Goals of LITE

The Laboratory for Innovative Technology in Education (LITE) strives to prepare educators as leaders who embrace technology as a way to address real-world issues through projects that will link students to their communities. The doctoral students in this program work with teachers in training, practicing teachers and educational teams that include university faculty, other graduate students, and professionals from local educational institutions and community organizations. These teams work on the design, development, and evaluation of a new generation of educational resources and instructional strategies that emphasize collaboration, active learning, and critical thinking. These innovative resources and teaching strategies will be disseminated to teachers and schools, both within the Houston area, and beyond so that they can be replicated, adapted and used by teachers in their classroom and students in their learning.

1)To Critically Examine and Assess the Impact of Educational Technologies- by creating educational teams of faculty, students, teachers and community partners who will critically and continuously examine and assess the impact of technology-based initiatives on student learning and effective teaching practices;

2) To Utilize Community-Based Resources to create a "Learning Laboratory"- where teachers, students and faculty work together with community partners to develop meaningful technology-rich curricular materials on all subjects taught in today's classrooms, begining with an emphasis on mathematics, science, language arts, and the visual arts;

3) To Help Prepare New Educators to Meaningfully Use Technology in Their Classrooms- by providing opportunities for new teachers to work in educational teams to learn to effectively and meaningfully use new technologies in their instruction;

4) To Assist Current educators to Meaningfully use Technology in Their Classrooms- by providing opportunities for existing teachers to work in educational teams to learn to develop a new generation of classroom materials and lessons that involve dynamic usses of technology that engage students and promote active learning;

5) To Contribute to an Ongoing Dialogue on the Integration of Technology in Education and Sharing Our Work with Others- by bringin talented educators to our campus to work with teachers, students and faculty and by publishing information about our work online, and delivering our findings and materials through presentations at conferences, workshops and summer initiatives.