Publications & Resources

In keeping with our mission to develop and support research in the use of technology in educational settings, the LTC has generated numerous publications, online resources and software applications over the years. Below is a selection which we hope will prove useful to the educational community at large.

Publications:

Schools as Knowledge-Building Communities Report
This report describes the Knowledge-Building Communities project (1993). The project explored a constructionist approach to learning using computer-supported collaborative learning environments.

Teacher Technology Competency Committee Report (October, 1997)
This report presents recomendations for a set of technology standards that define proficiency in using computer technology in the classroom produced by the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin in collaboration with the Austin Independent School District.

Information and Communication Technologies in Teacher Education: A Planning Guide (published by UNESCO in 2003)
This document provides resources to help teacher educators, administrators and policy-makers better apply new information and communication technologies to teacher education programs. It describes the essential conditions that must be met for successful technology integration and provides guidelines for the development of a strategic planning process.

Virtual Museum Collaborations for Cultural Revitalization: The Four Directions Model (presented to the Museums and the Web 2001 Conference)
This paper describes the creation of the Virtual Tour of the National Museum of the American Indian. Emerging from this experience is a Four Directions model for school-museum partnerships for virtual museum projects. The model considers such projects in the context of three overlapping concepts: culturally responsive education, cultural revitalization, and cultural collaboration. The Four Directions Project, funded by the U. S. Department of Education, has as it's goal the use of technology to support culturally responsible education for Native American Students.

Project CIRCLE Final Report
This report presents the evaluation results of Project CIRCLE and recommendations based on the evaluation findings. Project CIRCLE was a three year project that brought together high school students and teachers, professors and graduate researchers to explore how computer technology may be employed to help create and extend "learning communities" in public schools.

Resources:

KITE Technology Integration Case Library
A knowledge repository for teachers and teacher educators that enables learning through sharing, communal understanding through storytelling, continuous exchange and creation of new knowledge, and collective problem solving among K-12 schools and teacher education programs.

QTVR Tutorial
QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) is a photography-based "immersive" technology that is increasingly more accessible to schools with easy-to-use software. This tutorial provides an introduction to the production and use of QTVR media.

Technology Leadership Academy (1999 - 2003)
The Technology Leadership Academy was a grant-funded collaborative network of colleges and other organizations with teacher preparation programs throughout Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Kansas. The Website, contains a plethora of resources for teacher educators, administrators, and technology planners.

Technology Leadership for Teachers
This series of four online modules trains teachers in undertaking a leadership role with technology in ways that support and enhance student learning.

The Virtual Tour of the National Museum of the American Indian
This virtual tour of the National Museum of the American Indian exhibitions Creations Journey and All Roads Are Good is the result of a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution, the Four Directions project and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tour was produced by students, teachers, community members and Four Directions personnel.

Software:

LHD MasterTool
An OS X Cocoa application that allows a help desk to keep track of the laptops they are servicing as well as the customers and computers they have seen in the past.

LTC LabDesktop
A small Cocoa utility for OS X which allows an interactive web page to be displayed as the computer's desktop background.