[YL] ITEST Newsletter, Fall 2005 - 1st issue!

[Wendy Rivenburgh]

 ITEST LRC Newsletter, Issue 1<http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/newsletter/img/logo.gif> 	
The entire newsletter is accessible online at http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/newsletter/issue1.htm 
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IN THIS ISSUE
 Feature Story: Robotics 
 Spotlight: Technology at the Crossroads
 ITEST Projects' Success Stories
 Events
 TA/Collaboration Activities
 News & Resources From and For the Field


Dear Reader:

Welcome to the first newsletter in our series, designed to share the exciting work of teachers and students participating in ITEST (Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) projects across the United States. ITEST is a program of the National Science Foundation. Participating educators and young people work hand in hand with scientists and engineers on extended research projects that carry them beyond the classroom, using technology to explore topics ranging from biotechnology to environmental resource management. In this issue, we spotlight the work of five ITEST projects, highlight upcoming presentations and publications, and link to valuable resources in the field. Please join us for our upcoming online panel on "Success Strategies for Engaging Girls and Women in STEM" <http://www2.edc.org/itestlrc/webcastSep21st.htm>  on September 21, 2005 @ 2pm ET. 

Sincerely Yours,
Siobhan Bredin
Project Director - NSF ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC 
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ITEST LRC ~ 55 Chapel Street, Newton, MA 02458 ~ www.edc.org/itestlrc ~ itestinfo at edc.org 
 	
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Engaging Girls in Robotics using Assistive Technology Projects 
How can you entice girls to spend a week of their summer making robots and building STEM skills? This is the question that the Robotics project staff asked themselves in the spring as they planned their summer activities. 

Having done this work for four years, they knew that the Lego kits lend themselves to vehicles. "But," noted Angel dos Santos of the Robotics ITEST project, "when you make cars, you're losing kids, especially girls. And we wanted something that held universal appeal." 

View the Entire Feature Story <http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/newsletter/issue1.htm#feature>  
Spotlight on 
Strategies for Engaging Girls 

"To have a real impression and have an effect, our research shows that engaging the emotions is critical for successful learning," says Claudia Morrell of the ESTEEM ITEST project... 

View the Entire Story <http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/newsletter/issue1.htm#spotlight>  
	
  	
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LRC staff had the opportunity to visit the Technology at the Crossroads ITEST project - hosted at Simmons College in Boston - this summer. A partnership between the Girls Get Connected Collaborative and Simmons, the three-week summer camp was for middle school students from the Boston Public Schools. These students worked in small groups with science teachers to conduct environmental research for use by the City of Boston Parks Department, which is working with the Urban Ecology Institute to count the number of street trees in Boston. 
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Students in the Technology at the Crossroads program participated in the Greater Boston Urban Forest Inventory in collaboration with the Urban Ecology Institute. 
Students accessed, measured and recorded various descriptors about each tree using ArcGIS in Boston's Fenway area, which will be compiled into a central database, to aid in the maintenance of Boston's Urban Forest. 
"At the beginning of the week, the students told us that they thought all trees were the same and by the end of the three-week camp, the students could identify 25 tree species," commented Dr. Deborah Muscella, Principal Investigator of the project. They utilized a variety of technologies in their investigations, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS) and HTML programming. "We were amazed at how quickly the students caught onto using the various technologies," Dr. Richard Gurney, Co-PI for the project and an Assistant Chemistry Professor at Simmons, told us. Each team was led by a science teacher from one of the schools, who will continue to work with the students throughout the school year.

When LRC staff visited on just the third day of the summer program, it was clear that the young people were already learning and applying so much - about trees, about online and library research, about using GPS technology to report findings on trees that will actually be used by the City of Boston Parks Department, and about working collaboratively as a member of a team. We observed students posing questions, making observations, collecting, and analyzing and interpreting data. We saw each team planning their work in the lab, then going out into the Fens park nextdoor to the college filled with enthusiasm about applying and expanding their new knowledge. 
http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/itestprojects/
Crossroad_ma.htm <http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/itestprojects/Crossroad_ma.htm>  



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>From the ESITA team~ 
>From the USCT team~ 
The Environmental Science Information Technology Activities (ESITA) program provides inner-city students, grades 9-10, with extra-curricular, academically rigorous activities in environmental education. The activities are field-based experiences using sophisticated information technologies. This project is based in Oakland, Richmond, and Sacramento, California. 

Preliminary analysis of evaluation data indicates that participating students' understandings of the role that IT plays in the generation of scientific knowledge, as well as the nature of science in general are positively impacted through participation in the program. For example, data generated through the use of pre-post-participation surveys indicates significant changes in students' responses to statements such as, "science will give me a better understanding about worldwide problems" and "science helps me to work with others to find answers."
http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/itestprojects/
esita_ca.htm <http://www2.edc.org/itestlrc/itestprojects/esita_ca.htm>  



The ITEST project, Understanding the Science Connected to Technology (USCT), targets information technology experiences in a comprehensive training program and professional support system for students and teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This project is based in Fargo, North Dakota.

Some of our students are displaying data using box/whisker plotting (fairly specialized data graphing) as part of their River Watch data interpretation and reporting. Also, we just completed a two-day Arc 9 training for our school teams, and we have a couple teens (first time users) who surpass most adults with their new Arc View skills.

One ITEST school will be piloting this school year a dual credit option in environmental science centering around our river watch and NSF activities. The students will receive both high school credit and college credit thanks to the leadership of faculty consultant, Dr. Dan Svedarsky from the University of Minnesota-Crookston Campus.
http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/itestprojects/
USCT_nd.htm <http://www2.edc.org/itestlrc/itestprojects/USCT_nd.htm>  
 	
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ITEST events

We look forward to welcoming the new Cohort 3 ITEST projects in October!
As with the current projects, these range in location from Hawaii to the Bronx and in content area from understanding the acoustic behaviors of whales and dolphins to investigating how the physics of light and the technology of solid-state electronics meet in devices. 

SAVE THE DATE: 3rd Annual ITEST Summit
February 7-9, 2006 in Washington, DC
Details coming soon 
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Conferences 
Upcoming: 
Recent: 
Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC)
October 15-18, 2005 - Richmond, VA 
ITEST Session Sunday, October 16 2:15-3:30: Student-Focused Learning in STEM and IT: The ITEST Experience 
Session leader: Dan Calvert, Co-Principal Investigator/Program Coordinator, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Bend. 
Presenters: Lucinda Sanders, IMMEX Fayette Consortium; Patricia Cogley, Youthlink; Alisha Sparks, ESTEEM; Bonnie Styles, MuseumTech; Siobhan Bredin, LRC 

American Evaluation Association (AEA)
October 26-29, 2005 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Session Leader: Leslie Goodyear, LRC
Presenters: Gerald Knezek, DAMSALS²; Helen Cagampang, Marine Biotech; Shannan McNair, DAPCEP

Visit the ITEST LRC News & Events page for more information about conferences and ITEST-related activities.
http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/
ITESTNews&Events.htm <http://www2.edc.org/itestlrc/ITESTNews&Events.htm> 


Alliance for Technology Access Institute 2005
July 28, 2005 - Seekonk, MA
Presenter: Tony Streit

ISTE National Educational Computing Conference (NECC)
ITEST Poster Sessions
June 29, 2005 - Philadelphia, PA
Presenters: Siobhan Bredin & Joyce Malyn-Smith, LRC; Mike Haney, National Science Foundation; Alisha Sparks & Mark Terranova, ESTEEM; Lucinda Sanders, IMMEX Fayette Consortium; Michele Masucci, BITs

International Women & ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Symposium 
June 13-15, 2005 - Baltimore, MD
(Hosted by Center for Women & Technology at UMBC, PIs of the ESTEEM ITEST project) 
Presenters: Siobhan Bredin & Sarita Nair 







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Upcoming: 
Recent: 
Success Strategies for Engaging Girls and Women in STEM 
[September 21, 2005, 2pm EST]
The purpose of the event will be to hear the latest in both research and practice on the topic and share what ITEST projects (especially those with a specific focus on working with girls and women) are doing to address some of the obstacles and stereotypes around the engagement and achievement of women in STEM, and IT specifically. The online audience will include ITEST projects, equity and STEM researchers, STEM industry professionals, educators of all levels, legislators, and the media. To join this webcast, please contact itestinfo at edc.org. 


Marketing & Publicity 
[IdeaBrief, Volume 3, October 2005]
This purpose of this event is to help projects continue or start thinking about how to share their work with others. Project staff will have the opportunity to discuss marketing strategies and reflect on what works, and what doesn't work; what's unique about this project; who are the target audiences; what message needs to be communicated; and what are the goals to be achieved? 


Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Participants 
[IdeaBrief, Volume 4, October 2005]
ITEST projects engage an amazing diversity of students and teachers across the country. There are projects working with Native American students in the rural Pacific Northwest and Alaska, others offering successful programming to urban African American students, Latino students, and their families, and still others recruiting students from low-income areas of the Midwest. What can projects learn from each other about recruiting and retaining diverse participants? The LRC will produce an IdeaBrief publication summarizing ITEST projects' strategies, including forging creative community partnerships, for reaching and serving their audiences. 

For more information about the ITEST LRC TA/Collaboration materials, visit the Publications page of our website.
http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/
publications.htm <http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/publications.htm>  








 
Accessibility: Creating Inclusive Learning Environments 
[IdeaBrief, Volume 2, August 2005]
"An inclusive program is one that welcomes and accommodates everybody... Access is a continuum. There is no such thing as an accessibility seal of approval that you get if you make a specified list of improvements to your facility and program. It's a way of thinking, an attitude - an approach to decision making that uses accessibility and inclusion as a filter."
http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/Materials/
IdeaBriefv2_Accessibility.pdf <http://www2.edc.org/itestlrc/Materials/IdeaBriefv2_Accessibility.pdf>  


New Skills, New Experiences - The Future of Learning: Highlights of the ITEST 2005 Symposium 
"'You don't have to teach people intellectual curiosity - you have to keep it from being beaten out of them,' Dr. Kaye Howe asserted. She posited that a reawakening needs to take place that would embrace the profound importance of personally motivated learners. For her, 'the emphasis on informal learning is critical.'"
http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/Materials/
Symposium05.pdf <http://www2.edc.org/itestlrc/Materials/Symposium05.pdf>  


Evaluation Peer Exchange 
Again, for the second year, ITEST project staff and evaluators participated in a lively online exchange of evaluation instruments and resources. Leslie Goodyear, ITEST LRC core team member, facilitated this exchange and is currently developing a reference table that will document the various aspects of this work (i.e., changes in attitude toward IT) that ITEST projects are seeking to measure. For a growing collection of evaluation resources, visit the ITEST LRC Resource Library:
http://itestlrc.edc.org/SPT--BrowseResources
.php?ParentId=181 <http://itestlrc.edc.org/SPT--BrowseResources.php?ParentId=181>  


>From the archives: 


Active Learning in the Information Age: Integrating IT Skill Development into STEM Curricula 
[Information Brief, Volume 1, July 2004]
"Educators develop curricula that facilitates the discovery of key academic principles in the students' environment and community so that learning is truly relevant and contextual. With STEM learning rooted in student inquiry, technology tools can be harnessed to further exploration, experimentation, and communication."
http://www.edc.org/itestlrc/Materials/
ITEST_InfoBrief.pdf <http://www2.edc.org/itestlrc/Materials/ITEST_InfoBrief.pdf>  



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Report Mixed on Participation of Under-represented Groups in STEM Workforce 
The Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE) recently released a report that recognized the National Science Foundation's leadership role in increasing the participation of under-represented groups, such as women, minorities, and people with disabilities, in the STEM fields. However, this report, Broadening Participation in America's Science and Engineering Workforce, recommends that certain steps (i.e., additional research into barriers) should be taken to further promote participation among these groups.
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp
?cntn_id=104307&org=NSF&from=news <http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104307&org=NSF&from=news> 


Summit Focuses on Improving STEM Literacy 
A meeting in February 2005 convened leaders from education, business, and government to "explore strategies for integrating engineering and technology methods into America's classrooms," according to ORAU, a university consortium and co-sponsor of the event. In anticipation of a shortage of scientific workers, the Strategies for Engineering Education K-16 (SEEK-16) Summit was designed to challenge stakeholders to identify concrete steps that educators can take to promote literacy in the STEM fields.
http://www.orau.org/partners/
apr05/oraunews/seek16.htm <http://www.orau.org/partners/apr05/oraunews/seek16.htm>  


Catalogs of Science/Technology Websites for Women and Girls 
This annotated list of women-related websites in science/technology, and the linked inventory of websites for girls (not limited to science/technology topics), is a unique, rich online resource for research and exploration of women's participation, leadership, and achievements in the STEM fields. It was compiled by Professor Joan Korenman, founding director of UMBC's Center for Women & Information Technology, which is a partner in the ESTEEM ITEST project.
http://research.umbc.edu/~korenman/
wmst/links_sci.html <http://research.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/links_sci.html>  

The FunWorks... for Careers you Never Knew Existed 
The FunWorks is a one-of-a-kind digital library of STEM career exploration resources developed for and by youth ages 11-15. Over 300 young people participated in every stage of the design and launch of the site, which was developed by the Gender, Diversities & Technology Institute at Education Development Center and funded by the National Science Foundation. The FunWorks provides highly interactive, 'real world' STEM experiences and uses children's current interests and passions (e.g., music, sports) to help them explore exciting, future STEM careers.
http://www.thefunworks.org 

 <http://www.thefunworks.org> 

For more information on diversity/equity, IT career interest, recruitment and retention, etc., please see the ITEST LRC Resource Library.
http://itestlrc.edc.org/SPT--About.php 


About ITEST 

The Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program was established by the National Science Foundation in direct response to the concern about shortages of IT workers in the United States. The ITEST program funds projects that provide opportunities for both school-age children and teachers to build the skills and knowledge needed to advance their study and to enable them to function and contribute in a technologically rich society. The ITEST National Learning Resource Center at EDC supports, synthesizes, and disseminates the program's learnings to a wide audience. 
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© 2005 ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC
This newsletter is published by the ITEST Learning Resource Center, a project at Education Development Center, Inc. <http://www.edc.org> , under contract #0323098 from the National Science Foundation. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position of the National Science Foundation <http://www.nsf.gov> , and no official endorsement should be inferred. Upon request, this publication is available in alternate formats to provide access to people with disabilities; please contact itestinfo at edc.org. 
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