The
Education Connection Project
Content
Content Activities, Teacher Collaboration, Classroom Presentation Facilities, Family Outreach
Can we offer sustainable content & professional development to teachers and academic support to families?
Approach: Without weekly, if not daily assignments, the computers in these homes may never be used and accepted by the families. The WHYY Education Connection Project utlizes standards-based content developed by the Unviersity of Delaware Mathematics and Science Educational Resource Center in order to ensure that students are using their computers and Internet access on a regular basis. But as mentioned before, democracy only works when the citizentry is both literate and connected. To this end, the project must address the needs of the families and their role in a participatory democracy.
Although the Education Connection project ultimately seeks to find ways of adapting both the teacher's methodology and the curriculum content to home and school based technologies, the Education connection Project is also preparing Math and Science activities to make the adjustment easier. These 8 activities are designed for 5th and 6th grade students who have computer and Internet access in the home and in their school. They are also designed to assist the teachers in getting used to the environment of teachers where every student has a computer and Internet access at home. In addition, the Education Connection will be developing its own experimental content in collaboration with the Delaware Law Related Education Center and the State of Delaware as part of a student summit last year.
Partners: Math and Science Educational Resource Center, The Electric Schoolhouse, The Delaware Law Related Education Center, The University of Delaware Internship Program.
Suggestions & Questions: Most of the responsibility of the development of content will rest with your organization. You are the expert in what you do. The trick is to adapt your content to use of the Web, Email and the computer. This is a relatively low cost task, but it is significant none-the-less. Consider partnering with a University or even WHYY depending on the project. The cost of content includes content development, teacher training, family outreach and classroom equipment. It is predicted to be about $100 per computer delivered when large numbers of computers are involved.
Page last updated on 08/13/00
Send comments to the Education Connection Project Director, Jay Cohen
