II. Project Summary
The Community Discovered is a five-year project that links
technology and the visual arts with other subject areas to transform
the education of K-12 students in Nebraska and nationwide. A special
emphasis will be to serve rural and urban disadvantaged students. The
focus of this project is to develop curriculum models of engaged
student learning using technology and the resources of the
Information SuperHighway. Five art museums will be involved.
The project will be conducted by Westside Community Schools in
Omaha, Nebraska, and the Nebraska Department of Education in Lincoln.
The Community Discovered project will use and expand on the mission
of Prairie Visions: The Nebraska Consortium for Discipline-Based Art
Education, based at the Nebraska Department of Education. Prairie
Visions is a consortium of nearly 100 Nebraska school districts, the
Nebraska Department of Education, three Nebraska university systems,
the three Nebraska art museums, and other arts and education
agencies. Prairie Visions is sponsored by the Nebraska Department of
Education, the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, and the
Nebraska Art Teachers Association.
The Community Discovered builds upon and extends the impact of the
Art and Technology Integration (ATI) Project, conducted by Westside
and the Grand Island Public Schools. The ATI project received a
two-year grant from the Excellence in Education Council, funded by
Nebraska state lottery proceeds.
The Community Discovered project has five goals: 1) to promote and encourage academic achievement, 2) to provide student equity in access to State and national museum resources, 3) to enable educators to effectively use appropriate technologies for teaching and learning, 4) to effectively integrate art into interdisciplinary curriculum projects. and 5) to create a national network of educators to support the development and implementation of appropriate learning strategies that integrate art and technology into other subject areas.
III. Project Status
The project ìThe Community Discovered: The Search for Meaning Through the Integration of Art and Technology in K-12 Educationîhas made considerable progress in its start-up and organizational activities. As described in the Project Summary section, the project focuses on enhancing education by developing interdisciplinary units that deliver art and art resources to the classrooms of Nebraska and the world via the Internet. The project is a multi-element education program that brings National Art Museums into classrooms electronically, develops computer integration strategies, trains and supports teachers, builds curriculum, instruction, and assessment strategies, and seeks to build a nationwide community for art and technology integration. This new project is building upon an initial pilot project called the Art and Technology Integration Project (ATI) which was funded by an Excellence in Education grant from the state of Nebraska. The ATI project is providing an initial mechanism for many Community Discovered start-up activities. The general impact of the Community Discovered Project is being assessed by a comprehensive evaluation plan which targets specific project objectives and related project activities.
The design of the evaluation for the Community Discovered Project is essentially that of an "impact analysis". In evaluation studies, impact analysis can be defined as "determining the extent to which one set of directed human activities affected the state of some objects or phenomena, and ........ determining why the effects were as large or small as they turned out to be" (Mohr, 1992, p.1). In this examination of the effectiveness of the Community Discovered Project, the evaluation design is focused on analyzing data related to each of the five goals, and related project objectives. The evaluation will seek to determine the general impact of the project on K-12 education in the participating schools, and will include a careful examination of the learning environments for both students and teachers. The evaluation will also examine the potential use of the project as a model for replication by other educational institutions and organizations.
Within the evaluation, a comprehensive approach to data collection is targeting information related to each goal and objective. These data types include 1) teacher survey data, 2) electronic data, such as Web site use, 3) classroom observations and videotaping, 4) teacher and student interviews, 5) student progress reports and portfolios, and 6) focus groups. This initial evaluation period of the project is associated primarily with formalizing the data collection and analysis procedures for each of the objectives, with preparations for implementation. An evaluation team from Office of Internet Studies (OIS) in the College of Education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will be coordinating the evaluation with assistance being planned from FarWest Laboratories / West Ed (FW) for external oversite evaluation.
Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are being initiated to summarize the data collected, with conclusions and implications for each reporting period based on multiple sources of data. Reports will be produced for each reporting period, with additional formative feedback provided to the project between report intervals (such as summaries of teacher survey data, etc.). The initial status of each project objective (along with organizational goal and related evaluation activities) is summarized in the following narrative.
The following reflect the goals and activities as they were
written in the original application. Upon further examination it was
determined that the relevancy of objectives were more salient when
aligned with particular goal statements. While the content/intent of
the original goals and objectives remains unchanged, the organization
and numbering of these objectives has been altered. Notations
referencing ìthe page numbers and sections of the approved
applicationî, as requested in the guidelines for the progress
report, will be included in the following status report summaries.
The page and objective number as written in the original
application will be noted for each of the following
objectives.
Goal 1: To enable students to achieve high academic standards
in art and other core subject areas.
Objective 1.1 80% of students in classes using the modules will show evidence of improved academic achievement as indicated by: a) decline in absenteeism, b) increased student self-concept as indicated by student attitude surveys and focus groups, c) students performing at higher levels as determined by each school's assessment of student progress and electronic portfolios where used.
(originally Objective IV.2, Page 16)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
Lesson development and planning is already beginning modeled in
the project by teachers who were originally a part of the Art and
Technology Integration project, and are starting to be reviewed by
the Project Evaluation Team. Each of these lessons blend art with
other disciplines and incorporate information based technology, such
as the Internet. The Westside Community School district is beginning
to work with electronic portfolios, to help establish pilot
information for the other districts. Project related personnel, such
as Site Coordinators, a Computer Specialist, and an Art &
Technology Coordinator are being interviewed, and will be hired soon
to initiate more extensive Community Discovered activities. Upon
establishment of site personnel, school based records will be
identified for contributing baseline data for the Evaluation Team
related to student achievement and attendance information. The
Evaluation Team is working to organize an ongoing survey process, and
establish protocols for student data collection and case study
activities.
Goal 2: To provide students and educators in rural and
disadvantaged urban areas with equal access to the nation's
information and art museum resources.
Activity I: The Electronic Art Museum in the Classroom
Objective 2.1 A minimum of 750 art images will be available through the Internet along with curriculum and contextual information for use by educators and students. Images will come from the collections of the Smithsonian NMAA; the Getty Museum; the Joslyn; the Sheldon, and MONA.
(originally Objective I.1, Page 11)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
A group of teachers from the initial Art and Technology
Integration project have had an on-site visit with the Smithsonian
Museum to review their available works, and begin to provide a
linkage between the museum personnel and educators related to
activities planned for the Community Discovered Project. The
Smithsonian Museum is taking a strong leadership role in initiating
the museum related activities in the project, and image scanning is
being initiated by that site, based upon educator requests. Other
museum collaboration is also being initiated, such as with the Joslyn
Art Museum, and will be formalized as the Art & Technology
Coordinator and Project Computer Specialist personnel (in the hiring
process) begin to assume their project related activities. Evaluation
efforts for this objective are focusing on establishing the necessary
survey process, and organizing the appropriate electronic data
collection activities needed from project related web sites.
Objective 2.2 Museum educators at the Joslyn Art Museum, the Sheldon and MONA will each develop at least one educational outreach program using appropriate technologies such as the Internet, kiosk, and interactive multi-media.
(originally Objective I.2, Page 11)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
Museum educators are in the planning stages for eventual on-line
activities, and are currently examining the costs and support issues
related to Internet connectivity at their specific site. Increased
participation by these organizations is expected as the Community
Discovered project begins to expand additional museum based
activities beyond the Smithsonianís efforts, and involve
additional image identification and image scanning work. An interview
protocol for the museum educators is being developed by the
Evaluation Team.
Goal 3: To enable educators to effectively use appropriate
technologies for teaching and learning in art and other core subject
areas.
Activity II: Computer-Based Educational Strategies
Activity III: Professional Development and Support for
Educators
Objective 3.1 Through collaboration with private companies, project educators will test and evaluate five commercial technology tools (i.e. software packages) per year for applicability to classroom settings and instructional objectives.
(originally Objective II.1, Page 12)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
This activity is being piloted with the Art and Technology
Integration teachers, and teachers have begun using computer software
contributed by the Getty Museum and the Microsoft Corporation.
Approximately 45 different software programs were available for
review on January 31, 1996, for the ATI participants. In addition,
teachers will help in reviewing a beta version CD-ROM developed by
the Smithsonian (to be available for evaluation in April, 1996).
These pilot activities will help refine some formal review forms to
be used by the Community Discovered project, for evaluation related
documentation. Videoconferencing has not yet been started, but
dialogue is being initiated by list serve and electronic mail, with
an expectation for eventual use of videoconferencing for periodic
communication activities.
Objective 3.2 By 1996, each school site in participating districts will have access to a technology resource person available to assist teachers in evaluating and selecting appropriate technologies.
(originally Objective II.3, Page 12)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
The 19 Educational Service Units in the State of Nebraska are
being made aware of the Community Discovered Project, and are helping
to begin to identify specific technology resource persons within
their individual locations. A semi-annual survey of Educational
Service Units related to the Community Discovered Project is being
modified to include questions regarding the project for eventual use
in the evaluation process. In addition, a structured interview
protocol is being developed for use in debriefing the technology
resource persons, and several survey questions are being developed
for teacher feedback related to the ongoing access and use of such
individuals.
Objective 3.3 By 2000, 300 Nebraska educators, including 60 educators of rural and urban disadvantaged students, will be trained on computer-based educational strategies and integrated constructivist curriculum to effectively integrate art and other core subjects.
(originally Objective III.1, Page 13)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
The initial pilot group of Art and Technology Integration teachers
have been trained in a workshop environment on an integrated
constructivist curriculum, with an outside consultant during the
summer. Many of the ATI teachers are working with self selected
partners to initiate lesson development activities. They have also
completed their week long visit to the Smithsonian to initiate an
ongoing collaboration with the museums to begin to identify
educational useful images for their own lesson development
activities. An extensive listserv and electronic mail process is also
being established as a ìteacher logîprocess formalized
for the evaluation. No work has yet been done related to the focus
groups or individual case studies of teachers, although planning is
being initiated to establish the necessary evaluation protocols for
these eventual activities.
Applications for participants for year one (1) of the Community
Discovered project have been submitted from the participants
districts. From these, nine (9) teachers each from Westside and Grand
Island, five (5) from Lexington and three (3) from Winnebago will be
selected for participation. All applicants will be notified by early
March of their status. It should be noted that some costs for
participants from Westside and Grand Island will be borne by the Art
and Technology Integration Grant, which is consistent with the
approved application.
Objective 3.4 By 2000, 90% of project participants will demonstrate an increase in skills and knowledge in: a) use of computer-based educational strategies and resources, b) constructivism, c) curricula integrating art and other core subjects, d) use of electronic portfolio and other appropriate assessment strategies.
(originally Objective III.4. page 13)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
The pilot teachers involved in the Art and Technology Integration
project have received some initial training in computer based tools
related to the Internet. This training has included e-mail, computer
assisted slide shows, Hyperstudio, the WorldWideWeb, CD Rom Disk
application, and search mechanisms. A mentor process is being
established, and is currently informal and organized around the
individual preference of project participants. The construction of
the necessary survey and interview instruments, related to the
relevant teacher skills and knowledge, is also underway by the
evaluation team.
Pilot teachers in the ATI project were surveyed to determine their
assessment of the summer objectives as preparation for activities
associated with a-c above. Based on their feedback, plans are
underway to provide in-service in the spring of 1996 for new
participants prior to the summer workshops.
Planned in-service education for incoming participants targets
training objectives related to a-c above, and is scheduled for April
1996. The intent is to provide baseline orientation to the goals of
this project, the theoretical foundation in constructivist
educational philosophy, and the skills necessary for accessing the
Internet and the WWW. This training will be further elaborated on
during the summer institutes and throughout ensuing activities
associated with the project. The ìspring trainingîwill
insure participants have the necessary foundations prior to the
summer activities to optimize their use of access to resources
availed to them through the Prairie Visions Institute and the
National Museum of American Art site visit.
Objective 3.5 90% of project participants will successfully
complete a minimum of 80% of the professional development activities
they choose in their Professional Growth Plans.
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
Only the founding Westside Community School District currently has
an established ìGrowth Planîprocess which is being used
to include the Community Discovered Project goals and activities for
individual teachers. Other participating districts will need to be
instructed on this process as they initiate project related
activities, and report on their specific growth plans as part of the
evaluation process.
Objective 3.6 90% of project participants will report positive attitudes towards the use of technology as an educational tool.
(originally Objective III.6, Page 13)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
The pilot teachers involved in the Art and Technology Integration
project were surveyed for their attitudes related to the use of
technology, and indicated very positive attitudes toward the use of
technology in the teaching and learning process. Student interest was
also quite high, with 43% of the teachers identifying student
interest in the classroom as ìmuch improvedî, and 47%
identifying student interest as ìimprovedî. Evaluation
work is focusing on expanding the survey process related to the
attitudes of both teachers and students regarding their use of
technology as an educational tool.
Objective 3.7 An additional 200 Nebraska educators, alumni in the Prairie Vision Consortium, will participate in at least one project-sponsored workshop session per year.
(originally Objective III.2, Page 13)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
The Prairie Vision Consortium was established by the Nebraska Art
Teachers Association and Nebraska Department of Education with
support from the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, and includes
over 90 public and private school districts in Nebraska. The
consortium has already been active in the training process for the
pilot Art and Technology Integration teachers, and in the planning
and start-up activities related to the new Community Discovered
Project. The consortium is also developing a computer assisted
process for keeping track of alumni, and has helped partners in the
Community Discovered Project link with each other in initial planning
activities. A process for ìtrackingîworkshop attendance
is also being initiated for evaluation purposes.
Goal 4. To enable educators to implement effective integrated
curricula incorporating art and other core subjects.
Activity IV: Integrated Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Strategies
Objective 4.1 A minimum of 632 constructivist curriculum modules will be developed and implemented incorporating one or more of the following a) Internet digitized images and museum resources, b) other Internet resources, c) multi-media projects, d) electronic portfolios, e) other computer applications. (Goals 1-4)
(originally Objective IV.1, Page 16)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
Several constructivist curriculum modules are under development by the teachers in the initial Art and Technology Integration Project which will be act as models for continued work in the Community Discovered Project. These units and lessons, being targeted for review in the evaluation process, are all multi-disciplinary in nature and include a wide variety of individual topics such as:
Objective 4.2 90% of participating teachers will effectively use one or more computer-based education strategies in their classrooms. Strategies will include Internet resources, electronic portfolios, Hypertext, multimedia, and others.
(originally Objective IV.3, Page 16)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
Initial training has been conducted for the Art and Technology Integration Teachers related to available Internet resources and basic computer use. As individual site coordinators are established, additional training and mentoring activities are planned. The evaluation team is beginning to prepare the appropriate measurement instruments, including attitude based questions for the teacher survey, and protocols related to the interview, videotaping, focus groups, and site visit activities.
Objective 4.3 By 2000, the project will produce a comprehensive
system of world wide web pages containing links to art resources and
sample lessons developed by participating schools and available to
Prairie Visions Consortium members through ARTnet.
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
ïReview of world wide web sites for lesson quality and 1996-2000
appropriateness
Status
Although some lessons are underway by the pilot group of teachers
involved in the Art and Technology Integration project, these lessons
are not yet ready for web page access. A more general list of
resources and links is being maintained by the ARTnet web page, which
can be accessed at:
URL: http://www.nde.state.ne.us/ARTnet/ARTnethome.html
The ARTnet is an on-line resource maintained by the Nebraska
Department of Education and Prairie Visions to help support the arts
as a core subject in the K-12 curriculum, and is planned to be a
major component in the Community Discovered Projectís web page
system. Individual districts do not yet have web pages, but these
will be supported when a project computer specialist is hired. The
current ARTnet web page has also been updated to include links to the
Getty Center for Education in the Arts, and the Kennedy
Centerís ARTSEDGE, which provide general lesson plans and
other curriculum resources, and which will provide a working model
for the Community Discovered teachers. A lesson evaluation form is
also being developed by the evaluation team for use in sample lesson
review and documentation of lesson quality.
Goal 5: To create a national network of educators to support
the development and implementation of appropriate learning strategies
integrating art and technology with other core subject areas.
Activity V: Nationwide Community for Art and Technology
Integration
Objective 5.1 ARTnet will be in place to provide curriculum models, museum resources, and continuing opportunities for information sharing, collaboration and support among educators.
(originally Objective III.3, Page 13)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
ARTnet, the electronic network created by Prairie Visions and the Nebraska Department of Education is already operating successfully as a listserv, gopher, and web site. The list of subscribers to the listserv currently includes 139 individuals, and the web site currently receives approximately 400 visitors to the home page each month. ARTnet is also supporting curriculum based workshops, which will be available to the Community Discovered Project, that are called PALS (Partners in ARTnet Linked Services). Additionally, an On-line Student Art Gallery is also planned related to the project. ARTnet will eventually be a major source of technical assistance for participants in the Community Discovered Project, and the evaluation team will document its use and effectiveness as a resource to project participants, using both teacher survey and electronic data collection procedures.
Objective 5.2 Cross-state partnerships will be in place to support replication of project activities.
(originally Objective V.2, Page 17)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
Cross-state partnership activities are not yet underway, and will
be conducted primarily electronically to reduce project costs.
Electronic feedback, for use in the evaluation process, will be
solicited through web page forms, listserv participation, and
electronic mail to identify the potential use by other states.
Objective 5.3 As a pilot cross-state partnership, the Community Discovered project and the Ohio Partnership for the Visual Arts will collaborate to expand on an effective integrated project in which middle school students use computer networking and video technologies to teach other about their social, cultural, and physical environments.
(originally Objective V.3, Page 17)
Activities Timeline
Evaluation Plan
Status
To save project related costs, activities related to establishing
partnership work with the Ohio Partnership for the visual arts will
focus primarily on the use of electronic based collaborations, using
electronic mail, listserv, and CUSeeMe based communication. A process
for electronic data collection, and a structured interview process,
related to this objective is being developed by the evaluation
team.
Original Objectives numbers V.1, V.4, and V.5 have been embedded in the current objectives as a cost saving measure necessitated partially by budget reductions from the original application.
Summary
The project ìThe Community Discovered: The Search for Meaning through the Integration of Art and Technology in K-12 Educationîis completing its initial start-up and organizational activities, and is beginning many of the comprehensive project activities. The project has continued to embrace advanced information based technologies, and has refined its plans as technology based applications continue to evolve with new capabilities, such as the World Wide Web. The project is building upon a strong organizational foundation provided by the Art and Technology Integration project, that is acting as a pilot project for the Community Discovered Project. In addition, the project is drawing upon successful and extended collaboration with ARTnet, an electronic communications network, and Prairie Visions, a very active consortium of discipline based art educators. The Smithsonian Institution is providing solid leadership and ongoing support. The ongoing work on electronic images by the projectís group of museums, such as the Smithsonian, promise to provide a rich resource for the integration of art into other disciplines via the Internet.
The project activities are starting to move from an organizational to implementation process, and there are efforts underway related to each specific project objective. The evaluation plan is also in place, and specific evaluation activities are being initiated related to each project objective. These evaluation activities draw upon comprehensive data collection procedures that use both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Initial evaluation work is focusing on formalizing the data collection process, and includes developing surveys, establishing electronic data collection procedures, initiating school based data collection activities, and creating formal protocols related to the planned structured interviews, site visits, and project related observations.
Perhaps most importantly, there is a real team effort underway by
all stakeholders in the Community Discovered Project to positively
effect the learning environment for all students. As the project
continues to move forward, it is expected that the Community
Discovered Project will continue to evolve as the collaborative and
organizational structure becomes more refined. The project is indeed
a comprehensive one, and its systematic startup process and the
development of a careful evaluation plan are no doubt critical
components in moving the project forward effectively. The commitment
by all participants to contribute to the overall success of the
project will no doubt provide a natural catalyst for such success, as
the project continues to implement its very aggressive list of goals
and objectives.
IV. Supplemental Information
The Community Discovered project and its planning is evolving to take greater advantage of the evolution of the Internet, and in particular, will make a stronger use of the WorldWideWeb for storage and retrieval of images and lessons. It will also make greater use of videoconferencing, listservs, and other telecommunications available on the Information SuperHighway. Although budget considerations caused restrictions in originally planned cross-state partnerships, the evolution of technology (e.g., economical videoconferencing options) may allow for pursuit of some of those activities that were at risk due to funding limitations. Also due to budget considerations, the project will be making a closer connection with the ESUs to deliver some of the technical support.
The Smithsonian has played a solid leadership role in the project and communicates regularly with many of the ATI participants and project staff. They have also been instrumental in helping identify useful images for incorporation in teacher lessons and units. The educational projects being developed by the ATI participants are multidisciplinary in nature and cover a wide range of traditional disciplines (i.e.: physics, history, writing), and provide a good model for future participants and for further refinement as part of The Community Discovered project.
The evaluation plan is an aggressive one, longitudinal and
formative in nature, and includes multiple sources of information to
target each objective. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be
included and will be triangulated in activities such as through
activities such as portfolio assessment on teachers and students.
V. Budget Report
Personnel
The Project Director and the Administrative Assistant were hired January 15, 1996, and therefore no charges for personnel were made against the Grant for these key positions. With these positions filled, administration of Grant activities was initiated. Currently position vacancies remaining to be filled are in process and should be filled in March 1996. The projected expenditures for the remaining funding period (February, March 1996() equals $29,984.00 leaving $122,860.00 in carry forward funds. These funds will be expended on personnel costs, and can be more accurately predicted when actual costs for new personnel are known. Additionally, there are personnel costs for this funding period that have been assumed by the school districts and will be charged to the budget, now that prodect staff are in place. Unrealized expenditures in this category will be utilized as contingency funds to cover personnel costs for October-December, 1996.
Benefits
Benefit costs were predicted on the basis of 28% of salary. As personnel positions are filled, actual benefit costs will be reflected. Currently $8395.00 are predicted to be committed for the current funding period. The remaining unobligated funds will be carried forward for use in paying benefits during the next funding period and as contingency funds to cover benefit costs for October-December 1996.
Travel
Currently $2,132 are funds obligated during February 1996. Anticipated travel during March, 1996, is projected to be approximately an additional $2,000 for project staff. Participant travel for in-services in February, 1996, have not yet been invoiced but will be expended. Anticipated remaining unobligated funds, if they exist, will be carried forward to cover costs for travel or will be reprogrammed, if appropriate and upon approval.
Equipment
Purchase of the Image servers for Lexington and Winnebago is expected to occur in March, 1996. No other equipment costs were budgeted for this time period.
Supplies
Although no costs for supplies were posted prior to January 31, 1996, committed funds for February and March, 1996, total $21,109.00. Purchase of both hardware and software are anticipated to be committed in March, 1996, when costs are predicted to be most reasonable. If there are funds remaining unobligated in this funding period, they will be carried forward as contingency funds for the October-December 1996 period of time.
Contractual
A contract with the University of Nebraska at Omaha for project evaluation has been agreed upon, for an annual amount of $75,000.00. No charges have yet been invoiced as of January 1996. Negotiations with FarWest Labs/West Ed, are in progress for their role as consultants/oversite evaluators. It is anticipated that the costs for contracted services will be incurred in March 1996. If there are remaining funds, they will be considered for carry forward in the next funding period.
Other
While only $1,156.00 have been expended as of January, 1996, it is
anticipated that costs for the remaining items in this category will
be incurred in March 1996. If these remain unobligated, they will be
carried forward in the next funding period as the tasks will be
necessary.
bpawlosk@unomaha.edu, 5/19/97