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By Sandra Brodnicki
Educators can rein in the wide-ranging power of the Internet by harnessing a Web-based tool designed by a group of Wisconsin teachers for their peers.
The Curriculum Design Assistant, or CDA, helps teachers write instructional plans that correlate with Department of Public Instruction and Milwaukee Public Schools academic standards, learning expectations and district goals. The plans have been put into databases for easy access and inclusion in instructional plans.
The CDA assists teachers in creating quality lesson plans. Teachers can search the large library of lesson plans for any grade level and subject area and download resources associated with the lesson plans.
“It’s really home-grown,” said Mary Delgado, an English as a Second Language teacher at Edison Middle School in Milwaukee who now trains other teachers in using the program. “I think it’s a very creative way for teachers to use the Web. It’s a wonderful sharing tool for teachers. There are so many good ideas, but we (otherwise) just don’t have a chance to share.”
The CDA is available to teachers in school districts that have contracted with Milwaukee Public Schools to use it. (A guest access area provides limited ability to preview the features and benefits of the CDA.) So far, two districts outside of Milwaukee – Racine and Beloit – have signed up for the program, as has the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
Launched at the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year, the CDA grew out of a concept developed during an MPS technology initiative.
The CDA was designed to be user friendly, said Andy Engel, a 14-year teaching veteran who now serves as a school instructional technology specialist. Engel was one of more than two dozen MPS teachers who signed on to develop the Web-based tool.
Teachers can create instructional plans online or search for those that have been posted by other educators.
In the “Create” area, a teacher can use pull-down menus, click radial buttons, and mark checkboxes to indicate which academic standards a particular project addresses. The selections are attached automatically to the instructional plan. Teachers can also upload tests, worksheets, information sheets, rubrics and checklists, or anything they might need to replicate that lesson.
In the “Search” area, teachers can search the instructional database for lessons or projects created for a particular grade level, topic, or curricular area. All plans that meet the search criteria will be displayed. A teacher can then select an individual plan. If an instructional plan meets her needs, she can print it out for her own use.
The CDA gives teachers the opportunity to peek at what other grade levels are doing.
“It’s really important for us to know what’s going on in our district, from the elementary to the high school levels,” Delgado said.
Two universities – Marquette and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee – are using CDA in their teaching programs, Engel said.
“It’s part of preparing tomorrow’s teachers,” he said. “We like it especially since we (MPS) draw from (those universities) to work at our district. We’re getting some nicely trained teachers in CDA.”
The CDA also helps teachers learn to control technology, Delgado said. “We as educators have to be the leaders in technology. We cannot allow technology to lead us.”
The feedback by teachers using the tool has been overwhelmingly positive, said Kathy Onarheim, project director for an MPS program called PT3, or Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to use Technology.
“The energy we’re getting from teachers is incredible. They go away feeling very professional,” she said.
The tool is very popular with teachers who integrate their lessons, Engel said. “Teachers who don’t think about teaching in that way are encouraged to do so by the program,” he said.
Plans are in the works to improve the tool, Onarheim said. Future upgrades include a plan to incorporate short streaming video clips.
“(CDA) is an unfinished tool. It will keep evolving,” Engel said.
You can visit the CDA at: http://mpsCDA.milwaukee.k12.wi.us.
Posted May 16. 2000