Wingspread

University of Massachusetts > STEM > Wingspread: Useing IT to Teach Math and Science

Using IT to Teach Math and Science

Wingspread, designed and built during the Great Depression by Frank Lloyd Wright for the H. F. Johnson family in Wisconsin, was originally a home.  In 1959, Mr. Johnson established The Foundation as a private operating foundation dedicated to convening conferences for 'the greater good' at Wingspread which was then transformed into a conference center. "Wingspread conferences are small meetings of thoughtful and rigorous inquiry convened in an atmosphere of candor and purpose. We seek out knowledgeable people who willingly reexamine their assumptions, relish the civil friction of ideas, and are determined to reach solutions." ¹

In the 1990s a K-12 Massachusetts educator was invited to attend a conference at Wingspread and returned enthusiastic about how effective it had been to be among a small number of invited participants.

She described a "fishbowl" in which a half a dozen experts were placed. The remaining participants sat around this circle and listened without interruption to the "fish" discuss at some length. Afterwards the participants were allowed to ask questions. Following the discussion, the participants and the "fish" explored the problem further and proposed solutions, next steps, action plans, etc. A published proceedings was the result.

This idea sparked the desire to emulate this "Wingspread" purpose and format in Massachusetts as part of the STEM Summits. Previous Wingspread sessions²  have offered the opportunity to examine foundational issues in Information Technology and STEM preparation of the state's students.

At this year's Wingspread, part of STEM Summit IV, the role of information technology in mathematics and science to prepare K-12 students for STEM career options will be the focus. There is perhaps no more central or important discussion than the role of information technology in learning and in preparing K-12 students for STEM careers. This year's theme is: Using IT (Information Technology) to Teach Math and Science.

Wingspread IV will include five experts discussing such questions as those listed below. In a second session later that day, strand participants will explore what they learned and develop next steps for their own organizations.

Some of the questions to be explored on October 17, 2007 are:

1. How do you regard information technology's role in math, science and engineering education? Is this unique to those three subjects?
2. What impact do you feel using information technology has had on the students/department/school/district in captivating students to think about a STEM career?
3. How can we build teachers' information technology capacity in the K-12  classroom?
4. How can we bridge the gap between K-12 and higher education in preparation for STEM teaching in the K-12 schools? And what do we need for students to know about IT to make their entrance into higher education in STEM more successful? To create the education we want for the 21st century.
5. What is the role of leaders in all the stakeholder groups (e. g. superintendents and business leaders)  in advancing the STEM pipeline through the use of IT?

¹From the website http://www.johnsonfdn.org/faq.html

²Wingspread I was a one-day invitational strand: Inventing the Next Phase: A T of STEM in our Schools? held in October 2005 as part of STEM Summit II. Wingspread II was a two-day invitational conference, Working Together to Create an IT Fluent Massachusetts. held in the late winter of 2006.

Wingspread III was a one-day strand, part of STEM Summit III,  Securing the Future:  Closing the STEM Achievement Gap held on October 25, 2006. The Wingspread was called: Advances in Instructional Technology Learning and Teaching.

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