Last week, IBM announced a $1.5 million grant program designed to drive higher-quality training for Memphis teachers.
The grant will benefit the Memphis Area Teacher Educational Collaborative (MATEC), which includes The University of Memphis and seven other universities that provide new teachers to the school district.
IBM announced on Aug. 22 a $1.5 million grant program designed to elevate teacher preparation to the rigorous standards in other professional fields.
“It’s obvious that the schools have little chance of achieving at world-class levels if we can’t equip and sustain a world-class teaching force,” said Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM president and chief executive officer. “This initiative will help our students by helping their teachers with better training, professional development and technology deployment for the people we’re asking to lead in every classroom.”
The standards teachers have to meet and those required of students are raised every year. Yet many of the schools in the city school system are failing and some are in danger of being taken over.
“In spite of years of education improvement and new higher standards, our colleges of education are still teaching the same methods they were 20 years ago,” said Stanley S. Litow, IBM’s vice president of corporate community relations.
Together, the city schools and the MATEC will create new methods of continuous teacher training using a portfolio of training and development tools. The schools will tailor their training to parallel the actual needs of teaching in a classroom.
According to The U of M press release, IBM Learning Village tools will be incorporated into all university methods, classes and field experiences while all newly hired teachers will receive training in the technology during new teacher orientation or through follow-up sessions offered at the Teaching & Learning Academy .
“The school district will ultimately use the technology to create a comprehensive archive of effective lesson plans available to all teachers,” said Dot Neale, IBM corporate community relations manager. “The Learning Village Tools are web-based applications for teachers to use to develop lesson plans and web sites.”
The lesson plans created by the teachers can be easily accessed for any computer at anytime. This will eliminate the paper waste and time lapse present in current methods used by teachers to submit lesson plans and teaching ideas to principals for review.
Neale said that with the use of the innovative technologies teachers, students and parents will be able to access class materials, assignments and progress reports online at anytime. Parents will be able to check homework assignments, grades and any comments that the teacher may have regarding class and individual progress.
The system will also enable new teachers to familiarize themselves with actual needs of the students in a specific school, be less likely to leave the classroom after only a few years and be better prepared to help students learn.
“IBM is offering education schools, districts and states our best talent and technology to create a comprehensive, high-quality teacher training system that fully prepares our teachers for the 21st century classroom,” Litow said.
“The College of Education at The U of M is committed to achieving the goal of providing every child with a caring, competent and qualified teacher,” said Dr. Ric A Hovda, dean of The College of Education. “Working in partnership with area colleges, local organizations and foundations, and the Memphis City Schools, we intend to fulfill the shared vision we all have for the children of Memphis with the generous support of IBM.”
