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Computing Integrated Teacher Education (CITE) @ CUNY

Computing Integrated Teacher Education is a four-year initiative to support CUNY faculty at all ranks to integrate state standards aligned computing content and pedagogy into required education courses, field work and student teaching. Supported by public funding from the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) Computer Science for All (CS4All) program and private funding from the Robin Hood Learning + Technology Fund, the initiative will focus on building on and complementing the success of NYCDOE CS4All and pilots to integrate computational thinking at Queens College, Hunter College and Hostos Community College.

The initiative focuses on:
– Supporting institutional change in teacher education programs
– Building faculty computing pedagogical content knowledge through the lens of culturally response-sustaining education
– Supporting faculty research in equitable computing education, inclusive STEM pedagogies, and effects on their students’ instructional practices

Module 7 — Bronx Community College

  • Posted by Ifeoma Nwoke (she/her) on June 13, 2023 at 6:23 pm

    After reviewing the visual resource, “Connections: Teacher candidate perspectives on Computer Integrated Technology”, please respond to the following questions in this thread:

    What are your thoughts about the teacher candidate visual resource? What surprised you? What resonated with you? What other perspectives do you wish had been included?

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Elise Langan (She/Her/)
    Member
    June 15, 2023 at 9:17 am

    I thought there were a lot of interesting and useful notions about how teacher candidates feel empowered and disempowered by technology.

    I was struck by how one teacher learned to use Scratch so she could teach her students to use it. I will need to do a video to instruct my students on how to use Padlet after I learn its intricacies which will be intimidating as was mentioned.

    The point about “information overload” was dead on as were the mentions of AI, cyberbullying and the negative consequences of sitting in front of screens for extended periods of time which we all experienced during the pandemic. I fear the 3 year pandemic has enabled a far wider cyber arena–for better and for worse.

    Carlos Liachovitzky
    Member
    June 15, 2023 at 9:36 pm

    I liked the storytelling format of the resource. I find it makes more attractive teachers and students experiences as they come together much better than from a list of tech use pros and cons.

    I think that all, or at least many, resources or tech tools may be disempowering or empowering, depending on how and when they are used. For example, considering privacy: it is easy to fall into the thinking that since everything is digital and recorded somewhere, there is no hope for maintaining privacy about where you go, what activities you do, or how and what you use the internet for. Learn how to set privacy settings may transform a disempowering experience into an empowering one (which by the way I do not do but I recognize its importance…talking about cognitive dissonance as mentioned in the prepare video 🤷‍♂️). I would correct myself and say that may transform a disempowering experience into a “little more” empowering one after reading Michelle’s poem about algorithms.

    About the overload with information, there are always several things that we need to know (what, how, when, why, etc., to do certain things). So, I would think that overload is always a potential threat. I believe that how the information is organized and when it is provided may help so it does not feel overwhelming. And even when it is well organized, it helps to have someone (not a digital someone!) to ask for help.

    Last, I see that the tension generated between potential harmful behaviors and equitable and joyful spaces is something that we may see with or without using tech tools. A big difference is that certain tech tools make it easier to hide and can cause more widespread harm by reaching a larger audience. I think that is important to keep this in mind when using any digital medium. It may not be avoidable, but it can be reduced.

    Stephen Powers
    Participant
    June 16, 2023 at 11:05 am

    What are your thoughts about the teacher candidate visual resource?

    It is interesting reading, and without a doubt reading the words of real teaching candidates is more powerful than hypothesizing about what they might be thinking, or capable of, as I prepare or teach a class.  It was accessible, easy to scroll, and visually pleasing.

    What surprised you?

    I cannot say I was surprised.  I think it confirmed much of what my experience has been in conversation with teacher candidates at BCC, as well as with graduates of our program (and then Lehman, Hunter, etc.) who are in classrooms today and teaching early childhood, childhood and secondary education classrooms.  Their experience of online instruction or CIS is mixed.  There is a digital divide and children of color are getting left behind.  Once of the slides mentioned that all schools have access to internet, i-pads, etc.  Not so, certainly not equal.

    What resonated with you?   Almost all of it, whether or not I agreed it resonated.  it is my experience from working at BCC

    What other perspectives do you wish had been included?  More current classroom teachers who are products of Hostos, Lehman, Hunter, BMCC, etc. who have come through the city system, through CUNY and are now a part of the system that to a degree formed them.  The teacher candidates were great, do not get me wrong, but they are in process, and do not truly know what awaits them 180 days a year

    Tonya Johnson
    Participant
    June 19, 2023 at 9:12 am

    What are your thoughts about the teacher candidate visual resource?

    I found the teacher candidate visual resources extremely useful.  I am a visual learner myself and I just love the way one of the teacher candidates used scratch.  Her presentation was similar to a comic, this is a very good way to engage students. Learning can also be fun.

    What surprised you?

    I don’t think I was surprised about anything, we’ve been having similar discussions across campus regarding technology.  I was also fortunate to have a class last semester with one of the CITE participants from summer 2022.

    What resonated with you?

    Definitely the visual aspects of presenting content to make it fun, not overwhelming.

    What other perspectives do you wish had been included?

    I mean, being a former classroom teacher in the NYCDOE, this is great.  However, we know what we love to do and what we are able to do is very different especially amongst different school districts.  Having the resources and the tools to do this work.  I worked in a school district that shared a set of textbooks amongst 5 classes, computers that only half of them worked and internet that was almost not working on a regular basis. I would like to have seen modifications to the reality of the various school districts.

    Propa Akter (she/her)
    Member
    June 21, 2023 at 11:22 am

    Loved the visual resource! I definitely prefer a document like this over lengthy and wordy texts! The visuals and illustrations made it fun, personable, and easy to read. This is exactly my kind of thing, which is why I like to incorporate memes, GIFs, and my Bitmoji to my Blackboard courses, class slides, and announcements.

    Firstly, I agree with Dr. Powers that reading about experiences with technology from teacher candidates directly is more powerful than what we can hypothesize. I liked that the resource showed both empowering experiences and how to navigate disempowering experiences. I also appreciated that there were diverse perspectives: different cultures, languages, disability (assistive tech), etc.

    I don’t know if anything really surprised me, but one aspect I did appreciate was acknowledging the challenges that many teacher candidates will face now because they grew up in a generation with limited access to tech, but will be teaching children who may have had more access to tech than they did. Acknowledging the fear that some teacher candidates have using tech is valid. This fear or uneasiness can be from the technology itself or from the unfamiliarity of how to use it. In addition to exploring how to safely and positively use tech, one practice that may help that from the Equitable CITE pedagogy from Module 6, is “supporting learner agency to tinker with, modify, and create tools”, specifically to support students to process the emotions that come with taking risks around computing or tech.

    Minkyung Choi
    Participant
    June 26, 2023 at 4:24 pm

    I really loved the visual aspect — it was engaging and accessible. When it comes to technology use, I think visual resources like this are especially helpful because there is a lot more you can express through illustrations and graphic images than words. I also loved the perspective here – considering that digital computational standards will be used by teachers, it’s important to know and hear about preservice teachers’ experiences and perspectives.

    I really appreciated the part on digital privacy — I think it’s not talked about enough. Often, I hear of unfortunate things happening to students because their digital privacy was not protected. Usually, it’s discovered much later after it actually happens, and the consequences are grave. I’d love to expand this conversation.

    I’m not sure if anything particularly surprised me, but I agree that all the concerns are valid and shared among many students.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

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