Aid to digital curriculum

By ADAM GIFFORD

A difficulty aligning computer use with curriculum could be resolved this year if textbook publishers and schools adopt a platform being developed by Microsoft.

The Encarta Class Server is the brainchild of Jim Kuhr, manager of Microsoft's K-12 product unit which is responsible for development of products for schools.

It is going into beta testing and should be widely available in May.

Mr Kuhr says it is targeted at intermediate and secondary-level teaching.

"If we look at the use of PCs in the classroom, there's a significant problem. If I'm a teacher and suddenly have a lab or a series of PCs brought into my classroom, what do I do with them?

"How do I integrate the technology into the curriculum I teach on a day-in, day-out basis? There's not a good open framework to allow such integration."

The server should make it easier for teachers to plan lessons and to measure teacher achievement because it will "demonstrate to administrators how what they are going to teach correlates to curriculum standards."

Mr Kuhr says the big issue will be creation of content. Microsoft has been talking to textbook publishers for two years about moving their content into a digital environment.

Encarta Class Server is a platform which allows publishers to easily create digital content which teachers can use and customise.

"Most publishers don't understand what that might mean to their business, or they don't have the skill in-house to do that.

"We will publish the specifications needed to create HTML-based content and XML manifest for the content. Anyone will be able to create content for this platform without permission from Microsoft. Nor is Microsoft going to get any royalties or revenue.

"We've also built in workflow to allow teachers to take the content, customise it, assign it to students, score the work that students turn in and to make all the assignments and content available to the parent with no additional work on the part of the teacher."

Microsoft does not see computer-based learning replacing textbooks in the short term.

"Instead, what we would like to do is have the content-developers recognise there are different learning modes for students and that presenting content or concepts in different ways is therefore important."

Mr Kuhr says the server, which runs on Windows 2000, will cost about $2250, plus about $80 for each PC in the school attached to it. Students will access it through browsers.

The Minister of Education Trevor Mallard, who has met Mr Kuhr, can see the potential of the server for New Zealand schools.

"I have asked the Education Ministry to talk to Microsoft about the feasibility of affordable school access to this type of software and whether it can link with TKI [the ministry-funded Te Kete Ipurangi teachers' resource website]."