T³ – Teachers Teaching with Technology™: Our Mission

The T³ - Teachers Teaching with Technology™ organizational goal remains true to the ideals on which it was founded under the guidance of Professors Franklin Demana and Bert Waits:

To provide quality professional development that enables the mathematics and science educator to be successful in the classroom through the appropriate use of technology.

T³ Objectives

• To enhance the pedagogical skills and content knowledge of mathematics and science teachers at all levels.
• To promote inquiry-based learning through the use of real-world applications and data collection devices at all grade levels.
• To help teachers stay informed by introducing them to emerging technologies.
• To assist teachers in increasing student achievement.
• To prepare students for the future through the appropriate use of technology.
• To encourage a balanced approach combining the use of graphing and other technologies along with mental skills and paper and pencil skills to support mathematics and science curricula.
• To enrich the classroom experience through the power of visualization.

The Power of Visualization

Technology has changed the mathematics and science classroom, and its impact will continue to grow. Technology provides the opportunity for all students to be active learners as they are afforded the chance to explore and investigate what they have learned in the classroom.

When used effectively by a well-trained teacher, technology supports the mathematics and science that students learn, not replaces it. Technology provides value as an efficient means to manipulate data and instantly see the results. This activity allows insight and understanding that is not easily created otherwise and, in fact can be almost impossible to encounter without the use of technology.

T³ refers to this bridge to learning and understanding as "The Power of Visualization."

T³ History

The T³ movement began in 1986 when Professors Bert K. Waits and Franklin Demana of The Ohio State University began writing the original materials for Precalculus: A Graphing Approach and teaching these materials to high school classes in Columbus, Ohio. Both Bert and Frank continue to serve as the academic fathers of T³.

Since its inception, the T³ program had directly served more than 40,000 classroom teachers, and hundreds of thousands of students had benefited from the expertise of these T³-trained teachers!

The future will see T³ continue to grow and meet the professional development needs of educators as we help teachers appropriately implement TI technology into their classrooms.

Key Dates in the History of T³

1986	Professors Bert K. Waits and Franklin Demana of The Ohio State University wrote original materials for a pre-calculus class and taught the class in high school and college classes.
1988	The first Computers and Calculators in Precalculus (C²PC) Institutes were offered. More than 80 teachers from around the nation participated in a weekend, a one-week, or a two-week institute on the OSU campus.
1989	Four weeklong C²PC Institutes were held at OSU. The institutes were attended by 125 teachers from 31 states where they were trained to use graphing calculators to enhance the teaching and learning of pre-calculus.
1990	For the first time, C²PC Institutes expanded outside Ohio, to 12 states.
1991	Professors Waits and Demana directed TRANSIT, a two-week developmental institute where 10 teams of teachers and college instructors created modules for teaching mathematical topics with the use of the graphing calculators.
1992	Professors Waits and Demana trained 34 high school teachers to teach C²PC Institutes, thus expanding the reach of the program. Also in this year, the program was renamed T³™ - Teachers Teaching with Technology™.
1993	The new T³ instructors presented more than 70 institutes in 36 states. More than 2,000 high school teachers were trained to use and integrate graphing technology into the mathematics curriculum.
1994	The number of T³ instructors increased to 49, and more than 3,000 teachers attended the 114 institutes in 40 states and Canada. Also in that year, the administrative headquarters of the program moved from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio to The University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington, Texas. That year the T³ International Conference was held in Fort Worth, marking the first time the event took place outside of Columbus.
1995	The T³ program expanded its content offerings to include geometry, statistics, middle school math and elementary school math. As a result of this expansion, the program delivered 211 institutes in 42 states and Puerto Rico to more than 6,000 teachers.
1996	The T³ program continued to expand its program with institutes focused on the Computer Algebraic Systems. Programs also were developed for chemistry and biology. In the later half of the year, the T³ program moved to Dallas to become more integrated with Texas Instruments´ Education Technology business.
1997	The T³ program evolved to serve the needs of more math educators ranging from elementary school to high school. By August, more than 30,000 had participated in at least one of the organization’s programs.
1999	The program expanded and underwent substantial revisions to better meet the needs of participants and their students. Also, more than 3,000 participants attended the T³ International Conference, which was held in Dallas.
2000	The Environmental Science Institute was piloted at Biosphere 2 in Arizona and at Camp McGregor in Michigan. The Vernier CMBL Workshop, a new affiliate, was offered at six locations. Holt Rinehart Winston sponsored workshops for Algebra 1 and Algebra 2. The Discovery program targeted new technology users with one and two-day workshops.
2001	The T³ program began to offer more customized services. More than 65 institutes were held. The organization started programs to reach new audiences.
2002	Professional development packages more than doubled in size, and 10 T³ Regional Conferences took place.
2003	The T³ program offered its first online course, Algebra Using the TI-83 Plus. TI-Navigator™ system is introduced into the T³ institutes.
2005	Professors Waits and Demana retired, but they continue to remain advisors of the T³ program.
2007	With the introduction of TI-Nspire™ technology, the first TI-Nspire Summer Workshops were held around North America.
2008	Sharing Nspiration, an event organized by T³ Europe, drew educators, authors, administrators, and TI-Nspire enthusiasts from around the world to Brussels, Belgium.
2010	Online experiences enabling broader access to T³ professional development grew as the T³ weekly webinar series launched, and Professional Development Packages and Teacher Leader Cadre programs offered customized webinar experiences as well.

2012	The T³ product line is expanded to include new BOOST™ offering.

2013	The T³ program is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the T³ International Conference March 8 - 10 in Philadelphia.