Frequently Asked Questions

CARET receives inquiries each week about sources for research and additional areas to review. Staff attempt to respond to each question to refer the user to an appropriate source. Below are several recurring questions for which we have been able to provide answers or references. Several staff monitor the "Contact Us" email from CARET. Contributions on this page come primarily from Dr. Molly Freeman, Ruthmary Cradler, and Talbot Bielefeldt.

Topics

Assistive Technology & Special Education	Curriculum, Lesson Plans, & Instructional Strategies	Keyboarding	Multimedia
Online Professional Development	School Websites	Software Critiques	Standards

Questions	Answers
Are there guidelines or standards for teachers, administrators and/or students' technology use that can help me develop or assess my program? Return to top	The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has established standards for students, teachers, and administrators. Go to http://cnets.iste.org/ for the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) and additional information.
What, according to research, is the appropriate age to teach keyboarding? Return to top	Miller, et al. (2000) recommend teaching keyboarding in grades 3-8. Below that range, they suggest familiarizing students with the keyboard, but not doing formal instruction. See: Miller, S., Smith, M., Fidanque, A., & Sullivan, G. (2000). Keyboard success teacher's guide, 2nd edition. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. These resources may also be helpful: Early Connections: Technology in Early Childhood http://www.netc.org/earlyconnections/techconnections.html Keyboarding Research http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/ate/keyboarding/research.htm
Where can I find information about using multimedia in the classroom? Return to top	"Multimedia & Youth" is the theme of the Fall/Winter 2003 (vol. 3, no. 2) edition of the Media Literacy Review http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/mlr/archive/index.html (Note: Click "Feature Pages" for back issues.) Additionally, see: A Synopsis of Ongoing Multimedia Research Projects at UCLA http://www.research.ucla.edu/media.htm The January 2003 issue of T.H.E. Journal, "Using Technology to Enhance the Classroom Environment," by L. Levine, http://www.thejournal.com/ For general articles and how-to's, try browsing Education World's "Technology in the Classroom" links http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/
Where can I find examples of technology curriculum, lesson plans using technology, and instructional strategies? Return to top	For curriculum: Check with the regional education laboratories or regional technology in education consortia http://www.rtec.org/ Northwest Regional Ed Lab http://www.nwrel.org/ would be a good place to start. For sample lesson plans, try: California Learning Resource Network http://www.clrn.org/home/(Must be a registered user) LibrarySpot--Lesson Plans http://www.libraryspot.com/shortcuts/lessonplans.htm For instructional strategies, see the following: CEO Forum http://www.ceoforum.org/ Teaching, Learning, and Computing http://www.crito.uci.edu/tlc/html/findings.html Technology and Education Reform http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/
Where can I find evaluations and critiques of specific software by grade level and subject? Return to top	Take a look at the California Learning Resources Network http://www.clrn.org/. See also California Instructional Technology Clearinghouse (1998). Guidelines for the evaluation of instructional technology resources. Eugene, OR: ISTE.
Where can I find information and research on assistive technology and on making technology accessible for special education students Return to top	Here are some good resources for assistive technologies and accessibility: The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) http://www.cast.org/ Westmark School--Education Leadership Journal article http://www.westmarkschool.org/article.html Family Village School -- list of resources pertaining to a wide range of disabilities http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/education/at.html Also, see the work by MacArthur posted on CARET, and check CARET Questions and Answers regarding Student Learning (See Answer 5 in this section.)
What does research say about online professional development for educators? Where can I see sample programs? Return to top	For research on online professional development programs--Conduct a keyword search on CARET for "online professional development" and go to the CARET Questions and Answers section to explore the Professional Development topic. These websites may also be helpful: Distance Learning Portal http://www.elrnnetwork.com/portal.html Digital Bridges Videoconferencing http://www.netc.org/digitalbridges/resources/index.html Distance Learning Resource Network http://www.dlrn.org/ Journal of Asynchronous Learning Network http://www.aln.org/index.asp For sample online programs: Search on CARET for Twigg...you will find references in the review to many programs. TEAMS http://teams.lacoe.edu/documentation/places/professional.html Distance Learning Resource Network --Star Schools http://www.dlrn.org/educ/index.html
Where can I find guidelines for developing or evaluating a school website? Return to top	The following resources may be useful: Technology Planning for K-12 http://www.tcet.unt.edu/tek-plan.htm New York school districts http://www.americatakingaction.com/map/ny.html Bellingham, Washington http://www.bham.wednet.edu/ Orgwebsites (this is a commercial site offering software solutions, but it provides general principles for guiding mission and design) http://www.orgwebsites.com/common/content.asp?PAGE=141 Information Accuracy---Rubrics for Designing Webpages http://etc.sccoe.org/ Center for Applied Special Technology http://www.cast.org/ (for guidelines on accessibility) Cyberbee for Website Evaluation http://www.cyberbee.com/guides.html Evaluation Rubrics for Websites http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/online/eval.htm