With the Fall 2003 academic year in full swing, The RTT project has some exciting new initiatives involving the GSE faculty.

Faculty meetings during the fall semester will be devoted to the use of technology in teacher education. Exploration of applications of infusing graduate course curriculum with technology will be on the agenda at the October and November faculty meetings.

During the first faculty meeting on Sept. 4, the use of handheld devices and the Centra System for synchronous learning were presented. Because of the enthusiastic response from those in attendance, Dean Pierson has committed to handheld training for any faculty member interested in pursuing this tool in their curriculum. Thus, any faculty member who commits to a one-day training seminar provided by our own in house Palm Educator, John Wren, will receive a Zire 71 handheld device. We also anticipate having enough handhelds to form a classroom set that will be available for the faculty to use with their students.

Interest in the training is high with a sessions scheduled for Thursday, September 25 and Friday, September 26. Additional introductory sessions will be held for those faculty members who are unavailable on either day. Further instruction will be available in specialized curriculum and assessment areas later in the semester.

In addition to this initiative, faculty members who were working on technology curriculum enhancement projects begun last year, who have not completed them, will have an opportunity to do so working with the RTT staff during the fall semester.