A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Challenge Grants for Techonology In Education - FY95

Montpelier School District

Montpelier, Vermont

The WEB Project

The WEB Project, subtitled "Creating a WEB of Evidence of Student Performance in Nonverbal Inquiry and Expression," is a consortium of state agencies, private industries, and educational institutions that are utilizing new technologies to effect systemic reform in school systems throughout Vermont. The project utilizes multimedia telecommunication 1) as an educational environment for student inquiry and expression, 2) as a medium for presenting and evaluating student work, and 3) as a virtual faculty room for fostering professional discussions about standards of excellence in education. The focus of the WEB Project is the arts, humanities and the social sciences. More than 200 students are participating in the first year, and within five years the program will expand to involve over 2,000 students throughout the state. This program fits within the framework of the Goals 2000 Act, promotes professional development, contains strong evaluation and dissemination components and is designed to merge with the overall state education reform initiative. The program has three major elements:

1) Cooperating School Districts

In three pilot Vermont school districts, the WEB Project is demonstrating the connections between educational standards, curriculum, instruction and assessment. Each school district is provided five "computer suites" for use in central locations within schools. Students use these high performance computers to digitize text, graphics, and full motion video files for use by other students in a variety of educational projects. The program enables classes to:

Focus on the articulation of K-12 standards of performance
Prepare students to create multimedia presentations and electronic portfolios to demonstrate learning
Digitize images of student performances as benchmarks of standards, and publish the images on the World Wide WEB (WWW) for assessment and feedback
Increase student understanding of the roles of technology and its application
Introduce or upgrade multimedia authoring technology and provide training in its use

2) Professional Organizations

With the cooperation of the Vermont Arts Assessment Project and the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education, the WEB Project is providing educational standards-based training to teachers who represent school systems across the state. These teachers receive computers and video cameras that are used to digitize educational materials for review, and they learn to assess student work according to the Vermont Arts Assessment standards. Their training and expertise are shared with other teachers in their districts.

3) Action Researchers

The WEB Project trains instructors to utilize multimedia in teaching dance, music composition, multimedia authoring, and other skills. Training is conducted by "action researchers," stationed at "action research sites" throughout the state. Action researchers provide technical support for the WEB Project, keep journals of student activities, and digitize performance information.

Through the WEB Project, students use technology to build on their knowledge and skills, and they are provided opportunities to practice what they have learned. They come into contact with a wide range of adults in teaching and mentoring roles, particularly working artists, writers, composers, videographers, dancers, historians and others. They expand peer relationships through sharing work and reflecting on the work of others. They learn to evaluate their own work based on objective standards of quality. They learn specific skills related to using telecommunication and multimedia, designing World Wide WEB (WWW) pages, presenting their work via telecommunication, writing, problem solving, and making valuable connections between art, humanities, sciences and social sciences.

Through the WEB Project, teachers are provided numerous opportunities for professional development. Local schools release teachers for professional training, and provide time and resources needed to take advantage of the local capacities being built by the program. A core group of teachers in each participating school is given time every day to support project activities. Statewide partners include WEB Project schools in summer institute plans, follow-up activities and networking support.

The IBM corporation is working closely with the state of Vermont to support its educational reform initiative. Each of the WEB Project schools is receiving educational technology funding from IBM, as well as technical assistance in developing record-keeping software that may be marketed nationwide. The Vermont Institute for Science, Mathematics and Technology (VISMT), through a National Science Foundation grant, is helping to coordinate WEB Project activities with other education reform projects in the state, and conducting statewide professional development programs to promote the use of technology in education.

Through the use of technology, the WEB Project is helping to renew the teaching of arts and humanities, promoting systemic education reform, and encouraging professional growth in school systems throughout the state of Vermont.

Consortium Partners

Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union
IBM
Montpelier School System
Proctor Junior-Senior High School
Vermont Arts Assessment Project
Vermont Institute for Science, Mathematics, and Technology (VISMT)

PROJECT DIRECTOR:: David Gibson
Montpelier School District
58 Barre St.
Montpelier, VT 05602
Telephone:: (802) 223-6366
Fax:: (802) 223-9227
E-mail:: dgibson@together.net
PROJECT DIRECTOR:: Fern Tavalin
RD 4, Box 1378
Putney, VT 05346
Telephone:: (802) 387-4277
E-Mail:: tavalin@sover.net

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[Southeast Education Service Center]