Proposal for WPI to Fund the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies CILT

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Proposal for WPI to Fund the Center for
Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT)
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Mission and Vision

• Mission
• For WPI to be a nationally recognized home for
  innovative research and dissemination for the
  technologies for enhanced human learning that
  dramatically improve K-16 education.
• Vision
• Learning science excellence requires a unique
  collaboration between public schools and
  university researchers such that
• Researcher have access to human learners to
  design, and test innovative technologies
• Schools want to use the innovative products (most
  new products are just more work for schools)
• University partners that understand the value of
  creating and hosting learning technologies.

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What sorts of Technologies

• Math ASSISTments- web based one on one tutoring
  appropriate for homework support. Mastery
  learning.
• Science ASSISTments teaching the scientific
  method.
• Wiki-ASSISTments- massive collaboration like
  Wikipedia
• The Professors Classroom Support Sentinel to
• Educational Datamining Technologies
• Games for Learning -
• Tutoring economics in second life, or tutoring
  middle school science in a first person game

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Value Proposition to K12 Schools

• K12 students are not doing well in science and
  math
• Schools want individualized instruction
• Schools are being asked to use data to drive
  instruction.
• Principals and teachers want help in reform their
  schools.
• We provide all that.

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Value Proposition to the Learning Science
Community

• Building the infrastructure and relationships we
  have is very unusual and desirable for other
  researchers
• I have a Vanderbilt and Harvard Research working
  in Worcester Schools
• We run studies on
• Comparing different instructional strategies
  (Worked Example verse hints Personalization, to
  increased on task behavior, etc)
• We collect large scale data that can be used to
  evaluate program effectiveness
• The Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center is
  predicated on the Learn Lab where researchers
  can propose studies to be run in collaborating
  Carnegie Learning schools
• CMU researchers Vincent Aleven wants to use
  ASSISTments as a delivery mechanism for his
  recent US Dept of Education student

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Value Proposition to WPI Administration

• WPI can benefits from many ways from a the Center
  for Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT) that
  is disseminating to millions of K16 students
• Research Renown
• Advertising to the K12 audience
• Sponsored Research
• Uptake by WPI Professors of these technologies
• Encourage WPI Research to engaging in this
  interdisciplinary line of research

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In closing

• WPI should
• hire more faculty in this area.
• Support the dissemination and hosting of these
  technologies.
• Support a graduate and undergraduates courses in
  creating innovative learning science
  technologies.