Centre for Educational Leadership and Renewal
Faculty of Arts and Education
The 'Intel Teach Program Essentials Course' is a professional development program designed to assist teachers integrate technology into their curriculum. The program promotes a project-based, inquiry oriented approach to teaching and learning. Emphasis is on effective use of ICT/eLearning in the classroom to enhance learning, research, communication, productivity strategies and working in teams to solve problems.
Over the period of the program, participating teachers develop a unit of work which can be implemented in their classroom. This involves the development of student samples, evaluation tools, resources to support the unit and an implementation plan. It provides a context in which teachers can further develop their own technology skills and their understanding of the impact and implications of using technology within the classroom. Over 10,000 teachers have undertaken the Essential Course in Australia and over 5 million globally. The 40 hour program is now also offered through a combination Face to Face and Online delivery.
A further Intel Teach program for teachers, 'Thinking with Technology', provides hands-on experience with online thinking tools that engage students and help them to communicate their understanding of complex concepts. Each tool features an online workspace where students create and save visual representations of their thinking.
Evaluation is an integral and ongoing part of the 'Essentials Course and Thinking with Technology'. Evaluators appointed within each country, use consistent but localized instruments and approaches to gather and report on the training outcomes and longer term impact. Deakin University, through the Centre of Educational Leadership and Renewal has been conducting this evaluation in Australia. Their work also contributes to the global evaluation of the Intel Teach programs.
In 2005, Deakin University was also asked to develop and coordinate a three year evaluation strategy for the Pre-service 'Intel Teach Essentials Course' across the Asia Pacific Region. This involved drawing together the data collected by evaluators within ten Asia Pacific countries. The resulting report provides evidence of the significant impact of the pre-service program, insights into factors that influence its effectiveness, and models of best practice. The project also resulted in a collection of strategies, resources and instruments to support the program’s implementation and evaluation in the future.
For more information on Intel's education offerings in Australia and globally
please visit:
http://www.intel.com/cd/corporate/education/apac/eng/au/241264.htm
