IBM Global Education. IBM Learning Village: Connecting students, teachers, parents and communities

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1 IBM Global Education IBM Learning Village: Connecting students, teachers, parents and communities

2 As schools across the globe search for new and better ways to prepare a new generation of students for the challenges of the new century, they are confirming that technology is critical to providing anytime, any place learning. These institutions are also turning to today s new tools to deepen the involvement of parents, teachers and communities alike. IBM Learning Village TM, a key component of IBM e-business solutions for schools, helps provide powerful instructional tools and a rich communications environment for school communities everywhere, around the world. Designed to leverage Internet technologies and e-business applications, IBM Learning Village is today enriching the educational experience for participants in school systems large and small. Learning in a connected world Today, classrooms traditional four walls are giving way to networks of laptops, personal computers and handheld devices that connect teachers, students and parents alike to a new world of expanded learning. Students are learning both inside and outside the classroom with access to far-flung resources no single school or district could otherwise afford. Students are also gaining the technological skills necessary to succeed in a professional world swept by pervasive computing. IBM Learning Village is designed to be a highly flexible, Web-based framework that utilizes Lotus Domino TM Internet application tools to strengthen instruction and the ties between school, home and community. Easy to install and use, IBM Learning Village can be applied across both IBM and non-ibm platforms, helping to protect investments in people and systems. Based on specific requirements and objectives, school districts can choose to use individual modules of IBM Learning Village or take advantage of the entire portfolio even add their own Java TM -based applications. With IBM Learning Village, educators are able to: Work in a collaborative environment that facilitates communication among administrators, parents, teachers, students, mentors and citizens involved with K-12 schools Create standards-based activities, lessons and learning units correlated to mandated curriculum that can be used by Web-enabled students and teachers at any time, from anywhere they have Web access.

3 Since I already use technology in my classroom, this helps me use my time more efficiently when planning units, lessons and activities for my students. I am able to score my students work and collect more complete information to use during my parent conferences. I also like searching for units created by others so I don t have to reinvent the wheel all the time. Linda Kennedy, 5 th Grade Teacher Willow Oaks Elementary, Memphis City Schools IBM Learning Village, which contains no advertising or marketing materials for IBM or any other company, grew out of the IBM Reinventing Education grant program, which provides schools around the world with IBM funding, consulting expertise and technologies to help confront and resolve some of today s toughest educational challenges. First introduced as Wired for Learning, the program was initiated in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina school system, and is continually enhanced based on results from IBM engagements. IBM Learning Village: Solutions for the real world Researchers at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center created IBM Learning Village using results from IBM Reinventing Education grant sites. Consequently, IBM Learning Village reflects the needs of real school districts and the experience of real teachers. In addition to addressing teaching and learning requirements, IBM Learning Village takes into account two other fundamental issues: Assessing student achievement Accounting to parents and the community for continued investments in technology

4 Instructional Planner: What sets IBM Learning Village apart The heart of IBM Learning Village is its unique, function-rich Instructional Planner, designed to elevate creative instruction, enhance communication and collaboration, and drive acrossthe-board student achievement. Using Instructional Planner, teachers can: Create Web-enabled, standards-based lesson plans that can be combined with overall unit plans Integrate detailed activity plans into lesson plans that can be directly linked to resources on the Web Develop and implement an assessment strategy for a particular unit, lesson or activity Create standards-based rubrics for scoring more easily, using samples of students work as benchmarks Help assess student performance via analytical or holistic rubrics, including practice scoring, scoring of student work and reports of student progress Collaborate with other teachers on lesson plans within the school or district, and within like or diverse subjects and grade levels Help develop best of breed instruction plans for inclusion in a readily accessible best-practices database.

5 The Team Project application module has allowed my role of a teacher to become a facilitator of resources and information. Students take more of an active role in their education and motivation has increased. I believe that the Team Projects application will only be a bigger and better part of my curriculum and classroom instruction in the coming years. Frank Mandera, 4th Grade Teacher Olson Park Elementary School Harlem Consolidated School District, Illinois IBM Learning Village application modules can be implemented, enhanced or changed, depending on a school district s needs at any given time. IBM consultants work with you throughout the entire implementation no matter the implementation method providing guidance and advice for your specific needs. Plus, with IBM Learning Village, you choose when and where to deploy applications. IBM can help you establish priorities, then help develop and manage the detailed rollout project. IBM Learning Village can be implemented in one of two ways via Domino TM server residing within the district or hosted at IBM or an IBM-selected partner site. By implementing at the district level, you can maintain control of the IT environment. Hosting offsite provides the convenience of not having to make additional demands on your IT infrastructure significant when one considers the potential challenge of acquiring skilled IT resources. Other standard IBM Learning Village modules include: Home Page Designer Events at School Registration and Directory Talk at School Teacher s Lounge Private Conferences Team Projects Strategies In a closed-loop process that uses feedback from schools detailing their IBM Learning Village experiences, IBM researchers focus on what works and what doesn t. We can then use this data to develop new modules and make enhancements to existing ones. For example, the capabilities for using analytical or holistic rubrics to assess student performance and create a database of best teaching practices are being added for the school year. Increasing parental involvement The pervasive computing environment that is today enabling businesses to achieve new levels of success has another side. Employees who are parents are working longer hours and may find that they have less time to become directly involved with their children s schools. The community outreach features of IBM Learning Village can enable parents with the click of a mouse to participate in private, secure conversations with their child s teacher at a time that is most convenient for them. They can stay abreast of homework assignments, class calendars, study tips, learning resources and other information that lets them know what s going on in the classroom rather than being on the receiving end of diluted information often carried home by the student. Research shows that parental and community involvement can have a positive effect on student learning by improving attendance, raising student performance and improving attitudes and behavior. Plus, it s a fact that teachers can take greater pride in their profession when parents better understand and become a part of daily teaching and learning activities.

6 IBM: World-class solutions for schools around the globe The IBM Learning Village solution can be employed separately, or combined with other offerings from the broad portfolio of IBM e-business solutions for schools. Applications, which include selected non-ibm solutions, can be integrated into the IBM Learning Village framework and launched directly from the desktop: IBM Insight at School (a K-12 data warehouse solution) CyberSTAR TM (online assessment) ACTNow! TM (online teacher training) Virtual Schooling (creation and delivery of online classes) ThinkPad at School (student and teacher laptop programs) Schools and districts around the world know and have taught us that it takes a lot more than Internet access to change the way students learn, teachers teach and administrators manage. It takes a strong commitment to student achievement and educational quality, along with powerful tools and ideas, to make this pledge a reality. IBM has shared this commitment for decades. Along with our IBM e-business solutions for schools, we offer the services of world-class IBM consultants who can help you maximize the use of technology in the classroom. For more information To find out more about how you can put IBM Learning Village and other IBM e-business solutions for schools to work for you, please call your local IBM representative, or visit: ibm.com/solutions/education/ learningvillage.

7 IBM Learning Village Applications Instructional Planner Home Page Designer Events at School Registration and Directory Team Projects Talk at School Teacher s Lounge Private Conference Strategies Online lesson planning tools that link instruction and assessment to district, state or national standards Allows teachers to easily create and maintain Web pages, without knowledge of HTML Calendar of school and/or district events Enables users to register for access to IBM Learning Village, with all the privileges of user type (teacher, parent, mentor, etc.) Virtual project rooms for student collaboration on online assignments Threaded discussion areas for online forums Staff-only online forum for exchange of information among teachers Private, secure online communications among parents, teachers and students Contains best-practices teaching techniques and strategies that can be used to address academic, behavioral, health and other issues associated with learning Services Planning Support Server Configuration and Installation Training Joint planning session with IBM consultants to help determine your specific needs and build a plan to meet those specific requirements Assistance helps provide answers to technical questions and code fixes, plus hints and tips for using IBM Learning Village Setup and guidance from IBM Consulting and Services team help you to configure IBM Learning Village for your community Systems administration training, plus hands-on, onsite training for teachers and school staff to build Internet skills and teach functions of IBM Learning Village. Train-the-trainer sessions are also provided to equip teachers and school staff for educating other teachers, students, parents and members of the community at large.

8 Copyright IBM Corporation 2000 IBM Global Industries 1133 Westchester Avenue White Plains, NY U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America 8-00 All Rights Reserved IBM, IBM Learning Village, ThinkPad and the e-business logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Java and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both. Lotus and Domino are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. CyberSTAR and ACTNow! are trademarks or registered trademarks of Virtual Learning Technologies, Inc. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. References in this publication to IBM products and services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates. G