Internet and Education

New technological possibilities outstrip the ability to research their implications for education. As the Internet reaches more and more schools and families, the possibilities for engaging with information and for interpersonal interaction increase. Beyond proving the feasibility of new learning technologies, researchers need to understand how new forms of technology can be productively embedded into larger systems of human activity (curricula, intellectual investigations, group activities, disciplinary inquiry). Design-based approaches provide for such contextualization and integration of technology in educational practice.

A number of innovations in the field of Internet-based education from a research group helped invent the general approach. Some readers may have come upon this volume hoping that it would contain simple prescriptions on how to use the Internet for learning as determined by simple either- or comparisons, the "hard research" that is so lauded by experimental traditionalists. However, as any teacher who has tried to implement a research-based innovation knows, there are no simple answers. Research is important, and the defining characteristic of research is an empirical stance, a willingness to "listen to the data" and to look for patterns that hold true across time and space.

The use of Internet materials is fundamental to WISE, and all projects make use of some content from the World Wide Web as well as additional Web pages authored for purposes of the project. In WISE activities, students learn to use the Internet productively for inquiring, critiquing Web sites, designing approaches, or comparing arguments. Each project includes a lessons plan, preassessments and postassessments, links to the National Science Education Standards, a description of the learning goals, and ideas that students will likely bring with them to the project. All student work is saved on central project servers that enable student accounts and teacher accounts to be coordinated. Technology features for teachers include classroom management tools, grading environment, and the capability to make comments that students receive the next time they log into WISE.

In a nutshell, we want to explore how internet and education communities could be bridged to support improved understanding of complex, multidisciplinary, contemporary controversies in science. To this end, SCOPE has been building educational initiatives involving diverse groups of stakeholders and science educators interested in specific controversies including the global decline in amphibian populations (with most of this work being focused on deformed frogs in North America), approaches to the treatment and control of malaria, and the risks and benefits of genetically modified food (GMF). Engagement with each of these topics has allowed us to implement and study a range of approaches with emerging network-based software environments and educational approaches that support collective knowledge networking and individual knowledge integration.

Experience conducting design studies and summarizing the results in design narratives led to improvements in the research methods. To contribute to the knowledge integration of those concerned with im proving science education, including policymakers, curriculum framework committees, and school reformers, the partnership developed compelling comparison studies to meet the needs of decision makers.

In response to user needs, new partnerships added projects in specific areas. The WISE project library currently includes over 25 projects in English and a growing number of projects in other languages including Norwegian, German, French, and Dutch. More and more spontaneous users find WISE projects on the Internet.