"EnergyNet: Learning from Year One" Table of Contents Introduction/Objectives of the Study Significance Theoretical Underpinnings Design and Procedures Findings Recommendations References

Recommendations

1. TERC ­ and any technology partner in a similar project ­ needs to be more involved and present in the early stages of a project, including planning and running institutes. A holistic, collaborative approach between the partners has greater potential for making technical aspects more accessible for teachers.
   
   
2. Teachers should be recruited from the bottom-up; recruiting through principals is not sufficient.
   
   
3. Although the EnergyNet staff tried to recruit pairs of teachers from different schools this worked in few cases. A higher percentage of paired teachers should increase each teacher's available support.
   
   
4. Having technical support staff present at the institute should help teachers become more comfortable with the software.
   
   
5. Many teachers have an initial hesitancy to contact technical support personnel. Building a reason for teachers to contact tech support into the orientation to the project may make it easier and more natural for teachers to ask for help when it is needed later in the program.
   
   
6. The institute should be highly hands-on and teachers should experience every computer transaction they will use on-line. Some teachers believed that once mail was placed in the out box it was sent, not understanding that separate commands were required. Consequently their mail piled up. Because some teachers may not be computer literate, and because the EnergyNet project introduces them to several new experiences at once, a follow-up weekend workshop for teachers a month after the start of the program might prove valuable. This would allow teachers to ask questions that have emerged in the first month, share war stories, and learn some of the things they were unable to assimilate the first time around.
   
   
7. Offering a menu of activities during the institute would enable both the more and less experienced users to find what they need. Consider including a panel discussion or separate presentations from teachers who implemented EnergyNet projects this year. Teachers usually appreciate hearing from their peers.
   
   
8. A pre-institute workshop for those teachers with no prior computer experience might benefit the program.
   
   
9. Teachers should leave the institute with realistic, doable implementation plans in hand so that when they begin teaching they know how EnergyNet will fit into their curriculums.
   
   
10. Since content coverage is a real issue for many teachers, it might prove helpful to explore ways that EnergyNet could simultaneously fulfill curriculum objectives while introducing new curricular material in its own right. Principals may need encouragement to modify the coverage rules in this case. The feasibility of incorporating EnergyNet into the curriculum might be one criterion for participation in the program, accompanied by a letter of support from the principal.
    
    
11. Given that teachers have varying experience and comfort with computers and telecommunication, consider a phased in implementation plan in which teachers in year one of the program would try out the features of the program with which they are comfortable, gradually incorporate more reflective or collaborative practices in the second year. Teachers could begin by concentrating on one aspect of the energy audit, or begin by collecting data but not submitting, or retrieving but not submitting.
    
    
12. As teachers determine how they will implement the curriculum, equity is one issue that should be taken into account. If EnergyNet is incorporated into a higher level science or math course, for example, it may effectively exclude some students such as those less academically able, special needs students, and girls. If it is treated as an after school club activity it has the potential of excluding those students who can not stay after school due to jobs or transportation.
    
    
13. Make the software easier for teachers to use. TERC software designers have made numerous changes to the Alice software to meet this goal. Data analysis is an important feature of this software. However, it became clear that almost none of the EnergyNet teachers was getting past data entry and retrieval to data analysis. Teachers, it turned out, were having difficulty with data entry and retrieval. Making the software easier to use has led to several changes in the design:
    
    
    • Originally one integrated software package, the designers broke out the parts of Alice into three applications: Netscape for Web access and conferencing via Newsgroups, Eudora for e-mail communication, and Alice for data analysis. This allowed them to take advantage of other programs teachers knew and had available.
      
      
    • Use of the World Wide Web is an expansion of capabilities that should make many resources available to teachers including on line pages that address specific questions and problems teachers are encountering.
      
      
    • The old Alice design relied on templates and address books distributed with the software, making adjustments to the curriculum difficult and requiring distribution of a new template. Upgrades of the software turned out to be confusing and frustrating to the teachers. The designers concluded that sending out upgrades of any kind was to be avoided.
    
    
    Teachers now enter data as ³form submittals² using Netscape and receive instantaneous feedback and error messages, processes which were not possible using the old Alice program. Knowing the tables to which data was to be submitted was an ongoing problem for teachers using the old Alice program. Teachers made a lot of mistakes, submitting to the incorrect table and contaminating the data. Via Netscape, users get much more effective feedback on what they are doing. When they select a table to submit to, they will only see the submission form for this table, and after submitting they will be able to see their data as part of the table with other data. Furthermore, the template can be easily changed at the server end.
    
    
14. Equipment should be set up and working before the program begins in the Fall with computers that work and are compatible with Alice, and phone lines that have been installed.
    
    
15. Do not rely on e-mail to maintain communications with teachers new to technology. Conference calls held on December 13 and 15, 1994 with sixteen participating teachers were a successful aspect of the EnergyNet project. They were initiated by the project director as an opportunity to share information with the teachers and for the teachers to frankly discuss what had and had not been working for them with regard to the project. One staff person speculated that one reason why conference calls of this sort are successful is that they take place via telephone, a totally familiar form of technology, as opposed to an on-line conference. For this reason it could prove helpful to initiate the first call soon after the institute, with additional conference call(s) initiated by either staff or teachers.