Research in the CRLT

The CRLT hosts several research projects, collaborative efforts that build on creative work by project teams to develop robust examples of integrating technology in varied educational settings.

The focus of the CRLT research projects is to assist teachers in creating high-quality uses of technology in their classrooms. Our goal is to provide K-12 educators with an opportunity to share their experience, discuss teaching practices, and collaboratively create learner-centered classrooms.

Arden: the World of William Shakespeare

The Synthetic Worlds Initiative is constructing a synthetic world, Arden, based on the works of William Shakespeare. When launched, Arden will provide users with a fun experience that also immerses them in the narrative, language, and culture of the world's greatest writer. It will also serve as a laboratory for research on macro-level social phenomena, and the impact of the technology on those who use it.

Children's School Success (CSS) Project

The goal of the Children's School Success (CSS) Project is to improve the educational opportunities and reduce the educational disparity for young children exposed to risks such as poverty, disability, and linguistic differences here in the United States.

Elementary Math Assessment Project

With a grant from the National Science Foundation, the Elementary Math Assessment Project is refining and testing new multi-level modes of classroom assessment. New approaches to feedback are being used to refine classroom discourse and mathematical understanding in ways that indirectly but consistently impact mathematical achievement.

Fulbright Educational Partnership in English as a Second Language (ESL) Education between Indiana University School of Education and Kabul Education University

This partnership seeks to strengthen the capacity of Kabul Education University to provide ESL instruction to its students (prospective teachers) and in-service teachers in Afghanistan. Also, IU faculty and graduate students will have an opportunity to be a part of rebuilding the higher education system in Afghanistan and gain an appreciation of educational issues in an Islamic country.

The Indiana Reading Academy

Reading First is a program that earmarks funds for schools with reading assessment scores that fall below the levels called for under the No Child Left Behind guidelines. Once designated, the Reading First schools receive funding for professional development, and the teachers' work with the program is designed to improve students' performance in reading.

Interdisciplinary Collaborative Program (ICP)

ICP offers joint professional development training for licensed and practicing English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and content-area teachers from Indiana school corporations with growing populations of English Language Learners (ELLs). Various topics are delivered through a blended instructional approach which consists of the internet, interactive video-conferencing and on-site visits.

An International Partnership in the Development of Distance Education Programs

The goal of this project is to support the Azeris in developing an E-Learning Center (ELC) that will support all their universities in offering distance education (DE). The focus of the project is in developing internal capabilities in instructional design, instructional consulting, and online educational platforms.

Models & Modeling as Foundations for the Future in Mathematics Education

The general questions being addressed by this research were stimulated by the following kinds of observations. In fields ranging from aeronautical engineering to agriculture, and from biotechnologies to business administration, outside advisors to future-oriented university programs increasingly emphasize the fact that, beyond school, the nature of problem solving activities has changed dramatically during the past twenty years.

Preparation of Leaders in School Library Media

The Preparation of Leaders in School Library Media project is designed to support doctoral students in pursuit of a career in the professoriate area of school libraries. A curriculum will be developed to support an ongoing program for doctoral students in school library media services in the School of Education.

Quest Atlantis

Quest Atlantis is a National Science Foundation (NSF) -funded learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9 to 12, in educational tasks. Building on strategies from online role-playing games, Quest Atlantis combines features used in commercial gaming environments with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation.

Science EDUCATES (Science Educator Development: Understanding Content and Teaching it Effectively to Students)

Science EDUCATES goals were developed with input from partner schools and are to improve K-6 teachers' (a) abilities to adapt their curricula to meet Indiana Academic Science Standards using the Curriculum Frameworks, (b) understandings of physical science content knowledge, (c) understandings of and abilities to teach through scientific inquiry, and (d) understandings of and abilities to teach nature of science (NOS), as well as elementary students' understandings of NOS.

Scientific Modeling for Inquiring Teachers Network (SMIT'N)

The program focuses on using scientific modeling to improve K-6 teachers' (a) understandings of and abilities to teach using scientific inquiry and the learning cycle; (b) abilities to teach problem-solving process; (c) understandings of and abilities to teach nature of science; (d) abilities to teach life science concepts; and (e) teachers' and students' understandings of life science content knowledge as required and described by the Indiana Academic Standards.

Tandem Certification of Indiana Teachers (TACIT)

The primary goal of the TACIT grant is to provide funded support for licensed, in-service English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) / English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) and content area teachers to become certified as ESL teachers through a combination of on-line coursework and on-site professional development.

Teacher Online Professional Development (LTTS)

Students begin with a curriculum problem and end with a lesson plan they can apply in their classroom and a conceptually linked rationale for that lesson. Learners receive one-on-one mentoring and their learning is centered on the design of inquiry lessons, integration of technology as a tool for inquiry, and meeting curriculum standards.

"To the Bell and Beyond:" Instructional Systems Technology (IST) joins Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) in a 21st Century Community Learning Program

The project aims to implement and expand opportunities for targeted students to improve their academic, personal, health and social needs through a seamless delivery of services. The program offers a four-pronged strategy: after-school program for grades 3 through 6; parent education; family celebrations; and summer programs for grades K through 5.

Video-based Research and Professional Development Project

At the core of our work is a video capture and analysis system, providing an infrastructure that will allow learning scientists and students in training to generate and advance warranted assertions about learning and cognition. Specifically, we would like to prioritize support for developing and validating methodologies and video based technologies that enable the collection of pervasive, systematic, and direct evidence of learning and cognition as they unfold in naturalistic contexts. And furthermore create powerful means to bridge the chasm between research and practice through new tools for web-based video research publications that directly target practitioners.