Network-Based Education Projects
Presidential Panel on Educational Technology
Report to the President on the Use of Technology to Strengthen
K-12 Education in the United States.
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Blackstock Junior High (Oxnard, California)
This school has ten "smart classrooms," including one in which students can
use computer-aided design (CAD) software to describe products that are the
fabricated using a computer-controlled flexible manufacturing system.
Higher test scores and improvements in comprehension, motivation, and
attitude have been reported for the predominantly Hispanic student body.
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Carrolton City School District (Carrolton, Georgia)
Computer technology is used in this school district as part of a novel
program that has succeeded in reducing the dropout rate from 19 percent to 5
percent, and the failure rate in ninth grade algebra from 38 percent to 3
percent.
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Carter Lawrence School (Nashville, Tennessee)
Students in selected classrooms within this Nashville middle school used
technology in various ways as part of a program called Schools for Thought,
which is based largely on constructivist principles. Sixth-grade SFT
participants scored higher on a number of components of Tennessee's mandated
standardized achievement test than students in matched comparison
classrooms, and demonstrated substantially stronger critical thinking skills
in complex performance assessments involving high-level reading and writing
tasks. Absenteeism and student withdrawal rates were also dramatically
lower among SFT students.
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Christopher Columbus Middle School (Union City, New Jersey)
Perhaps the most widely publicized example of the successful application of
educational technology, this inner-city school in Union City implemented a
reform program that (along with other important changes) provided all
seventh-grade students and teachers with access to computers and the
Internet, both at school and at home. The performance of its 91 percent
Hispanoic student population, the majority economically disadvantaged,
improved from significantly below to somewhat above the statewide average in
reading, language arts, and math.
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Clear View Elementary Charter School (Chula Vista, California)
A restructureing program involving the use of advanced technology resulted
in an increase in standardized achievement test scores from the lowest 10
percent to the highest 20 percent.
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East Bakersfield High School (Bakersfield, California)
A school-to-work program at this school has made extensive use of technology
to provide its 60 percent Hispanic student body (including many students
having very limited English proficiency) with the skills required for any of
five different career tracks, resulting in increased graduation and job
placement rates.
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Northbrook Middle School (Houston, Texas)
Interdisciplinary teams use computing and networking resources to teach
critical thinking and problem-solving skills to this student population,
which consists primarily of the children of migrant workers, 76 percent of
whom are economically disadvantaged. Highly significant increases in test
scores have been reported.
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Ralph Bunche School (Harlem, New York)
Information technology has been used for collaborative work and
project-oriented learning by 120 randomly-selected students in this
elementary school, which serves primarily low-income black and Hispanic
residents of Central Harlem. These students outperformed a control group
by ten percentage points in mathematics on New York City standardized exams.
Progress has also been rreported on problem-solving skills.
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Taylorsville Elementary School (Taylorsville, Indiana)
Self-paced individualized learning is the central focus of this suburban
school, whose students are drawn largely from lower middle-class white
families. Technology is used to support project work conducted by teams
that include students of a mixture of different ages. Internet access and
sophisticated information retrieval tools are used to support self-directed
inquiries. While the program is relatively young, some improvement has
been reported in test scores, along with a significant increase in student
interest and enthusiasm for learning.
Educational Technology Projects
- The Buddy System
Promoting learning at home through technology, Corporation for
Educational Technology, Indiana.
- COVIS
Learning through collaborative visualization, Northwestern.
- CSILE
Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environment, a network
system to provide accross-the curriculum support for collaborative
learning and inquiry, Toronto.
- EduTech
Institute
Promoting the use of key technologies to support education, Georgia Tech.
- Home Net
A study of what compels ordinary citizens to log onto the Internet
when access is removed as a determining factor, Carnegie Mellon.
- Learning
Technology Center
A multidisciplinary group of 70 researchers applying technology to
education in the areas of mathematics, science, social studies, and
literacy, Vanderbilt University.
- LiNC
Learning in Networked Communities, with
pointers
to related literature, Virginia Tech.
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Schools for Thought
An integrated technology-based approach to learning, Vanderbilt
University.
- University of Michigan Digital
Libraries Project
Focussing on teaching and learning in earth and space sciences for
grades 6-12. Note also the links to other digital libraries including
the Reading Room of the Internet Public
Library, which has 4000 books in its collection.
- Union City Online
A massive technology program to reverse abysmal performance in an urban
school system. In September 1993, computers were supplied at school and
at the homes of all 135 7th-grade students and their teachers at the
Christopher Columbus School.