Intel Education: the innovator: What makes a good Web Tool?

Web Tools Forum Brings Together Creative Minds to Plan for the Future

In the months ahead, the Intel® Innovation in Education Web site will continue to expand with free tools and resources for educators. Long before a new tool appears online, however, months of planning and design go into resource development. Behind the scenes, a team of experienced educators, researchers, and software engineers work together to create tools for teachers to use to increase student learning.

What Makes a Good Web Tool?

Dr. Jim Pollard, education content manager for the Web site, plays a key role in shaping which tools will make their way from raw idea to reality. A 20-year veteran of education and educational technology, he knows from experience that the classroom value of any tool is what matters most. "Education is more important than technology." he says. "We want to enhance what the teacher does in the classroom rather than replace it."

So what makes a good Web tool for educators? And where do good ideas for teacher resources come from?

Pollard and his colleagues from the Intel® Innovation in Education team invited a group of 50 teachers, university researchers, and software engineers to discuss those intriguing questions at the first Web Tools Forum. Four days of brainstorming and creative thinking generated a slate of new ideas for potential development. All focused in some way on classroom activities that would inspire students to use higher-order thinking skills. "We were hoping to come away with four good ideas to develop, and we got at least 10," says Pollard.

Free to Dream

In the loosely structured environment of the Web Tools Forum, teachers broke into small teams and were encouraged to dream. "We know there are a lot of teachers out there with ideas, and we wanted to bring some of them together," Pollard says. "The best way to be creative is to be with other people who are creative."

The teachers present were from diverse classrooms: an urban high school for students in the California court system, an Alaska district that invests heavily in technology to connect students with the rest of the world, and an Idaho middle school where teachers regularly create projects that cross disciplines. What all share, says Pollard, is that "they're known for being good teachers." And they have a track record of integrating technology into the classroom to boost student learning.

Sitting alongside these creative teachers at the Web Tools Forum were education researchers and software engineers. Drawing on participants' diverse backgrounds, the teams were able to express conceptual ideas for new Web tools in terms of software, and also in terms of pedagogy.

Building Blocks


		"We know there are a lot of teachers out there with ideas, and we wanted to bring some of them together," Pollard says. "The best way to be creative is to be with other people who are creative."

Months of development and classroom field-testing will take place before any of these new ideas will be ready to introduce on the Web site. However, Pollard already has a good idea of the building blocks required to make a Web tool useful for teachers and appropriate for delivery on the Intel® Innovation in Education site. "In general, a good tool will have little connection to content. It's something that can fit into teachers' lives regardless of what subject they're teaching." And like previous Web tools, the next generation to appear on the Intel Innovation in Education site will relate to higher-order thinking. Pollard describes upcoming tools in broad strokes: "Most will be collaborative. They'll be content-free, so they can work in any subject area. And really good tools involve layering in some way; taking knowledge in one area, overlaying it in some other area, seeing connections, building on ideas. That's appealing from the Web perspective. We can combine ideas from different geographies."

How soon might these innovative new tools be available for teachers? Look for at least two new ones by the end of this year, Pollard says. But first, there's much work to be done. "It's a challenge," he admits, "but considerable fun."

Try one of our free tools today at www.intel.com/education.

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