Role of Vidali
Lead a team of educators and Web-tools experts to make and test a set of learning units for different audiences (K-12 educators, students of general science courses, students of physics courses).
This would require one to:
- Individuate the needs of different audiences
- Come up with a set of portable Web-based units for instruction in topics where traditional methods have been particular ineffectual (i.e., topics of mechanics where students' intuition, based on casual observation of everyday phenomena, is wrong and hard to change; or, topics in physics that require visualization in order to be grasped, such as motion of solid objects, phenomena related to wave propagation and interaction, etc.; or, realistic simulations of everyday phenomena);
- Test the use of synchronous Web-based learning environments in physics instruction at different levels; this provides the most powerful tool for an active learning environment enriched by the use of computers (Java applets, computer simulations) coupled with the human feedback of a mentor.
General comment
I believe one would have a hard time selling computer-aided instruction that has no or little human component, especially if the proposal goes to ``traditional'' educators. It is my experience, and of many others, that, especially in front of an audience of students that doesn't have a particular stake in the topics being presented, the human factor is of paramount importance. Thus, in my opinion, the use of collaborative technologies in instruction in physics or any other hard science has to have a prominent role.