It is an agreed-upon tenant that in the 21st century, most occupations will require that even at entry level, high school graduates possess highly trained technological skills. Technical school and college/university graduates will be expected to possess ever more sophisticated technological skills as they enter the work force at possibly higher than entry level. With the technological explosion continuing to expand daily, preparation for the "real" world in terms of technology cannot be completed in one course, one semester or even one year. Training, preparation and the opportunities to interact with technology must be on-going, beginning as soon as children have the interest, whether in the home or in school. Educational technology in the classroom must become as commonplace as chalkboards and textbooks.

Educational technology, as defined by Awbrey (1996) is "a dynamic system -- employing a combination of human and non-human resources to create effective learning environments." Educational technology involves more than just computers, hypermedia, multi-media and educational telecommunications. It also encompasses the use of these technological tools to create a student-centered, curriculum-rich, technology-based learning environment (Means, B., Olson, K., & Singh, R., 1995). Constructivist educational paradigms, popular for many years in early childhood education, are gaining more acceptance in higher education. Resmer (1997), recognizing that technology is a tool that aids in the construction of knowledge, states that "technology can help to transform the traditional classroom experience" at all levels of education.

The use of technology in the school system was, at one time, reserved more for remediation and acceleration than it was for the typically-developing student. Today, in up-to-date classrooms, educational technology is highly visible. This technology is transforming not only individual schools but also entire school systems. For example, in Ohio, one of the state’s educational goals is to provide a computer for every two students in each elementary and secondary school by the year 2000 ( ). At the university level, the administration and faculties are beginning to recognize that universal access to computer technology is essential for all students and professors. The issue underlying universal access is that "anyone can learn, anytime, anyplace" (Resmer, M., 1997, p.12).

As is readily admitted by many educators today, even young elementary students are more computer-savvy than some of their teachers. Evidence of this phenomenon is provided by the Jerusalem Post of 8-29-96, in which teachers requested assistance from their high school students to learn "the mysteries of the computer network" (p.3). The students demonstrated "to their teacher-pupils how to hold electronic conference calls, send e-mail, and link up with the World Wide Web" (p.3). It is educationally sound for teachers to take the role of learners, on occasion.

The popular technology explosion is relatively recent, in terms of when most of the teachers in the classroom today went through their initial preparation. Many educators in the classroom today received pre-service training in educational technology in the 1970's consisting of instruction on using reel-to-reel tape recorders, record players, movie cameras, opaque and overhead projectors and 8mm or 16 mm. manually-loading film projectors. Graduate school or in-service opportunities for teachers in the 1980's may have consisted of training in using self-loading film projectors, language masters, listening stations and cassette recorders, VCR cameras and projectors, VHS and BETA style videos, and electric typewriters. Continuing education in the 1990's may have introduced the use of CD players, laser disk players and some knowledge of computers. Updated educational technology was truly something that most potential teachers learned about on their own, possibly before, but most likely after they graduated.

In order to prepare students for the 21st century, all elementary and secondary teachers must exhibit a high level of expertise in educational applications of technology. Recognizing the importance of technology now and for the future, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) requires pre-service programs at colleges and universities to include educational technology in all coursework in which early childhood, elementary and secondary level teachers are prepared. Pre-service teachers are required to demonstrate not only their understanding of educational technology and computers, but also their ability to use technology in classroom instruction, assessment and professional development. (Richardson, 1994). Therefore, professors in higher education must model attitudes and skills consistent with current trends in educational technology in their interactions with preservice and inservice teachers. NCATE also requires that college and university faculty members incorporate technology into their teaching and professional work (Richardson, 1994).

At Wright State University (WSU) in Dayton, Ohio, pre-service teachers are learning to use computers for more than just word processing. During their first quarter as education students, they learn to do on-line searches for information for term papers using electronic retrieval systems, such as ERIC; to use inter-library loan to order books and articles through OHIO Link; and to locate and download research using from on-line journals. Students become familiar with Yahoo, Alta Vista, InfoSeek and other search engines to locate research and other sources of information. Students learn to add images and color to their term papers and to use graphics programs to make sociograms of the classrooms in which they observe. When students present their term papers, they must model "best practices" for learning styles by designing and presenting multimedia presentations, using applications such as Hyperstudio, Power Point, Astound, Digital Chisel and others.

In addition to accessing the internet for on-line chatting and notifying their professor of an upcoming absence, education students at Wright State discuss topics presented by professors and others in their classes through e-mail, listserves and user groups. Research has shown that students who interact with each other about the topics they are studying learn the material better and do better on tests (McKenzie, 1996).

Education students also interact with others in teacher preparation programs. As a study in comparative education, education students who are in a special block program with one of Wright State University's partnership schools, Shilohview Elementary in Trotwood, OH, interact with undergraduate students in Ireland and in rural Southern Florida.

Some educational technology classes at Wright State are available on the internet allowing students to progress at their own rate of speed, as their individual schedule permits, according to their own learning style. Those taking the course update colleagues on their own discoveries, tutor those who request help, and encourage one another through interaction in a newsgroup.

At Wright State University, first quarter education students (sophomores or juniors) begin the construction of a professional portfolio that will be completed during the student teaching experience. These portfolios document the pre-service teacher's growth as "Teacher as problem-solver" which is the model on which Wright State's teacher education program is based. The portfolios are modified throughout the teacher education program and are then often used with potential employers. These portfolios may include, in addition to the students’ biographies and resumes, papers discussing their educational philosophy, a self-evaluation of their personal strengths as indicated on the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory and other measures of teaching and learning styles. The opportunity is also provided for students to reflect on specific areas in which improvement may be needed. Records of field experiences, pictures of classes and individuals with whom the pre-service teacher has worked are also retained. Documentation of expertise in major academic areas as well as congratulatory announcements and letters of recommendation is also housed there.

In addition to the "hard copy," other electronic formats for the professional portfolio have been considered. Pages of a student's portfolio were scanned and pressed into a compact disk format. Although very portable, the CD format does not lend itself to frequent updates. In addition, paper copies, such as transcripts and letters, are not as readable in a CD format as they are in the original. Students could retain their portfolios on a disk, but the inclusion of photos and graphics makes high memory demands.

Pre-packaged portfolio programs are available to collect samples of student work for evaluation. With some of these assessment applications, it is also possible to insert photos, pictures and other art work that have been scanned.

Another format for the portfolio that offers easy updating, almost unlimited memory, flexibility, easy accessibility and opportunity to utilize other forms of educational technology within the portfolio is the web page portfolio. The authors were awarded a Wright State University alumni grant to work with 21 undergraduate students involved in field experience at a partner school, Shilohview Elementary in Trotwood, OH. Each of these undergraduate students was provided the opportunity to create a 8-10 page personal, professional web page that is located on the Wright State's College of Education server. Some students chose to utilize Adobe's Pagemill application as a model for web site construction, and a few others chose applications from on-line services with which they were familiar. These student web pages include much of the same information that the traditional hard copy portfolio contained, with the addition of Quicktime movies -- short video clips showing the pre-service teacher in action. Students designed their pages according to personal preferences and often reflected their area of concentration (social studies, language arts, etc.), levels of certification (elementary, secondary, etc.) and outside interests (hiking, biking, etc.) in their theme, backgrounds, and images.

Students’ web pages also included an area in which they posted the addresses of "favorite web sites." These URLs provided quick access to locations of personal interest, as well as home pages of educational organization (ASCD, NEA, AFT, etc.), and resources for teaching in the students’ areas of concentration.

As the students’ level of comfort with and expertise in using educational technology grows, their portfolios will be modified and reflect this growth. Students will continue to update their traditional hard copy portfolio as they update their web pages. When students are seeking their first teaching positions, they will be able to present their hard copy portfolios to their potential employer as evidence of their skills or, if the employer has access to the Internet, be able to log into the Wright State University Homepage and demonstrate their skills.

Awbrey, S. (Winter, 1996). Successfully integrating new technologies into the higher education curriculum. Educational Technology Review , 5, 7-9,17.

Means, B., Olson, K., & Singh, R. (1995). Phi Delta Kappan, 77, 69-72.

Resmer, M., 1997. (1997). Syllabus, 10, 6, 12-14.

Richardson, J. (1994). In first changes since ‘87, NCATE revises teacher training standards. Education Week, 13, 13.

Siegel, J. (1996). Jerusalem Post, 8-29-96. p.3.