California's seven regional instructional television agencies also assist in evaluating products for purchase and distribution to teachers. At present, the staffs of the clearinghouses are exploring partnerships with educators in other states. These educators will be invited to assist in the evaluation of resources. In the fall of 1994, staff members of the clearinghouses will offer sessions to train technology leaders from other states to use this evaluation process. Districts or schools interested in evaluating technology-based resources can obtain copies of the clearinghouses' evaluation forms, but they should be aware that evaluators need careful training in the criteria in order to produce useful data.
Annotations briefly describe each program and suggest curricular applications.
Both publications are sent to all California school districts, media centers, and schools, and are also available for purchase. Via modem, California educators can reach the database by calling any of the 19 California State University campuses. Educators outside California can access this information through Internet. Users can search the database for a title, producer, type of technology, copyright, grade level, rating, subject, language, and key word. For computer programs, they can also find out the make of the computer and the instructional mode.