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In June 1997, more than 30 Federal agencies formed a working group to make hundreds of federally supported education resources available on what is now the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) website.
Several agencies asked what funding might be available for developing additional resources. "Your agency's funding" was the answer, until we learned about the Government Information Technology Services Board (GITSB) Innovation Fund. The GITSB Innovation Fund offered a way to stimulate development of new web-based educational content and communities. It encouraged federal agencies to work with teachers in developing the content and communities. It also provided a chance to learn what ingredients seem essential to such efforts.
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Between May 1998 and September 2000, more than 340 teachers participated in the work of 10 Department of Education Consortium for Education Teams. The 10 teams representing five agencies developed more than 100 learning activities, lessons, and units. Funding was provided by the Government Information Technology Services Board under the IT Innovation Fund
As part of the proposal submitted the Government Information Technology Services Board in 1997, the consortium for Education promised to:
- Create a website that would make it easier for Americans to locate learning resources scattered among hundreds of federal websites
- Support federal agencies partnering with teachers to develop and improve online learning units and learning communities built around agency resources
- Capture and share lessons learned from these partnerships about what it takes for a federal agency (or other organization) to partner with teachers to develop Internet-based learning resources and communities
This website presents the lessons learned from the 10 teams.
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