Information Technology in Science Instruction

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Information Technology in Science Instruction

• ITSI Teacher Training
• Welcome!

http//itsi.concord.org
ITSI material is based upon work supported by the
National Science Foundation under Grant No.
ESI-0624718
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The Concord Consortium

• Realizing the educational potential of
  information technologies
• Not-for-profit
• Educational research and development
• Focus Educational Technology
• Funding grants

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The Concord Consortium

• Modeling Tools
• Enabling students to interact with the
  unobservable
• Online Learning
• Democratizing education with anytime, anywhere
  learning
• Probeware
• Developing new tools for data collection and
  analysis
• Handhelds
• Moving closer to the promise of ubiquitous
  computing
• Sustainable Development
• Confronting global issues with decision-making
  tools
• Assessment Research
• Improving methods for measuring deep learning in
  science

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ITEST
Information Technology Experiences for Students
and Teachers (ITEST) was established by the
National Science Foundation in direct response
to the concern about shortages of information
technology workers in the United States
ITEST Learning Resource Center http//www2.edc.org
/itestlrc/
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ITEST Funding
H-1B is a non-immigrant visa category
Allows American companies and universities to
seek temporary help from skilled foreigners who
have the equivalent US Bachelors Degree education
H-1B employees are employed temporarily in a job
category that is considered by the US
Citizenship Immigration Services to be a
"specialty occupation
Microsoft,IBM,Oracle Corporation, Cisco, Intel,
QualComm, Yahoo, Hewlett Packard, and Google
5,000/year for 65,000 not including non-profit
universities
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ITEST Projects
Youth-based projects offer year-round IT
enrichment experiences for middle and high
school students. Comprehensive projects are for
students and teachers that provide teacher
professional development in IT concepts, skills,
applications, and pedagogical strategies that
promote investigation and inquiry.
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Why Promote IT Careers?

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a
• 48 percent increase in jobs for computer
  software
• engineers and a 55 percent growth in jobs for
• network system and data communications analysts
  
• from 2004 to 2014.
• The share of incoming undergraduates planning
• to major in computer science dropped 70 percent
  
• from 2000 to 2005. IT enrollments continue to
• decline in the United States as programs are
  dismantled.
• http//www.cisco.com/web/learning/netacad/career_c
  onnection/promoteIT/index.html

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Fastest Growing Occupations (2004-2014)
This file represents Table 2, Fastest growing
occupations, 2004-14, in "Occupational employment
projections to 2014," published in the November
2005 Monthly Labor Review. http//www.bls.gov/emp
/emptab21.htm
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IT Careers

• What opportunities are available?
• Software
• Hardware
• Education and Research
• Support
• Computer assisted
• http//www.discoverit.org/phpwcms.php?doarticles
  open1071

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IT Careers
Software Technical Writer Software
Designer Multimedia Programmer Applications
Programmer Technical Architect Systems
Programmer Systems Analyst Art Director, Game
Design
Hardware Computer Engineer Systems
Analysis Systems Administrator Capacity and
Performance Analyst
Support Project Manager Quality Assurance
Specialist Data Network Designer Director,
Management of Information Systems
(MIS) Auditor Computer Operator Consultant Databas
e Analyst Database Administrator Help Desk
Representative Security Analyst Training Manager
Education Research Robotics Aerospace Biotechn
ology Environmental Studies Agriculture Medicine A
rtificial Intelligence Virtual Reality
Computer assisted Computer Animation Business
Analyst Public Relations Medical Research,
Diagnostics, Treatment Music Recording and
Production Statistics Graphic Design Architecture
Crime Detection Desktop and Web
Publishing Interior Design Landscape
Design Libraries or Archival Collections Manufactu
ring
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Learn About IT Careers
Students take an online quiz and learn about
careers in science and math. http//ww
w.thefunworks.org/ (developed at EDC and funded
by NSF)
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Why ITSI?
There is a recognized need to increase the
number and diversity of students entering
careers in the information technologies
This problem is national in scale and is
particularly acute in urban and rural
communities serving low- income minorities
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Teacher Professional Development
126 hours of lab-based, credit-bearing
activities for 90 teachers Full support
for classroom implementation, using models
and sensors
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ITSI Sites
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ITSI Sites
Boston, MA - 58,600 students
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ITSI Sites
Plymouth, MA - 9,500 students
93 of students are white
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ITSI Sites
Olathe, Kansas - 25,000 students
Third largest school district in Kansas 90
percentile graduation rate 83 of students are
white
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ITSI Sites
Desert Sands, California -27,100 students
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Subject Areas
1. Earth Science 2. Life Science 3.
Physical Science 4. Biology 5. Chemistry 6.
Physics
Middle School
High School
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Inquiry throughModels and Probes
Models Computer models can simulate situations
that are hard to see (molecular motion) or hard
to understand (complex systems). They allow
students to study and manipulate phenomena that
are otherwise inaccessible. Students can also
modify the models and experiment with different
rules and starting conditions. They learn
programming and technology skills and science
content at the same time. Probes Using sensors
attached to real-time graphs, students can do
real experiments and take vivid and compelling
measurements. This encourages active engagement
in science and exploration of the natural world.
Students also learn the technology underlying the
sensors and how they collect and display
information.
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Inquiry throughModels and Probes
Models Molecular Workbench NetLogo Physics
Education Technology (PhET) Seismic Eruption
Modeling Across the Curriculum (MAC) Probes
LabPro (interface) ITSI Probe Kit
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Information Technology in Science Instruction

• ITSI Teacher Training
• Bob Tinker (bob_at_cocnord.org)
• Scott Cytacki (scott_at_concord.org)
• Carolyn Staudt (carolyn_at_concord.org)
• External Evaluator - Sig Abeles
  (siga9738_at_sbcglobal.net )

http//itsi.concord.org
ITSI material is based upon work supported by the
National Science Foundation under Grant No.
ESI-0624718