Digital resources
Connectivity among schools, libraries, and other education centers
means little if there is no useful content. Unlike print resources,
resources stored in digital archives offer opportunities for students
and teachers to mold and even create content and to express understanding
of content in multiple formats. Honey and Hawkins
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describe the potential of digital archives to achieve four goals:
- provide information any time in any place
- provide multimedia information in a variety of visual and aural formats
- allow students and teachers to personalize or customize how
they access and represent information
- radically enhance collaborative activities by reducing the barriers
of geography, organizational hierarchy, and time
They further describe three key design principles for digital archives.
They suggest that the publishing industry is dominated by a mindset
that discourages inventiveness in students and teachers and makes
products that are "teacher proof." Digital content, however, allows
experimentation in selection, format, and presentation. Teachers
can use these resources in ways that make sense to them. This concept
of teacher ownership is the first important design principle
proposed by the authors.
In order to increase student engagement, the second design
principle, designers of digital archives must consider the cognitive,
social, and emotional stages of development of the potential users.
The authors suggest that the students and teachers themselves are
the best sources for assessing these developmental levels. Finally,
to make the best use of digital resources, teachers and students
need to be able to build personalized approaches to searching
and organizing archived materials. Indexing schemes that work well
for a scientist or researcher may not be useful in a classroom.
On the Horizon
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KTS
The Knowledge Transaction System (KTS) is designed
to facilitate project management and staff communications
through a Web-based interface. It captures data for
reporting purposes, and for extraction of procedural
knowledge. The modules in the system help to track
resources (human and material) for budgeting, schedule
staff time, and maintain client relationships by tracking
vital contact information. Since the system is Web-based,
off-site personnel can easily participate in projects
and easily communicate with project members, and staff
making site visits can easily log in to check the
progress of their project and report results.
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