SciTech After School Program

Debbie DeRoma

dderoma@rhfleet.org

10/15/09

EDTEC 541, Thursday 7:00 p.m. section

Problem, Need, or Opportunity

The SciTech after school program was established by the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in the fall of 2008. During the first year of the program, Fleet educators worked with approximately 75 girls at three different school sites. In 2009, the program was expanded to include 125+ girls at five different school sites. As the program continues to grow, there is a need to have a central location where parents, educators, students, and donors can go to find information about the program. A SciTech Web site will provide opportunities for parents and educators to locate information about student projects, class schedules, field trip possibilities, and other program highlights. Similarly, the site will allow the Fleet to showcase the SciTech curricula and projects to other afterschool programs, as well as current and future donors.

Audience

The main audiences for this Web site are parents, students, and educators. In addition, donors and other community members may be interested in the site’s content. Most of the audience members will be at least somewhat knowledgeable about the SciTech program. However, the site will include an “about us” section to let parents, potential donors, and prospective students learn more about the history and goals of the program.

Students and educators likely posses all of the necessary technical skills to navigate the Web site. It is possible that some parents will have limited technological experience. In these instances, it is expected that the students will assist their parents in navigating through the site.

User’s Needs

To determine the needs of the intended audience, I interviewed a classroom teacher, a Fleet educator, a parent, and a student.

1. All of the audience members described the need for class schedules, examples of student work, photos of students in action, and copies of the SciTech curricula.

2. Everyone agreed that the Web site needed to contain updated information. They want to know what is happening in the classrooms right now. They were also quite interested in incorporating “student voice” into the site.

3. The Fleet educator and the classroom teacher were especially interested in links to additional resources and background information about specific topics. They were also interested in sharing information about where to find supplies for some of the SciTech activities.

4. In addition to the class schedules, the parent wanted to be able to find contact information for the SciTech administrators and bios of the SciTech instructors.

To address the above needs, the site will contain a general schedule of upcoming projects at each of the school sites. This calendar will contain links to descriptions of each of the past and future project topics. Examples of student work and photos of students will be posted under the “Gallery” section of the website. To address the need to include student feedback and comments, there will be links to the blogs and wikis that each school site is developing. The links to these blogs and wikis will be found on the homepage

Curricula and other instructional information will be posted on the “Resources” page. On this page, visitors will be able to download PDFs of curricula. They will also be able to click on links to background information and sites where they can purchase necessary materials.

Finally, the proposed Web site will contain a “Contact” page with general contact information, as well as bios for each of the instructors. Links to the instructor bios will also be included on the “About Us” page, along with a description of the program goals and history.

Environment

Students and teachers will most likely access the Web site from computers in the classrooms or via a wireless connection using the laptops that Fleet educators bring to the school. The students will access the site information individually as well as in groups. Parents, donors, and community members will access the Web site from their home or business computers.

The Internet connections at the school sites are adequate to quickly view the Web site content. Most of the school and Fleet computers also contain the latest software and plug-ins. Still, video and animation will be kept to a minimum to ensure that all of the potential users have a satisfying experience.

The SciTech Web site will be linked to the Reuben H. Fleet Web site, as well as some of the school Web sites.

Resources and Limitations

The resources for the SciTech website will come from within the Rueben H. Fleet Science Center. No copyright permissions will be necessary. Fleet staff, teachers, and students will generate all of the text for the site. Photos, videos, and other images will also come from Fleet staff. Security precautions will be taken to ensure student privacy. Last names will be omitted from any examples of student work. Similarly, the site will only include the photos of girls whose parents have completed “media release waivers.”

General Solution

The proposed Web site will contain essential information for teachers, parents, and students who are associated with the SciTech program. This easy to navigate site will be divided into tabbed sections so that visitors can easily find the information that is most relevant to their needs. The home page will provide visitors with a short welcome and a brief overview of the program. From there, they can navigate to sections devoted to resources, schedules, student work and photos, school Web pages, and contact information.