December 2006 — Features
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2006 Innovators
:: A PORTAL TO THE 21st CENTURY
Innovator: Patricia Carlson,
Rose-Hulman Institute
of Technology (IN)
Breakthrough: Online resources for educators
POWER SOURCE Carlson says
PRISM buoys Indiana’s STEM teachers.
Educators can find a wealth of online resources that improve student learning and enhance motivation. One such resource is a free, web-based hub called Portal Resources for Indiana Science and Mathematics (PRISM), which helps middle school science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers in Indiana find interactive, standards-indexed, peer-reviewed instructional resources. Developed by the Rose- Hulman Institute of Technology with financial support from the Lilly Endowment, a private philanthropic foundation, PRISM addresses two critical issues for 21st-century STEM teaching, according to Patricia Carlson, director of the project:
- The ever-widening gap between the production of quality, web-delivered instructional new media and the ability of middle school teachers to integrate these advancements into their classrooms.
- The demands placed on teachers by new reform guidelines— both state and national—that call for less dependence on textbooks, lectures, and decontextualized lab work, and greater emphasis on inquiry-based learning containing real-world contexts that use science and mathematics to solve a human problem, meet a societal need, or develop a product.
PRISM’s flagship component is a digital library boasting a collection of more than 2,300 web-delivered resources indexed to the sixth- through eighth-grade Indiana Academic Standards and cross-referenced by learning concept. Each resource is reviewed by a teacher in the field, using uniform standards. Over the years, the system has added materials based on the feedback received from classroom teachers. Additionally, the PRISM webmaster ensures that all information is current and all links unbroken.
PRISM’s newest service is a free eLearning platform powered by Moodle, an open-source product that requires no licensing fee and offers a variety of stimulating learning tools. By integrating Moodle, PRISM is able to provide its users with most of the features and functionality of other similar commercial products, such as Blackboard and WebCT (which has merged with Blackboard).
Using Moodle, PRISM allows teachers to post interactive assignments, surveys, and quizzes; accept student assignments electronically; conduct class polling; and maintain online grading and class rosters. A robust rich-text editor that handles mathematical formulas and scientific notations also allows teachers to create engaging class work and web pages. Registered members of PRISM can set up a lesson, or an entire course, by creating or importing content, establishing a roster of students, sequencing activities (including online quizzes and other forms of assessment), and enabling a peer-review feature so that students can electronically critique each other’s work. Teachers can also create virtual student teams that can work together outside the classroom.
“PRISM has become the premier website for Indiana teachers of sixth- to eighth-grade STEM,” says Carlson. “And although PRISM was designed for classroom teachers, we have been surprised by the number of home-schooling parents who are making use of our resources.”
:: BUILDING A BETTER CLASSROOM
Innovator: Terry Wynn,
Elkhart Unified School
District 218 (KS)
Breakthrough: Technology-integrated instruction
At Elkhart Unified School District 218 in Kansas, educators’ efforts to incorporate technology into their students’ education has led to the creation of a new program called Technology Rich Classrooms (TRCs). The classrooms were developed last year in an effort to enhance student abilities in reading, math, and science. Another goal was for teachers to improve their own technology skills and use those improved skills to integrate technology into other lessons.
The technology at work in these TRCs includes Apple PowerBook G4 laptops with wireless cards, TeamBoard interactive whiteboards and tablets, NEC VT670 media projectors, Microsoft Office software, and Marratech videoconferencing software and equipment.
Another beneficiary of all the new technology is the district’s 21st Century Afterschool Program. This initiative, launched in 2000, provides supervised time after school for students to study, do homework, and read. It’s geared toward students up to the sixth grade and is available every day from 3:15 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Elkhart has also advanced technology use outside the classroom. One example: Middle and high school students have taken over the local cable channel as a means to inform the community about events going on in the district. This project has enabled students to share resources with others throughout the state.
All of these innovations have benefited teachers as much as students. The TRC program provides a hired facilitator to train Elkhart teachers, and the goal is to make use of social and instructional techniques that will positively impact academic achievement and ultimately help teachers become better educators. According to Technology Director Terry Wynn, one of the district’s greatest accomplishments is making its teachers aware of the value of differentiated instruction through the varied use of technology.
Wynn says Elkhart will continue to seek out the latest technology and integrate that equipment so it can keep providing students with the means to future success. The district also plans to provide additional funding for the Elkhart Cyber School, an effort begun in 2000 to reach kids who are unable to get to the classroom. ECS was one of the first three online schools in the state of Kansas, and to date has deployed more than 150 computers—free of charge—in student homes.
