TRAILS News

TRAILS Project Comes to a Close after 5 Years
September 2007—After 5 years the TRAILS project has come to a close. A complete list of publications is available on our archival project page at SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning. Beginning Spring 2008, you'll also be able to find an authoritative collection of ideas and resources for teaching the design of learning technologies in our book, Educating Learning Technology Designers (published by Taylor and Francis.).

> Download the report, 477KB PDF

TRAILS releases Year Three Report
August 2005—Highlights of Year 3 included the planning and implementation of new TRAILS-affiliated course at Drexel University and Penn State University and a new student survey. (Projects from all four Y3 TRAILS courses are archived here: http://trails-project.org/webapps/gorp/).

> Download the report, 152KB PDF

Three students from Stanford University design an application for students to learn how to evaluate Web sites
Jan 8, 2005—Learn about Searchy, the newest featured TRAILS project pick.

> Read more

TRAILS releases Year Two Report
September 2004—TRAILS released its second annual progress report. The report focuses on major research and education activities spanning three broad categories:

1. Undergraduate Education. How to generate effective course modules in support of educational software design.
2. Collaborative Software Design. Resources and coaching that enable effective teamworkbetween educators and technologists.
3. Classroom Impact. Addressing the shortage of standards-based, high-quality educationalsoftware for K-12 classrooms.

> Download the report, 200KB PDF

SRI International's “TRAILS” project expands its network of universities preparing the next generation of educational software designers; Awarded to Pennsylvania State and Drexel Universities, grants will significantly increase the number of students reached
Menlo Park, California – May 24, 2004 – TRAILS (Training and Resources for Assembling Interactive Learning Systems), a project led by SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning, is awarding seed grants to two U.S. universities for developing interdisciplinary, project-based courses on designing software for K-12 education. The courses will bring together education and information technology students to create powerful educational tools such as simulations, online tutorials, interactive exhibits, and educational games.

The new courses will be developed and taught during the 2004-5 school year at Pennsylvania State University and Drexel University. Since 2003, TRAILS has sponsored four courses at Stanford University and the University of Colorado at Boulder, reaching a total of 68 students. The additional courses at Penn State and Drexel are expected to substantially increase the total number of students reached by TRAILS in 2004-05.

At Penn State, Christopher Hoadley, Ph.D., an assistant professor with a dual appointment in the College of Education and the School of Information Sciences and Technology, will link two courses: “Design Methods for Emerging Technology-Based Learning Environments" (a graduate seminar in Instructional Systems) and “Organization and Design of Information Systems: User and System Principles" (an undergraduate course in Information Sciences and Technology).

In Dr. Hoadley’s course, students will work in multidisciplinary teams. Each team will be tasked with building educational technologies while exploring the relationships between teaching, user interface design, and product design. The students will learn about design methods, reflect on their design style, and develop skills relevant to creating technology-enhanced learning environments.

At Drexel University, Frank Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor of Computer Science in the College of Engineering with a courtesy appointment in the Psychology department, will develop a course titled “Educational Game Design” with a focus on educational games. Dr. Lee’s goals include teaching students the critical role of the “psychology of play” in designing educational games and the importance of multidisciplinary teams. His students will work in teams composed of students studying computer science, media art and design, psychology, and education. Throughout the course, they will learn about research results and practices in cognitive science, human-computer interaction, and computer science, and will be expected to apply those learnings in their game designs.

About TRAILS
Funded by the National Science Foundation, TRAILS was launched in 2002 at SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning. The project supports courses in which university students from computer science, information science, education, and the arts work together in teams to develop educational tools, often pilot-testing them in local K-12 classrooms. The development process starts by building the university students’ understanding of the teachers’ and learners’ educational needs. The teams then select projects which can feasibly be finished in a semester, and undertake them by creating interface designs, building prototypes, and field-testing them with teachers and learners when feasible.
Stanford University and the University of Colorado at Boulder offered the first TRAILS-affiliated courses in Spring 2003. The Math Forum at Drexel University, one of the world's largest online math resources for K-12 students and teachers, is publishing selected software created by TRAILS students and providing mentoring on pedagogical issues. SRI coordinates the network of TRAILS courses, provides centralized tools for designing and prototyping educational software, and facilitates access to pedagogical and technical experts.

More information on TRAILS can be found at http://www.trails-project.org. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number 0205625.

About SRI’s Center for Technology in Learning
The mission of SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning (http://www.ctl.sri.com) is to improve learning and teaching through innovation and inquiry in computing and communications. Its research and development priorities are to advance theory and research on effective learning and teaching, and to embody these insights in the innovative design, use, and assessment of interactive learning environments. Much of the Center's work is conducted in real educational settings, such as classrooms and teacher education programs.

About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International (http://www.sri.com) is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for more than 55 years. The nonprofit research institute performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and nonprofit foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

About Penn State’s Colleges of Education and Information Sciences and Technology
Penn State (http://www.psu.edu) is a multi-campus, public, land-grant university seeking to improve the lives of the people of Pennsylvania, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality programs in teaching, research, and service. Penn State's College of Education is committed to maintaining national and international distinction through the preparation of leaders for education and related fields, the faculty's cutting edge research, and outreach activities. The mission of the School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) is to deliver critical knowledge to organizations challenged by technology issues and to inspire innovative, workable solutions through education, research, partnerships and community.

About Drexel University
Founded in 1891, Drexel (http://www.drexel.edu) is widely recognized for its focus on technology and experiential learning. The first major university to operate a fully wireless campus, Drexel is a leader in integrating emerging technologies into all aspects of its academic enterprise, which includes the nation's largest private medical college.

TRAILS seed grant announced to support course creation
February 8, 2004 — The TRAILS project has put out an RFP for a seed grant of up to $45,000 to support the development and teaching of a TRAILS-affiliated course in fall 2004 or spring 2005. The goal of the grant is to support a course in which education students and information-science students co-create educational technologies that are pedagogically sound.

Applicants will be asked to specify how they would use the money (possibilities include hiring a TA, purchasing software or equipment, or funding time for course development or research). Ideally, since this is a seed grant, the money would help the successful applicant position the course as a continued offering.

The due date for the application is March 8th, 2004. Applicants will be notified by March 26th and the monies could be disbursed as early as summer 2004. Interested parties are encouraged to contact Mike Chorost (650-859-4135) for initial discussion and to receive an application form.

TRAILS releases Year One Report
August 2003 — TRAILS released its first annual progress report. The report focuses on major research and education activities spanning three broad categories:

1. Undergraduate Education. How to generate effective course modules in support of educational software design.
2. Collaborative Software Design. Resources and coaching that enable effective teamworkbetween educators and technologists.
3. Classroom Impact. Addressing the shortage of standards-based, high-quality educationalsoftware for K-12 classrooms.

> Download the report, 300KB PDF

TRAILS aims at developing better educational software
In its May/June 2003 issue, Higher Learning profiles TRAILS, a project led by SRI’s Center for Technology in Learning to address needs in K-12 education by helping undergrad students develop high-quality educational software.

> Download the issue, 1.5MB PDF from Higher Learning's website

National Science Foundation awards grant to
SRI International to involve undergraduates in production of high-quality K-12 educational software

Initiative builds upon recent SRI findings that close teamwork between software developers and teachers is an effective means of creating valuable educational content

September 16, 2002 – The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded SRI International a $3.2 million grant to investigate the critical factors that will enable undergraduate students in education and computer science to play key roles in the creation of high-quality educational software for children in grades K-12. The project is called TRAILS (Training and Resources for Assembling Interactive Learning Systems).

To help train the undergraduate students, the TRAILS project will design course modules, publish on-line resources, and recruit experienced mentors. Starting in Fall 2003 at Stanford University and the University of Colorado at Boulder, students from both education and computer science disciplines will work as teams to develop prototype educational software and pilot its use in local K-12 classrooms. The Math Forum at Drexel University, one of the world’s largest mathematics websites for K-12 students and teachers, will publish selected software created by TRAILS students.

The TRAILS project aims to generate software that engages children in learning difficult mathematical concepts. As the project matures, it is expected to expand from an initial focus on middle school mathematics to additional grade levels and other subjects.

Through the process of designing educational software, the hope is that university students will learn powerful lessons. Computer science students will gain a better understanding of how to develop software that meets the needs of K-12 classrooms, in addition to experiencing first-hand the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration. The TRAILS team expects the collaborative courses to attract students from populations underrepresented in the field of computer science. TRAILS will empower teachers with a better understanding of how to make the most of technology in their classrooms and to be critical and demanding of educational software. Further, TRAILS will provide enhanced opportunities for educators to deepen their content knowledge, so that preservice teachers will begin their new careers with greater confidence about their mathematics knowledge and how to communicate it effectively with technology.

“SRI has spent more than a decade studying the integration of technology and education,” said Barbara Means, director of SRI’s Center for Technology in Learning. “Through TRAILS, we can take the multidisciplinary approach into the university setting to further advance the quality of educational software. We are very excited about the expected outcomes, which include a new model for collaborative courses in computer science and education and widely disseminated software prototypes for use by teachers and students. We are proud to have been chosen by the National Science Foundation to advance this important mission,” she continued.

TRAILS builds on SRI’s previous research in the NSF-funded Educational Software Components of Tomorrow (ESCOT, http://www.escot.org/) program, which examined how software innovations can accumulate, integrate, and scale up to meet the needs of systemic reform of K-12 mathematics and science education. As in the ESCOT program, TRAILS will address real classroom needs by involving experienced teachers, complementing the role of textbooks, and aligning its content to accepted academic standards.

About SRI’s Center for Technology in Learning
SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning (http://ctl.sri.com/) is world-renowned for its design, evaluation, and implementation of educational technologies. The Center’s staff, which includes psychologists, computer scientists, content specialists, anthropologists and educators, conducts innovative research and development for clients such as the National Science Foundation, the World Bank, the U.S. Department of Education, LEGO, Sun Microsystems, and Texas Instruments.

About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International (http://www.sri.com) is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for more than 55 years. The nonprofit research institute performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and nonprofit foundations. SRI is well known for its innovations in information technology, telecommunications, engineering, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, physics, and the public policy areas of education, health, and economic development. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0205625. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.