PREVIOUS WORK THAT INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS WORKSHOP

In building this workshop and our site we have used ideas from the following sources.

We have used the idea of an Ask System from Dr. Roger Schank the Director of the Institute for Learning Studies at Northwestern University. An excellent example of this method is found in Dr. Schank and Chip Cleary's on-line book Engines for Education, a must read for all educators both for its content and its design.

We have also been influenced by the work of Dr. Seymour Papert of MIT. In his recent book The Connected Family, Dr. Papert has described his vision of how the Internet can change and improve the way we learn things. His Logo software and the Micro Worlds version of this software are a torch that will light the path for many educators including us.

The two dominant software companies in schools (Apple and Microsoft) are placing a lot of emphasis on how the Internet will change the way kids learn. In The Road Ahead, Bill Gates describes shows this vision of education and how it is interconnected with Internet. The Sites of Microsoft and Apple are both filled with educational sources and materials.

We have used a Genie (formally known as the Microsoft Agent an ActiveX control) to narrate all directions and solutions to the exploration. This technology that accepts voice inputs and can read scripts can assist the teachers tremendously. This technology even though in its beta state will have a great impact on the educational field.

This on-line workshop exploration is the result of 6 years of collaboration between two partners an inventor, mathematician and computer scientist Dr. Behrouz Aghevli and the other a well established math education professor with deep interest and research and publications in the field of teaching mathematics with manipulatives. It is only through this unique fusion of talents that it has been possible for us to come up with a workable solution and framework for allowing teacher to educate themselves and their students with the use of manipulatives in mathematics. For some of the theoretical background see the Frame-of-Reference Model by Mark Spikell.

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