P.E.W.T.E.R.

Pedagogy Enhanced With Technology for Educational Reform

P.E.W.T.E.R. News

Monthly newsletter including: Tech Minute, Digital Ambassador updates, and upcoming events!

Recent Events

Spring 2015

  • CUE Annual conference, March 19-21, 2015 Palm Springs, CA: we have secured funding to sponsor 12 teacher candidates to attend the Computer Using Educators conference as part of the PEWTER events offered this year. 
  • PEWTER-CUE Showcase, Monday, May 18, 5:45-7:30 pm ATL lab, Cal Poly. Come enjoy some appetizers, networking and see presentations from our Multiple Subject and Single Subjects Candidates about what they learned at the CUE Annual conference! Free and open to the public. View the Google slides from the presentations here.Google Slide of CUE15 conference attendees

CSU Digital Ambassador Program at Cal Poly

Educational Programs

  1. PEWTER Co-teaching & mentoring - Faculty are encouraged to contact your CSU Digital Ambassador to work together on a plan to integrate a new technology into your current course, or improve your pedagogical approaches with an existing technology. Email: ejmeyer@calpoly.edu to set up a time.
  2. PEWTER for Teacher Candidates - All Single Subject teacher candidates (TCs) will be collaborating on building a wiki as well as sharing various educational technologies throughout the term in the form of "tech minute" showcases. All TCs have been paired with a "tech buddy" to support their own ongoing growth and development in using new technologies to enhance their pedagogy. Throughout the term in EDUC 412, TCs will also be using various freely available technologies including Web 2.0 tools, GoogleDocs, and other content-specific resources to develop a repertoire and a confidence in using new technologies in their future classrooms.
  3. PEWTER  partnership -  with San Luis Obispo Computer Using Educators​  This partnership supports the linkages between teacher education and classrooms in our region. This partnership allows us to support the development of new teachers with competencies using technology in the classroom while sharing cutting-edge research and methods with classroom teachers who are enthusiastic leaders for technology in the classroom.

Previous events

  1. Central Coast Teacher Technology Challenge Day - February 8, 2014.
  2. PEWTER P.L.C. (Professional Learning Community, 2012-2013 AY)  - Cal Poly Faculty in  teacher education programs met during the academic year to share and discuss ways to integrate new technologies into their courses in order to enhance the learning experience of our Teacher Candidates and model effective pedagogical strategies. This PLC  included PEWTER Showcases where faculty will present mini demonstrations of their current PEWTER-related teaching practices. For more information on the PLC, please visit our PEWTER-CalPoly wiki.

About P.E.W.T.E.R.

Funded in part by an initial gift from Google's Education Research Unit in the fall of 2012, the CSU Digital Ambassador program is coordinate by the Chancellor's office and has three goals:

  1. University leadership: CSU Digital Ambassadors will serve as community liaisons representing the educational technology interests of faculty and
    students. The Digital Ambassador will establish a consistent feedback loop to triage issues voiced by faculty and students, and will participate in a quarterly meeting with the Chancellor’s Office to discuss solutions to common obstacles and highlight major milestones.
  2. Faculty engagement:The CSU Digital Ambassador will work with campus faculty to better equip and inform colleagues of ways to enhance traditional teaching methods. A variety of platform-agnostic scaling techniques may be deployed to extend principles of educational technology to emerging technologies or explore new uses for familiar ones.
  3. Student empowerment: As part of coursework or supplemental learning experiences, pre-service teachers will work with the campus ambassador to develop pedagogical artifacts for future classroom use. Encouraging independent investigation, ambassadors will guide students as they construct materials to inspire a deeper understanding of a subject and enhance student interest and engagement.

Other CSU Digital Ambassador Programs

Thanks to Dr. Matthew D'Alessio at CSU Northridge for sharing his Spring 2012 pilot experiences as a CSU Digital Ambassador. The P.E.W.T.E.R. acronym originated with his program, and I am grateful for his willingness to allow other CSU Digital Ambassadors to use this title.

Staff

The Cal Poly CSU Digital Ambassador is Elizabeth J. Meyer, an Assistant Professor in the School of Education. She teaches foundations of education courses in the Single Subject credential program including EDUC 412 - Access to Education in a Pluralistic Society and EDUC 300 - Social, Historical, and Philosophical Foundations of Education. She is a Google Faculty Institute Fellow and has done research on "flipping" the classroom in secondary science classrooms, as well as using electronic portfolios to promote literacy and self-regulated learning in elementary classrooms. For more on Dr. Meyer's research and background, visit her personal webpage. CONTACT ME: ejmeyer@calpoly.edu or 805-756-6553.

 

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Learn More

School of Education
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
805.756.2126
soe@calpoly.edu