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

Capital School District

Dover, Delaware

Delaware Interactive Educational Television Consortium

The Capital School District and the State of Delaware have formed an Interactive Educational Television Consortium that is bringing unique and engaging classroom learning activities directly into the homes of schoolchildren throughout the state. Through the use of small computers ("set-tops") that connect to home televisions equipped with cable or phone modems, the consortium can provide programming that is interactive, entertaining, educational, and tailored to meet both state curriculum requirements and the individual needs of students. This program can be easily replicated in school systems throughout the country. It responds to recommendations of the National Commission on Time and Learning, fits within the framework of the Goals 2000 Act, and has a strong school-home element. The program is being piloted in five elementary schools with high percentages of disadvantaged students. As it grows into the state's 16 school districts, more than 12,500 students in grades K-6 eventually will participate. The program has four major goals:

1) Increase Student Learning Time

In response to the challenge of breaking the mold of our "factory-era schools" this project utilizes cutting-edge technology to extend learning into the home on a daily basis. This allows students to increase their learning time with instructional programs that directly address their learning styles and needs. Time typically spent passively and unproductively watching television and playing video games is replaced with active and productive learning time in which solid curricula are combined with video game interactivity to create a new learning dynamic for children.

2) Increase Parental Involvement

Family and community participation are vital components of this project. No matter how thoughtful and comprehensive a school improvement program is, the school alone cannot improve academic performance for all students. This project fosters and supports a home environment that encourages learning, provides for realistic expectations, and enhances the parent's role as the child's first and most important teacher. It also fosters improved communication between parents and teachers.

3) Provide Professional Development for Teachers and Staff

Teachers and staff receive comprehensive training for the project, and they are provided set-top computers for their homes. As the infrastructure is deployed, teachers participate in interactive staff development "on-demand," and they learn to use the system to generate personalized instructional materials for students. In addition, they can go "on-line" with their colleagues and learn, share and communicate easily with one another.

4) Provide Equitable Access to Educational Technology

Every child involved in the project and every household they represent is provided, free of charge, all equipment needed to participate fully. This program opens opportunities for universal access to high-quality instruction and helps to close the gap between the technology haves and have-nots.

Hardware and initial programming for this project have been developed by The Lightspan Partnership, Inc. of Robbinsville, New Jersey. Lightspan also provides training for faculty and parents, and ten days of consultant support for each school. Additional programming in language arts, health, social studies, science, math, parenting and other subjects is provided through contracts with a wide variety of educational publishers.

The Interactive Educational Television Consortium is an outgrowth of the Delaware Educational Technology Committee, the Delaware Goals 2000 Technology Committee, and the Capital School District Technology Committee. State partners in the consortium include the Delaware Department of Public Instruction and all school districts in Delaware with elementary student populations. Programming partners include the Lightspan Partnership, Cable in the Classroom, WHYY Public Broadcasting in Wilmington, Tom Synder Productions, the Agency for Instructional Technology, Seymour Pappert's Creative Playground, the Imagination Machine, and others. Hardware and technical support partners include Comcast Inc., TeleCommunications Incorporated (TCI), the Cable Television Association of Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, Apple Computer, and others.

In addition to the interactive telecommunications network, each elementary classroom involved in the project is being equipped with new technologies to support the education process at school. Participating classes contain three set-top computers, one teacher workstation with a large-screen monitor for instructional presentations and lesson modeling, and two set-tops serving as student workstations. Student workstations are equipped with headsets, so that students can participate in personal multi-media instruction without disturbing classmates.

Dover's Capital School District and the State of Delaware have forged a dynamic alliance of private industries, government agencies and educational institutions to extend the education process beyond the walls of the traditional classroom and place it in the hands of parents and their children.

PROJECT DIRECTOR:: Dr. William McGlumphy
Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent
Capital School District
945 Forest Street
Dover, DE 19904-3498
Telephone:: (302) 672-1521
Fax:: (302) 672-1714

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