!TeacherBridge:  Bridging Teachers Across the Internet

An exciting new tool is available to teachers through Virginia Tech.  TeacherBridge is an innovative online system developed for supporting collaboration and instruction among teachers.  The system allows teachers easy access to editing their own web pages and the ability to create and configure many advanced interactive web tools previously reserved for network administrators or computer programmers.  

Advanced web pages can be created using just a web browser like Internet Explorer.  The system also provides for more advanced tools like chats, discussion forums, calendars, photo displays, math equations, data tables, charts, cyber-discussion forums, shared workspaces, and map tools.  All of the "objects" can be edited by multiple users at the same time over the internet.  This provides a powerful and flexible way to accomplish shared work over distant places and times.  The ability to create and edit content directly in a web browser means that teachers can quickly and easily update their teaching information and materials wherever they can find Internet access.  The system supports standard HTML protocol and HTML files that are created by web page editors like Front Page and Dream Weaver, and it eliminates the need to transfer files with external applications such as FTP.

Teachers across Virginia and beyond are using TeacherBridge in a variety of innovative ways to support their work and projects.  The project has provided support for teachers learning to use these advanced Internet tools.  Teachers host websites for classroom management, homework assignments, projects, organizations and clubs, focused activities such as cyber-discussions, web quests, online portfolios, GPS and watershed restoration education efforts, environmental monitoring, and more.  

The flexibility of the system and new technologies in general are challenging to busy teachers who might not be able to find time to learn and incorporate complex tools into their work, but the project provides eager and individual support for learning to use the system and related resources.  The hope is that the resources developed will be usefully disseminated to a wide variety of other teachers in the region and possibly beyond.   Since the beginning of the project, participants from other states and schools are now using TeacherBridge.

The TeacherBridge project is funded by the National Science Foundation's Research on Learning and Education.  The project is supported by a four-year grant to the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech in collaboration with Montgomery County Public Schools and Giles County Public Schools.  The goal of the grant is to investigate knowledge management embodied in teaching practices.  To find out more, to contact project administrators, or to explore TeacherBridge, visit the website at www.teacherbridge.org.