Virtual Education Space

Massachusetts Department of Education

Malden, MA
 

Introduction/Overview
Organizational Change
Budget & Finance
Professional Development
Technology Infrastructure
Outcomes
Evaluation
Contact Information
 

Introduction/Overview

The Massachusetts Department of Education’s Virtual Education Space (VES) creates a new vision of the way in which teaching and learning is delivered. That vision is fully endorsed and supported by Commissioner David Driscoll. VES offers a set of free Web-based applications, resources, and tools for public school students, teachers, and administrators across the state. Through a secure portal, these tools support the pre-K–12 community by enabling collaboration among school districts, sharing of standards-based curriculum resources, and data gathering and analysis to improve teaching and learning. A VES team under the Massachusetts Department of Education administers the system.

VES consolidates relevant tools and information into one statewide teaching and learning environment. Here are some examples of the tools available through VES:

· The Virtual Hard Drive offers shared and personal file storage for educators and students.

· Discussion Forums provide for online communication and collaboration among educators and students.

· The Technology Self-Assessment Tool (TSAT) assesses teachers' technology proficiency and professional development needs.

· The Teaching and Learning Resources (TLR) tool enables searches for resources relevant for classroom learning. More than 30,000 lesson plans can be found in TLR.

· CLASP (Curriculum Library Alignment and Library Sharing Project) offers a convenient way to document district curriculum guidelines and classroom lesson units.

Organizational Change

The Massachusetts Department of Education is providing this set of free Web-based applications and resources to all students, teachers, and administrators. It is:

· Secure, private, password-protected, and easy to access.

· Accessible from school, home, or any location with an Internet connection.

· Equivalent to providing a high-capacity computer for every educator and student in the state.

· Compatible with all computer platforms.

· Customizable for districts, schools, and classrooms.

By 2003, more than 95% of Massachusetts' classrooms were connected. More than half of Massachusetts schools reported that they helped students in locating places in the community where they could access the Internet outside the school day. Hence, Massachusetts' schools were ready to make use of a system like VES to share resources, ideas, and best practices.

However, in order for students and educators to use VES effectively and appropriately, they need to be proficient in using technology. The Massachusetts Department of Education established the Massachusetts Recommended pre-K–12 Instructional Standards (http://www.doe.mass.edu/edtech/standards/itstand.pdf) to provide guidelines to schools on what students should be able to do in order to use technology for learning. To guide educators, the department has also developed the Technology Self-Assessment Tool (TSAT) (http://www.doe.mass.edu/edtech/standards/sa_tool.html). This online interactive tool helps teacher understand what type of professional development they need in order to use technology, including VES, in the classroom.

Budget & Finance

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts provided the initial funding to develop VES. The Massachusetts Department of Education provides ongoing maintenance and training/professional development for the system.

Through the federal Technology Literacy Challenge Funds (TLCF) and Title IID Funds of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the Massachusetts Department of Education has provided grants to schools to develop models for using the tools in VES to improve students’ learning.

Professional Development

The department provides rich professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators to learn how to use VES. The department provides regional training sessions and online courses. It partners directly with districts to provide customized professional development for teachers, administrators, and students. These training sessions are conducted after school at locations around the state. Last year (2003–2004), 44 training sessions were offered. This year (200–42005), another series of regional training opportunities are being offered, including:

· Introduction to VES.

· Using VES to Share Resources and Online Discussions with a Workgroup.

· VES Administration.

· NCLB Title IID Grant Recipient Training in Using VES.

· Content Institutes Provider Training in Using VES.

· Online VES Summer School 2005.

In addition, the use of VES has been integrated into professional development institutes focusing on curriculum content. In the summers of 2003 and 2004, a number of department-sponsored content institutes used VES discussion forums to facilitate interaction among the participants. Local school districts have also incorporated the discussion forums into some of their professional development offerings.

Technology Infrastructure

The minimum computer specifications required to access VES include:

Operating System:

· MS Windows 98/NT/2000/XP.

· MacOS 8.6/9.x/10.x.

· Solaris or Linux (with compatible browser) .

Web Browser:

· Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5+.

· Apple's Safari.

· Netscape 4.7 + (7.x preferred).

Internet Connection:

· Minimum 56kbps modem.

· Cable/DSL/LAN preferred.

VES Account:

· All users must obtain a VES account, which is free to Massachusetts educators and students.

Outcomes

As of April 2004, 88% of districts had teachers with accounts on VES. The department will continue using the NCLB Title IID funds to showcase ways that students and teachers are using VES to improve teaching and learning. Here are some examples of how VES is being used in Massachusetts schools:

· Project WEAVES (Writing with Educational Applications in Virtual Education Space):

Plymouth Public Schools is beginning to offer online courses using VES in its middle school. With the support of a NCLB Title IID grant, Plymouth Public Schools is providing professional development to teachers to enhance their technology competency, provide quality standards-based curricula, and learn effective online teaching strategies. High school teachers who have successfully taught courses online are serving as mentors for other middle and high school teachers. Writing across the curriculum is the theme for Project WEAVES' multidisciplinary program. Since VES is free, the school district will be able to continue offering online courses for its teachers and students.

· Catch Up Through Technology (CUTT):

Through this project, study teams from Beverly Public Schools and North Central Charter Essential School are working together to explore and test software and other instructional materials to help struggling students. VES provides them discussion forums to share what they have learned. The two districts are developing and testing materials so that they can share the information with teachers who will use them to unlock the intelligence and unleash the potential of their most vulnerable students.

· Individual Teachers' Use of VES:

A teacher at Springfield's High School of Science & Technology took advantage of VES while on an extended sick leave. She was able to conduct her classes without leaving her home by using the Discussion Forums to communicate with students. She also used the Virtual Hard Drive as a shared space where students could retrieve their assignments, study guides, and reading materials. Other teachers, from the Tyngsborough Middle School, used the Discussion Forums to share their ideas about science concepts and science articles they had read.

Evaluation

There are several critical elements for the success of VES:

· The system and tools must be reliable, available, and accessible to all students and educators.

· The system must be sufficiently maintained and up-to-date.

· There needs to be full partnership between the department and users across the state to use the tools appropriately for student improvement.

· There needs to be continued support from the federal E-Rate Program to help schools connect to the Internet.

· There needs to be support from the federal No Child Left Behind Title IID funds to help schools develop models for using VES tools for teaching and learning.

In 2000, Commissioner David Driscoll addressed the Web-based Education Commission headed by Senator Kerry and Congressman Isakson. Here are some of his insights regarding VES:

“VES is not about replacing the teacher through “distance learning,” it is designed to extend face-to-face instruction during the school day with a virtual environment at any time of the day or night. With one click this remarkable tool facilitates curriculum alignment; assessment; and easy access to high-quality, targeted, education content and provides integrated communication and collaboration tools.”

“Our goal is to have the software and technology of VES fade into the background for users. Users will come to see VES as the place they go for their curriculum design, assignments, assessment, portfolio of work, access to education content, and integrated communication and collaboration tools.”

“Ultimately, VES is not about software development and training, it is about providing tools that change the way we educate kids. VES is about teachers, students, and parents working together to raise student achievement, individualize instruction, and empower students to be more in control of their education.”

Contact Information

Jeffrey St. Germain
JstGermain@doe.mass.edu
781-338-3015