Zero in on Comprehension Using the NSDL Concept Map Tool
Teachers work to connect broad learning concepts, standards and educational resources in K12 classrooms to ensure that their students’ progress is both developmentally sound and measurable. Until now there has not been an easy way to find and present students with the right online information at just the right moment. Now teachers can point students to appropriate educational resource at the right time with the new NSDL Concept Map Tool based on AAAS Project 2061: Benchmarks for Science Literacy–Atlas for Science Literacy, Volume 1.

The National Science Digital Library’s new Concept Map Tool lets teachers and students visualize how learning concepts, standards, and educational resources are interrelated. Teachers can access the right classroom resources in time to teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts linked to associated education standards for students at different stages of learning.

The beta release version of the Concept Map Tool currently operates on Windows PCs with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers, and on Macintosh PCs with the Mozilla Firefox browser. Support for Apple Safari will be added at a later date. During the beta release period work will continue on refining the selection of resources associated with each benchmark.

Please help test the NSDL Concept Map Tool. Did you like it? Did you encounter any problems? Do you have any suggestions for future features or improvements? Send your feedback here.

NSDL Engineering Pathway Highlights Women in Science and Engineering
http://www.engineeringpathway.com/ep/learning_resource/summary/?id=94A4929D-F1B2-432E-8167-63335569CB4E
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309100429
Engineering Pathway PI Alice M. Agogino, the Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, co-authored the 2006 National Academies Press report Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering with Donna E. Shalala, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and President of the University of Miami. Dr. Agogino will give a keynote talk about the report for the American Physical Society Annual Meeting to be held April 14-17, 2007 in Jacksonville, FL.

Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering has been covered by the New York Times,  the Washington Post, Newsweek, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, The Jim Lehrer News Hour, NPR, and even Rush Limbaugh. This attention has made the report the most commented-on Engineering Pathway resource with 55 comments so far–add your opinions and comments at http://www.engineeringpathway.com/.

In honor of Women’s History month, the Engineering Pathway has also focused attention on Gender Equity resources and the Women in Information Technology sub-collection.

Notes From a Digital Libraries Go To School (DLGTS) Participant
On March 10 Cornell Physics and Astronomy Librarian Pat Viele participated in an NSDL Digital Libraries Go To School (DLGTS) training session offered by Sarah Giersch at the OCM BOCES training center in Syracuse, New York.

Participants in DLGTS in-service and pre-service, science and math, middle and high school workshops are introduced to the National Science Digital Library (NSDL.org) with a tutorial, and then receive instruction on assembling NSDL resources into web-based learning activities using the Instructional Architect (IA) tool.

Ms. Viele serves on the Professional Concerns Committee for the American Association of Physics Teachers. Last summer the committee held “cracker barrel sessions” for high school teachers to learn about what they needed for classroom instruction. Having access to useful collections of lesson plans and professional development opportunities were two of their concerns. She attended the workshop because the Instructional Architect tool offered a good intermediate step in making these types of resources available to teachers until a more formal structure can be established.

Ms. Viele created projects (or collections) of web sites and shared them with fellow librarians at Cornell. If you go to this link, click on “browse teacher projects,” and type in “Viele,” you will find descriptions of three projects attributed to “pat the librarian” about professional development, science careers, and lesson plans. Ms. Viele subsequently suggested to her colleagues that they forward lesson plans for her to add to her projects. She also uses Connotea to collect these materials.

 Librarian of Congress Testimony
http://www.loc.gov/about/welcome/speeches/digital/digitalage.html
On March 20, 2007 Dr. James H. Billington, The Librarian of Congress, offered testimony before the House Subcommittee on Legislative Branch of the U.S. House of Representatives. He outlined the overall vision and strategy with which the Library of Congress has been addressing the challenge of digital technology and described both the goals and challenges ahead.