidance could significantly advance the population of the School of Education over a short period of time. The goals and objectives of this cohort are to: (a) increase awareness of technology within educational settings; (b) provide easy access to "expert help;" (c) improve personal use of technology by faculty and staff; (d) increase the visual and physical presence of technology within the School of Education; (e) promote exposure to "best practices" of technology being modeled by faculty; and (f) provide opportunities for students, staff and faculty to collaborate and share technology skills (see figure 1). The two central components of the program consist of (a) individual instruction and (b) group presentations (brown bag seminars). In the individual instruction component, faculty and staff members receive personalized instruction tailored to their specific needs and focused on the software or hardware they wish to learn about. He/she can select from a menu of educational technology skills or can arrange to get assistance with a technology that they would like to learn. Lessons will be arranged between the faculty/staff person and the cohort team to provide individualized instruction. The brown bag seminars will provide 30 to 90 minutes of group exploration and instruction. The sessions will be designed to introduce new technologies, concepts and techniques. The cohort team will consist of teacher education students who have demonstrated exceptional technology skills and knowledge, graduate students who have an interest in technology leadership and training and who also have exceptional technology skills and knowledge, and faculty/staff who have indicated a willingness to share knowledge and techniques for integrating technology. A Cohort Team Advisory Group will be established to provide leadership and support during the initial stages of development of this program. Members Steven B. Smith, Ed.D Assistant Professor Department of Teaching and Leadership Frank Carey, Director of Technology School of Education Vickie Occhipinti LearnGen Project Coordinator Jozenia Colorado Educational Communications and Technology Doctoral Student Scope of Work The following steps will need to be completed by the Cohort Team Advisory Group in order to establish the presence of this cohort within the School of Education community: Establish a cohort team coordinator to oversee the scheduling and assigning of student technology assistants to faculty/staff requests. Create a work area within the School of Education where student technology assistants can base. Purchase a portable laptop computer lab to be used for two purposes: As portable computers for providing instruction As a portable lab for Instructors to use in their teaching environment. Begin the process of identifying potential student technology assistants. Develop a Profiler Account of skills from which applicants can indicate their level of expertise. Publicly announce the availability of student technology assistant positions and the appropriate benefits associated with the position. Create a pool of applicants. Establish criteria for the initial selection of student technology assistants. Select the initial set of trainees. Provide a training orientation for student technology assistants designed to help them address the needs of faculty and staff effectively. Develop a scheduling tool that faculty/staff can easily use to acquire personalized training and assistance. Deliverables White paper developed by the Cohort Team Advisory Group discussing the need for individualized technology training and awareness for faculty, staff and students. Tutorials that teach or support technology skills that faculty and staff may use to gain additional skills. Functioning "Help Desk" for "just in time" delivery of services. Timeline Summer: Meet with Frank Carey to determine what software/hardware is available through the School of Education. Create an online calendar of training sessions. Establish the Profiler Account. September: Advertise to teacher education students. Refresh/train students in software/hardware problem solving. October - December: Training sessions. Brown Bag begin and are established at a rate of 1 to 2 per month. Create tutorials for refresher skills. Deliver workshop/inservice to professionals about this process of faculty/staff technology training. December: Survey participants to determine the effectiveness of training and what types of additional training are needed. Revise training schedule (if required). January - May: Continue training sessions and Brown Bag seminars. June: Meet with LearnGen PI to review progress. Summer: School of Education to take over program. Resources Resources needed by the LearnGen Project include laptop computers for student instructors, pay for student instructors, researcher assistant to gather survey information, and staff members to help students design instruction. Resources that are needed from the School of Education include software and hardware needed for individual and group training, staff to create website to access online tutorials, access to lab for students to create tutorials. Support and funding appropriate to the needs of the program for sustaining beyond the Learning Generations Grant. Institutionalization/Extension It is expected that the information/products from this project will continue to be used in the School of Education beyond the life of the involvement with the LearnGen Project. The Technology Coordinator in the School of Education will continue to supervise the training and the Professor coordinating the cohort will continue to recruit students to provide instruction. Evaluation The cohort team will evaluate participants after the first round of training is completed. During the year, the cohort will spend time revising training and updating tutorials. The cohort will discuss how the team is working together to meet the goals of the faculty/staff training.

Learning Generation, University of Kansas, 2005.