Kaye Howe from the National Science Digital Library described what they’ve learned about dissemonation of educational innovation.
- Must consider the user that we’re “after”, who is the user?
- Kaye gave examples of a number of teachers that are teaching in a wide variety of challenging conditions
- New teacher, with a long term substitute position in a low income school district, teaching 3 sections of integrated science, one of earth science, one of chemistry; needs suggestions for hands on activities for chemistry/integrated science (students have had 7 teachers in the last year) that are “easy” and “low budget” that we can attempt.
- NSDL is working with Project Tomorrow in California who has data on schools that is helping them understand the environment of teachers and students in K-12.
- Make a connection with people that “need us”.
- Content is no longer a scarcity…but, just “dumping more and more materials on a teacher is not helpful”.
- So, for K-12 materials need to be aligned to state standards, and curated.
- Understand the circumstances under which the teacher teaches, and the contexts in which learning takes place.
- She asks us to understand which CCLI materials, in what context and what levels of granularity are useful to higher education faculty and K-12 teachers, the users that will be using the materials. We need to adjust what we do understanding who and where the users are.
- NSDL has evolved from a digital library to educational services
- Has worked with already established trusted networks
- NSDL uses Pathways who are stewards of disciplinary or level based communities.
- Networks of networks.
- 27 universities, 38 professional societies 28 education organizations, 9 research organizations, 2 public television stations.