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OPerETTA Initiative: Optimizing Performance & Enhancing Teaching with Technology & Assessment
The combination of mobile and network technologies has great potential for creating high-performance classrooms, in which teachers have real-time, actionable data at their fingertips to improve instruction, and students have enhanced opportunities for communication, collaboration, and individualized instruction and support. The aim of the OPerETTA initiative is to explore the potential of existing and emerging technologies to create high-performance learning environments.
The OPerETTA team conducted an early-phase design research study of algebra teachers' instructional practices to develop design requirements for next-generation networked classrooms that enhance teaching and optimize classroom interaction, engagement, and learning.
The OPerETTA initiative is guided by the premise that the technology-supported classroom of tomorrow should enhance the art and science of teaching by making it easier for teachers to do hard things well. Our focus on mobile electronic performance support for teachers and classroom network infrastructure is aimed at enhancing teachers' ability to create a highly effective and productive classroom learning environment and to incorporate high-value instructional practices into their instructional routines. Powerful and intuitive teacher tools can make it easier for teachers to diagnose student understanding and instructional needs and to use multiple approaches to helping diverse learners.
The OPerETTA approach involves coupling powerful, diagnostic content and associated intelligent systems with cutting edge networking and interaction technologies and intelligent agents. We see the classroom of tomorrow incorporating technologies and capabilities such as:
- Intelligent modeling of student learning in real time
- Intelligent, cognitive networking among students, enabling "right time, right partners" collaboration
- Instructional agents for real time support to enhance instruction and efficiency
- Automatic data capture of student actions and teacher actions
- Automatic scoring of student work and aggregation of data
- Data mining for powerful teacher learning and instructional planning
- Real time decision support for instructional diagnosis and decision-making
- Actionable representations of the learning environment and individuals within it
OPerETTA research takes a systems theory view of the classroom as a learning system, addressing emergent properties of the system rather than "fixing" individual components. Resulting solutions are more holistic and supportive of the complexity of the teaching and learning system. The OPerETTA classroom enables high-performance learning and teaching and enables significant time savings for teachers and increased time on task for students.
Publications
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Crawford, V. M., Schlager, M., Penuel, W. R., & Toyama, Y. (2008). Supporting the art of teaching in a data-rich, high performance learning environment. In E. B. Mandinach & M. Honey (Eds.), Linking data and learning (pp. 109-129). New York: Teachers College Press.
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Crawford, V. M. (2007, June). Creating a powerful learning environment with networked mobile learning devices. Educational Technology Magazine: The Magazine for Managers of Change in Education, 47(3), 47-50
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Crawford, V. M. (2005, June). Technology for teaching—what’s coming: Enhancing teaching and learning with networked mobile technology. Presentation for the Trends in Mobile Technology for K-16 Teaching and Learning Symposium, National Educational Computing Conference, June 27-30, Philadelphia, PA.
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Crawford, V. M. (2005, November). Guest Editorial: New directions for ed tech development. Leading & Learning with Technology, p. 48. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.
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Research Areas
Assessment
Learning Environments
Teacher Learning
Technology Development