Table of Teacher Descriptors

This table contains teacher descriptors for each cell of the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM).

Active Learning Teacher Descriptors

Active Entry. The teacher may be the only one actively using technology. This may include using presentation software to support delivery of a lecture. The teacher may also have the students complete “drill and practice” activities on computers to practice basic skills, such as typing.

Active Adoption. The teacher controls the type of technology and how it is used. The teacher may be pacing the students through a project, making sure that they each complete every step in the same sequence with the same tool. Although the students are more active than students at the Entry level in their use of technology, the teacher still strongly regulates activities.

Active Adaptation. The teacher allows for some student choice and exploration of technology tools. Because the students are developing a conceptual and procedural knowledge of the technology tools, the teacher does not need to guide students step-by-step through activities. Instead, the teacher acts as a facilitator toward learning, allowing for greater student engagement with technology tools.

Active Infusion. The teacher guides, informs, and contextualizes student choices of technology tools and is flexible and open to student ideas. Lessons are structured so that student use of technology is self-directed.

Active Transformation. The teacher serves as a guide, mentor, and model in the use of technology. The teacher encourages and supports the active engagement of students with technology resources. The teacher facilitates lessons in which students are engaged in higher-order learning activities that may not have been possible without the use of technology tools. The teacher helps students locate appropriate resources to support student choices.

Collaborative Learning Teacher Descriptors

Collaborative Entry. The teacher directs students to work alone on tasks involving technology.

Collaborative Adoption. The teacher directs students in the conventional use of technology tools for working with others.

Collaborative Adaptation. The teacher provides opportunities for students to use technology to work with others. The teacher selects and provides technology tools for students to use in collaborative ways, and encourages students to begin exploring the use of these tools.

Collaborative Infusion. The teacher fosters a collaborative learning environment and supports students’ meaningful choices in their selection of technology tools for collaboration.

Collaborative Transformation. The teacher seeks partnerships outside of the setting to allow students to access experts and peers in other locations, and encourages students to extend the use of collaborative technology tools in higher-order learning activities that may not be possible without the use of technology tools.

Constructive Learning Teacher Descriptors

Constructive Entry. The teacher uses technology to deliver information to students.

Constructive Adoption. The teacher provides some opportunities for students to use technology in conventional ways to build knowledge and experience. The students are constructing meaning about the relationships between prior knowledge and new learning, but the teacher is making the choices regarding technology use.

Constructive Adaptation. The teacher creates instruction in which students’ use of technology tools is integral to building an understanding of a concept. The teacher gives the students access to technology tools and guides them in exploring and choosing appropriate resources.

Constructive Infusion. The teacher consistently allows students to select technology tools to use in building an understanding of a concept. The teacher provides a context in which technology tools are seamlessly integrated into a lesson, and is supportive of student autonomy in choosing the tools and when they can best be used to accomplish the desired outcomes.

Constructive Transformation. The teacher facilitates higher-order learning opportunities in which students regularly engage in activities that may be impossible to achieve without the use of technology tools. The teacher encourages students to explore the use of technology in unconventional ways and to use the full capacity of multiple tools in order to build knowledge.

Authentic Learning Teacher Descriptors

Authentic Entry. The teacher assigns work based on a predetermined curriculum unrelated to the students or issues beyond the instructional setting.

Authentic Adoption. The teacher directs students in the conventional use of technology tools for learning activities that are sometimes related to the students or issues beyond the instructional setting.

Authentic Adaptation. The teacher creates instruction that purposefully integrates technology tools and provides access to information on community and world issues. The teacher directs the choice of technology tools, but students use the tools on their own, and may begin to explore other capabilities of the tools.

Authentic Infusion. The teacher encourages students to use technology tools to make connections to the world outside of the instructional setting and to their lives and interests. The teacher provides a learning context in which students regularly use technology tools and have the freedom to choose the tools that, for each student, best match the task.

Authentic Transformation. The teacher encourages innovative use of technology tools in higher-order learning activities that support connections to the lives of the students and the world beyond the instructional setting.

Goal-Directed Learning Teacher Descriptors

Goal-Directed Entry. The teacher gives students directions and monitors step-by-step completion of tasks. The teacher sets goals for students and monitors their progress.

Goal-Directed Adoption. The teacher directs students step by step in the conventional use of technology tools to set goals, plan, monitor, evaluate an activity, or reflect upon learning activities.

Goal-Directed Adaptation. The teacher selects the technology tools and clearly integrates them into the lesson. The teacher facilitates students’ independent use of the technology tools to set goals, plan, monitor progress, and evaluate outcomes. For example, in a given project, the teacher may select a spreadsheet program that students use independently to plan and monitor progress. The teacher may provide guidance in breaking down tasks.

Goal-Directed Infusion. The teacher creates a learning context in which students regularly use technology tools to set goals, plan, monitor, evaluate outcomes, and reflect upon learning activities. The teacher facilitates students’ choice and independent use of technology tools to accomplish these tasks.

Goal-Directed Transformation. The teacher creates a rich learning environment in which students regularly engage in higher-order planning, monitoring, evaluative, and reflective activities that may be impossible to achieve without technology. The teacher sets a context in which students are encouraged to use technology tools in innovative ways to direct and reflect on their own learning.

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