June 8, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The UAB School of Education will receive a three-year, $1.03 million federal grant to prepare new teachers in the Birmingham area to use computer technology and the Internet to enhance classroom instruction.

UAB is one of 122 institutions nationwide that will share $128 million in federal funds over the next three years under the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology grants program announced last Saturday by President Clinton.

“This is a national effort and we are proud to be right at the forefront of that endeavor,” said Michael J. Froning, Ed.D., interim dean of the UAB School of Education. “This project will help get prospective teachers and faculty up to speed technologically as well as upgrading the skills of K-12 teachers currently in the classroom.”

UAB will collaborate with schools of education at Miles College, Samford University, Birmingham-Southern College and the University of Montevallo. The five schools are members of the Greater Birmingham Holmes Partnership, a cooperative effort to create professional development programs for public school personnel.

The five colleges and universities will join forces with teachers at Birmingham Public, Fairfield City, Jefferson County, Midfield City and Tarrant City schools to redesign their teacher education programs and help train prospective teachers to become proficient in teaching with computer technology.

“We want to prepare our students to be competent 21st century teachers,” said Joann Lan, Ed.D., director of the Office of Academic Computing and Technology in the UAB School of Education. “As teachers, we must use the best tools available in our profession of practice just as medical doctors use the best and the latest technology in their field. And the first step is to ensure that the faculty incorporate cutting-edge technology into their college courses.”

Faculty in the five partnership schools of education will collaborate on projects that will help teachers to use technology to work with children with disabilities and develop an online virtual community where prospective teachers, faculty and classroom teachers can share common concerns and exchange ideas. In addition, the schools of education will collaborate with the state of Alabama’s Technology in Motion program that brings technology training to schools. The collaboration with TIM will ensure that prospective teachers have access to technology while observing K-12 classes even if the school where they are working doesn’t have the technology. The goal of the local partnership is to reach 3,000 teachers in the Birmingham area by the end of three years, Lan said. The national goal of the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology program is to help train 200,000 new teachers nationwide by 2003.

The Greater Birmingham Holmes Partnership is a local affiliate of the national Holmes Partnership, a consortium of research universities, public school districts and professional organizations.

Contact:

Joann Lan, Ed.D.
Director, UAB Office of Academic Computing and Technology
(205) 975-6117

Michael Froning, Ed.D.
Interim Dean, UAB School of Education
(205) 934-5322