The Link Between Information Technology Research and Education, Teaching and Learning; Menlo Park, CA; March 4-7, 2002

Sri International, Menlo Park CA

Investigators

Abstract

EIA 0211008 Sabelli, Nora SRI International Title: The Link Between Information Technology Research and Education, Teaching and Learning The principal investigator (PI) of this proposal is seeking support for an event in early March 2002 that is a combination of a principal investigator's meeting for ITR awardees and a workshop for senior researchers and young investigators in learning technologies. The purpose of the event is to reflect upon the experiences, culture, and community of research in the learning technologies to develop ideas that would inform a CISE-focused learning technology initiative in FY 2002. Conversations with and observations of many recent ITR, CRLT, LIS, and KDI awardees have revealed that there is a kind of tacit knowledge involved in building communities of researchers and practitioners in the emerging learning technology field. Often, such tacit knowledge becomes apparent as a project matures and thus its study and capture may be unjustified at the time of proposal submission. Since learning technology has such strong practical threads, tacit knowledge gained from theory building and research should inform practice to reduce the time required for research and theories to find their way into real-world learning environments. There is reason to believe that the event as proposed will offer a much needed venue to discuss this tacit knowledge and the role CISE should have in expanding research and practice in learning technology. Collaboration, reflection and introspection, diversity of stakeholders, and long-term sustainability are some of the topics expected to be explored within the contexts of simulation, visualization, and modeling; distance and online learning; embedding learning assessment and analyzing learner data; cultural, cognitive, and social dynamics; and virtual laboratories and remote instrumentation. I strongly recommend that the proposal be funded the level of $125,000.