INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

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IUPUI OFFERS ON-SITE MASTERS PROGRAM FOR PERRY TOWNSHIP TEACHERS

INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI School of Education is offering a specialized new master's degree program for Perry Township teachers that will focus on integrating technology into the classroom.

Watching an orchestra live over the Internet, playing an electronic keyboard while watching the notes appear on a computer screen and then printing out a student's composition…those are just some of the things Southport Elementary School music teacher Debi Burns hopes to someday integrate into her classroom.

Burns will learn how in IUPUI's new Master's in Curriculum Instruction with a Technology Emphasis. IUPUI offers the classes once a week after school on-site at Perry Township Schools. Teachers may take one class every semester allowing them to complete the program in two and a half years.

"What I like about this concept is that we've tried to put the teachers first," said IUPUI School of Education director of instructional technology and the program's coordinator Julie Bohnenkamp. "Teachers have very busy lives and we're really listening to their needs."

Bohnenkamp worked closely with the Perry Township technology staff development team to create a program to fit teachers' needs. She found that convenience and a program focusing on technology were two of their top priorities.

"I want to learn to incorporate the technology into my classroom and know what I'm doing with it," said Burns. "I need to know what kinds of software can be used on what equipment and I need to be able to troubleshoot."

"There's so much technology that may have come about since their undergraduate degree that it makes sense to go back and learn about what's new," said Steve Smith, a technology staff developer for Perry Township Schools.

Bohnenkamp agrees. "Technology isn't just the future, it's the present. Teachers must embrace it to teach students living in this information technology age."

Bohnenkamp hopes to develop similar programs with other local school systems.

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