Campus Connection

UWL’s School of Education Small Grant Program initiates change, strengthens partnerships

A small grant program through UW-La Crosse’s School of Education is making a significant impact on local schools. 

The Technology Integration Small Grant Program supports technology integration projects in La Crosse area PK-12 schools — the same schools that UWL partners with to provide our teacher candidates with student teaching opportunities. 

“The purpose of this grant opportunity is to support technology integration specifically aligned with 1:1 devices in a course required by UWL education majors,” says Christy Wopat, field experience coordinator and communication specialist. “To align with best practice, this grant encourages working in partnership with our PK-12 partners.” 

One initiative funded by the program enabled Merideth Garcia, associate professor of English, to gather data on the 1:1 iPad initiative introduced by the La Crosse School District this year. Garcia teamed up with Kyle Kolar, ’19, current mentor for UWL English Education teacher candidates at Logan High School, to investigate the consequences of shifting from laptops to iPads.

“The grant supported our work to investigate possible tools and develop a ‘classroom forum’ activity for the first week of school to orient students to the changes in technology policy and discuss their perspectives and concerns,” Garcia explains. “We are planning an end-of-year forum to examine how students have adjusted and whether their perspectives have changed over the course of the year.” 

This specific initiative also created an opportunity for a current English Education major and undergraduate researcher, Alexandra Staver. Staver, who is mentored by Garcia, analyzed the data collected by Garcia and Kolar during the first forum. In May, Staver will present her findings at the UWL Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium. 

"Preliminary findings suggest that the majority of students had apprehensions about the new phone restrictions and iPad requirements but had less to say about AI policy changes," Staver’s research abstract notes. "The main thread running through both group and individual responses was disappointment in the policy for refusing the students technology they have come to rely upon." 

Garcia will be presenting the project’s findings and adding her perspective on implications for their methods and teacher preparation courses in April to UWL’s School of Education. Additionally, Garcia hopes to collaborate with Kolar on an article for “Wisconsin English Journal,” sharing their work and findings. 

As UWL continues to strengthen its partnerships with local schools, initiatives like this highlight the importance of research-driven approaches to technology integration. With ongoing collaboration and research, the Technology Integration Small Grant Program will continue to foster innovation and meaningful change in local PK-12 education.