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@ The Concord ConsortiumWinter 1999Realizing the educational promise of technology

CONCORD.ORG

Acurriculum is the topics taught,but also the interdependenciesthat allow concepts to build on

what students have previously learned. Butthe current use of educational technologyin the classroom rarely builds on itself.What is needed is a new K-14 curriculumthat incorporates technology-based inter-dependencies as well.

To date, the major implementations oflearning technologies have been within thetraditional curriculum context: the graph-ing calculator is used when graphs areaddressed in the curriculum, the geometryvisualizers are used to improve geometrywherever students usually encounter it,probeware is used to improve conventionallabs. Potentially revolutionary technologieshave not been used to create fundamentalimprovements in the traditional sequenceof topics

For instance, if technology helpsfourth grade students gain an understand-ing of graphs and decimals, then the entirecurriculum thereafter should build on thatunderstanding. If calculus is introduced inmiddle grades, then high school studentsshould be applying calculus to interestingreal-world problems. The well- document-ed capacity of probeware to allow kids inelementary school to interpret graphsshould be used to improve and rethink theteaching of algebra.

New Technology BumpsInto an Old CurriculumNew learning options created bytechnology-based educationalinnovations.

Meet the BoardRick Abrams, President of TomSnyder Productions, and VivianDay, a specialist in internationalcooperation.

We DreamLearn more about The ConcordConsortium.

Geographic InformationSystems (GIS)DonÕt call it ÒmappingÓ software.ItÕs a whole lot more. See how itÕsbeing used in the classroom.

Speaking in VoicesEffective web moderating for onlineeducation and training. Strategiesfor getting more out of netcourses.

Monday’s LessonUse AgentSheets for learning moreabout population growth.

PerspectivesSharing VHS with the World. Howbest to disseminate the successfulVHS project.

[email protected]. News & World Report,Computerworld SmithsonianAward, CILT Conference, VirtualHigh School¨, Streaming Video.

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Research is needed to learn moreabout these interdependencies, so we cancreate alternative curricula that exploit thepower of modern learning technologies.

Unrealized PotentialHistorians of science have revised their

view of the progress of science to accountfor the huge impact of instrumentation onwhat could be studied. Whole areas of sci-ence were slow to develop because therewas no way to observe the phenomena.

Perhaps what we teach has been simi-larly influenced by what can be measured,represented, and visualized. Without com-puters, for instance, it is difficult tomeasure and record many kinds of change.This may account for the absence of arange of topics involving change in theelementary science curriculum. The “tech-nology” that has been universally availablehas been the use of theory and abstrac-tions. While powerful, this technologymay make many concepts available only toolder students. New technologies relyingon visualizations, interactions, and kines-thetics can make key concepts accessibleearlier.

But more often than not in today’sclassroom, five or more students share aschool computer that is unlikely to havenetwork access, and only the most affluent

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New Technology Bumps

Into an Old CurriculumDoes the Traditional Course Sequence Need an Overhaul?

by Robert Tinker

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Concord Consortium: www.concord.org

The Concord Consortium

EditorRobert F. Tinker

Managing EditorLee McDavid

@CONCORD is published three times a year by

The Concord Consortium, a nonprofit

educational research and development

organization dedicated to educational innovation

through creative technologies.

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The projects described in @CONCORD are sup-ported by National Science Foundation grantsREC-9553639, REC-9896075, REC-9725524,REC-9554211, REC-9813485, REC-9554198,CDA-9720384, GEO-9801806, ESI-9896068and ESI-9554162, and U.S. Department ofEducation grants R303A60571 andR303A70182. We also receive donations fromcorporations and individuals. All opinions, find-ings, conclusions, and recommendationsexpressed herein are those of the authors and donot necessarily reflect the views of the fundingagencies. Mention of trade names, commercialproducts or organizations does not implyendorsement.

Our six-member Board of Directors is a diverse association of dedicated and successful profes-sionals committed to expanding educational opportunities worldwide. In the next issue of@CONCORD we will profile the final two board members and their interests. More detailedinformation about each member is available from our web site.

Meet the Board

is President ofTom Snyder Productions, a successful andhighly innovative educational softwaredevelopment and publishing company spe-cializing in social studies, science and mathmaterials for K-8 schools. Its materials areused in over 50,000 schools in the U.S.The company also produces two acclaimedtelevision shows. “Science Court,” an ani-mated educational show, can be seen eachSaturday on ABC. “Dr. Katz: ProfessionalTherapist” can be seen each Sunday onComedy Central. Rick has been treasurerof Educators for Social Responsibility formany years and brings a combination ofeducational, commercial, and financialexpertise to the board.

has been active inbusiness, politics and education world-wide. She has successfully engaged in fundraising, strategic planning, and organiza-tional cooperation internationally. She co-chaired a major U.S.-Soviet conference onmanufacturing diversification at theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciencesin Cambridge, Massachusetts, and chairedthe National League of Women Votersdelegation to the World Congress ofWomen in Moscow. Recently she hasworked with the Salzburg Seminar, aninternational educational seminar in Aus-tria. She is also a founder and board mem-ber of the Josef and Petra VarvrousekFoundation, an environmental educationfoundation in the Czech Republic.

Rick Abrams Vivian Day

LINKS ON THIS PAGETom Snyder Productions—www.teachtsp.com Comedy Central—comedycentral.com/katzSalzburg Seminar—www.salsem.ac.at Board—www.concord.org/about/board.html

We Dream . . .

We dream of an educational system that responds to each person’s learn-ing needs. We dream of classrooms where there is collaborative learning.We dream of students and experts working together locally and interna-tionally to solve problems worldwide.

Education is the single most important investment a society can make inits future. Quality education is essential to help people everywhere real-ize their full potential. The Concord Consortium is a research anddevelopment nonprofit organization made up of teachers, curriculumdevelopers, technology experts and innovators committed to stimulatinglarge-scale, technology-based improvement in teaching and learning.

Through the creative and appropriate use of information technologies, webelieve our dream of universal quality education is possible.

We are dedicated to realizing the educational promise of technology.


and human landscape that is in balanceover time?”

Often the biggest problems a commu-nity faces involve a number of stakeholders, all of whom have interests theywant to protect, resources they want accessto, and long-term goals and objectivesthey want to meet. GIS tools are invalu-able for decision support, consensusbuilding, data visualization and futureplanning activities, which are a criticalpart of sustainable development. By usingGIS tools, everyone can explore variousproposals and their outcomes in order tofind common ground.

What is GIS?The quickest way to upset a GIS

enthusiast is to describe GIS as “mappingsoftware.” The phrase brings to mindsimpler tools such as MapQuest, which isgood for planning a car trip, but is not anopen-ended, flexible tool like word pro-cessing or spreadsheet software.

But even though calling it “mappingsoftware” limits the GIS definition, it doesprovide a conceptual starting point for thediscussion of GIS. Maps traditionally havebeen simple reference tools, often two-dimensional images representing featuresof an area of interest. Usually a map is cre-ated for a specific purpose. A road mapshows you where the highways are. A citymap shows you the street names andmaybe the location of local landmarks.Santaiti’s students might be able to usesuch a map to circle the location ofschools who might take part in a recyclingprogram. Another map might show the

are becoming easier to use, they’ve caughtthe attention of educators. Students areusing GIS tools to better understand sus-tainable development, which has beendescribed as “meeting the needs of thepresent without compromising the abilityfor future generations to meet theirneeds,” according to the Brundtlandreport by the World Commission onEnvironment and Development.

Sustainable development is interestingto students because it involves their ownfuture. “If we are going to engage studentsand citizens in creating sustainable com-munities,” explains Keith Wheeler,Director of the Center for a SustainableFuture, the division of The Concord Con-sortium which is coordinating the ESFproject, “then we must take advantage oftools like GIS that allow individuals andgroups of people to see what the currentsituation is. What does the future hold?How can the opportunity for proactiveplanning and design help create a natural

Using GIS to Support Sustainable Development Education

LINKS ON THIS PAGEEducation for a Sustainable Future—csf.concord.org/esf Brundtland—gopher://gopher.un.org/00/esc/cn17/1997/off/97- -3.ENCenter for a Sustainable Future—csf.concord.org MapQuest—www.mapquest.com


Rosa Santaiti wants to trysomething new this yearwith her students. She

wants her high school Spanishclass to practice their languageskills by talking with the localHispanic community. They aregoing to do this by working withthem to increase awareness aboutlocal recycling efforts.

But Santaiti and her studentshave a lot of work to do beforethey begin. First, they need tofind out where the Hispanic pop-ulation lives. Then they need tolocate community resources nearthese neighborhoods. Where arethe schools located? Where is the nearestlibrary? Where is the most convenientrecycling center?

Eventually, the class wants to createmaps and flyers in Spanish showing wherethe local recycling center is, what days it’sopen, and what items can be recycled. Toaccomplish all this, Santaiti’s students areexcited about using GIS software.

Looking at the FutureSantaiti is one of 50 teachers working

with The Concord Consortium’s Educa-tion for a Sustainable Future (ESF)project, which is seeking flexible softwaretools that can help learners understandcritical environmental, economic, andsocial issues that will affect their commu-nities in the 21st century. GeographicInformation Systems (GIS) software isone of those tools.

For years, fields as diverse as disasterrelief, crime prevention, and urban plan-ning have used GIS. Now that GIS tools (continued on page 4)

Geographic Information Systems

by Noah Fields

GIS could be used to locate the overlap of schools, indus-try, and recycling centers within a local community.

can also show pictures of what types ofitems can be recycled at each center. Thiswould be a great map for kids to use intargeting recycling information to the His-panic community.

Government and Business UseFederal agencies which are set up to

monitor the health, growth, safety, demo-graphics, and natural resources of thecountry rely on the use of GIS tools tocreate maps, analyze data, prepare for dis-asters, and generally gain a betterunderstanding of the physical and socio-

logical nature of the country.Many of these agencies,

such as the EnvironmentalProtection Agency, the U.S.Geological Survey, the U.S.Census Bureau, publish theirdata in formats that can be eas-ily used. Often they have websites from which you candownload data. In someinstances, you can buy a CD-ROM full of information.Many state agencies also makeGIS information available.Good local GIS data may be as

close as your town hall. Companies useGIS to study consumer demographics orto minimize their environmental impact.Demand for GIS experts in business andgovernment is pushing community col-leges and universities to offer GIS courses.

Software ChoicesGIS software can be expensive, but

ESRI and other software vendors offercompetitive prices for the K-12 market.ArcView, the leading GIS software fromESRI, can be purchased for about $200for a school site license. ESRI and othersoffer less robust alternatives to ArcView,such as ArcExplorer, which has feweradvanced features but is easier to use, and


location of senior centers or local busi-nesses, but that’s about all. Generallymaps are passive — they don’t change asyou work with them.

GIS, on the other hand, is an explor-er’s tool suited for the investigative mind.It supports multiple modes of operation,including map making, data collection,data analysis, decision support, and datavisualization, which help answer compli-cated questions, such as: What willhappen if the water level in theriver rises ten feet? Whichroads will be washed out?Which houses will have to beevacuated? What are the phonenumbers of the people who livethere?

Santaiti’s students are inves-tigating the relationshipbetween recycling, language,education, and the local com-munity. If they create a flyer inSpanish, where should it bedistributed? How many peoplelive in the community aroundthe recycling center? Is there a librarynearby where flyers can be distributed?GIS can be helpful in answering thesequestions.

There are two main types of GISdata. “Feature” data shows where thingsare — “X marks the spot” kind of infor-mation. It might describe where therecycling centers are located. “Attribute”data might describe the kinds of itemsthat can be recycled there — newspaper,tin, green glass, cardboard. It mightexplain the types of plastic that can andcannot be recycled at each center, give adescription of each, and even display aphotograph of the containers. Once youhave some feature data, it’s pretty easy tokeep recording new attribute data.

GIS uses data layers to control howmany features are displayed at one time. Adata layer is like a sheet of transparentacetate. Each sheet has a different featureprinted on it, such as the contours of localroads or the outline of the school district.As few as one or as many as a hundreddata layers can be visible at one time. Byturning on and off layers it is easy to com-pare and identify the relationshipsbetween them.

If we add a layer to Santaiti’s class pro-ject showing where the Hispanicpopulation lives, we can see the proximity

of the recycling center to the Spanish-speaking community. We can also adddata layers for the location of schools andlibraries. Another layer can show wherebusinesses are located.

Layering allows you to see the datathat you are interested in while hiding thethings you don’t care about.

Perhaps the most powerful feature ofGIS is its ability to perform complex andmeaningful queries on all of the data atonce. Using the data layers we have men-tioned so far, one could ask the data aquestion, and get a customized image,showing us the location of all Spanish-speaking households which are less than amile from a recycling center and withinwalking distance of a school or library. It

LINKS ON THIS PAGEESRI—www.esri.com U.S. Geological Survey—mapping.usgs.gov/www/html/1educate.htmlU.S. Census Bureau—www.census.gov Environmental Protection Agency—www.epa.gov

Geographic Information Systemscontinued from page 3


GIS combines mapping with an interactive interface. Learning to use itcan be time consuming, but worth the effort.

FAQ (frequentlyasked questions) page or direct pointers toa good quality online “Ask A” service,such as the Virtual Reference Desk.

The moderator’s role may vary frommodel to model, but effective onlinemoderation must be grounded in severalkey pedagogical principles, which we out-line in our forthcoming book, WebModerating.

Moderator SkillsIn order for learning to take place in a

netcourse, the online discussion group iscritical. The quality of learning that takesplace here is highly dependent on theskills of the group leader, or moderator,who must make effective but restrainedinterventions to steer a group’s learningprocess in the right direction.

Web Moderating is designed to expandthe effectiveness of moderators by provid-ing new ways to think about WHEN andHOW to intervene in an ongoing discus-sion among participants.

Key skills involve deepening dialogueand focusing learning. Strategies includethe use of a variety of voices, styles, andquestions that get at underlying assump-tions or at the commonalities amongapparently disparate points made by dis-cussion participants.

Good meeting facilitators alreadyknow many of these skills, which areessential in the repertoire of strategies foranyone successfully moderating a net-


LINKS ON THIS PAGEINTEC—intec.concord.org Teacher Learning Conference—vhs.concord.org/Pages/Main+Office-Want+to+JoinVirtual Reference Desk—www.vrd.org Virtual High School—vhs.concord.org

Any online course needs a moder-ator, but an excellent onlinecourse, or netcourse, requires a

skilled moderator.The moderator, or group leader, for an

online course does many of the samethings a face-to-face group facilitatorwould, such as guiding a group discussionin a restrained but effective way. But theweb-based moderator faces challengesunique to a medium in which the partici-pants are not in the same room and rarelylogged on at the same time.

Web moderators have to learn to com-municate using different voices, styles andquestions that enhance the online grouplearning process.

Our experience in online moderationcomes from two courses which haveserved hundreds of teachers. INTEC(International Netcourse TeacherEnhancement Coalition) was designed toincrease teacher understanding of inquiryas an educational strategy in secondarymathematics and science teaching. It wasdeveloped by experts and is offered togroups of 20 teachers led by moderatorswho are trained to lead online discussionsin an inquiry-based environment. TheTeacher Learning Conference™ (TLC)supports high school teachers in creatingcourses for our Virtual High School®(VHS) project.

Model ModeratorOur model of a well-designed net-

course using moderators to shapeparticipant learning has evolved from our

experiences with INTEC and TLC andhas important implications for any onlinecourse.

Currently the most common model isone in which the person who offers thenetcourse is the same person who devel-oped or designed it. That person may beskilled at instructional design, but notknow much about the best practices forsupporting online learning.

This model also limits the opportunityfor scaling that the Internet provides. Oneteacher-moderator cannot effectively han-dle a class of more than twenty onlineparticipants any more than a face-to faceteacher can.

High quality netcourses, created by ateam of experts or an individual, do notnecessarily need to be moderated by thesame content developers or course design-ers. Others — moderators — can betrained to support the course in an onlineenvironment.

These moderators might partner witheither an expert or a cadre of field expertsin a “triage” model of teaching. For exam-ple, a netcourse providing softwaretraining for teachers could be led by askilled moderator, but after participantshave gained experience using the tool, themoderator might be joined by an expert(such as a biologist or statistician), some-one who has used the tool in teaching, orthe software designer. For a one- or two-week period, the moderator could be sup-ported by this expert online.

However, even the need for an expertmay be replaced by a well-constructed

by Sarah Haavind


Effective Techniques for Keeping WebDiscussions Running Smoothly

Speaking in Voices


LINKS ON THIS PAGEStarLogo—www.media.mit.edu/starlogo AgentSheets—www.agentsheets.comLife—www.astro.virginia.edu/~eww6n/math/Life.html

Many issues in public policydepend on mathematical models. Will there be a popu-lation explosion? How much will the earth warm? Howmany students will enroll in your school next year?

The answers to these questions depend on modelsand the assumptions that go into models. Increasingly,the political debate is about the fine points of modeling.The statement “Global warming is expected to increasethe average earth temperature five degrees next century”is based on models whose assumptions are hotly debat-ed. There is little question that effective citizenshiprequires increasingly sophisticated knowledge of models.

Students need to know what makes a good model,what constitutes “proof” of a model’s accuracy, and howto judge a model’s predictive value. Can you trust amodel that makes simple assumptions that are clearlyinaccurate? Can you believe the results of a model if youdon’t understand the mathematics it uses? These andother questions are best addressed by giving studentsincreased exposure to thoughtful modeling activities.

How do we do this? Students should progress through at least three major

stages in learning to use models: running models thatothers have made, modifying models, and making origi-nal models. To reach this level of generality, studentsneed to explore models in the context of many differentsituations and using different modeling tools.

One relatively recent kind of model that has fascinat-ed mathematicians and scientists is based on elements,called cellular automata. They obey very simple rulesthat depend mostly on themselves or their local environ-ment. In spite of using simple rules, complex groupbehavior can result. Fire, population, and many othersystems can be analyzed in these terms. The game Lifewas the first well-known computer-based system to usecellular automata. In this system, amazingly simple rulesresult in interesting and complex behavior.

Until recently, students could use models such asLife, but they didn’t have access to systems they couldmodify or program themselves. StarLogo andAgentSheets have corrected that problem.

AgentSheets is simple because it uses an intuitivevisual programming language. StarLogo is a more seriousand complete language that will be the subject of a laterarticle. Currently both are free on the Web.

MondayÕs LessonTechnology-Enhanced Exercises for the Classroom

“Using AgentSheets”

by Robert Tinker


Figure 1. A simple population model built from AgentSheets.

InstitutesNetCourses

education

WorkshopsPublic speaking

Consultation

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SCIENCE and ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATIONThe research of The Concord Consortium has generated exciting projectsin science and environmental education that are available toorganizations worldwide.

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WorkshopsOne- to five-day seminars andmeetings offered in a classroomsetting.

ConsultationIndividual and group advisoryservices for technology-basededucational issues.

Public SpeakingConcord Consortium professionalsare available for public speakingengagements on individual topics.

Portable Computers and Probes inthe ClassroomLearn about innovative student fieldstudies and investigations using probesand portable computers for differentgrade levels and disciplines.

Hands On PhysicsOur low-cost, project-based approach toteaching introductory high school andcollege physics has proven more effectivethan traditional approaches to teachingphysics. Learn how to use this unique pro-gram in your own classroom.

Genetics EducationLearn to teach genetics using an explo-rative environment that models geneticinteractions at molecular, gene, individualand population levels. Software and cur-riculum materials are used.

Sustainable DevelopmentLearn techniques of envisioning differentfutures, understanding systems and howthey work, and developing strategies formoving toward a sustainable future.Software modeling tools and related Webresources are introduced.

InstitutesA broad, inclusive package ofintegrated NetCourses,workshops, and other servicesoffered on a project basis.

NetCourses™Computer-based coursesdelivered over the Internet.Assignments, discussions,collaboration, and assessmenttake place online.

SCHEDULING and PRICINGIndividual workshops and NetCourses are offered periodically throughout theyear. Contact us for a schedule of upcoming courses and a pricing schedule.Special arrangements also can be made to bring these services to your site. Ifyou would like to speak with us about consulting or public speaking requests,please call our Information number below. States and school districts cancontact us for information on participating in the VHS Institute.

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TYPES of SERVICESFind the topic you’re interested in and check this key to see in whichformat it is offered.

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The Virtual High School® has gained international recognition for creating virtual class-rooms that are innovative and effective. VHS Services can help schools, colleges,universities and states create their own online classroom.

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Developing Online Training andInstruction: An Overview ofTechnology & PedagogyDistance learning, distributed learning,netcourses, online education, Web-basededucation, virtual courses — learn about theclassroom of the future during this overviewof the growing field of Internet-based education.

Online TeachingLearn about teaching strategies, standards, student evalutions,and scheduling for online teaching in this intensive 125-hour graduate-level NetCourse using Lotus LearningSpace.

Online Moderation: SupportingLearning in Virtual CommunitiesThe learning that takes place in online dis-cussion groups critically depends on theskills of the group leader or moderator.Effective intervention is important for guid-ing group learning. This topic is based onour experience moderating online teacherprofessional development courses.

Create a VHS project in your region, district, or group of schools. We provide theteacher and staff training, evaluation, and support services necessary to launch anoutstanding project that qualifies for exchange of teachers and students with sister VHSprojects. These services include:

Teacher NetCourse Development. Our Online Teaching course (see below) is thekey to quality online courses. This NetCourse can be adapted to your scheduleand organizational needs.

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Quality Assurance. We have standards and procedures for measuring the quality ofNetCourses, teachers, facilities, and projects. We can administer theseevaluations or train others.

VHS Services also offers individual course topics. Periodically throughout the year weoffer open registration for these courses.

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CC Services is a division of The Concord Consortium, a

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CC Services we offer NetCourses — classes offered online — and

workshops to help educators implement technology-rich edu-cational strategies. We also provide public speakers,

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New technological resources are powerful tools for making

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Using ModelsFigure 1 (page 6)

shows a simple Popu-lation Model builtfrom AgentSheets. Tobegin the simulation,click Start. The dotsmove around at ran-dom and die off 1%of the time, while giv-ing birth to new dots2% of the time. Asyou might predict,the dot populationexplodes.

Although not verysophisticated, thissimulation can teachstudents a lot aboutexponentialgrowth.To start over:

1. Click Stop.

2. From the Gallery select the back-ground button.

3. Select the Hammer tool and clickinside the rectangle to clear thedots.

4. From the Gallery select the dotbutton.

5. Select the Pencil tool and clickinside the rectangle to createanother dot.

6. Click Start.

The new dot sometimes makesanother dot or, less frequently, dies.Although death is less frequent thanbirth, sometimes a population of 1-3dots will die out. This shows thatexponential growth is not a goodapproximation for small populations.

Modifying ModelsYou can modify the model to

simulate different circumstances,

such as the first Asians migrating tothe Americas (Figure 2).

1. Click Stop and then Clear toremove the background and dots.

2. From the Gallery select the back-ground button.

3. Select the Rectangle tool anddraw two “continents” with abridge between them.

4. From the Gallery select the dotbutton.

5. Select the Pencil tool and clickinside one of the backgrounds tocreate a dot.

6. Click Start to see the migration ofdots across the “land bridge.”

Now you’re ready to look at howthe simulation is built. DownloadAgentSheets and then open Pop1.Take a look at the guts of this simula-tion program. Note how it readsthrough a list of commands until it

finds an “If” condition that is trueand executes its “Then” condition.This is what happens when the sim-ulation starts:

1. 2% of the time the dot makes anew dot above itself.

2. If it doesn’t make a new dot, 1%of the time it dies.

3. If it doesn’t take option 1 or 2, thedot moves randomly to an adja-cent background square.

You can easily change the popu-lation growth by changing thepercentages. Explore what happenswhen the two percentages are equalor when the birth rate is smaller thandeath rate.

Some things about this modelneed improvement, such as a factorto control overcrowding. At thispoint, you’re about to cross the linebetween modifying an old programand creating a new one.

Making ModelsYou can create a population

model that stops growing when itgets too crowded or resources aredepleted. But for this you’ll have tochange how the model is pro-grammed. Go to our PopulationModel web site and follow theinstructions for adding a clause tothe AgentSheets program in order tocreate dots 2% of the time, but onlyif there is space for the offspring.

Models like these raise importantissues about population growthwhile giving learners valuable expe-rience in modeling.

A great way to start Mondaymorning!

Robert Tinker is President of TheConcord Consortium. For more informa-tion on modeling, see his paper “TeachingTheory Building.” [email protected]

Monday’s Lessoncontinued from page 6

Concord Consortium: www.concord.org Page 7

LINKS ON THIS PAGEPopulation Model—www.concord.org/population Teaching Theory Building—www.concord.org/library/papers.htmlAgentSheets—www.agentsheets.com Pop1—www.concord.org/population

@

Figure 2. This model shows the effect of populations migratingfrom one continent to another.


LINKS ON THIS PAGECrickets—www.legomindstorms.com ThinkerTools—thinkertools.berkeley.edu:7019 SimCalc—www.simcalc.umassd.eduStella—www.hps-inc.com Model-It—st2.yahoo.com/cogitodirect/modelit.html

third of students have computers at home.Available computers sometimes do notwork and too often they lack a full suite ofsoftware. This low and unreliable access totechnology means that students do not getenough experience to master complexsoftware tools and teachers cannot assignhomework that assumes ready computeravailability.

Important technology-rich curriculamaterials are rarely implemented, if at all,because there is insufficient access to tech-nology and schools are unable to rearrangethe curriculum to exploit the advantagesof these materials. In this environment,the full potential of information technolo-gies in education cannot be realized.

Ubiquitous TechnologyWe will soon have student widespread

access to technologies that could revolu-tionize learning. The next decade iscertain to see the underlying costs of com-putation and networking drop by a factorof ten. The ubiquitous availability of com-putation and networking could make itpossible for every student to have full-time access to portable, networkedcomputational resources. When this hap-pens, technology utilization patterns inschools will change dramatically fromtoday’s occasional use of simple applica-tions to essentially continuous use of asuite of powerful tools.

Widespread use of technology willcause advances in learning that requirechanges in the structure of curricula. Iftechnology makes it possible to teach dif-ficult central concepts earlier and withgreater understanding, then the traditionalsequence of topics needs a complete over-haul. This kind of change mirrors thechanges technology has caused in businesswhere jobs, organizational structures, and

information flows have been altered dra-matically.

Demonstrated SuccessResearchers exploring the impact of

information technologies on learning havemany examples of approaches that allowstudents to learn far more, better, and ear-lier. Students in early elementary gradescan use probeware to learn decimals andto interpret graphs. Important concepts ofrate and change can be learned at surpris-ingly early grades with SimCalc andThinkerTools. Middle school students cancreate dynamic models using Model-It,

Stella, and spreadsheets. Graphing soft-ware, symbolic equation evaluators, Logo,image analysis, data analysis and statisticalpackages, CAD tools, 3D renderers,supercomputers serving computationallyintense results and visualizations, and GIS(see article page 3) all have demonstratedcapacities to make important contribu-tions to improved student understanding.

While there are indications of theeducational importance of these individualinnovations, they are usually studied inisolation from each other and implement-ed within current curricula frameworks.To fully exploit ubiquitous student accessto computers and networking, we need to

string computer-empowered units togeth-er into strands so that later learning buildson earlier experiences.

Curriculum StrandsIt is unlikely that the entire curriculum

would be changed even if compellingresearch data on the effectiveness of tech-nology were generated. A more flexibleand less threatening way of changing thecurriculum is to insert technology-enhanced curriculum strands. Thesestrands would involve sequences of activi-ties that span grades and build upon eachother. The following are some possiblecandidates.

Macro/Micro Connections

We anticipate major gains in sciencelearning by having learners understand therelationship between atomic, nano, andmacro views of the same system. If stu-dents can build firm, early intuitions aboutatoms, molecules, and their interactions,huge chunks of later science could fall intoplace, including chemistry, heat and tem-perature, gas behavior, state changes,biochemistry, and physical properties.

Design

Technology intuition and skills can befostered through models, visualizations,CAD, Logo, Crickets, electronics, andprobes. To introduce the technology ofmeasurement, students might start withthe idea that many things have numbersassociated with them that we can mea-sure. The idea that functional models canbe used to construct things can be illus-trated by programming, electronics, andbuilding. Design challenges can be basedon creating apparatus for science experi-ments.

Exploration

Probes interfaced to good software,sensors with logging electronics, imageand video analysis tools, and network

New Technologycontinued from page 1

Potentially revolutionary

technologies havenot been used to

create fundamentalimprovements in

the traditionalsequence of topics.


LINKS ON THIS PAGEU.S. Department of Education—www.ed.gov Tinker—www.concord.org/library/papers.htmlRiley—www.ed.gov/Technology/Plan/NatTechPlan/title.html

databases provide unprecedented opportu-nities for students to learn how scientistsexplore the world. A host of importantinvestigative skills such as experimentdesign, data analysis, treatment of devia-tions, data interpretation, error analysis,peer collaboration, and communication ofresults all become important and increas-ingly familiar as students have moreopportunities to experiment using net-working and technology-based tools.

Projecting the Future

Students are fascinated by their futureand the future of society. With appropri-ate software tools, learners can investigatepopulation growth, economics, resourcelimitations, planning, environmentalchanges, sustainability, and other trendsthat seem hidden given the scale of thestudents’ age and experience. Simulations,visualizations, and online gaming can givestudents an intuitive understanding ofthese issues.

Math of Change

Early experimenting with rates andflows can lead students to understand keyconcepts in calculus which are funda-mental to much of science. Students whounderstand the mathematics of change areable to intuitively comprehend far earlierideas central to most science disciplines.

Modeling

Increasingly, computer-generatedmodels frame public debates, determineinvestments, and report scientific discov-eries. Students need an understanding ofhow to use, evaluate, test, modify, and cre-ate different kinds of models.

Need for ResearchOver the next few years as learning

technologies become more widespread,the disparity between what could betaught making full use of technology andwhat is actually taught in most classrooms

will become increasingly intolerable. Theproblem is that creating new sequencesfor teaching is a massive effort thatrequires a broader research base andextensive experience.

The most important finding of thereport on educational technology by thePresident’s Committee of Advisors onScience and Technology (1997) was that,while there were many exciting andpromising examples of educational tech-nologies, there were insufficient data onwhich to base a major, multi-billion dollarnational effort. The report calls for “early-stage research aimed at developing newforms of educational software, content,and technology-enabled pedagogy.”

We desperately need research-basedresponses that are reliable enough to useas the basis for policies that may wellinfluence an entire generation of learners.One cannot experiment casually withwhat students should learn, for fear ofmissing critical concepts or underminingstudent motivation. Yet the research com-munity that has created the possibility ofvastly improved learning must undertakethis work or see its vision unrealized andthe educational potential of technologyunused.

Robert Tinker is President of The ConcordConsortium. [email protected]

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REFERENCES

Horwitz, P., & Barowy, W. (1994).Designing and Using Open-EndedSoftware to Promote ConceptualChange. Journal of Science Educa-tion and Technology.

Kaput, J. (1992). Technology andMathematics Education. In D.Grouws (ed.) A Handbook ofResearch On Mathematics Teach-ing and Learning. NY: MacMillan.

Mokros, J. & Tinker, R. (1987). Theimpact of microcomputer-basedlabs on children’s ability to inter-pret graphs. Journal of Research inScience Teaching 24(4).

President’s Committee of Advisorson Science and Technology (1997).Report to the President on the useof technology to strengthen K-12education in the United States.Washington, DC: The WhiteHouse.

Riley, R. W., Kunin, M. M., Smith,M. S., & Roberts, L. G. (1996, June29). Getting America's StudentsReady for the 21st Century: Meet-ing the Technology LiteracyChallenge — A Report to theNation on Technology and Educa-tion. Washington, DC: U.S.Department of Education.

Thornton, R.K. (1997). Learningphysics concepts in the introducto-ry course: microcomputer-basedlabs and interactive lecture demon-strations. In Wilson, J. (ed.)Conference of the IntroductoryPhysics Course. NY: Wiley & Sons.

Tinker, R. & Papert, S. (1989). Toolsfor Science Education. In Ellis, J.(ed.) Information Technology & Sci-ence Education. Columbus, OH:AETS.

Tinker, R. (1996). The whole worldin their hands. Washington, DC:U.S. Department of Education.


LINKS ON THIS PAGEINTEC—intec.concord.org Plenum Press—www.plenum.com ESF—csf.concord.org/esf

course. An effective moderator is able tocreate an environment in which partici-pants together generate understandingsthat are powerful and lasting.

VoiceOne moderating strategy described in

the Web Moderating chapter “Strategies inService of Dialogue,” is the use of voice. Amoderator can employ a variety of voicesto bring a dialogue to a deeper or morefocused level.

The moderator may wish to assume avoice appropriate to one of many rolessuch as the “teacher on Monday” (flushwith new ideas), “teacher on Friday”(enthusiasm chastened but yet hopeful), ora concerned parent from a personal per-spective.

To enhance the instructive quality ofan intervention, a skilled moderator can

use the role or character identificationvoice to introduce necessary alternate per-spectives into the dialogue withoutconcern for personal ownership or directconfrontation of participants.

A role or character identification voicemay seek to:

Introduce or validate multiple per-spectives on key issues.

Highlight or introduce, throughcharacters or tales, points that wereomitted or may need reinforcing.

Indicate levels of importance of linesof thought or concepts through nar-rative means.

Weave and integrate into the maindiscussion some ideas that may seemirrelevant but, when observedthrough another perspective, indicatevalid and focused lines of thought.

The FutureAs more schools and businesses use

netcourses to enhance course offerings orprepare employees, it is essential that pro-fessors, teachers or corporate instructorsleading such communities be trained inuseful tools for moderating online learn-ing and that they consider scaling theircourse offerings by having others, skilledat moderating, lead their courses.

There are important differencesbetween leading a course in person andmoderating an online netcourse. Recogni-tion of these differences, and the inherentopportunities of the Internet as the newmedium, taps the true potential of thenetcourse model.

Sarah Haavind is the Curriculum DesignCoordinator for the INTEC project. WebModerating will be published by PlenumPress in 1999 as part of their Innovationsin Science Education and Technology [email protected]

Online Moderatingcontinued from page 5

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it’s free! ArcVoyager is another inexpen-sive ESRI product. Before making anexpensive purchase, take a look at thefreebies.

Keep in mind that GIS is a chal-lenge. The time commitment required tobecome comfortable using it is a seriousconsideration. The ESF project will bedeveloping a more intuitive “VisualCommunity Designer” tool which incor-porates some of the capabilities of robustGIS applications.

Learning OpportunitiesGIS tools work well with a project-

based education. A student using GIS tostudy a local river can create a light green

map layer showing higher concentrationsof dissolved oxygen and a dark blue layershowing lower concentrations. Now thatthe student has entered her data andchosen a visualization scheme, she canbegin to notice trends. Is there a rela-tionship between higher concentrationsof water contaminates and neighboringroads? Add a map of the roads and findout. While many people are confused bylists of numbers or even charts andgraphs, most people could read this stu-dent’s map and understand itsenvironmental implications.

In some instances, the data a studentcreates can be valuable to local agencies.Students at Osborne High School inOsborne, Georgia, are looking at teenpregnancy and drug use in their highschool. They’re partnering with othercommunity organizations, such as the

police department, the school board, andchurches to create useful information.Students will help the police department,which has only handwritten reports, tocode the crime statistics on a map of thecommunity. This information will becorrelated with school location and othercommunity resources. As a result, thepolice will be better informed, and thestudents will have made an investment intheir community.

There are countless creative uses forGIS in the classroom. GIS is just oneexample of how information technology,when used appropriately, can help stu-dents understand complex real-worldissues.

Noah Fields is a Software Developer forthe ESF project. [email protected]

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Geographic Information Systemscontinued from page 4


In the twenty years I have been doing

research and development on the ways tech-

nology can improve education, rarely has an

idea gained acceptance as quickly as our Vir-

tual High School® (VHS) project.

By most measures — participant satis-

faction, growth, publicity, interest — VHS is

in a league by itself. Three years into a five-

year grant, we already have reached our

major milestones. We now are in the unac-

customed position of trying to satisfy more

demand than our funding anticipated.

The key to VHS success is its coopera-

tive nature, in which schools who contribute

courses can enroll students in any of the

courses offered by other schools. Because of

our organizational structure, there is no

tuition and no increase in the teaching load.

This year, 34 schools are offering 40 courses

to about 500 students in these schools. More

districts and even states want to join than we

can support with our original funding. To

respond to this interest, we have created two

options for new participants.

A limited number of schools can jointhe funded VHS project. Preference will be

given to schools that increase the diversity of

participating students. Groups of schools

can join the project, but if the group is larger

than four schools, we have to charge a fee

for our costs. This strategy will allow us to

expand to over 200 schools in the last year of

funding, with approximately 300 teachers

prepared to teach NetCourses when the

funding ends in summer 2001.

Groups can create their own VHScooperatives. Our service arm, CC Ser-

vices, is prepared, through fee-based

workshops and services, to transfer our expe-

rience, technology, administrative

knowledge, and professional development

materials to projects that want to create their

own VHS. Our dream is that our VHS pro-

ject will become only one of several sister

VHS cooperatives, all using similar tech-

nologies and structures and sharing

high-quality courses. Some of the new VHS

projects might be administered by large dis-

tricts, intermediate units, or states. In

addition, hardware vendors, associations of

schools, or educational units within other

countries might sponsor other VHS cooper-

atives. While many students would take

NetCourses within their cooperative, others

might register for unusual courses offered by

other cooperatives. Courses would be free

for most students because they would be

offered by schools in exchange for the right

to enroll their own students in other courses.

Some entrepreneurial schools might, howev-

er, charge tuition. This might serve students

who do not belong to cooperating schools or

it might be a way of coping with over-

enrollment in very popular courses.

The key to making an expanded VHS

work will be shared standards for NetCourse

design, course quality, and teacher prepara-

tion. In our first @CONCORD I made a call

for voluntary standards. More recently, we

created a NetCourse Evaluation Board rep-

resenting a broad range of educators. This

effort will culminate in a set of VHS stan-

dards that can serve as voluntary quality

standards for all online courses.

It is sometimes difficult to move educa-

tional developments from the lab into wider

use. Sometimes that’s because developments

deserve to die. Others should be turned

over to companies who have the resources

and orientation to create large-scale prod-

ucts. For VHS, however, this is not feasible.

Our plan for expanding the VHS project

on a fee basis, while simultaneously seeding

new projects, is a unique dissemination strat-

egy which we think can benefit everyone.

Robert Tinker is President of The ConcordConsortium. [email protected]

PerspectiveSharing VHS with

the Worldby Robert Tinker

More districts

and even states

want to join than

we can support

with our original

funding.

““

@

LINKS ON THIS PAGEVirtual High School—vhs.concord.org @CONCORD—www.concord.org/library/newsletter.htmlNetCourse Evaluation Board—zonorus.marlboro.edu/~augustap/vhsnews/vhsnewsindex.htm#NCEBmeeting

U.S. News & World ReportRead about Virtual High School (VHS) teacher David

Jost in the January 4, 1999, issue of U.S. News & WorldReport (page 68). Jost, a music teacher at WestboroughHigh School near Worcester, Massachusetts, was one of 18individuals profiled as part of the magazine’s “AmericanInnovators” section, which highlighted people “giving lifeand form to new thoughts.” This is Jost’s second year teach-ing “Music Appreciation and Composition” online to VHSstudents.

VHS is a Technology Challenge Grant funded by theU.S. Department of Education to The Concord Consortiumand Hudson Public Schools in 1996. It now has 500 stu-dents in 32 urban and rural high schools and 2 collegeslocated in 12 states.

Technology in Education ConferenceIf you are interested in participating in research on

technology in education, come to the conference of theCenter for Innovative Learning Technology, CILT99, April29 to May 2, 1999, in San Jose, California. The conferencecombines plenary sessions with working sessions in CILT’sthematic areas. It is an opportunity to meet with leaders inthe field of learning technologies, define agendas forfuture innovation, and forge new partnerships that may beeligible for CILT grant funding.

Computerworld Smithsonian AwardIn December the Virtual High School (VHS) was nomi-

nated for the Computerworld Smithsonian Award whichhighlights people who have “achieved outstanding progressfor society through the visionary use of information technol-ogy.” Nominees are showcased at the SmithsonianInstitution’s National Museum of American History in Wash-ington, D.C. Information about the award winners since1989 is catalogued in the Smithsonian’s PermanentResearch Collection on Information Technology, which is aprimary resource for chronicling the impact of informationtechnology on society.

Vitual High School®®“Virtual High School” is a federally registered trademark

of The Concord Consortium.

Streaming VideoVStream and The Concord Consortium have teamed up

to display the latest in video streaming by showing the 12-minute video “Opening Doors” about the U.S. Departmentof Education’s Technology Challenge Grant Northeast Clus-ter. The video will be available for web-based viewing untilthe end of March. Tell us what you think of the technologyby filling out our brief online survey.

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PHONE 978.369.4367FAX 978.371.0696

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