Project WHIRL

Photos by Catherine Beckham, WHIRL teacher.

Project WHIRL is a three-year research project funded by the National Science Foundation to demonstrate how handheld technology can help students improve learning in hands-on science activities. Researchers at SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning and teachers from the Beaufort County (S.C.) School District are designing and testing software to help students improve:

the quality of their scientific questions
their procedures for data collection, recording, and analysis; and,
their understanding of complex sequences and processes in nature

Chronology

6/19/04
The Project WHIRL team invites you to attend a hands-on workshop with handhelds, Wireless Handhelds for Improving Reflection on Learning in Your Classroom, on Saturday, June 19. The workshop is part of the NECC 2004 program in New Orleans , June 19-23. Go to NECC registration to learn more.

05/12/04
Project WHIRL hosted a public showcase where WHIRL teachers gave presentations and shared how they and their students have used WHIRL tools .

4/01/04 – 4/04/04
Together, Mike Ashby, Catherine Beckham, Melissa Koch, Karenanne Koenig, Cheryl Smith, Harry Smith, and Lynn Walker presented at the National Science Teacher Association meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, April 1-4. We held three sessions with several attendees choosing to attend more than one of our sessions:

Using Handhelds to Engage Students and Find Out What They Know [NSTASession 1, 6MB]
Orchestrating Handheld Use in the Classroom [NSTASession 2, 10MB]
Assessment in the Palm of Your Hand [NSTASession 3, 13MB]

2/16/04
Project WHIRL held its Spring 2004 teacher learning workshop on Monday, February 16, in Bluffton, South Carolina.

9/05/03
Project WHIRL held its Fall 2003 teacher learning workshop on Friday, September 5, at Spring Island.

6/2/03
Project WHIRL held its workshop to kickoff the third year of the project. The workshop brought together SRI and Beaufort staff, design team teachers, and new Project WHIRL teachers to learn about the software and make plans for integrating the software into instruction.

5/28/03
Project WHIRL software is now available for participant use! There are new versions of Sketchy and Quizzler software, augmented by WHIRL design teams. Project WHIRL also introduces two new pieces of software, Boomerang and Data Doers, created from scratch by the design teams. All teacher participants and collaborators can access the Downloads section of this Web site and find software, user guides, and ideas for curriculum integration.

5/21/03
Data Doers makes local Lowcountry news. Read about Karenanne Koenig's students' experience using Data Doers with her Mars rockets activity.

4/15/03
Additional WHIRL teacher participants selected. In 2003-04, a total of 19 teachers will be trying out Project WHIRL software in their classrooms. Click on the map to see where they are located within the school district.

1/6/03
Join Project WHIRL as a participating teacher! Applications [ 200KB] are available for the2003-04 school year to try out the software that WHIRL design team members have developed. Applications are due March 1, 2003.

12/20/02
WHIRL teachers are trying out software in their classroom. Catherine Beckham, science coordinator at Shell Point Elementary School, is using Sketchy to test students' understanding of food webs. Eighth grade teachers Cheryl Smith and Karenanne Koenig at McCracken are using handheld computers to get kids to check data for accuracy in their science labs. And Harry Smith, fourth grade teacher at Lady's Island Elementary, is having his students use Boomerang to generate questions they can use to review science concepts they study in class.

11/7/02
Project WHIRL makes a splash in the Beaufort Gazette. Read this story about Project WHIRL activities at Lady's Island Elementary School!

10/11/02
Project WHIRL teachers meet for Hub Day, a districtwide professional development day for teachers. At Hub Day, teachers discussed more about the design process that Project WHIRL is using to accomplish its objectives. The day helped everyone get a better sense of how all the planning and meeting would result in new software for education.

9/15/02
Design team work is underway. All three design teams that formed at the conference are working toward developing and testing their software. Teams have developed detailed scenarios of use for how they would like to use the software in their classrooms and are beginning to develop requirements for the software that will be developed as part of Project WHIRL.

7/11/02
Project WHIRL design conference is a success! Read all about what happened at the design conference. Learn more about the three teams that formed: HOT-Q, the Image Makers, and the Data Doers.

5/1/02
Design Team members selected. Find out which Beaufort teachers are desiging handheld software for science classrooms.