HI-NEST (Hawaii Network for Education in Science and Technology) utilizes educational technology and telecommunications to link students and teachers using the Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching (FAST) program developed by the Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) of the University of Hawaii College of Education. The project builds on the work pioneered by New Jersey Institute of Technology in establishing the International Network for Education in Science and Technology (NEST). Using the network, students share environmental data they collect in their FAST investigations; teachers are able to share ideas and exchange information; staff and experienced FAST teacher trainers are able to plan for workshops and seminars to certify teachers new to the program. In addition, alternative modes of synchronous telecommunication (e.g. the Lumaphone) have been used to provide low-cost enhancement to asynchronous computer networking.
The Curriculum Research & Development Group conducts systematic research, design, development, publication, staff development, and related services for elementary and secondary schools. The group has curriculum development projects in science, mathematics, English, Pacific and Asian studies, Hawaiian and Polynesian studies, Japanese language and culture, music, health and nutrition, art, drama, technology and computer education. Research and school service projects focus on educational evaluation, teacher development, reduction of in-school segregation of students and programs for students educationally at risk. The work of CRDG helps find ways to put research findings into practice in classrooms.
The FAST program is a second-generation inquiry science curriculum designed specifically for middle-school students. FAST has been designed for students to replicate the activities characteristic of the science disciplines at a level appropriate to the developmental stages of 12 to 14- year-old students. Content is organized into three strands called physical science, ecology and relational study. Relational study focuses on the interrelationships of the science disciplines and the interactions of science and society. The program consists of three 1-year courses intended to be studied sequentially. FAST departs radically from conventional approaches to science teaching at the middle school level. FAST has been cited as an exemplary science program by the National Science Teachers Association and the U.S. Department of Education's National Diffusion Network (NDN) program. Professional associations such as American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) are now calling for similar approaches in the teaching of science at the secondary level.
It has taken 20 years for FAST's approach to catch on nationally; now over 2,500 schools in 36 states are committed to the program, and it is in use in eight foreign countries. The newest international participants are Russia and Slovakia. Educators there sought permission to translate FAST into Russian and Slovakian and to pilot test the program. This will be the second year of a planned five-year pilot-testing program. In Slovakia, an additional partner in the pilot is the U.S. Peace Corps which assigns volunteers to assist the Slovak FAST-trained teachers. Initial reactions have been highly positive and are already contributing to the growing global perspective of HI-NEST.
Level 1, Basic E-mail Connectivity
This requires participants to have access to the Internet "information superhighway" that supports various modes of communication. Schools can access Internet directly via a computer account on a networked computer. Often schools establish partnerships with local colleges or universities (and now even businesses and non-profit organizations) to gain access to Internet. Alternatively, paid subscriptions to CompuServe, America-Online, Prodigy and other systems will allow limited access to Internet. This mode of HI-NEST participation includes e-mail exchange and affiliated group activity through:
hinest-l@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu
Level 2, Network Interactivity
Since 1989 the Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has been used for HI-NEST computer networking. EIES supports not only full Internet e-mail service, but also the HI-NEST series of electronic bulletin boards, including FAST Student Conference, FAST Teacher Conference, FAST Trainer Conference, HI-NEST Multicultural Conference and HI-NEST Technical Help Conference.
If the trend for K-12 educators to gain access to Internet continues, we expect new forms and subsets of HI-NEST will be possible. We are interested in exploring, with regional and state nets, ways to establish entry and networking points and clusters. Those wishing to explore this possibility in order to enhance FAST in their regions are urged to contact the CRDG.
Al Evans south@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu
HIPNEST Project
Phone: (808) 956-6871, FAX: (808) 956-4933
Curriculum Research and Development Group
University of Hawaii
1776 University Avenue
Honolulu, HI, USA 96822
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June, 1995
GLOSAS NEWS was orinally posted to the WWW at URL: http://library.fortlewis.edu/~instruct/glosas/cont.htm by Tina Evans Greenwood, Library Instruction Coordinator, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado 81301, e-mail: greenwood_t@fortlewis.edu, and last updated May 7, 1999. By her permission the whole Website has been archived here at the University of Tennessee server directory of GLOSAS Chair Dr. Takeshi Utsumi from July 10, 2000 by Steve McCarty in Japan.