The three participants adopted and adapted many of the technology components that they learned in the TAFT class by transferring specific activities or assignments they created back into the classroom. Only a few components were not adopted at all. Table 8 illustrates this information. For instance, the first component of TAFT involved the use of Microsoft Word and Publisher. All three participants had some basic knowledge of Microsoft Word before taking TAFT. They used Word to create tests and type directions for assignments. However, after taking TAFT, they were able to use higher level skills in Microsoft Word. For instance, they learned how to insert clip art and used this tool for creating future assignments. All three participants adopted the letterhead activity into use. Gavin also designed a flyer for his curriculum and planned to use it in subsequent years. Ashley and Amber, the other two participants, adapted their understanding of Microsoft Word as they used it in their curriculum. The course showed them higher level skills to use with this software program. They then taught their students these skills and allowed the students to turn in their projects using Word as their medium. Ashley and Amber also adapted Publisher activities and lesson plans created in TAFT into their classroom. They did not use the flyer they had created using Publisher software, but instead, had their students create projects using Publisher. Ashley allowed her students to use Publisher for the poem project, and Amber adapted the skills she learned in TAFT to have her students create a newsletter, daily planner, and career project in Publisher.
Understanding ways to effectively use technology research was the second component in TAFT. Gavin was already requiring students to write a research paper, so
Table 8
Components Adopted and Adapted Directly From TAFT
Gavin Ashley Amber
Component 1 Desktop Publishing for Instruction: Word and Publisher
already using lower level skills, but adopted higher level skills in Word did not adopt Publisher
already using lower level skills, but adopted higher level skills in Word and adapted Word adopted and adapted Publisher
already using lower level skills, but adopted higher level skills in Word and adapted Word adopted and adapted Publisher
Component 2 Research
already using research
adopted research adopted research
Component 3 Communication
already using Lotus Notes
adopted IGPro
already using Lotus Notes
already using IGPro
already using Lotus Notes
already using IGPro
Component 4 Presentation
did not adopt presentations
did not adopt TAFT presentation, but adapted a new lesson plan for students
adopted
presentations and created new lesson plans for students
Component 5 Spreadsheets and Databases
did not adopt spreadsheets adopted SASI and IGPro
did not adopt spreadsheets already using SASI and IGPro
did not adopt spreadsheets already using SASI and IGPro
Component 6 Web Pages
did not adopt did not adopt did not adopt
Component 7 Assessment
already using already using choose not to use
he used this existing lesson plan to fulfill the TAFT requirement. He did not change his assignment as a result of the TAFT class, and he did not bring any new information back into the classroom. Both Ashley and Amber developed a research lesson plan for TAFT and then brought the plan into the classroom for student use. Ashley had her students
research a controversial topic, and Amber had her students research a speech given by President George W. Bush and other American leaders. In these ways, Ashley and Amber adopted the specific activities they had created for the research component
directly into their classroom. To utilize technology in doing the research project, all three participants brought their students to one of the ten computer labs at the high school
A third component of TAFT was the use of technology as communication. All participants were already fulfilling this requirement. Gavin, Ashley, and Amber were using Lotus Notes to email colleagues and parents. Ashley and Amber already knew how to use IGPro, the county’s gradebook program to send weekly progress reports home. Gavin learned this skill in TAFT and started emailing progress reports home on a weekly basis. For this component, Ashley and Amber did not bring back any new skills, but Gavin learned to use IGPro for emailing parents and continued to use that feature throughout the school year.
Ensuing that teachers could effectively create and use PowerPoint presentations was the next component in TAFT. Two of the teachers in the study were less likely to personally use this software in the classroom, in part because of time pressures. Both Gavin and Ashley said that time restricted them from using the PowerPoint presentation they designed in TAFT. However, although Ashley did not use the particular PowerPoint presentation she had created for her use in the classroom, she did create a lesson plan for the students to use PowerPoint. By adapting the skills she learned in TAFT, she was able to have her students develop a parody for Dante’s Inferno using PowerPoint as their medium. Amber, on the other hand, not only used the PowerPoint she designed in TAFT, but went on to have her students create another PowerPoint presentation. Amber adopted
the unit on the 1930s into her curriculum and then had her students design a presentation on building a short story.
Spreadsheets and database use was the next component in TAFT. None of the participants adopted use of spreadsheets into the curriculum. Amber said that she did not use spreadsheets at all during the school year and Ashley commented that she had not used spreadsheets since taking TAFT. Ashley and Amber were already using SASI and IGPro, two databases that the county uses for attendance and gradebooks. They were using SASI to print classroom rosters, to look up addresses and phones numbers, and to filter for students who might be failing. Gavin, on the other hand, learned these skills in TAFT and continued to use them. Therefore, he adopted the database skills that he learned in TAFT.
TAFT also encouraged teachers to explore the creation and use of web pages; however, none of the participants adopted the web page component into their classroom. They did not keep up with the web page they created for TAFT, nor did they require their students to create a web page. Gavin volunteered that he did not feel confident in
creating a web page, and Ashley felt it was more of an effort to create the page than it was worth. Amber said that she would rather find ways for her students to use
technology instead of just visiting a web page that she created to get information.
Assessment was the last component of TAFT. Teachers were to access the county final exam database to add questions or to create a final exam. Both Gavin and Ashley already accessed the database each year to modify their final exam. Therefore, they did not learn any new skills and did not adopt anything into their classroom. Amber knew how to access the database and fulfilled the TAFT requirement, but chose not to create
her own final exam. Other teachers in her department made the final exam and shared the test with her at the end of the semester. Therefore, none of the participants adopted any new skills.