A new grant will give area teachers access to technological resources they otherwise would not have, by helping to fund the College of Education’s Educational Technology Review Center.
The ETRC, a program that began last summer, is designed to assist local teachers in using computer technology in classroom activities.
“It’s a way to provide access to technological resources for students and faculty of the College of Education and for area public schools, access to technological resources they otherwise wouldn’t have,” said Todd Doman, the center’s manager.
The ETRC offers training workshops to teachers both in its facilities located on the second floor of Warf-Pickel Hall, and in local schools.
Teachers are given access to software without having to buy it, which decreases money and time wasted on useless software.
“It’s difficult because you can give teachers resources, but they don’t have time to use them,” Doman said. “We are trying different ways to let them access the resources.”
According to the grant proposal submitted to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the program is designed to make connections between ETSU and the local teaching community, along with dispersing technology. Also, more teachers will be able to collaborate on technological classroom activities and share new ideas, increasing the quality of local education.
The counties served by the ETRC are Hawkins, Hancock, Johnson and Unicoi counties.
The center is funded in part by the Federal Department of Education’s “Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology” (PT3) grant.
Doman said the multiyear grant is designed to increase the technological preparedness of teachers who graduate from the COE.
The COE received $390,000 in PT3 funds this year, and anticipates that the grant will continue for three more years.
Funds will be used to include more technological resources in ETSU classrooms.
Doman said that another grant that has contributed to the existence of the program was a $21,000 grant received from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation last summer.
The grant helped with start-up costs and supported the center until the PT3 grant was received.

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