Creating a National Cadre of Webwatchers

National Science Teaching Association, Arlington VA

Investigators

Abstract

9911807 MOHLING This project builds the professional infrastructure needed to identify and organize web links that augment science instruction. The NSTA SciLINKS program provides standards-based links keyed to textbooks. Educators are the key to identifying those links, and this project establishes that core group of educators and the protocols, and it assesses the effectiveness and usefulness of such online materials. It also ensures that the sites are consistent with the NSES and that there is open access for all science teachers, parents and other stakeholders. Forty teachers participate in the first summer, thirty are added the second, and twenty more the final summer. They develop the coding process that identifies high quality web-based materials and they engage in professional development on how web resources can be correlated to the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks. In addition, the project provides an interactive web site to share information and to develop and distribute a Guidebook for Web Assessment. Extensive evaluation is included to determine the usefulness of the sites. Online monitoring is done of registered users, and sessions at national conferences are used for dissemination and to provide feedback to the developers. Two layers of advisory groups guide the efforts.