We've wired the classroom -- now what?

Now that many schools across the nation are connected to the internet, and now that computers are increasingly available in the classroom, many parents and educators wonder where we go from here? How can we best use this new technology? What new skills or new subjects are now relevant? Perhaps most important, how can digital media fortify and advance the teaching of traditional subject matter? The discussions, workshops, and presentations in this day-long symposium will explore the internet and computers as tools for learning and curriculum development.

"Wiring the Classroom" brings together MIT faculty and teachers from schools in the Boston area. The keynote speaker will be Elliot Soloway, a specialist in interactive learning and education. Prof. Salloway holds a joint appointment in electrical engineering, computer science, and education at the University of Michigan, and directs the Investigators' Workshop Project, a collaboration between the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the University of Michigan.

The Keynote lecture will be followed by discussions about educational principles and new media and by demonstrations of computer programs designed by MIT faculty and local teachers for studying foreign languages, literature, history, writing and media studies. Afternoon sessions will be devoted to hands-on demonstrations of a range of specific projects.

Sponsors: The John and Mary R. Markle Foundation, MIT Technology and Culture Forum, MIT Media Laboratory, The Education Cooperative, MIT Comparative Media Studies Program.

wiring the classroom    ABSTRACT | AGENDA | SPEAKERS | SUMMARIES