Table of Contents

[1 Introduction 6](#introduction)

[2 Approach 6](#approach)

[External Benchmarking Study of *Advanced Technology Applications*
6](#external-benchmarking-study-of-advanced-technology-applications)

[3 Educational Needs 8](#educational-needs)

[4 Technology Solutions to Educational Needs
10](#technology-solutions-to-educational-needs)

[4.1 Educational Software 10](#educational-software)

[4.1.1 Commercial Instructional Software
10](#commercial-instructional-software)

[4.1.2 Evaluation Software 17](#evaluation-software)

[4.1.3 Administrative Software 17](#administrative-software)

[4.2 Educational Hardware 17](#educational-hardware)

[4.2.1 Instructional Hardware 17](#instructional-hardware)

[4.2.2 Computers, Communication Devices, and Media Devices
18](#computers-communication-devices-and-media-devices)

[4.3 Educational Outreach Programs 19](#educational-outreach-programs)

[4.3.1 University Sponsored 19](#university-sponsored)

[4.3.2 Corporate Sponsored 19](#corporate-sponsored)

[4.3.3 Government Sponsored 20](#government-sponsored)

[4.4 Other Technology Programs of Interest
20](#other-technology-programs-of-interest)

[5 NSF Funding Trends 22](#nsf-funding-trends)

[5.1 ESIE is comprised of 12 Programs
22](#esie-is-comprised-of-12-programs)

[5.2 Five Most Significant Programs: Three Primary Groupings
22](#five-most-significant-programs-three-primary-groupings)

[5.2.1 Informal Science Education Program
22](#informal-science-education-program)

[5.2.2 Instructional Materials Development Program
23](#instructional-materials-development-program)

[5.2.3 Teacher Enhancement Program 23](#teacher-enhancement-program)

[5.2.4 Centers for Learning and Teaching Program
23](#centers-for-learning-and-teaching-program)

[5.2.5 Urban Systemic Program 23](#urban-systemic-program)

[5.3 Basis for Significance and Grouping
23](#basis-for-significance-and-grouping)

[6 Conclusion 25](#conclusion)

[Appendices 28](#appendices)

[6.1 ESIE Funding Information 28](#esie-funding-information)

[6.1.1 Centers for Learning and Teaching Program
28](#centers-for-learning-and-teaching-program-1)

[6.1.2 Comprehensive Partnerships for Mathematics and Science
Achievement Program
28](#comprehensive-partnerships-for-mathematics-and-science-achievement-program)

[6.1.3 Educational System Reform Program
28](#educational-system-reform-program)

[6.1.4 Enrichment Courses Program 28](#enrichment-courses-program)

[6.1.5 Informal Science Education Program
29](#informal-science-education-program-1)

[6.1.6 Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers
(ITEST)
29](#information-technology-experiences-for-students-and-teachers-itest)

[6.1.7 Instructional Materials Development Program
29](#instructional-materials-development-program-1)

[6.1.8 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics
Teaching Program
29](#presidential-awards-for-excellence-in-science-and-mathematics-teaching-program)

[6.1.9 Rural Systemic Initiative Program
30](#rural-systemic-initiative-program)

[6.1.10 Teacher Enhancement Program 30](#teacher-enhancement-program-1)

[6.1.11 Teacher Professional Continuum Program
30](#teacher-professional-continuum-program)

[6.1.12 Urban Systemic Program 30](#urban-systemic-program-1)

[7 References 31](#references)

Executive Summary

***Note:*** This benchmark study was generated to accomplish the 4ED18
APG *"to benchmark advanced technology tools/applications under
development to determine the 4-6 with the most impact potential for NASA
e-learning."* This effort falls under the NASA Education Goal 6: Inspire
and motivate students to pursue careers in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the Objective 6.4 e-Education:
Increase student, teacher, and public access to NASA education resources
via the establishment of e-Education as a principal learning support
system, and the Outcome 6.4.1 Education Technology R&D: By 2008,
identify and implement 4 new advanced technology applications that will
positively impact learning.

Objectives

NASA is working to increase student, teacher, and public access to its
educational resources via the establishment of e-Education as a
principal learning support system. The development of advanced
technology tools/applications is a part of this effort. The goal of this
benchmarking study is to understand the present and future roles of
technology in education, in order to determine which of the four-to-six
NASA advanced technology tools/applications under development will have
the most impact potential for NASA e-Education.

Approach

The approach taken in this benchmarking study was to first establish the
"big picture" for technology in education. This was accomplished by
developing a database of organizations that could be used to learn about
individual organizations within groups of organizations, so that present
and future trends relating to the use of technology in education could
be identified and analyzed. This was followed by an examination of
advanced technology tools/applications developments that are supported
by NASA LTP against a backdrop of present and future trends relating to
education in technology in the United States. This database was designed
so that it could be continually updated by the addition of new
organizations to grow the database, deletion of organizations that are
no longer relevant to technology in education, and changes in direction
of existing organizations. With time, this database will become
increasingly more powerful and useful as it grows for future use.

Key Findings

In response to "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB), commercial entities have
shifted the focus of their software products to helping classroom
teachers cover required content, evaluating student learning, tracking
and reporting student progress, and teacher professional development.
This response creates a void in the use of innovative educational
software for the classroom, which is problematic because other countries
are not directed by NCLB. On the contrary, some of these other countries
are aggressively pursuing the innovative use of technology in education.
On the bright side of this somewhat alarming situation is the fact that
most schools in the United States are preparing for greater use of
innovative technology in the classroom. Increasingly more schools have
high-speed access to the Web and wireless technology, and the number of
teachers who are comfortable with technology is growing.

A major trend in education at present is conducting research that
determines the actual benefits of technology in schools to student
learning and performance.

Innovative developments in education are taking place at universities,
through government and corporate sponsored educational outreach
programs, in small companies, and by NSF supported research groups in
the Informal Science Education Program and the Instructional Materials
Development Program. Research and development relating to educational
video games at universities and in small companies are well on their way
and is an area that can have a significant impact on education in the
future.

The primary and secondary educational system in the United States must
address the significant problem of minimum educational standards, but
present and future global competition requires that students be capable
of much more. These capabilities have been dubbed the "7Cs" beyond the
"3Rs"by Trilling & Hood and include critical thinking and doing,
creativity, collaboration, cross-cultural understanding, communication,
computing, and career/learning self-reliance. The educational
tools/applications that will address these capabilities should have as
many of the following attributes as possible.

Project-based

Interactive Learning

Hands-on Component

Students Working Together

Access to Scientist/Engineer Mentors

Compelling Information that is National and State Standards-based

State-of-the-art, Animation/Videogame Quality

Intuitive and Robust

No Cost

The projects presently supported by LT are: (1) The Information
Accessibility Lab; (2) The Virtual Lab; (3) "What's the Difference?";
(4) Animated Earth; (5) and World Wind.

The Information Accessibility Lab project is a set of software tools
that students use to see and hear mathematics, providing unprecedented
information access to blind and low vision students. This development
represents a unique NASA-technology teaching tool that can enhance STEM
education for all K-12 students, whether sighted or not.

The Virtual Lab project, "What's the Difference?," the Animated Earth
project, and NASA's World Wind can result in educational
tools/applications that students can use for project-based, interactive
learning. Lesson plans can be developed for students working in teams to
experience and learn compelling information that is aligned with
national and state standards. All four projects can incorporate
state-of-the-art, animation/videogame technology for high quality
visualization. Access to scientist/engineer mentors is presently not
part of the five LT projects, but this component can be incorporated
later.

All five LT projects are efforts that can help fill the void created by
the response of the commercial sector to NCLB. These projects are
innovative, make use of "cutting-edge" NASA technologies, and can result
in educational tools/applications that have potential for national
impact. At present, all five projects have working prototypes that show
evidence of success. These prototypes will be further developed into
intuitive and robust educational tools/applications that will be
available at no cost to the user.

# Introduction

NASA is a tremendous educational resource. It has educational outreach
programs like the NASA Explorer Schools, its projects to develop
advanced technology tools/applications for education, and it is
consolidating all of the nearly 3,000 NASA Web sites to make them
accessible through a single portal. In addition, NASA has the
educational resources of raw data, refined data (e.g., charts, images,
videos, etc.), engineers and scientists, facilities, and past, present,
and future NASA earth and space exploration events.

NASA is working to increase student, teacher, and public access to these
NASA educational resources via the establishment of e-Education as a
principal learning support system. The development of advanced
technology tools/applications is a part of this effort. The goal of this
benchmarking study is to understand the present and future roles of
technology in education, in order to determine which of the four-to-six
NASA advanced technology tools/applications under development will have
the most impact potential for NASA e-Education.

# Approach

### External Benchmarking Study of *Advanced Technology Applications* {#external-benchmarking-study-of-advanced-technology-applications .unnumbered}

This study assesses the current state, activity, and emphasis of
educational technology in industry and academia, surveys industry
leaders in innovative technologies currently under research, and makes
recommendations based on findings.

The goal of this benchmarking study is difficult, if not impossible to
reach, because of the large, ever changing number of organizations,
tools/applications, and activities that can be connected to technology
in education in the world. Yet this benchmarking study is essential. So
how does one proceed?

The approach taken in this benchmarking study is to develop a database
of organizations that can be used to learn about individual
organizations within groups of organizations, in order to identify and
analyze trends relating to the use of technology in education. This
database has been designed so that it can be continually updated by the
addition of new organizations to grow the database, deletion of
organizations that are no longer relevant to technology in education,
and changes in direction of existing organizations. With time, this
database will become increasingly more powerful and useful as it grows.
Suppose that in a discussion at a dinner meeting, you learn about two
people in a garage who are developing an educational tool/application
that you believe has the potential to improve education in the classroom
in a significant way. What should you do with this information? How will
you share this information? How will the work of the two people in the
garage be monitored over time in the context of technology of education?
The database in this benchmarking study has been designed to be able to
straightforwardly capture the information learned at the dinner meeting,
no matter how limited the information. Just as important, this
information will not be lost in the bowels of a thick report, but can be
retrieved, updated, and monitored using the database. Efforts on future
benchmarking studies will be to inspect, update, and improve the
existing database, so that NASA Education can determine how their
activities (past/present/future) fit into the big picture of technology
in education at any time.

Organizations were collected according to three primary groups:

-   Technology Tools/Applications Presently Available for Education

-   Technology Tools/Applications Being Developed for Education

-   International Efforts

(Organizations that are not education focused, but may provide
technology tools/applications for education in the future can be
identified by the database, as well as organizations the makes use of
NASA data and resources.)

Each of these primary groups is further divided into the following
categories:

1.  Animation Software/Products

2.  Assessment Software

3.  Assistive Technologies for Students with Disabilities

4.  Audio Recorders/Devices

5.  Business Software

6.  Cameras/Video Recorders

7.  CD-ROM Publishing

8.  Classroom Presentation Systems

9.  Computer Networks: Hardware

10. Computer Networks: Software

11. Computer Peripherals

12. Computer Systems

13. Database Marketing Services

14. Distance Education

15. Education Programs

16. Educational Outreach

17. Educational Software: Administrative

18. Educational Software: Instructional

19. Electronic Whiteboards

20. Handheld Computers: Hardware

21. Handheld Computers: Software

22. Immersive Educational Technologies

23. Interactive Classroom Tools

24. Interactive Technology

25. Internet Products/Services

26. Library Automation

27. Multimedia Technology

28. Online Curriculum Resources

29. PDA Software

30. Professional Development

31. Projection Devices

32. Publishers

33. Simulation Software

34. Special Education Software

35. Standards Aligned Resources

36. Standards Based Software

37. Student Organizational Tools

38. Video Networking Systems

39. Video Teleconferencing

40. Video/Audio Streaming

41. Web Casting

42. Web Product/Services

43. Wireless Communication Products

In order to populate the database for the analysis of this benchmarking
study, organizations related to the development of technology
tools/applications in education were identified, with some of the
organizations being selected for their similarities to present NASA
Education supported projects. The exhibitor information for the 2004
National Educational Computing Conference (sponsored by the
International Society for Technology in Education) was a significant
resource for identifying organizations that have technology
tools/applications for education. This conference is the premier forum
in which to learn, exchange, and survey the field of educational
technology, and features the largest educational technology exhibit in
the world. Exhibitor information for the 2004 SIGGRAPH Conference
(computer graphics and interactive techniques), the 2004 NSF Conference
on Artificial Intelligence, and the 2004 ASTC Conference (Association of
Science - Technology Centers) was also used as a resource for the
database. Information on additional organizations was collected by
personal interviews, phone interviews, and internet searches.

The NASA benchmarking study completed in December of 2001 has not been
incorporated into the database at this time, but is available via the
Webpage archive.

The Simba Information report on "Electronic Media for the School Market,
Trends & Forecast, 2003-2004," the Giga Information Group report on
"Future Direction in the K-12 Education Technology Services," and the
IC2 Institute report on "Digital Games: A Technology Forecast" were
other resources used for the analysis of this benchmarking study.
Lastly, funding trends of the NSF Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Informal Education (ESIE) were used to determine possible future
activity and trends in technology in education. For additional
information, a fairly complete list of educational technology
organizations can be found at:

.<http://www.educational-software-directory.net/organizations.html>

# Educational Needs

Are there better ways to teach students, given the ever increasing
advances in technology? Can technology in education be used to help
teachers address the critical educational issue of the growing body of
information that needs to be covered in all classes, coupled with
teachers who are faced with the classroom realities of the different
capabilities and learning styles of their students, the limited
resources of schools in general, and the time constraints of both
students and teachers?

But what about the educational needs of students? Will mastering
reading, writing, and arithmetic give students the skills, motivation,
and inspiration to succeed in the future global arena? The answer is,
"Every student must master the 3Rs, but unlike the students of
yesterday, they will need much more to succeed in the future."

What are these 21^st^ Century, Knowledge Age skills, which will help
ensure success in the future? They have been dubbed the "7Cs" beyond the
3Rs (Trilling & Hood, 1999).

These seven, 21^st^ Century, Knowledge Age skills, along with the even
more crucial, basic 3Rs, can be considered the "new basics," the new
formula for success and achievement in our times:

*3Rs X 7Cs = 21^st^ Century Skills*

In addition to needing new skills, we now live in a highly
technological, science-based world where science, math, and technology
literacy has become a cornerstone for an informed citizenry
participating in democratic decision-making. We also have the most
diverse society in history. This can be a source of great conflict. It
can also be a source of great creativity and strength if this diversity
of perspectives and backgrounds can be effectively harnessed toward
solving ever more complex problems.

In short, things have changed dramatically. The present education system
in the United States was designed for an age that has just passed.
Though highly effective for the previous Industrial Age, and still
effective for some of the old demands that persist, the world now
requires inventing a new approach to preparing our children for the
future (Senge, 2000).

A complete discussion of 21^st^ Century, Knowledge Age skills related to
NASA can be found at the website archive (Trilling & Mizusawa, 2002):

<http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/benchmark/>.

# Technology Solutions to Educational Needs

## Educational Software

### Commercial Instructional Software

In response to "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB), commercial entities have
shifted the focus of their software products to helping classroom
teachers cover required content, evaluating student learning, tracking
and reporting student progress, and teacher professional development.
Pearson Digital Learning, Renaissance Learning, and Riverdeep are the
leading K-12 instructional software publishers with a 30% combined
market share. (Simba Information, 2003)

Textbooks dominate in the classroom, with instructional software
functioning as supplementary material. Stand alone/modular software
which augments curriculum leads the instructional software segment.

Worth noting is that Pearson Digital Learning has an online chemistry
textbook. For about a third to half the price of a new textbook,
students can have access to the online textbook during the academic
year. There is no real innovation in the use of technology associated
with this execution, but it does hint of the possibilities of
textbook-free classes, real-time updating of the textbook, and the use
of immersive technologies to provide rich, compelling content associated
with the written material. Right now, there is too much money to be made
on big, bulky, expensive textbooks, but this is an area where innovation
in instructional software can make a substantial difference in
education. There are organizations working towards this change.

The widespread state budget cutbacks that school districts are presently
facing, combined with the requirements of student performance under
NCLB, have made schools more careful consumers of educational
technology. In a business environment where schools are asking for
instructional software that is research-based and aligned with state
standards, the product requirements are specific, resulting in little to
no real innovation in educational technology development in the
commercial sector. This is consistent with the conclusions from a number
of reports on technology in education (Simba Information, 2003 and
Schooley, 2002) and conversations with Bernie Trilling, former Director
of Technology in Education at WestEd and present Senior Director of
Oracle's Think.com and ThinkQuest programs. It appears that there is
almost no activity by commercial entities in the development of
innovative educational instructional software. At this time, the money
is in testing and monitoring software for student and school
performances.

The major trend in education at present is not in development of
technology tools/applications, but doing research to determine the
actual benefits of technology to student learning and performance. The
U.S. Department of Education has embarked on several initiatives that
examine the impact of computers on education, the impact of technology
on student achievement, and investigate the best way to use computers in
schools. Much of this work is mandated by NCLB, which has created a boom
in educational research and product evaluations to ensure that all
students are proficient in the basic academic skills.

There are presently over 150 companies in the benchmarking database that
can be considered commercial instructional software vendors. Some
notable companies with respect to innovation that are in the database
are described below.

-   Froguts- Markets an interactive, virtual biology dissection software
    package.

-   mimio-Virtual Ink- Markets hardware/software devices that capture
    whiteboard information into a computer for recording and
    post-processing.

-   

-   Vernier Software & Technology- Markets a wide-range of computer
    controlled sensors and data-collection tools that are specifically
    developed for education. This company has an extensive national
    teacher training program, and the hands-on student learning that
    makes use of the sensors correlated to state and national standards.

#### Education in the United States is Poised for Change - Development of Innovative Instructional Software

Even though the growth of instructional software is very small to flat,
the Simba report forecasts that in general, electronic media in school
and technology will play an increasing role in education, with online
courseware having the greatest growth potential. Despite the generally
stagnant commercial sector, there is evidence that education in the
United States is preparing for change with respect to technology in
education.

The number of teachers who are comfortable with technology is growing
nationally, as more teachers are using the internet for instruction and
professional development. In the United States, 74% of schools reported
that 50% of their teachers use the internet in their teaching, and there
is growing interest by educators for the internet delivery of
information over installed courseware. In the United States, 80% of
schools have high speed internet connectivity for streaming audio and
video. (Simba Information, 2003) This, combined with the growing
availability and use of faster computers and multimedia hardware such as
DVD players and LCD projectors, suggests a readiness for the use of
online learning tools/applications like those being developed by NASA
Learning Technologies. Addressing student proficiency in the basic
academic skills is crucial, but students need to begin mastering the
seven clusters of 21^st^ Century skills (Critical Thinking-and-Doing,
Creativity, Collaboration, Cross-cultural Understanding, Communication,
Computing, Career and Learning Self-reliance) for their future success.
This requires innovative, interactive, and content-rich educational
tools/applications that will engage and inspire students to learn. NSF
supports this progressive view through its Informal Science Education
and Instructional Materials Development Programs (see NSF Funding Trends
in this report). NASA, through its NASA Explorers Schools, NASA Portal,
and the tools/applications presently in development in the Learning
Technology Projects is also in a position to significantly impact future
student learning. Countries such as China, India, and Australia are
already aggressively moving in this direction. (Bernie Trilling, 2004)

There are some areas of new growth: virtual high school courses, online
teacher recertification, online new teacher credentialing programs and
Web sites with teacher resources for the classroom. (Schooley, 2002) The
growth of technology in education has also resulted in several
e-learning developments such as online courses, testing, professional
development, including virtual schools. (Education Week, 2004)

Educators face the challenge to develop technology tools/applications
which address the present and future needs of both teachers and
students, which will require innovative, interactive, content-rich
educational tools/applications that will engage and inspire students to
learn, and give students the knowledge and skills that will be necessary
for students to be globally competitive in the future. So where is the
development work taking place? The development is taking place at
universities, through government sponsored research and development, in
small education-based companies and in the development of products and
services that are not presently focused on educational needs but may be
useful in the future educational executions.

#### Instructional Software Developments - Digital Libraries and Databases

The significant impact of digital libraries and databases is exemplified
by the OpenCourseWare Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT OCW). This grand undertaking is a large-scale, Web-based
electronic publishing effort funded jointly by the [William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation](http://www.hewlett.org/), the [Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation](http://www.mellon.org/), and [MIT](http://web.mit.edu/).
Since its inception in 1999, MIT OCW provides thousands of users
worldwide, with open access to the syllabi, lecture notes, course
calendars, problem sets and solutions, exams, reading lists, even a
selection of video lectures, from 900 MIT courses representing 33
academic disciplines and all five of MIT\'s schools. MIT OCW's goal is
to make the information of 2,000 courses available by 2008.
([http://ocw.mit.edu](http://ocw.mit.edu/))

World Lecture Hall is another digital library that delivers course
material using the Web. It has operated since 1994, through the
University of Texas Center for Instructional Technologies\' office and
is a site with links to pages created by faculty worldwide.

In a more directed approach to providing course material using the Web,
the California Open Source Textbook Project has been launched to help
California slash \$400 million from its educational budget by making
available free, online textbooks. Founded by Sanford Forte, an educator
and former textbook salesman, the Open Source Textbook Project's first
development is a history textbook and can be found at:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page.

#### Instructional Software Developments - Educational Videogames

The video gaming industry is not a "future" industry---it is a
high-growth US \$50 billion global industry that promises important
benefits and implications to society and for science and
technology-based industries in general. (Brazell, Kim, & Starbuck, 2004)
Educational videogames have been described as the next "Killer App" in
educational technology.

For this potential to be realized, the design and execution of
educational videogames must be a well-thought-out balance of educational
content, teacher input, student engagement, and student learning. For
completeness, an evaluation component must be a component. The research
and development of educational videogames are already well on their way.

Marc Prensky is the guru of educational videogames. He is an
internationally acclaimed speaker, writer, consultant, and designer in
the critical areas of education and learning. He is the author of
[Digital Game-Based Learning](http://www.twitchspeed.com/site/news.html)
(McGraw-Hill, 2001) and has created over 50 software games for learning,
including the world\'s first fast-action videogame-based training tools
and world-wide, multi-player, multi-team on-line competitions. His
company, Games2train stands out in the world of learning and training
for its Game-Based Learning approach - the ability to marry the fun of
playing a videogame or computer game together with all the information
needed to accomplish learning or training objectives. In a recent slide
presentation, Mr. Prensky listed a number of commercial, off-the-shelf
and custom educational videogames that are presently used:

[http://www.marcprensky.com](http://www.marcprensky.com/).

#### Off-the-shelf Educational Videogames

[Math and Science Videogames]{.underline}

1.  Physicus

2.  Chemicus

3.  Green Globs and Graphing Equations

[History Videogames]{.underline}

4.  Gettysburg

5.  The New World

6.  Civilization III

7.  Pharaoh

8.  Medieval Total War

9.  Viking Invasion

10. Rampage Across Britain

11. Stronghold Crusader

12. Caesar III

13. The Age of Kings

14. The Age of Empires

15. The Rise of Nations

16. Shogun

[Business Videogames]{.underline}

17. Virtual Leader

18. Trader

19. Objection!

20. Strategy Co-Pilot

21. Marketing Co-Pilot

22. Sales Co-Pilot

23. Virtual U

#### Custom Educational Videogames

1.  Social Studies Videogames

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
24. Revolution

25. Eyewitness

26. Spanish Inquisition

27. Qin

28. Making History

29. Tropical America

30. Mass Balance

31. City Planning

32. Corporate Greed

33. Power Politics

34. The Political machine

35. President Forever

36. Quandries (Ethics)

37. Sim Health

38. Balance of Power

[Math-Science Videogames]{.underline}

39. The Algebots

40. The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy

41. Environmental Detectives

42. Supercharged

43. Rapunsel

44. Kinetic City

45. Mission Max

46. National Geographic

47. Space Station Sim

48. Project Connect

49. Nitrogenius

50. Episims

[Language Learning Videogames]{.underline}

51. English Taxi

52. Listening Skills

53. Achieve Now

54. Slide

55. Prospero's Island

Research and development of educational videogames are underway at a
number of universities, including NYU, Carnegie Mellon, University of
Southern California, and MIT.

At Carnegie Mellon, a multimedia database has been developed that allows
students to interview a virtual Albert Einstein. This execution combines
a data base of responses by Albert Einstein with animation, immersive
technologies, and voice recognition that results in a virtual Albert
Einstein who is capable of responding to questions. This technology has
resulted in Eidoserve (<http://www.eidoserve.com/>), a company that can
create customized virtual instructors or guides.

At the Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) at the University of
Southern California, which is the National Science Foundation's
exclusive engineering research center for multimedia and internet
research, games focused on future worlds are being developed and
evaluated.

At MIT's Education Arcade Program, videogames have been developed that
teach high school (HS) Social Studies, HS AP Physics, and HS AP
Environmental Science. Also, as part of the Games-to-Teach Project of
MIT's Comparative Media Studies Program, innovative, next-generation
educational videogames are being developed that teach engineering,
environmental investigation with handheld PC's, physics,
electromagnetism, life sciences, American history, psychology, and
cultural anthropology.

#### Instructional Software Developments - Additional Companies of Interest

There are many molecular modeling software companies described in
American Chemical Society Publications. One company that has developed
an educational molecular modeling and dynamics software program that is
particularly effective is Bitwixt ( <http://www.bitwixt.com/>), the
maker of Atomsmith. Atomsmith is an easy-to-use, Windows-based program
for exploring models of molecules. Scientists, teachers, and students
can use this program to construct and study the 3D structure and
behavior of molecules.

An interactive guide to the vascular heart has been produced at UC
Irvine, a virtual human has been created for study at the University of
Auckland NZ, and "Brainarium, watch the brain while it is thinking" has
been developed by LivingGlobe (<http://www.livinglobe.com/>). There are
a number of other efforts in the area of student understanding through
visual simulations. One that is might be relevant to NASA's World Wind
is Keyhole, which is a commercial company that markets a 3D digital
model of the entire Earth via the Internet. Keyhole is not an education
focused company, but its technology can have great impact in the
classroom.

#### Instructional Software Developments - In-the-Pipeline Efforts

There are five instructional software projects presently supported by
NASA's Learning Technologies: (1) The Information Accessibility Lab; (2)
The Virtual Lab; (3) "What's the Difference?"; (4) Animated Earth; (5)
and World Wind.

The Information Accessibility Lab project is a set of software tools
that students use to see and hear mathematics, providing unprecedented
information access to blind and low vision students. This development
represents a unique NASA-technology teaching tool that can enhance STEM
education for all K-12 students, whether sighted or not.

The Virtual Lab project provides students and educators with virtual but
realistic software implementations of sophisticated scientific
instruments commonly used by NASA scientists and engineers.

"What's the Difference?" is an interactive software application that
facilitates scientific analysis by allowing any content to be compared
side by side. "What's the Difference?" also provides a robust and
flexible authoring component that allows educators and curriculum
developers to populate a template with virtually any set of content or
data.

The goal of the Animated Earth project is to make NASA Earth Science
data and research results directly available to students, educators, and
the general public through planetary visualization tools.

NASA's World Wind allows any user to zoom from satellite altitude into
any place on Earth, leveraging high resolution LandSat imagery and SRTM
elevation data to experience Earth in visually rich 3D. World Wind can
also display a combination of data, such as temperature, barometric
pressure, cloud cover, and rainfall across the entire planet.

The Virtual Lab project, "What's the Difference?", the Animated Earth
project, and NASA's World Wind can result in educational
tools/applications that students can use for project-based, interactive
learning. Lesson plans can be developed for students working in teams to
experience and learn compelling information that is aligned with
national and state standards. All four projects can incorporate
state-of-the-art, animation/videogame technology for high quality
visualization. Access to scientist/engineer mentors is presently not
part of the five LT projects, but this component can be incorporated
later.

All five LT projects are efforts that can help fill the void created by
the response of the commercial sector to NCLB. These projects are
innovative, make use of "cutting-edge" NASA technologies, and can result
in educational tools/applications that have potential for national
impact. At present, all five projects have working prototypes that show
evidence of success. These prototypes will be further developed into
intuitive and robust educational tools/applications that will be
available at no cost to the user.

There are several research projects worth mentioning that were reported
at the 2004 SIGGRAPH Conference in Los Angeles. These projects focus on
the use of animation and virtual reality in education.

Students at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and the Fashion
Institute of Technology in New York City collaborated to produce a 3D
virtual world fashion and interactive narrative event, even though the
two groups never met. This online, distance learning effort used
emergent, collaborative 2D and 3D systems and was reported to be highly
engaging and successful.

Peter M. Border, a physics instructor in the School of Physics and
Astronomy at the University of Minnesota reported on an experimental
physics class which taught elementary mechanics by having students
design computer games. The students learned physics by programming
agents to move, roll, and collide in a physically correct manner, which
required them to understand the physics behind the motion. The students
created approximately one videogame each week and even though students
needed to learn the programming associated with making videogames, the
instructor was able to cover the material of a typical first-year
physics class. Student engagement and learning was reported to be very
high. Email contact: <borders@physics.umn.edu>.

Jayfus T. Doswell at George Mason University is building virtual reality
instructors as 3D-animated characters that behave autonomously in
networked virtual environments. These virtual instructors responds to
multi-modal input across computer networks, interact with human learners
using context-aware intelligence, and apply proven pedagogical
techniques during instruction, exemplifying the potential to provide
human learning anytime, anywhere, and at any pace. Email contact:
<doswellj@hotmail.com>.

Steve Guynup at the University of Baltimore, in collaboration with Ron
Broglio and Jim Demmers from Georgia Institute of Technology, reported
the development of synchronous online learning in a virtual classroom.
To demonstrate their system and the use of an avatar as a multimedia
expression methodology meant to deliver information to students, they
have developed an in depth, hour-long educational lecture on cultural
factors and forces that influenced Charles Darwin. This is important
work and the potential impact on future education is great.

NSF provides the following guidelines for the funding of educational
technology development.

> 1\. A prototype is needed.
>
> 2\. There must be potential for national impact.
>
> 3\. Diverse test sites must be part of the development.
>
> 4\. There must be a professional development component.
>
> 5\. There must be potential for commercialization.
>
> 6\. There must be evidence of success.

### Evaluation Software

Evaluation software is not a major focus of this benchmarking study.
However, it should be noted that most of the companies in the Commercial
Instructional Software category have evaluation software products
because of the need for testing in the NCLB educational environment.

### Administrative Software

There are nearly 100 companies marketing products to schools in the
Administrative Software category, with the major players being Edline,
Pearson Digital Learning (and NCS), and Chancery Software. These
companies have developed software that facilitates information access to
the teacher and student. They also market software for recording grades
and monitoring school performance. Like the Evaluation Software
category, administrative software should be noted but it is not a major
focus of this benchmarking study.

## Educational Hardware

### Instructional Hardware

Vernier Software & Technology is a company that has been previously
described in the Commercial Instructional Software section. This company
markets a wide-range of computer-controlled sensors and data-collection
tools that are specifically developed for education. The sensors and
data-collection tools are robust, intuitive, and straightforward to use.
Some parameters that can be measured using Vernier's sensors are
temperature, pressure, pH, dissolved oxygen, dissolved carbon dioxide,
heart rate, current, voltage, acceleration, and velocity. Much of the
success of this company is due to the relevance of their array of
sensors that address the required science and math curricula consistent
with state and national education standards, and also to Vernier's
extensive teacher training program.

LeapFrog SchoolHouse markets electronic, multi-sensory learning devices
that are reportedly in 40,000 elementary school classrooms. These
devices, which look like notepads or notebooks, enables students to see,
hear, and touch while learning. This interactive technology incorporates
research-based, instructional programs, and its use by students is
growing.

Anthrotronix, Inc. is a dynamic human factors engineering company that
designs, develops, and tests systems to optimize human technology
interaction. The first products developed from the company\'s technology
base target the six million school age children with disabilities.
Anthrotronix is included in this report because of the need in education
for more assistive learning tools for students who have disabilities. In
the long run, these kinds of developments will prove beneficial to more
individuals than those just with learning disabilities.

### Computers, Communication Devices, and Media Devices

As expected, computers are dominant in the use of educational hardware
in schools. The major players in this area are Apple, Dell, Gateway,
Hewlett-Packard, and IBM. Despite its expense, laptop computer use in
education continues to grow along with the use of wireless applications.
Wireless technology in classrooms has a 27% penetration rate, which is
growing. Of the schools that have wireless devices, 73% use laptops with
wireless connections and 0.6% use PDA's with wireless connections.
Broadband penetration in schools is growing with 98% of schools having
Web access. Educators are also becoming interested in the use of
hand-held PDA's as learning tools. Hardware manufacturers, including
Gateway, are developing laptop/tablet combination hardware tools for
future use in business and education. (Simba Information, 2003)

The use of video-cameras, video camcorders, DVD players, and LCD
projectors in the classroom is also growing. LCD Projectors are
especially useful for visualizing science animations and simulations,
and these projectors are becoming more common in classrooms.

Technologies that can have future impact on education are in the areas
of video-conferencing, electronic paper (E Ink, Phillips Electronics,
Sony Digital Paper, Mattel), and wireless technologies involving PDA's,
cell-phones, portable computers, and tablets. In an article on
computer-enhanced education which appeared in the June 2004 issue of
MIT's Magazine of Innovation Technology Review, Georgia Tech was listed
as a leader in the use of multimedia technologies for recording and
enhancing classroom lectures. The University of Toronto was said to be
at the forefront of Web-based interactive audio and videoconferencing
and the University College London was noted for its experimental
classroom for enhanced distance learning. According to this article,
Tsinghua University in Beijing has the most advanced smart classroom for
interactive distance learning in the world. Classes as large as 180
students in remote locations have actively participated in computer
science courses. Wide scale testing and commercialization of the
technology involved is underway

An Educational research project worth noting was demonstrated at the
Emerging Technologies Program of the 2004 SIGGRAPH Conference. Daniel
Wagner, Thomas Pintaric, and Dieter Schmalstieg from the Vienna
University of Technology demonstrated a software framework for rapidly
creating and deploying self-contained, multi-user augmented reality
applications on a variety of commercially available handheld computers
(PDA's). In order to demonstrate their framework's capabilities, they
implemented a collaborative multi-user game ("The Invisible Train"), in
which a wooden miniature railroad track could be populated with virtual
trains. These trains were only visible to users through a magic lens in
form of the PDA\'s augmented video see-through display. Players interact
with the game environment by selecting and operating virtual track
switches and junctions, thereby influencing the paths of their virtual
trains. The common goal of the game is to prevent the trains from
colliding. This was an amazing demonstration that combined software
development, virtual reality technology, video gaming, and the use of
commercially available hardware (PDA's with cameras).

## Educational Outreach Programs

Educational outreach programs are having a significant impact on
students through a variety of forms.

### University Sponsored

The MIT OpenCourseWare initiative has been previously mentioned. There
are many smaller scale programs that greatly benefit K-12 education such
as the SEPA program (Science Education Partnership Award). SEPA is
supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health to the
Milwaukee School of Engineering\'s Center for BioMolecular Modeling. The
SEPA program is a three-year professional development program designed
for high school science teachers. In addition to providing rigorous
content information in the area of molecular structure and function,
educators get the opportunity to fabricate physical models of
bio-molecules that they can take back to their classroom for the
education, excitement, and benefit of their students. Other examples are
Cornell University's Classroom Feeder Watch Program and Classroom Pigeon
Watch Program which gives students the opportunity to be part of an
ongoing research project.

### Corporate Sponsored

There are several significant educational outreach programs that are
sponsored by companies such as Apple, Cisco (Cisco Academy) and Intel
(Teach to the Future Program and the Intel Science Competition).
Microsoft Corporation has a very large multi-dimensional effort. The
Oracle Academy involves teacher training of database management and is
also reaching students and teachers worldwide through its Think.com and
ThinkQuest.org programs. Think.com is a free, worldwide Web-page
authoring tool that facilitates collaboration across the classroom and
the world. ThinkQuest.org is an Oracle sponsored Web page competition
that involves students and teachers worldwide. Worldwide involvement in
Oracle's programs is increasing.

The Bugscope Project is a Beckman Institute educational outreach program
that provides a resource to classroom students and teachers so that they
may remotely operate a scanning electron microscope to image \"bugs\" at
high magnification. The microscope is remotely controlled in real time
from a classroom computer over the Internet using a Web browser. The
Bugscope project is primarily oriented towards K-12 classrooms and there
is no cost to participate in the project.

FIRST Robotics (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and
Technology) is a non-profit organization that aspires to transform
culture, making science, math, engineering, and technology as cool for
kids as sports are today. The FIRST Robotics Competition is an exciting,
multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to
solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way.
The program is a life-changing, career-molding experience---and a lot of
fun. In 2004 the competition will reach more than 20,000 students on
over 900 teams in 27 competitions. The success of this program depends
on high levels of personal contact between students and adult mentors.
This intensive program covers a wide range of activities (mechanical
engineering, electronic engineering, programming, teamwork building,
Webpage design, computer animation, community service) and has proven to
be a very effective educational program.

### Government Sponsored

GLOBE is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based
education and science program. For Students, GLOBE.gov provides the
opportunity to learn by taking scientifically valid measurements in the
fields of atmosphere, hydrology, soils, and land cover, reporting their
data through the Internet, creating maps and graphs on the free
interactive Web site to analyze data sets, and collaborating with
scientists and other GLOBE students around the world. For Teachers,
GLOBE provides assistance through training at professional development
workshops and continuing support from a Help Desk, scientists, and
partners. This NASA supported program combines interactive education,
working with scientists, and library database research. To date, over
1,000,000 students and 25,000 teachers in 15,000 schools in 106
countries have participated in this highly successful program.

The JASON Project is a multi-disciplinary program that sparks the
imagination of students and enhances the classroom experience. From
oceans to rain forests, from Polar Regions to volcanoes, the JASON
Project explores Planet Earth and exposes students to leading scientists
who work with them to examine its biological and geological development.

Worth noting with respect to NASA's Explorers Schools is the Aspire
Public Schools System. Aspire Public Schools open and operate charter
schools in California, with emphasis on low income communities. Through
personalized learning experiences and up-to-date technology, students
are taught to master basic skills, develop productive life skills, and
acquire the thinking skills needed for the rigorous work of the real
world.

## Other Technology Programs of Interest

There are a number of commercial products that are not focused on
education at present, but these same commercial products can have
potential impact on education later. Immersion Corporation is a company
that markets the MicroScribe, Haptic Workstation, CyberGrasp (finger
force-feedback system), CyberTouch. These haptic products are too
expensive for use in education right now, but they may have future use
in education as prices decrease. Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) markets
high-end computational hardware for advanced visualization. SGI has
worked with NASA, a number of national museums, and many institutes of
higher education such as Vanderbilt and Stanford. Some of the advanced
visualization projects include a tour of the human brain, examining a
3,000 year old mummy, NASA's Mars Project, molecular visualization,
automobile design optimization, and a study of Stephen Hawking and the
CosmoGrid. Clearly the cost of an SGI visualization system is too
expensive for the typical K-12 school, but the technology is relevant to
education and may be accessible in the future.

The Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) at the University of Southern
California is the National Science Foundation\'s Exclusive Engineering
Research Center for multimedia and Internet research. IMSC carries out a
successful cross-disciplinary program of research, education, outreach,
industry collaboration, and technology transfer. The work of this
research center includes 3d stereoscopic video acquisition, display,
transmission and interaction, immersive audio rendering algorithms,
augmented virtual environment such as a virtual campus, haptics,
interactive education, streaming for distributed immersive performance,
high speed immersive media stream recorder, video streaming over the
internet, and virtual classroom (virtual environments for human
performance testing and training). This is an innovative, leading edge
educational research center whose work should be followed.

Another center of educational technology innovation is the Virtual
Reality Application Center (VRAC) at Iowa State University. Their
research involves the integration of humans and computers with advanced
interfaces to enable visual, haptic, and audio interaction between users
and computer generated virtual environments. Research areas at VRAC
include haptic devices, virtual reality, human factors, and wireless
multimedia communications for virtual environments.

# NSF Funding Trends

The National Science Foundation supports K-16 education through the
Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education (ESIE) and the
Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE). These divisions support
projects that are research based and relevant to students' learning of
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Current
project funding information for ESIE is available in a form that can be
tabulated and examined for trends in support and activity. Identifying
these trends can lead to a better understanding of the current and
future direction of technology in education in the United States.
Financial award information (including abstract) for all active ESIE
projects as of September 2004 can be found in the Webpage archive.

## ESIE is comprised of 12 Programs

+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| **Program**                               | * | **Total** | **Av    |
|                                           | * |           | erage** |
|                                           | N |           |         |
|                                           | o |           |         |
|                                           | . |           |         |
|                                           | * |           |         |
|                                           | * |           |         |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 1.  Informal Science Education Program    | 1 | \$20      | \$1,    |
|                                           | 9 | 7,918,586 | 094,308 |
|                                           | 0 |           |         |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 2.  Teacher Enhancement Program           | 1 | \$27      | \$1,    |
|                                           | 4 | 5,140,709 | 965,291 |
|                                           | 0 |           |         |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 3.  Instructional Materials Development   | 9 | \$15      | \$1,    |
|     Program                               | 9 | 7,051,463 | 586,378 |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 4.  Information Technology Experiences    | 2 | \$1       | \$      |
|     for Students and Teachers Program     | 8 | 4,945,635 | 533,773 |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 5.  Urban Systemic Program                | 2 | \$14      | \$5,    |
|                                           | 6 | 2,842,957 | 493,960 |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 6.  Teacher Professional Continuum        | 2 | \$        | \       |
|     Program                               | 6 | 1,479,835 | $56,917 |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 7.  Enrichment Courses Program            | 2 | \$        | \$      |
|                                           | 3 | 8,166,362 | 355,059 |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 8.  Centers for Learning and Teaching     | 1 | \$13      | \$7,    |
|     Program                               | 9 | 6,601,815 | 189,569 |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 9.  Rural Systemic Initiative Program     | 1 | \$3       | \$1,    |
|                                           | 7 | 3,868,403 | 992,259 |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 10. Comprehensive Partnerships for        | 1 | \$        | \$1,    |
|     Mathematics and Science Achievement   |   | 1,951,862 | 951,862 |
|     Program                               |   |           |         |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 11. Presidential Awards for Excellence in | 1 | \$        | \$1,    |
|     Science and Mathematics Teaching      |   | 1,659,534 | 659,534 |
|     Program                               |   |           |         |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| 12. Educational System Reform Program     | 1 | \$349,210 | \$      |
|                                           |   |           | 349,210 |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+
| **Totals**                                | 5 | \$98      | \$1,    |
|                                           | 7 | 1,976,371 | 719,748 |
|                                           | 1 |           |         |
+-------------------------------------------+---+-----------+---------+

## Five Most Significant Programs: Three Primary Groupings

The five groups of particular interest are described first. Immediately
following is the basis for this interpretation and then a discussion of
what this says about the future for education technology in terms of its
use as a benchmark.

### Informal Science Education Program

Informal Science Education activities provide rich and stimulating
opportunities outside formal school settings, where individuals of all
ages, interests, and backgrounds increase their appreciation and
understanding of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology.
Projects take place in diverse environments (e.g., museums of all types,
community centers, in the home) and directly target public audiences for
self-directed STEM learning, such as permanent and traveling
exhibitions; films; television and radio series; Web-based projects;
citizen science programs; and youth and community programs. Projects
typically are designed to reach large audiences or to have the potential
for significant national or regional impact.

### Instructional Materials Development Program

The Instructional Materials Development Program focuses on the
development of high-quality, research-based instructional and assessment
materials for students that enhance knowledge, thinking skills, and
problem-solving abilities of all students, as well as incorporate recent
advances in disciplinary content, research on teaching and learning, and
instructional technologies. Materials are intended to be implemented
nationwide and address learning in diverse settings. The Instructional
Materials Development Program emphasizes the development, dissemination,
and implementation of instructional materials and assessments for STEM
education.

### Teacher Enhancement Program

Teacher Enhancement projects provide professional development
opportunities to broaden and deepen the disciplinary and pedagogical
knowledge of teachers, improving their ability to deliver rich and
challenging education in science, mathematics, and technology education
to all students. Through active involvement of administrators, projects
encourage school organizations and cultures that provide requisite
resources and support to implement classroom improvements through
sustained professional development.

### Centers for Learning and Teaching Program

The Centers for Learning and Teaching Program addresses the need to
enrich and diversify the national infrastructure for standards-based
STEM education. The goal is to increase the number of K-12 educators
prepared in content, pedagogy, and assessment methodologies. Each Center
has a specific concentration but all offer an environment that merges
education research, high-quality professional development, and the
teaching of innovative instructional practices. Each CLT consists of a
doctoral degree-awarding university and one or more school districts,
plus partnering organizations.

### Urban Systemic Program

The Urban Systemic Program focuses on the improvement of science, math,
and technology education in cities throughout the United States.

## Basis for Significance and Grouping

There are five programs that make up the three groups of interest. Upon
further inspection, these five programs can be placed into two groups to
get a sense of ESIE funding and activity trends. There is a group
comprised of three programs that have a large number of active projects
and a large total funding.

1.  ***Informal Science Education Program***

2.  ***Instructional Materials Development Program***

3.  ***Teacher Enhancement Program***

The second group is comprised of programs that have large total program
funding and very large average awards (greater than \$2,000,000).

4.  ***Centers for Learning and Teaching Program (Research)***

5.  ***Urban Systemic Program (City Specific)***

There is significant support in numbers and funding for the Informal
Science Education Program, the Instructional Materials Development
Program, and Teacher Enhancement Programs. There is also significant
support in funding for the Centers for Learning and Teaching Program and
the Urban Systemic Program.

Projects in the Centers for Learning and Teaching Program focus on
research associated with a variety of K-12 educational areas such as
assessment as a critical tool for science learning, the dissemination of
knowledge in education, and improving science, math, and technology
teaching. The Program supports projects that study improved methods for
the education of minorities and best approaches for teaching urban
students mathematics. Assessment of inquiry-based learning, research on
the effectiveness of technology enhanced learning of standards-based
curricula, and examination of the interface between formal and informal
education and are also areas of support.

The Urban Systemic Program presently focuses on the improvement of
science, math, and technology education in Birmingham (AL), Boston (MA),
Brownsville, (TX), Chattanooga (TN), Chicago (IL), Dallas (TX), Fresno
(CA), Jackson (MI), Memphis (TN), Minneapolis (MN), Newport News (RI),
Oklahoma City (OK), Omaha (NE), Philadelphia (PA), Pittsburg (PA),
Portland (OR), San Antonio (TX), St. Louis (MO), and Winston-Salem (NC).
The Miami-Dade County School District (FL) and minorities in Maryland
are also part of this teaching improvement Program.

The ESIE Division of NSF significantly supports by way of large numbers
of active projects and large total Program funding: (1) development of
tools/applications for STEM education outside of the classroom; (2)
development of instructional classroom material that is compelling,
hands-on, and standards-based that will advance science, math, and
technology education in schools; and (3) teacher professional
development. It also supports by way of very large grants (greater than
\$2,000,000), the research of teaching methods to enhance K-12 science,
math, and technology education at its Centers for Learning and Teaching
and efforts that will improve this education in urban schools.

# Conclusion

The task of benchmarking advanced technology tools/applications under
development was carried out, to help determine the 4-6 with the most
impact potential for NASA e-learning (Outcome 6.4.1). The approach taken
was to first establish the "big picture" for technology in education by
developing a database of organizations that could be used to catalogue
individual organizations within groups of organizations, so that present
and future trends relating to the use of technology in education could
be identified and analyzed. The body of this report establishes the "big
picture" for technology in education. Examination of development of
advanced technology tools/applications that are supported by NASA
Learning Technologies will now take place against the backdrop of
present and future trends relating to education in technology in the
United States.

There are some general considerations for all technology
tools/applications development efforts. A major trend in education at
present is conducting research that determines the actual benefits of
technology in schools to student learning and performance. There is a
strong emphasis on research-based tools/applications that are aligned
with state and national education standards. NASA projects needs to
operate under these existing realities, but not so much as to hinder
development of the technology. A professional development (training)
component will also be important for all developments.

Despite widespread state budget cutbacks that school districts are
presently facing, combined with the requirements of student performance
under NCLB, the education environment is preparing for the innovative
use of technology in education. There are a growing number of technology
savvy teachers, and increasingly more schools have high-speed access to
the Web and wireless technology.

Innovative developments in education are taking place at universities,
through corporate sponsored educational outreach programs, in small
companies, and by NSF supported research groups in the Informal Science
Education Program and the Instructional Materials Development Program.
Many of these efforts, which include the projects supported by NASA's
Learning Technologies, are on the leading edge of educational technology
tools/applications development. These efforts have potential for great
impact in addressing the present and future needs of students.

The primary and secondary educational system in the United States must
address the significant problem of minimum educational standards, but
present and future global competition requires that students be capable
of much more. These capabilities have been dubbed the "7Cs" beyond the
"3Rs"by Trilling & Hood and include critical thinking and doing,
creativity, collaboration, cross-cultural understanding, communication,
computing, and career/learning self-reliance. The educational
tools/applications that will address these capabilities should have as
many of the following attributes as possible.

Project-based

Interactive Learning

Hands-on Component

Students Working Together

Access to Scientist/Engineer Mentors

Compelling Information that is National and State Standards-based

State-of-the-art, Animation/Videogame Quality

Intuitive and Robust

No Cost

The projects presently supported by LT are: (1) The Information
Accessibility Lab; (2) The Virtual Lab; (3) "What's the Difference?";
(4) Animated Earth; (5) and World Wind.

The Information Accessibility Lab project is a set of software tools
that students use to see and hear mathematics, providing unprecedented
information access to blind and low vision students. This development
represents a unique NASA-technology teaching tool that can enhance STEM
education for all K-12 students, whether sighted or not. There are six
million school age children with disabilities and companies like
Anthrotronix, Inc. are also addressing the needs of the disabled
student. Although these types of efforts may have limited impact in
terms of student numbers, in the long run, the results should be
beneficial to more than those individuals with learning disabilities.

The Virtual Lab project provides students and educators with virtual but
realistic software implementations of sophisticated scientific
instruments commonly used by NASA scientists and engineers. The
instruments are designed to easily incorporate new specimens without the
need for any software modifications, through the use of XML. Like the
Bugscope project, this work should result in more students having access
to real-world experiences that provide compelling and content rich
information.

There is a great deal of activity in terms of research and development
in the video gaming industry. A project that is aligned to this trend is
"What's the Difference?." This interactive software application
facilitates scientific analysis by allowing any content to be compared
side by side. This tool engages students in scientific discovery,
research, and exploration by drawing on students' natural curiosity to
understand issues through comparative analyses. "What's the Difference?"
also provides a robust and flexible authoring component that allows
educators and curriculum developers to populate a template with
virtually any set of content or data.

The goal of the Animated Earth is to make NASA Earth Science data and
research results directly available to students, educators, and the
general public through any planetary visualization tool. The focus of
the Animated Earth is to populate a NASA server with a large amount of
exciting, scientifically diverse NASA content based on international
standards and then, by example and direct technical assistance, to help
other NASA entities create and serve their own such content. This
scientific visualization product is in step with the developments taking
place in animation and virtual reality. It also incorporates digital
library and database technologies, which are already having a great
impact on education.

NASA's World Wind is also poised to play an important role in the
direction of technology in education. Engaging because of its compelling
content and interactive video game quality, World Wind allows any user
to zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth, leveraging high
resolution LandSat imagery and SRTM elevation data to experience Earth
in visually rich 3D. World Wind can display a combination of data from a
variety of sources such as NASA data delivered via GLOBE.gov on
temperature, barometric pressure, cloud cover, and rainfall across the
entire planet.

The Virtual Lab project, "What's the Difference?", the Animated Earth
project, and NASA's World Wind can result in educational
tools/applications that students can use for project-based, interactive
learning. Lesson plans can be developed for students working in teams to
experience and learn compelling information that is aligned with
national and state standards. All four projects can incorporate
state-of-the-art, animation/videogame technology for high quality
visualization. Access to scientist/engineer mentors is presently not
part of the five LT projects, but this component can be incorporated
later.

All five LT projects are efforts that can help fill the void created by
the response of the commercial sector to NCLB. These projects are
innovative, make use of "cutting-edge" NASA technologies, and can result
in educational tools/applications that have potential for national
impact. At present, all five projects have working prototypes that show
evidence of success. These prototypes will be further developed into
intuitive and robust educational tools/applications that will be
available at no cost to the user.

# Appendices {#appendices .unnumbered}

## ESIE Funding Information

### Centers for Learning and Teaching Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- ---------------
  Number of Active Projects                                19

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$136,601,815

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        17
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$8,035,401

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$11,068,725

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$52,799

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  2
  -------------------------------------------------------- ---------------

### Comprehensive Partnerships for Mathematics and Science Achievement Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------
  Number of Active Projects                                1

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$1,951,862

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        1
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$1,951,862

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$1,951,862

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$1,951,862

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  0
  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------

### Educational System Reform Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------
  Number of Active Projects                                1

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$349,210

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        1
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$349,210

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$349,210

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$349,210

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  0
  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------

### Enrichment Courses Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------
  Number of Active Projects                                23

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$8,166,362

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        23
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$355,059

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$500,631

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$259,495

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  0
  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------

### Informal Science Education Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- ----------------
  Number of Active Projects                                190

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$207,918,586

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        151
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$1,376,944.28

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$5,911,050

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$47,906

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  39
  -------------------------------------------------------- ----------------

### Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)

  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------
  Number of Active Projects                                28

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$14,945,635

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        15
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$996,375.67

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$3,959,402

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$162,100

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  13
  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------

### Instructional Materials Development Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- ----------------
  Number of Active Projects                                99

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$157,051,463

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        82
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$1,915,261.74

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$9,856,801

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$192,322

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  17
  -------------------------------------------------------- ----------------

### Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------
  Number of Active Projects                                2

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$1,659,534

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        2
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$829,767

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$1,075,453

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$584,081

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  0
  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------

### Rural Systemic Initiative Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------
  Number of Active Projects                                17

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$33,868,403

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        17
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$1,992,259

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$8,500,000

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$298,976

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  0
  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------

### Teacher Enhancement Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- ---------------
  Number of Active Projects                                140

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$275,140,709

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        138
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$1,993,773

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$11,999,998

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$158,368

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  2
  -------------------------------------------------------- ---------------

### Teacher Professional Continuum Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------
  Number of Active Projects                                26

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$1,479,835

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        3
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$493,278

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$1,410,885

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$20,000

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  23
  -------------------------------------------------------- --------------

### Urban Systemic Program

  -------------------------------------------------------- ---------------
  Number of Active Projects                                26

  Total of Funds Awarded                                   \$142,842,957

  Number of Projects with Estimated Amount of Total        24
  Funding                                                  

  Average Size of Estimated Amount of Total Funding        \$5,951,790

  Maximum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$15,177,587

  Minimum Estimated Amount of Total Funding                \$150,010

  Number of Projects Anticipating Funding                  2
  -------------------------------------------------------- ---------------

# References

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Education Reform in the Knowledge Age or \"We\'re Wired, Webbed and
Windowed, Now What?\" Educational Technology, 39(3), 5-18.

Senge, P. M. (Ed.), Cambron-McCabe, N., Lucas, T., Smith, B., Dutton,
J., & Kleiner, A. (2000). Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline
Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares about
Education. Doubleday. ISBN: 0385493231.

Trilling B., & Mizusawa, E. (2002). Every Child a Knowledge Explorer -
Launching the NASA 21st Century Learning Mission. A WestEd and NASA
Learning Technologies Project White Paper

Mickey, K. & O'Brien, M. (2003). Electronic Media for the School Market,
Trends & Forecast, 2003-2004. Simba Information, Inc. ISBN: 0887092640.

Schooley, C. (2002, October). Future Direction in the K-12 Education
Technology Services. Giga Information Group, Inc.

Brazell, J., Kim, N., & Starbuck, H. (2004, February). Digital Games: A
Technology Forecast. IC2 Institute, University of Texas at Austin.

Staresina, L. (2004, September). Technology in Education, Education Week
on the Web.