P.E.W.T.E.R.

Pedagogy Enhanced With Technology for Educational Reform

CSU Digital Ambassador Program at Cal Poly

About
Outreach and Support Programs
Staff

Outreach and Support Programs

PEWTER P.L.C. (Professional Learning Community) - Cal Poly Faculty in teacher education programs will come together during the fall quarter to share and discuss ways to integrate new technologies into their courses in order to enhance the learning experience of our Teacher Candidates and model effective pedagogical strategies. This PLC will include PEWTER Showcases where faculty will present mini demonstrations of their current PEWTER-related teaching practices. For more information on the PLC, please visit our PEWTER-CalPoly wiki.
PEWTER Co-teaching & mentoring - Faculty are encouraged to contact your CSU Digital Ambassador to work together on a plan to integrate a new technology into your current course, or improve your pedagogical approaches with an existing technology. Email: ejmeyer@calpoly.edu to set up a time.
PEWTER for Teacher Candidates - All Single Subject teacher candidates (TCs) will be collaborating on buildling a wiki as well as sharing various educational technologies throughout the term in the form of "tech minute" showcases. All TCs have been paired with a "tech buddy" to support their own ongoing growth and development in using new technologies to enhance their pedagogy. Throughout the term in EDUC 412, TCs will also be using various freely available technologies including Web 2.0 tools, GoogleDocs, and other content-specific resources to develop a repertoire and a confidence in using new technologies in their future classrooms.
PEWTER Connections - Ambassador outreach activities to local schools and to support the work of classroom teachers and strengthen partnerships with Cal Poly partner school districts and faculty across campus.

San Luis Coastal Unified School District - Ed Tech Lead Teacher meetings
San Luis Obispo Computer Using Educators - October 6 Ed Tech Conference at Central Coast New Tech High School, Nipomo, CA.
Teachers for the Advancement of Technology - a local teacher organization that works to advocate for the needs and interests of teachers working to integrate new technologies into their classrooms.
Center for Teaching, Learning, & Technology Instructional Innovations Showcase, Tuesday, October 30 & Apple in Education Briefing Friday, November 2

About P.E.W.T.E.R.

Funded in part by a gift from Google's Education Research Unit, the CSU Digital Ambassador program has three goals:

University leadership: CSU Digital Ambassadors will serve as community liaisons representing the educational technology interests of faculty and
students. The Digital Ambassador will establish a consistent feedback loop to triage issues voiced by faculty and students, and will participate in a quarterly meeting with the Chancellor’s Office to discuss solutions to common obstacles and highlight major milestones.
Faculty engagement:The CSU Digital Ambassador will work with campus faculty to better equip and inform colleagues of ways to enhance traditional teaching methods. A variety of platform-agnostic scaling techniques may be deployed to extend principles of educational technology to emerging technologies or explore new uses for familiar ones.
Student empowerment: As part of coursework or supplemental learning experiences, pre-service teachers will work with the campus ambassador to develop pedagogical artifacts for future classroom use. Encouraging independent investigation, ambassadors will guide students as they construct materials to inspire a deeper understanding of a subject and enhance student interest and engagement.

Other CSU Digital Ambassador Programs

Thanks to Dr. Matthew D'Alessio at CSU Northridge for sharing his Spring 2012 pilot experiences as a CSU Digital Ambassador. The P.E.W.T.E.R. acronym originated with his program, and I am grateful for his willingness to allow other CSU Digital Ambassadors to use this title.

Staff

The Cal Poly CSU Digital Ambassador is Elizabeth J. Meyer, an Assistant Professor in the School of Education. She teaches foundations of education courses in the Single Subject credential program including EDUC 412 - Access to Education in a Pluralistic Society and EDUC 300 - Introduction to the Teaching Profession. She is a Google Faculty Institute Fellow and has done research on "flipping" the classroom in secondary science classrooms, as well as using electronic portfolios to promote literacy and self-regulated learning in elementary classrooms. For more on Dr. Meyer's research and background, visit her personal webpage. CONTACT ME: ejmeyer@calpoly.edu or 805-756-6553.