Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 3147

Professional Development Collaborative Focuses on High School/College Faculty Partnerships Donald Martel, Marty Waffle, Peggie Weeks Northville Central School/Fulton-Montgomery Community College/Hofstra University

Abstract

Five colleges—Alfred State College, Dutchess Community College, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, Mohawk Valley Community College, and Suffolk County Community College—in partnership with Hofstra University and the New York State Technology Education Association, are establishing the New York State Professional Development Collaborative (NYSPDC) with support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education Program. The project is initially providing workshops in the areas of materials/manufacturing and information technologies to high school technology teachers through a program that brings together community college technical experts, professional association teacher/leaders, and university pedagogical experts. The overarching goals are to provide contemporary professional development to technology educators using standards-based exemplary materials, to forge effective alliances between community/technical colleges and the technology education community, and to create a professional development model that the leadership of New York’s technology education community will sustain.

Introduction

What is technology? What does it mean to be technologically literate? It is widely agreed that many of the children in the United States know a great deal about operating computers and navigating the World Wide Web. In fact, adults will admit that children are pretty savvy when it comes to operating and troubleshooting their computers.

It is easy to misinterpret this ease of working with computers as the sole mark of technological literacy. The technical community continues to be frustrated by the lack of understanding by the general public about what constitutes “technological literacy.” A Gallup Poll conducted recently on technological literacy revealed that most Americans have a very limited view of technology.1 An overwhelming 68 percent of those polled answered “computers” in response to being asked to name the first thing that occurred to them when they thought of technology.

It is important that the engineering education community continue to dispel the myth that technological literacy is equivalent to knowing how to operate a computer. Understanding the technological world around us is important for all Americans. In its landmark study which produced the publication Technically Speaking, the National Academy of Engineering cited a number of benefits of enhanced technological literacy of society: improved decision making; increased citizen participation in the political process; support of a modern workforce, a narrowed digital divide; and enhancement of social well-being.2

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Waffle, M., & Martel, D., & Weeks, P. (2005, June), Professional Development Collaborative Focuses On High School/College Faculty Partnerships Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--15603