Digital Backpacks

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the Digital Backpacks program, to discuss its design, development, and implementation. Digital Backpacks was created to give university faculty and partner K-12 teachers access to hardware and software to facilitate their own learning, to design learning activities for their classrooms, and then to bring the hardware and software into their classrooms to implement their learning designs. The program delivered training and modeled uses of technologies for learning in a collegial, supportive, and social environment. The focus of this article is on the structure of the program, lessons learned, and recommendations for designing similar programs.

Key Words:

• Digital backpacks
• information technology (IT)
• professional development
• expository learning
• discovery learning