Ciber@prendiz: Introduction and Background

Introduction

Introduction
Objectives
Partners
Contact Info.

Ciber@prendiz: Aplicaciones de la Internet para el Aprendizaje Educativo (AIAE) is a curriculum and technology based teacher professional development pilot project sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) (ATN/SF-7576-RG). This project focuses on preparing educators and administrators from Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Perú in the use of "Unique and Compelling" educational applications of the Internet in their classrooms and the integration of these resources into their existing local curricula.

From March, 2002 to October 2003, 36 science and math teachers from six schools (six per school) and six principals participated in three intensive week-long training sessions in the use of specific Internet-based educational applications totaling over 120 hours of professional development and each teacher completed an additional 360 hours of classroom implementation impacting a total of 6,000+ students (See Activities).

Through the use of these Internet-based educational applications, students learned how to use technology to apply real world learning to solve authentic problems (see Student Projects). In each of the countries, many students who had never touched a computer before actively participated in robust online collaborative projects by, for example, testing water quality and then comparing their results with other students from around the world. Students also accessed and downloaded real-time earthquake data directly from the Internet to investigate plate tectonics and used live-web cams and satellite images to study weather phenomena from around the world (see Photos and Videos).

In addition to these activities, teachers and students participated in local and regional conferences and presented their work to other schools and local government officials, parent groups made significant contributions, and meetings were held with high-level government officials including ministers of education and a former president as well as the current vice-president of Ecuador. Currently, new initiatives are being planned in all three countries.

Objectives

To successfully implement a demonstration project in three countries involving teams of teachers that will result in increased student engagement, motivation, and achievement in science, mathematics, and other subjects, through the meaningful and effective use of technology.
To establish the foundations and create the infrastructure and partnerships necessary for a larger-scale teacher training and systemic reform program that can have widespread and long-term impact on science and mathematics achievement, teacher content knowledge, use of innovative instructional strategies, and effective use of technology in the classroom.
To adapt four Internet-based Unique and Compelling educational projects developed by the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at Stevens Institute of Technology and corresponding curriculum and training resources and methodologies so that they are linguistically and culturally appropriate for implementation and meet the curricular standards in Costa Rica, Perú, and Ecuador.
To demonstrate the value of Internet-based resources to:
To initiate and support ongoing cooperation and collaboration among teachers from public and private schools.
To foster ongoing cooperation and collaboration between K12 educators and faculty from local universities and Latin American scientific and research institutions.

Partners & Responsibilities

The following is a brief description of each of the Ciber@prendiz project partners and the role of each partner within the project. For additional information, click on the name of any partner to be directed to that organization's web site.

The Internet-based applications and corresponding pedagogical methodologies that form the foundation of the project are based on the experience and materials developed by the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology located in Hoboken, NJ and were presented in collaboration with Miami Dade College (MDC) located in Miami, FL. CIESE in partnership with MDCC provided and adapted the curriculum materials so that they are linguistically and culturally appropriate for implementation in the participating countries, conducted intensive hands-on teacher training sessions, and assisted the teachers by way of ongoing local and electronic support.

To coordinate and support the implementation of the project on a national level, promote sustainability, and create the foundation necessary for a larger-scale program, strategic partnerships were established with the following universities and institutions in each of the participating countries: the Fundación Omar Dengo (FOD) in San José, Costa Rica, the Centro de Tecnologías de Información (CTI), a department of the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and the Universidad San Pablo (USP) in Lima, Perú. The FOD also served as the overall managing agency for Ciber@prendiz and assisted in the adaptation of the curriculum materials.

The Center for Children & Technology (CCT), a division of the Education Development Center (EDC), based in New York, NY, serves as the external evaluator, and Schools Online, a non-profit public benefit 501(c)3 organization based in San José, California provided each classroom with desktop computers and other equipment such as printers, digital cameras, etc. Additionally, each of the participating schools contributed their respective Internet connectivity costs and other incidentals such as security bars for the classroom.

Contact Information

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Edward A. Friedman, Director
Center for Innovation in Engineering & Science Education
Stevens Institute of Technology
Castle Point on Hudson, Hoboken, NJ 07030
Phone: (201) 216-5188 Fax: (201) 216-8069
E-mail: friedman@stevens.edu