About iTDS

Vision 

The iTDS is a state-of-the-art learning space that fosters innovation, ingenuity, and creativity through the exploration of new and emerging technologies in an inclusive and collaborative environment that supports and empowers teacher education faculty, preservice teachers, school leaders, and community educators to develop their own technology knowledge and to think critically about how teaching with technology can support learning. 

Mission 

The iTDS is a place where formal and informal learning comes together to provide users with hands-on experiences that help them refine their ideas, be more engaged with problem solving, and develop leadership skills, such as ingenuity, adaptability, collaboration, and persistence. The iTDS is available to all active TC students, faculty and staff, as well as community members regardless of their department, school, organization, or level of knowledge. 

The iTDS serves multiple roles and stakeholders by supporting transdisciplinary outreach, professional development, instruction, and research related to the integration of STEM and non-STEM disciplines in diverse learning environments. 

The iTDS fosters analytical and critical thinking skills, coupled with transdisciplinary knowledge, skills, and dispositions for teaching and learning in a technologically driven global community through instruction, professional development, and outreach with students, faculty, staff, and community partners.   

The iTDS builds on a tradition of experiential learning to develop the core qualities of innovative problem-solving and self-starting praxis through dynamic engagement with evolving technologies, professional development, and outreach.     

To achieve these goals, the work of the iTDS is grounded in research-based standards, specifically the International Society for Technology (ISTE) standards for educators, for coaches, and for students. In addition to these standards, research related to technology adoption and integration, frameworks including Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), Triple E, and SAMR, are used by iTDS staff to support faculty and candidates in making critical decisions about creative technology adoption for learning and teaching.  

The iTDS hosts teacher education courses to introduce educational technology concepts and provides support for creative projects and instructional planning. 

The iTDS addresses the need to prepare both faculty and teacher education candidates to utilize technology within their instructional practices. The iTDS & initiative team aims:

  1. To ENGAGE faculty and candidates around ideas for the adoption and integration of technology within their instructional practices. 
  2. To PROVIDE safe spaces to be curious, creative, and inquisitive with technology.  
  3. To SUPPORT faculty in redesign of courses, assignments, and projects to take advantage of how different technologies can support student learning.  
  4. To EMPOWER both faculty and candidates to utilize & use various technologies themselves instead of being dependent on others. 
  5. To MODEL pedagogies and practices that support learning. Studio staff reflect on and practice technology coaching and mentoring models to support their own professional development.