Abstract: LInC (http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lincon/) is an intensive full-online, partial-online or face-to-face staff development program for K-12 educators who are already connected to the Internet and want ideas and support for integrating it effectively into their existing curriculum. The program challenges teams of teachers, technology coordinators, staff developers and library staff to combine engaged learning with effective use of technology to develop powerful learning projects for and with their students. In addition, the participants, as school/district leadership teams, create a staff development plan for their school or district. Teams may also attend a facilitators' academy to learn how to team-teach a course. Our goal is to create a national cadre of educational leaders from urban, rural, and suburban districts who effectively use technology to support engaged learning. The course assists participants to: - restructure curriculum and create lessons that incorporate engaged learning and networking technologies. - gain knowledge and technical skills for educational use of networking technology. - provide inservice and leadership for others. LInC participants reported: - engaged learning instruction positively affected teachers' classroom practices. - greatly increased technical knowledge and skills. - providing technical assistance to teachers and others. After participating in LInC, many participants were involved in leadership behaviors such as - conducting inservices and workshops. - writing grants. - participating on a technology committee. - participating in efforts to improve teaching and learning in their school or district. Evaluation of the online course concluded that classroom projects were of similar quality to those produced in the face-to-face course. A. We developed LInC in response to a 1994 needs assessment with area school districts. Among the needs identified were: - assistance in the transition to a new teaching/learning paradigm. - training in computers and networking skills. - development of in-district capabilities and leadership in effectively integrating emerging technologies as a means of improving instruction and curricula. Research, such as the publications below, identified similar challenges and needs: - Teachers and Technology: Making the Connection OTA-EHR-616, U.S. Office of Technology Assessment (1995) - Plugging In: choosing and using educational technology Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski, Rasmussen (1995) - Using Technology to Support Education Reform U.S. Department of Education (1993) In addition, needs assessment attendees requested: - online resources and distance learning opportunities. We believe that the skills and strategies students need to be successful are effectively taught through technology-supported engaged learning projects. Structured so that students are responsible for their own learning, the projects are collaborative, student-driven and technology-dependent. The LInC course prepares participants to develop these types of projects for and with their students. When skillfully applied, technology enhances learning in new, powerful ways that would not be feasible without the technology. Students can use technology to communicate and collaborate with students and experts in other places, find the most recent information, and publish their work to a world-wide audience. This can facilitate student-directed work on real-world projects with authentic tasks which research has shown to improve student learning. B. The goal of LInC is to create a cadre of educational leaders who effectively use technology to support engaged learning. This includes developing leadership teams who can: - recognize, design, and implement engaged learning experiences for and with their students based on local, state, and national standards. - effectively integrate technology in these experiences to allow students to communicate, collaborate, explore, research and publish in ways that would not be feasible without the technology. - skillfully and comfortably use a broad range of Internet tools as needed to support these experiences and to collaborate and reflect on each other's work. - provide professional development and act as change agents in their school or district to disseminate what they have learned. C. As a product for the course, LInC participants have the authentic task of creating a curriculum unit on the web for use with their own students that incorporates engaged learning and effective use of technology. They also create a staff development action plan on the Web and collaborate and reflect on each other's work throughout the course. All technology used in the course is used as needed to accomplish these tasks. Technical skills are not taught out of context as an end in themselves. Technology was chosen carefully so that as many educators as possible would be able to participate with the equipment they already had. We did not require videoconferencing for this reason. We chose only functionality that allowed both Mac and PC users to participate fully. Specific requirements are listed at http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lincon/w99/announce.shtml#hw The following technology is used: - e-mail and listservs for communication with other participants, facilitators, and experts - asynchronous discussion software: "Conferencing on the Web" (COW) for reflection and asynchronous sharing - conferencing software: IRC chat for weekly two-hour class discussions about topics such as engaged learning, best use of technology, project development, technical skills, sharing and feedback on work in progress, and break-out groups as requested by participants - Web browser for accessing course materials - search engines and directories for finding project- related resources - Web page editor for creating project Web pages - file transfer software for downloading software and uploading (publishing) Web pages - online forms for rubrics and evaluation surveys - Shockwave for tutorial animations of technical skills For the full-online course, there are no face-to-face meetings, but the tools above allow for substantial interaction online. D. The U.S. Department of Energy sponsored a pilot face-to-face LInC course with a team of eight local master teachers in the 1994/95 school year. Then under an Illinois Scientific Literacy grant, we conducted five face-to-face LInC courses for 72 participants from 17 local school districts in 1995 through 1996. Following that grant, the U.S. Department of Education (through NCRTEC) supported scaling up the program. So far 120 participants from 18 states have taken LInC Online in 1997 through 1999. Offering the course in an online format has enabled us to serve a more diverse group of educators including more teams from urban and rural districts. To date, about 200 educators nationally have participated in the LInC program. The participants have included classroom teachers from all K-12 grade levels and a wide range of subjects, staff developers, curriculum coordinators, library media specialists, counselors, technology coordinators, and administrators. The participants have been: - 7% African American. - 3% Hispanic. - 1% Asian. - 89% Caucasian. - 26% Male. - 74% Female. The students served by these participants have been: - 20% at or below poverty level. - 21% low income. - 35% middle income. - 18% upper-middle income. - 6% high income. - 28% urban (14% face-to-face, 39% online). - 21% rural (1% face-to-face, 35% online). - 51% suburban (85% face-to-face, 27% online). E. Content/learning goals are to enable partipants to: Create an engaged learning project that effectively uses technology including the Internet. Apply engaged learning indicators in project design by: - identifying, with student input, an authentic, challenging, multidisciplinary project based on local, state, and/or national standards. - designing performance-based, generative, equitable, and ongoing assessments linked to the project's goal and objectives. - implementing the role of teacher as facilitator, guide, co-learner and co-investigator. - creating learning situations where students become explorers, cognitive apprentices, teachers and producers individually and in diverse groupings. Apply best use of technology indicators in project design by: - incorporating technology as a critical component; project depends upon the Internet. - providing two-way communication with mentors, experts, or other students. - accessing current data. - providing students' access to a wider audience. Identify engaged learning indicators by: - evaluating the projects of peers. - evaluating their own work. - using rubrics to self-assess, reflect upon and refine practice. Effectively use online communication to collaborate on project creation and to share and reflect on engaged learning. Use technology to support development and implementation of engaged learning projects by: - increasing proficiency in finding and evaluating relevant Internet resources. - demonstrating responsible use of the Internet. - writing Web pages using a Web editor. - incorporating and creating graphics. - understanding how to transfer files, both uploading and downloading. Create a staff development action plan for transferring the engaged learning practices, curriculum integration practices, and technical skills learned during the course. F and G. These are discussed together because LInC is a professional development program. LInC's design is based on: - National Staff Development Council's Standards for Staff Development (for example, middle level goals for context: 1; process: 2,5-10; content: 2,4-6,8,11). - Facilitating Systemic Change in Science and Mathematics Education: A Toolkit for Professional Developers, Regional Education Laboratories (1995). - Learning Networks, Linda Harasim et al. (1995). - various publications by Jamieson McKenzie, Susan Loucks-Horsley, ACOT and Judy Harris among others. - experience we gained participating in the NCISE program held for Department of Energy education managers to develop expertise in staff development programs. LInC goals were developed in collaboration with a team of master teachers who piloted a "draft" course and played a major role in adapting it and teaching the enhanced course to their colleagues. During the program's five years, 15 educators from six schools districts have participated as course instructors and on the program design team. The LInC program includes the following components: - an 80-hour course that can be taught face-to-face, online or partially online - extensive Web-based instructional materials - follow-up support as participants implement projects and offer staff development - a facilitators' academy for teams that wish to offer a LInC or similar course - extensive materials and support from instructor-mentors for teams as they conduct their first courses The LInC course is usually taught as a one-semester (14-week) course for 4.5 graduate credits. The facilitators' academy is taught as a three-day session for 1.5 graduate credits. The LInC course and facilitators' academy are designed to model the new teaching/learning paradigm and effective use of technology that we want educators to implement in their classrooms. We respond to individual learning needs of participants, facilitating their movement along the continuum from more traditional to more contemporary teaching strategies. Participants use technology to communicate and collaborate regularly with other participants and course facilitators as they complete the authentic task of creating a technology-supported engaged learning curriculum unit for use with their own students and a staff development plan for use in their district. Technology is used to research, contact experts, collaborate, and publish Web pages. After initial discussions about engaged learning and effective use of technology, the remainder of the course consists of: - participant-requested break-out groups on topics they need to make progress on their projects or staff development plans as those topics are needed. - participants' sharing their work and giving each other feedback. Course instructors assist as coaches and guides. Weekly online "office hours" are also provided. The course involves a great deal of student choice and direction. Participants choose their project topic, whether they will do a team or individual project, when they want to learn technical or other skills, which project components they will submit for feedback each week, and what types of staff development they will offer. Participants are regularly asked to question and reflect upon their teaching, course concepts and how they might apply these concepts in their teaching through either paper/pencil evaluations, e-mail journal prompts, an electronic discussion board, or online chats. All LInC course materials are published online and distributed in hard copy in the form of a 300-page Participant's Guide (http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lincon/intro_overview.shtml). H. Staff requirements include a course coordinator who administrates credit, a few hours per week LInC-specific technical support/setup (possibly by the same person) and one instructor for every 4-8 participants. The ongoing cost for the 4.5 graduate-hour LInC course is $1,000 per participant. Costs are based on a 16-participant class size team-taught by four instructors. The start-up cost for a leadership team of four is $1,000 per member per semester for four semesters ($16,000). This includes the course, follow-up, facilitator academy, and mentoring for the new instructors. Past grants have provided funding for the development of course materials and methodologies. The funding listed in section IV includes a small per-particant materials fee for keeping materials updated. The target population for the program is any team of K-12 educators with the interest, equipment and skill prerequisites at http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lincon/w99/announce.shtml#hw I. The key activities for course participants are to: - create a curriculum unit on the Web (for use with their own students) that incorporates engaged learning and effective use of technology. Non-classroom educators work on projects with a classroom teacher on their team or work on creating a technology-supported engaged learning project for adults if this is their audience. - create one staff development "action plan" as a team for their region to disseminate what they have learned in the course about technology-supported engaged learning. Communication, collaboration, reflection and feedback are also key learning activities. LInC course topics include: engaged learning, effective use of technology in education, finding and evaluating Internet information, Web authoring, graphics, project design, and assessment and classroom management for technology-supported engaged learning projects. Staff Development topics include: best practice for effective staff development, the "adult learner," discussions and reflections on staff development readings and past personal experience with staff development, staff development for technology use and engaged learning, and writing a staff development plan. In the facilitators' academy, participants work in small groups to address questions of interest, share tips on staff development, and complete materials needed to conduct a LInC course (homepage, assignment sheet, chat schedules, etc.). Activities include practice - giving course participants feedback on project ideas. - assessing projects. - facilitating online. - deciding course structure. - setting up and using online tools. Activities are described more fully on the course assignment sheet, chat schedule, and syllabus which can be reached from the Winter 1999 LInC course home page at: http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lincon/w99/index.shtml J. Participants' assessment is ongoing, and uses authentic products and multiple methodologies. Participants are assessed based on their projects, homework assignments, technical skills, staff development plans, class participation and reflections. Participants' projects are assessed based on their incorporation of engaged learning and effective technology use indicators. Rubrics are used for all major components and are available at the bottom of http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lincon/intro_products.shtml The project rubric is the major tool that guides project development. According to outside evaluation, LInC is an "effective model for Internet use, classroom instruction, and teacher training." To ensure that the content is rigorous and appropriate, staff review and update the course materials each year based on feedback and formative evaluations completed by participants, emerging resources, and extended reflection by the instructors. Participant projects, pre-LInC unit descriptions, and staff development plans are used to evaluate the program. Participants also fill out pre- and post-online forms for technical skills, classroom strategies, and leadership behaviors. An outside evaluator analyzes the information. Please see criteria 5, Appendix A, and mailed evaluation reports for more information on program evaluation. K. The keys to a successful program are: - having classroom teachers on the design and instructor teams from the start of the program. - having knowledgable, dedicated and friendly instructors. - including an embedded leadership component so dissemination is not left to chance. - "practicing what you preach" - modeling engaged learning and effective use of technology in the course itself so participants experience it first-hand. - working servers and competent technical support. - the 1:4 to 1:8 instructor-to-participant ratio. - accurately describing the program content and time committment. - selecting participants who meet prerequisites, are members of a team and have administrative support. - minimal equipment requirements. - online course can provide great diversity and allow participants to work when they are most productive while getting feedback several times per week instead of the tradional once per week. Keys to participant success in the program are: - willingness to revise work and try an approach that may be different than their usual approach. - being an active student-directed learner by asking questions, reflecting, requesting break-out groups, using materials, and sharing expertise, ideas, and feedback with colleagues. - meeting course prerequisites and having administrative support. - scheduling regular weekly blocks of time to do course work, keeping up with assignments. - working with a team. - asking students for their ideas. See http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lincon/intro_tips.shtml for "tips for success." LInC's strengths are in enabling participants to learn and apply technology-based engaged learning concepts to their own teaching by creating a Web-based unit for use with their students that incorporates these concepts. Another strength of the program is the development of teams of educators who provide leadership in their districts in the forms of staff development, technology committee participation, and grant writing. L. Sal Tamayo is a 4th-6th grade ESL teacher from West Chicago. To accomplish national standards in U.S. History, Government, and Language Arts, Sal's students are helping their relatives, friends, and other foreign citizens study for the U.S. Citizenship test. Students responded to questions e-mailed to their class from people in the U.S. and as far as Peru and Russia. To do this, the students worked in teams to research, design and publish a bilingual multimedia study guide and resource center on the Web. Students also learned and helped their parents learn the technical skills needed to access the site. They were assessed based on their portfolio of e-mail sent and received, HyperStudio cards, translations, research, and self- evaluations. Before this project, Sal's class achieved the same objectives (minus the technology-related objectives) by reading in a textbook, listening to lecture, doing review questions at the end of a chapter, discussing ideas with each other during class, creating a bulletin board display, and taking a test. Sal says "Doing this project changed my teaching . . . I have become much more concerned that we have a real task to complete that gets the students truly involved . . . the students had 90% input . . . the students boost to self-esteem came from helping their parents and relatives. Now that we get e-mail about the site they feel proud helping people from around the world with questions . . . The enthusiasm of the students was surprising. The students saw how important this site could be and really wanted to make it a quality site to help adults. They liked the idea they could help grown-ups . . . now I feel my students know they can communicate with the world and won't go back to just a bulletin board . . . the project may expand this year because people have been sending general questions about immigration and immigration is another unit we study." This project is the elementary project example in mailed supplemental materials and on the Web at: http://www-ed.fnal.gov/linc/fall96/projects/stamayo/present.html Other examples include: o How Do we Inherit Our Biological Characteristics? - Tenth grade biology students investigate the problem of inherited human disorders, as defined by the students, using a variety of tools: appropriate technology to collect and analyze data; telecomunications to gather data and for collaborative research with experts and other students; and multimedia to report and present the process and results of their research. During the project, each team is responsible for developing a plan for conducting their research and for managing their plan. o 100% Recyclable - Seventh grade students will be challenged to develop a school-wide recycling program. The challenge will be for everyone; students, teachers, administrators and especially the cafeteria and lunch program to recycle waste products. Students will form teams to investigate waste and waste management. They will also contact other schools throughout the country (via e-mail) and collect data on school recycling programs. Do they exist? How are they managed? What percentage of waste has to be hauled away? What are the costs for running such a program? The teams will be encouraged to develop a Total School Recycle Program to either internally handle waste, or to find resources that will productively utilize waste products. This will involve investigating the means of disposing or recycling all the waste generated from their school building. o Wetlands - Fifth grade students gather information and write an essay to persuade the park district not to sell a wetland area. Students will be able to identify the characteristics of wetlands, as well as the issues and problems surrounding them. The students will spend much of their time researching using a variety of sources including the Internet. The remainder of their time is spent creating their final product. o Seed Connection: Second grade students investigate the best conditions for growing plants. Students create a problem statement, develop a study plan, test their ideas and use construction technology and computer technology as tools for research, planning, recording data and communicating. Students develop an understanding of how math, science and technology are interrelated and can be used to solve real-life problems. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------