A University of Vermont program that trains teachers in technology teaching practices has received a $5 million gift from the Tarrant Foundation.
The Tarrant Foundation is a vehicle for charitable giving by Vermonters Richard and Deb Tarrant. One of its projects began as a joint effort with the University of Vermont and the Milton Middle School to develop and pilot a program to support technology-rich learning. In 2009 the foundation pledged $5 million over 10 years to fund the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education to continue and expand that work. It currently works with 13 middle schools. Last week the foundation announced a second $5 million donation to more than triple the number of schools and reach new areas of the state. Tarrant Foundation Executive Director Lauren Curry says technology is changing the culture of the classroom. “When we were developing this concept with teachers about how could we use technology to better meet the needs of their learners, those teachers exhibited such courage and such foresight. I heard teachers talking about: We have to be brave. We have to be willing to say, you know what, I don’t the answer to this. And to give students the opportunity to say well I do. Those are the most potent moments for them as a teacher, when they see those kids kind-of stepping forward as teachers themselves.”
At a press conference last week announcing the additional funding, Rich Tarrant said their idea was to individualize learning through technology. “Everybody learns differently. Some kids go faster. Some kids go slower. If they go at their own pace without holding back the mainstream of the kids, that technology really would’ve made a difference. And while it’s evolved into much more than that actually, as any good program does, it morphed into what now is becoming almost transformative in middle schools. The statistics: the grades are up, delinquencies are down, absentees are down.”
The program does not target students. Instead, it focuses on helping teachers integrate technology through learning strategies. Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education Associate Director John Downes notes that it is rare to have such a large and widespread commitment to teacher growth and school development. He says that’s particularly important because most teachers have not received training within the context of the 21st century. “So we weren’t trained in a context of high technology. So these teachers need to translate what they’ve learned through their years in classrooms and in their teacher training into something completely new. Into a completely new context. Can they be expected to make that transition? Yes they absolutely can. But in order to make that transition smoothly and in the best interest of students they need a lot of professional development.”
Tarrant Institute Director Penny Bishop says the training the teachers receive is about more than learning the technology. “It’s one thing to be technologically savvy. And a lot of our teachers are these days, especially as their coming out with full packs of social media apps themselves. And they’re tapping into all those things for their own worlds. It’s really about learner-centered teaching and learning. It’s really about understanding individual students at their core. What their learning styles and needs are. Helping students to move forward at their own pace and to be able to do that in a way that enables a whole classroom to also collaborate and work together in that way. So those are some subtle pieces of what we’re working with teachers on that don’t necessarily come just because you’re confident with Facebook.”
Over the next five years the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education expects to expand the program to nearly 60 Vermont middle schools.
