INK-12: Teaching and Learning Using Interactive Ink Inscriptions in K-12

The INK-12 project, a full-scale follow-on to a two-year exploratory project, is investigating how the combination of two technological innovations--pen-based input and wireless communication--can support classroom practices that teach two skills critical to mastering STEM disciplines: (1) creation and manipulation of representations for mathematical and scientific objects, and (2) communication of those representations and associated feedback. We are investigating how technology that facilitates these capabilities, via a set of networked tablet computers, can support teaching and learning key mathematical and scientific concepts in upper elementary school. Pen-based interaction enables creation of inscriptions--handwritten sketches, graphs, notes, etc, which are critical in STEM fields, where content is often most easily expressed as a mixture of text and drawings. Wireless networking enables facile communication of inscriptions, and other representations, among teachers and students, and supports formative assessment and classroom discussions directly based on student work.

The project is a series of design experiments beginning with the software that emerged from earlier exploratory work. The PIs conduct two cycles of experiments to examine how tablets affect students learning in 4th and 5th grade mathematics and science. The project research questions and methods focus on systematic monitoring of teachers' and students' responses to the innovation in order to inform the development process. The PIs collect data on teachers' and students' use of the technology and on student learning outcomes and use those data as empirical evidence about the promise of the technology for improving STEM education in K-12 schools. An external evaluator uses parallel data collection, conducting many of the same research activities as the core team and independently providing analysis to be correlated with other data. His involvement is continuous and provides formative evaluation reports to the project through conferences, site visits, and conference calls.

The primary products are substantiated research findings on the use of tablet computers, inscriptions, and networks in 4th and 5 grade classrooms. In addition the PIs develop models for teacher education and use, and demonstrate the utility of artificial intelligence techniques in facilitating use of the technology. With the addition of Malden Public Schools to the list of participating districts, which includes Cambridge Public Schools and Waltham Public Schools from earlier work, the project expands the field test sites to up 20 schools' classrooms.