UTeach Launches Initiative To Improve STEM Ed with Mobile Technology

The UTeach Institute, a teacher preparation organization launched by the University of Texas at Austin, has partnered with Verizon to launch a program designed to help aspiring teachers use mobile devices to encourage student learning and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Dubbed the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Higher Education program, the initiative pairs "math and science majors pursuing secondary teaching certification through UTeach programs [to] work with K-12 students, integrating mobile technologies into inquiry-based lessons," according to a news release, in an effort to expand "the resources and instructional tools available to teachers to engage students in relevant and exciting applications of math and science."

The initiative will also develop lesson plans and resources for integrating mobile technology into STEM education to be inclused with UTeach curriculum at the organization's 35 participating universities.

In addition to UT Austin, the program is currently available to UTeach students at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Kansas at Lawrence and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, with plans to expand to four more UTeach universities in early 2014.

"While the future teachers we will one day graduate are very tech savvy, it's one thing for them to use that technology personally, and another thing entirely to use it to help kids learn and achieve," said Michael Marder, executive director, UTeach Science Program, in a prepared statement. "This program we've launched with the Verizon Foundation is needed today as more students and classrooms across the country have mobile devices. The training we're providing our students will help them better use mobile devices as learning tools."

In support of the program, Verizon has donated more than $1 million in cash and hardware, including more than 400 Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablets with LTE service.

More information about the UTeach Institute is available at uteach-institute.org.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

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