Building Technology Bridges in Education

One of the main goals of the UGA ETC is to promote the appropriate use of technology in support of teaching and learning to our service area of fifteen school districts and beyond. We stirive toward this goal through our preservice course, currently entitled "Building Technology Bridges in Education," or "Technology Bridges."

K-12 students growing up in today's society are technology-minded.

Students of the 21st Century are surrounded by a world that is technology-driven. Thus, technology is a tremendous tool, or bridge, teachers can use to reach their students. Our Technology Bridges course is based on this fundamental idea, and it is our hope that our preservice students will experience educational successes through the technology-connected activities and lessons they design and implement as part of the course.

Mentor teacher impact

As the preservice students implement lessons with technology during their student teaching, their mentor teachers take notice, and this is another great outcome of the course. Many of the mentor teachers are getting excited about technology as they see the positive effect it is having on their students' achievement and levels of engagement. These teachers are seeking out ways to obtain the various hardware and software so they can continue to implement technology-connected lessons once their student teachers have graduated.

Technology is more than computers.

We provide all of our preservice students with:

• Student response devices

• Portable digital visual presenters/document cameras

• Digital still and video cameras

• Interactive whiteboard software and wireless slates

• A laptop filled with educational software

In addition, our Agriculture Education students have access to:

• Laser range finders

• GPS devices

• Graphing calclators and probes

Our Mission: The Educational Technology Centers work collaboratively to provide professional learning, consulting, and service for Georgia educators to promote the appropriate use of technology in support of teaching, learning, and leadership. We are one of 13 ETCs, strategically located across the state to provide easy access to all of Georgia's school systems.