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Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report with Recommendations (2003)

Chapter: 1. Workshop on Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials

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Suggested Citation:"1. Workshop on Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials." National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. 2003. Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report with Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10768.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Workshop on Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials." National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. 2003. Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report with Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10768.
×
Page 8
Suggested Citation:"1. Workshop on Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials." National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. 2003. Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report with Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10768.
×
Page 9
Suggested Citation:"1. Workshop on Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials." National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. 2003. Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report with Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10768.
×
Page 10
Suggested Citation:"1. Workshop on Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials." National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. 2003. Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report with Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10768.
×
Page 11
Suggested Citation:"1. Workshop on Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials." National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. 2003. Information Technology (IT)-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report with Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10768.
×
Page 12

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H_-, _ _ ~ an ~ gL ~ _ _ _ Erg HIP_ ~ A AL 1iB am _ ~ . ~ _ ar ~ ~ at, ~ SIB ~ 1 ~~ _, ~ ~ ~ ~ or qk at ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ _ _ ~ ~ ~ _ ~ F ~ __ _ In the last half-century, we have witnessed the birth and development of a new era the information age. The era was ushered in by massive machines that could process simple mathematical operations that have evolved into a global network of technologies that can receive, process, share, and transmit information for a variety of purposes. Information technology (IT), the primary vehicle of the information ~ age, touches the lives of almost every person. TT has transformed the modern workplace, is essential to the basic mechanisms of the world economy, is pervasive ~ in the development of new knowledge and wealth, and >~ With each 3 technological advance, the potential of TT to transform our lives further becomes even greater. has launched an entirely new vernacular. TT has also dramatically influenced our capacity to educate. TT tools are increasingly being used to automate administrative systems in secondary and higher education and to manage and assess courses. TT has made distance learning and asynchronous education possible by eliminating co-location requirements during the learning process. TT has also been used to link communities of practice, libraries, and databases, providing access to voluminous amounts of information that can be used by students to enhance their studies and by educators to construct teaching modules and texts. Most significantly, TT has led to tremendous advances in computing, simulation, and visualization improving the teaching of advanced mathematics and facilitating visual representations of complex concepts and principles. Despite the obvious benefits of using TT, the application of TT in education has been disorganized and uneven. Pockets of innovation in localized environments are thriving but the promise of open access, greatly enhanced teaching and learning, and large-scale use has not been realized. 07 — ~ 7

8 IT-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report The purpose of this National Academy of Engineering (NAE) initiative is to realize the potential of TT-transformed science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education as tart of a vibrant, adaptive, educational enterprise. An TT-transformed educational environment has potential benefits for many disciplines, including engineering, the physical sciences, social sciences, liberal arts, and humanities. However, the focus of this report is on postsecondary STEM education. At the request of the KavIi Institute, NAE established the Committee on Achieving Compatibility in TT-Based Educational Materials to plan and implement a workshop on achieving broad compatibility among TT-based educational materials. Tt was hoped that the workshop would lead to a plan for the creation of a scalable framework and infrastructure that would encourage synergy, enable interoperability, and facilitate the dissemination of TT-enabled educational resources. , ~ , Based on the discussions at the workshop and their own experiences, the committee has developed a bold vision for an TT-transformed educational environment and has recommended a plan for moving toward a realization of that vision. NAE sponsored a workshop to discuss the development of a plan to achieve interoperabilibr for TT-enabled learning resources. The meeting was intended to provide opportunities for collaboration and networking and to facilitate discussions on the requirements for, benefits of, and challenges to achieving broad compatibility and transferability of existing and future TT-based educational materials in engineering and other STEM disciplines. The workshop had three goals: I. Describe factors that could impede the reuse and sharing of IT-enabled learning materials. a. Describe the environment (technical, organizational, and cultural) necessary for the effective sharing of e-learning components. 3. Identify strategies for realizing that environment and recommend high-priority activities.

Workshop on IT-Based Educational Materials As a framework for discussion, the workshop was organized around four categories that affect the reuse, repurposing, and sharing of TT-enabled learning materials: architecture; technology and tools; content and pedagogy; and organizational, cultural, and legal issues. With these categories in mind, the committee generated an agenda and framing questions to guide workshop activities. - · - - The framing 9 Categories that adert the (~§85 `8P0`P05~0g' and sharing ct Iearn~ng mater'als. ARCHITECTURE TECHNOLOGY & TOOLS CONTENT ~ PEDIG0GY & LEGAL ISSULS lwenty-e~ght experts and leaders were ~nv~tecl to participate. questions for each category are presented below. Architecture. The workshop addressed several questions in this area. What are the critical elements of an enabling architecture that can develop and distribute educational resources? How should learning objects be modeled and data be structured to achieve dynamic content? How can we ensure that content can be personalized and adapted to users' needs and that authorship can be traced and attributed? Can learner profiles be used to adapt resources to individual styles of learning? How can assessment data be incorporated to provide for continuous improvement? How can we ensure security, interoperability, scalability, and maintainability? Will the separation of content, display, and navigational functions make it easier to share resources? Technology and To4~IsO In this area, the workshop focused on the impact of: (~) emerging horizontal standards (e.g., XME, XSET, OWL, and the semantic Web) and vertical standards (e.g., TMS, MathME, and ChemML) for TT-enabled learning and (2) the management of rapid changes in technology/tools. How might we migrate from an environment based on (proprietary) legacy tools to a standards-based environment that promotes interoperable systems? What are the requirements for the development/authoring of tools that would enable rapid protolyping, ease of maintenance, content adaptation, and collaborative development? Content and Pedagogy. How can objectives-driven and outcomes-based learning strategies be integrated into TT-enabled learning resources? How can TT-enabled learning resources facilitate the adoption of and improve the effectiveness of modern learning strategies, such as active, cooperative, and problem-based learning? How can TT-enabled learning resources be structured and documented to maximize the "sharability," reuse, and repurposing of the materials?

10 IT-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report Organ~zaltiona31, Cultural, and I~egalL ~S$ues4 . ~ __________7 organizational, and legal constraints that would limit the development of reusable, sharable learning objects? How can teachers and organizations that develop TT-enabled learning resources for open, unrestricted environments be rewarded? How can mutually beneficial online communities of learners and teachers be created? How can appropriate learning units (and outcomes) be defined and embedded to guide users in a variety of learning environments? Do network environments enhance or impede assessment? How can synergy, discourse, and exchange conducive to building a sustainable commons of quality educational resources be promoted? What are the preferred roles of different sectors (education, industry, government), and how should they interact? What are the cultural. RESULTS Twenty-eight distinguished leaders in the development, use, and application of TT-based educational materials for STEM education participated in the workshop, which was held in Washington, D.C., on November 8, coon. The workshop agenda and roster can be found in Appendixes A and B. respectively. The workshop was onenec! with a statement of the charge to the participants. _ O ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1 1 0 P;ack~round presentations in each of the four categories tarch~tecture; technology and tools; content and pedagogy; and cultural, organizational, and legal issues) followed. Each presentation was followed by open discussion to get a sense of the group's response to the issues raised. During the afternoon session, participants were divided into small groups to discuss specific concerns in each category and to suggest action plans to address those concerns. Summaries of these breakout sessions can be found in Appendix C. In the final plenary discussion, reports of the breakout sessions were reviewed, and participants attempted to come to a consensus. Several of the important, often overlapping themes that emerged from the discussion are summarized below: Building on existing programs and increasing collaboration will be critical to the long-term success of TT-based education. Building on successful efforts (e.g., the Creative Commons) should be a priority.

Workshop on IT-Based Educational Materials 11 A "national" strategy ~11 be important for allocating resources to maximum effect. Workshops or other types of meetings would provide a mechanism for continuing the conversations begun during this workshop. A national laboratory to facilitate the testing and sharing of TT-enabled educational materials would provide momentum and an operating framework for future development and would facilitate pilot programs and test-beds for data collection and analysis. A lead organization or "governing" entity will be important to the development of a unified community and to encourage change. Reforming cultural norms in STEM education will be critical. Reforms could include addressing facula resistance to educational reform; skepticism about the efficacy of educational reform; reducing faculty resistance to the adoption of TT-based tools for teaching and learning; encouraging faculty to place a higher value on sharing, team orientation, and educational contributions. In general, workshop participants agreed that the widespread use of TT-based educational materials will require holistic approaches. The committee further synthesized the discussion and developed a plan to move forward. ~ . ~ O ~ O The steering committee met the following day to review the discussion and develop succinct statements of the themes that emerged at the workshop. Taking each of the workshop goals as a separate charge and pulling together suggestions and concerns raised during the workshop, the committee outlined a vision for an TT-transformed educational environment and recommended first steps toward achieving that vision. The remainder of the report is organized around three general categories that are closely related to (but not identical to) the four discussion categories. The three categories are: technology and tools infrastructure; content and pedagogy; and human, cultural, and organizational issues. The holistic nature of the strategies are reflected in the discussions and in the final recommendations.

learning materials: architecture; technology and tools; content and pedagogy; and organizational, cultural, and legal issues. With these categories in mind, the committee generated an agenda and framing questions to guide workshop activities. Twenly-eight experts and leaders were invited to participate. The framing questions for each category are presented below. Architecture. The workshop addressed several questions in this area. What are the critical elements of an enabling architecture that can develop and distribute educational resources? How should learning objects be modeled and data be structured to achieve dynamic content? How can we ensure that content can be personalized and adapted to users' needs and that authorship can be traced and attributed? Can learner profiles be used to adapt resources to individual styles of learning? How can assessment data be incorporated to provide for continuous improvement? How can we ensure security, interoperability, scalability, and maintainability? Will the separation of content, display, and navigational functions make it easier to share resources? Technology and Tools. In this area, the workshop focused on the impact of: (1) emerging horizontal standards (e.g., XME, XSET, OWL, and the semantic Web) and vertical standards (e.g., TMS, MathME, and ChemML) for IT-enabled learning and (2) the management of rapid changes in technology/tools. How might we migrate from an environment based on (proprietary) legacy tools to a standards-based environment that promotes interoperable systems? What are the requirements for the development/authoring of tools that would enable rapid prototyping, ease of maintenance, content adaptation, and collaborative development? Content and Pedagogy. How can objectives-driven and outcomes-based learning strategies be integrated into TT-enabled learning resources? How can IT-enabled learning resources facilitate the adoption of and improve the 12

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In the last half-century, we have witnessed the birth and development of a new era: the information age. Information Technology (IT), the primary vehicle of the information age, has transformed the modern workplace and is pervasive in the development of new knowledge and wealth. IT has also dramatically influenced our capacity to educate. Yet, the application of IT in education has been disorganized and uneven. Pockets of innovation in localized environments are thriving, but the promise of open access, greatly enhanced teaching and learning, and large-scale use has not been realized.

IT-Based Educational Materials: Workshop Report with Recommendations identifies critical components that support the development and use of IT-based educational materials. The report points to three high priority action areas that would produce a transitional strategy from our fragmented environment to an IT-transformed future in engineering education--Build Community; Create Organizational Enablers; and Coordinate Action. The report outlines six recommendations, including a call to establish a national laboratory to carry out evidenced-based investigations and other activities to insure interoperability and effective teaching and learning. The report stresses the need to pursue open architectures and to engage multidisciplinary researchers, including social scientists and others who address the transformation of faculty cultures. The report also discusses the need to engage users and developers of the IT-products in activities that are driven by student learning outcomes.

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