About NSDL Resource Center

Posted Mon, 02/22/2010 - 2:39pm by eileen

Information on this page feeds to both the nsdl.org site and to the nsdlnetwork.org (Community) site. Some links may reflect a different brand and style (look and feel), depending on which site you are viewing.

 

The NSDL Resource Center conducts a range of partnership-based activities targeted at:

  • Mobilizing the community to collectively address challenges and advance NSDL mission
  • Synthesizing the work of NSDL projects to inform community and teacher best practices and monitor dynamic trends at different levels within education
  • Disseminating results via targeted outreach activities that bundle specific products and services to meet user needs, leverage trusted channels, and add context around NSDL products to increase their adoption by users
  • Analyzing and evaluating activities to inform short-term improvements and long-term planning, and to create feedback loops among NSDL community, resource developers, and educational decision-makers

 
Specific RC activities include:

  • outreach
  • professional development
  • news and information services
  • discussion and feedback forums
  • partnership building
  • needs and trends analysis supporting best practices development for the community of NSDL grantees

 
The NSDL Resource Center provides the following services at no cost to NSDL grantees, unless as specified:

Outreach

NSDL RC regularly attends and exhibits at annual conferences and meetings, engaging in any combination of the following at these events: exhibit booth, collaborative informational or training workshop sessions, panel discussions, receptions. NSDL Pathways and other NSDL project PIs and staff often participate in collaborative workshops or assist in booth staffing. Travel to these events is an individual project expense and should be included in proposal budget planning.

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - February of each year
  • National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) - March/April of each year
  • National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) - June/July of each year
  • optional: Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) - October/November
  • optional: Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) - January

Annual Meeting

NSDL typically conducts an annual NSDL PI meeting. This event is the major face-to-face meeting for the NSDL community, and is usually located in Washington, DC., enabling attendance by many NSF program personnel. It is recommended that prospective grantees include travel funds in their budgets for PIs or other key staff to attend this meeting. Announcements about the meeting are widely disseminated and will also be available via the NSDL Community Network site and NSDL.org.
 

Pathways and other NSDL project collaborations

There is an expectation for project and Pathways PIs to participate in NSDL community activities, including the annual meeting. The collaboration and participation level is higher for NSDL Pathways, where PIs participate in monthly one-hour teleconferences, attend annual Pathways PI meetings (usually in conjunction with the NSDL Annual Meeting), and may volunteer to participate in working groups on particular topics. NSDL regularly consults with, and seeks discussion and input from Pathways partners on a wide variety of issues. Prospective Pathways PIs should plan on a high level of active participation across the extent of their grant.
 

Workshops

RC staff may participate in workshops conducted by Pathways or other organizations to provide NSDL overviews, demonstrate new technologies, and combine and leverage outreach efforts.

News and Information

The NSDL Community web site (http://nsdlnetwork.org) focuses on NSDL and STEM education news, activities, and issues of interest to the NSDL community, utilizing Web 2.0 tools and services: newsfeeds, forum and group discussions, blogs, personalized account creation, user-selected subscription to RSS feeds that support community participation, and integrating content from selected NSDL Expert Voices blogs.  Users may contribute news items via the Community News feature, add comments to discussion forums and create and participate in collaborative interest groups. For questions, additional information, or help, contact Eileen McIlvain (303-497-8354) at the NSDL Resource Center.

NSDL Expert Voices blogs provide resource and teaching practice tips and news on a variety of topics and multiple grade levels.


The NSDL email list (nsdl-all) remains an alternative distribution mechanism for news dissemination. Community members may subscribe to the nsdl-all@nsdl.org email list by completing the web form at Join Email List.
 

Professional development

  • NSDL Brown Bags - NSDL conducts monthly hour-long recorded web conferences on a variety of topics, using the ReadyTalk conferencing platform. These events are by invitation, sent 2-4 weeks prior to the scheduled Brown Bag. Recordings and presentations are available in an archive of past presentations. Contact Eileen McIlvain for more information.
  • NSTA/NSDL Web seminars - NSDL collaborates with the National Science Teachers Association to provide monthly web conferencing professional development opportunities using the Eluminate platform, during the school year. These are scheduled on weeknight evenings so that teachers may more easily participate.
  • Workshops at conferences, and in collaboration with Pathways and other stakeholders.

Partnership building

The NSDL Resource Center works with organizations, institutions, and coalitions of STEM stakeholders interested in building partnerships and opportunities for collaboration with NSDL, and those who are interested in utilizing NSDL technologies, services, tools, and resources in innovative ways. Such partnerships  leverage the resources and services of NSDL and of partner efforts to broaden NSDL's reach and to foster capacity-building activities and professional development for K12 teachers and undergraduate educators, placing NSDL in the path of users and educators. Contact Susan Van Gundy or Kaye Howe for more information.

Evaluation

Evaluation for the RC is conducted by co-PI Mary Marlino. First year activity included a survey of Pathways and other projects summarizing their existing practice. The Resource Center also collaborates with Project Tomorrow for K12 data collection and trends analysis and reporting as part of its evaluation activities. Contact Mary Marlino or Susan Van Gundy for more information.

More information

Submit inquiries regarding collaboration with the NSDL Resource Center or Technical Network Services via the NSDL Contact form, and you will be contacted by appropriate NSDL staff. To learn more about specific technical tools and support see For Developers, on nsdl.org.