National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies Henry Kelly Federation of American Scientists NITRD Briefing September 16, 2008

The National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies is part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (section 802) approved by Congress on July 31, 2008, and signed into law by President Bush on August 14, 2008.National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital TechnologiesHigher Education Act

Purposes Research, development and demonstrations of learning technologies that could include simulations, games, virtual worlds, intelligent tutors, performance-based assessments, and innovative approaches to pedagogy that these tools can implement. Design and testing of components needed to build prototype systems. Research to determine how these new systems can best be used to build interest and expertise in learners of different ages and backgrounds.

Management: independent, nonprofit organization with its own Board of Directors. can receive funding from any federal agency, from private organizations The bill authorizes expenditure of funding from the Department of Education; $50 million is being requested for Fiscal Year 200 Center staff will develop a research plan and ask for competitive proposals. The research will be selected by a peer review process. All material resulting from the research will quickly be made freely and nonexclusively available to the public (wavers that “would result in significant public benefits” are possible but require unanimous Board approval

Instructional Design Create authentic challenges, Problem-centered Learning Continuous assessment of expertise (what can the learner do?) –Varied and Contrasting Examples –Demonstration –Practice opportunities Provide relevant information where and when it’s needed (automated & human) Reflection Feedback Assessment Skills Refreshment Bransford/ Jonassen, D. H./Hannafin,/M. J., Land/ S., & Oliver, K.

Game Features Attractive for Learning Authentic motivating challenges motivates time on task Personalization Continuous assessment (and the right to fail) Contextual bridging closes gap between what is learned and its use Scaffolding provides cues, hints to keep learner progressing

Stimulate deep questions (failing to achieve a compelling goal can do this) A good answer depends on  Technical accuracy  Knowledge about the person asking  Knowledge of the context of the question  An instructional strategy (answer with another question?) Response includes knowledge of:  Content  Individual learner  Context  Pedagogical strategy Multimedia questions and responses (e.g. “ what ’ s that? ” [points at a cell]) Mixture of artificial and human intelligence Inquiry Management Graesser and Person/Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., Hamilton, R.L., & Kucan, L. /Miyake, N. & Norman, D.A.

Measures of expertise that can form the basis of competitive approaches Measures authentic to learners, employers, instructors Continuous, multi-dimensional assessments of content mastery (how would an expert behave) Measures competence using a challenge that makes sense to the learner, instructor, and employers Performance based Reproducible Assessment

“two years ago everybody would show up on Monday and they graduate from school two months later. Not anymore” “We are moving to performance based testing as quickly as we can.” VADM Kevin Moran, Commander, Naval Education and Training Command 2006

Evaluation Explore gains in deep expertise Know where and when to use the new tools (what groups, what concepts) Group AND individual evaluation Diverse demographics Continuous feedback to research teams

Build a World Using a World Instructor/Team leader Static Objects & associated metadata AI characters & associated metadata, scripts, behaviors etc. Converters Learners Players Visitors Role Players Tutors Experts 3D object producers Reviewers Experts, Museums, Archives,… Data on team Production schedules. Student records Faculty Learning modules Performance tests User ratings Converters Learning Management Systems avatars Use Cases