Making dramatic improvements in K-12 education is a central challenge of our times. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Research Council have mandated new curriculum standards that make it necessary to revolutionize the way teachers teach. Longer school days, more testing, and other such "improvements" are band-aids that mask the current education problems. We do not believe that incremental change will generate the fundamental changes in learning and teaching that are imperative.
Computational and Internet technologies are new opportunities, the levers, to bring about fundamental changes in K-12 education. However, experience has shown that these new technologies cannot stand-alone. To affect change in the classroom, educational technologies must connect to innovative standards-based curriculum. The tools and materials must be supported by professional development methods that empower K-12 teachers to integrate the technologies and curricular materials into their ongoing classroom activities.
To address these issues, GoKnow®, Inc. was founded by the core group of professors who lead the University of Michigan’s Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education (hi-ce). GoKnow has licensed from hi-ce intellectual property that was built from 10 years of effort and $20 million worth of classroom-based research. Over the past two years, hundreds of teachers and over 10,000 students in public school classrooms from Detroit, MI to Montgomery, AL to Chicago, IL have tested beta versions of the company’s products. Evaluation has provided statistical evidence that GoKnow’s products lead to7—5croved science learning.
GoKnow has what schools need today – tools to enable all students to learn, and to empower students and teachers to engage in serious intellectual inquiry around authentic, meaningful, motivating, mindful-learning experiences. Yet at the same time GoKnow is also developing the resources and tools for the schools of tomorrow – featuring a handheld computing device for each student, coupled with educational software and curriculum.
In short, GoKnow has unique products that go far beyond "drill and practice" and interactive games:our products provide a new approach for teaching and learning with technology.
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