Training and Resources for Assembling Interactive Learning Systems

TRAILS aims to broaden and support the pool of talent available to address the needs of K-12 education by creating powerful technology in forms such as simulations, interactive drill and practice, adaptive tutorials, and virtual manipulatives. Through the affiliated project-based design courses, it intends to have three major effects: to support and inspire higher-ed courses on the design of learning technologies, to generate new prototype tools for K-12 education, and, ultimately, to introduce tomorrow's designers to techniques they will use to create effective tools for future learners.

Our approach focuses on engaging teams of university students in the creation of learning technologies. TRAILS-affiliated courses, which are founded on a common set of principles, bring together students from computer science, information science, education, and the arts to collaborate on the design of educational tools. This interdisciplinary approach builds on the ESCOT project, which found that close teamwork between developers and teachers was an effective means of creating valuable educational software. TRAILS-affiliated course teams are taught how to accurately assess educational requirements, design prototypes that attend to users' learning and engagement, then evaluate them in classrooms or other authentic settings. Some projects are further refined after being reviewed on-line by K-12 educators and students.

With funding from the National Science Foundation, TRAILS was launched in 2002 at SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning. Stanford University and the University of Colorado at Boulder offered the first TRAILS-affiliated courses beginning in spring 2003 with Drexel University joining in fall 2004 and Penn State University in spring 2005. The Math Forum at Drexel University is publishing selected software created by TRAILS students and providing mentoring on pedagogical issues. Coordinating the network of TRAILS courses and other partners is SRI, which provides centralized tools for designing and prototyping educational software, and facilitates access to pedagogical and technical experts.

Student Testimonial

 "Working across disciplines, I got to experience a part of what real educational software designers do—work with teachers, students and designers to come up with prototypes for a piece of software, work with a classroom of my peers to implement and revise the product, and then actually get to see it used in a real, live classroom. In the process, I got to learn a ton about real-life software design, work with teachers and kids on building a great product, and meet lots of cool people to bounce ideas off of and collaborate with."

 — Ankur Dalal, Computer Science, Stanford 2004

Contact info

For more information on TRAILS and ways to get involved, contact .

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0205625. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.