College of Education News

Traveling from school to school to visit students at their field placement locations throughout East Central Illinois, supervisors at the College of Education observe and provide feedback for students with critiques and suggestions for improvement.

Eric Hillman, adjunct lecturer in Curriculum and Instruction, said there were several problems with this system. Handwritten observation notes were often difficult to read, and the three-part forms used to document the notes were costly.

Through the Mobile Learning Initiative, supervisors at the College of Education were equipped with laptop computers, iPod Touch mobile devices, and backup hard drives. This new technology allows those observing the classroom to type notes on site using an electronic template that includes comment areas and drop down ratings for 18 indicators of instructional excellence. 

"The result is data that is more specific and organized," Hillman said. "The completed document is then emailed to the student, cooperating teacher, and Office of Clinical Experiences - sometimes before the supervisor even leaves the building."

This has allowed for better and quicker communication between students, college supervisors, cooperating teachers, principals and the Director of Clinical Experiences.

Hillman said a future application of the technology may be the addition of directional cameras in order to record University students teaching lessons at their placements, so that the student is able to see the lesson through the eyes of the supervisor while receiving real-time feedback.

"The impact on student learning is improved as a result of students being held more accountable and receiving more meaningful feedback to implement into instruction."