College of Education and Human Development

Instructional Technology Program

Research and Projects

The Online Academy (TOA)

This project is funded by Frederick, Loudon, and Stafford County Public Schools as well as the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University. The Online Academy (TOA) project is a collaboration of school districts in the northern Virginia region whose goal is to develop a virtual high school for their students. Visit TOA...

T/TAC Online

This project encompassed the design, development and formative evaluation of the TTAC Online Website which provides online training, events and resources for Training and Technical Assistance Centers across the state of Virginia. Funded by the Virginia Department of Education, this project was designed to support T/TACs mission to improve educational opportunities and contribute to the success of children and youth with disabilities by providing quality training and technical assistance to school personnel, service providers, and families to meet the needs of children and youth. 2004 Project Site...

Comprehension Strategies in Inquiry-based Science

This five year design research project will collaboratively produce and test a technology-based online learning solution with Arlington Public School teachers for use in the upper elementary grades. Knowledge generated from the grant will contribute to research related to: 1) teachers' understanding and use of inquiry-based methods in science; 2) teachers’ participation in the design and development of a technology-based system that integrates inquiry-based science and reading comprehension strategies and; 3) children’s conceptual understanding of science content and use of comprehension strategy support in a technology-based system during inquiry-based science lessons in the upper elementary grades. Funded by the National Science Foundation. Project Site...

Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA)

This project is funded by the Department of Labor. The overall goal of this project is to develop a systematic and effective training strategy for mine supervisors based on state-of-the-art instructional design principles, processes, and learning technologies. Specifically, the goal of this project is to examine the extensive and validated mine supervisor Job Task Analysis (JTA) developed by the Mine Safety and Heath Administration (MSHA) in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, and transition this JTA to an online training program that addresses the complexity of mine supervisory tasks and that is SCORM and 508 compliant. It is envisioned that the eventual full-scale implementation of this course of training will result in improved mine productivity; reduction of maintenance costs; and an improved safety record of the nation's mines. Project Site...

WIN-WIN Strategies Foundation (WWSF)

This project is funded by the WIN-WIN Strategies Foundation (www.winwinsf.org) to investigate "best practices" in technology utilization in high schools. A nation-wide Delphi study was conducted and the results were used in the design and development of a national Community of Practice (CoP). 2004 Project Site...

T/TAC Online Local Improvement Plans

This project developed an additional section of the T/TAC Online Website that designed, developed and evaluated a searchable system that easily locates local improvement plans (LIPs) for review by the public as well as technical assistants (Ta’s) and Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) staff. The local improvement plan consists of a seven section proposal focused on the five goals of No Child Left Behind and relates to three strategic directions of the Virginia Department of Education that determines the release of federal money to support schools in Virginia. This project was funded by the Virginia Department of Education and will allow educators and parents to identify funded projects currently in process across the state of Virginia. 2004 Project Site...

Lands & Realty Management (LRM)

This project was funded by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The goal of the project was to develop an online learning system for lands and realty management courses that provided access to current, critical knowledge through an enhanced instructional environment. 2002 Project Site...

National Science Foundation (NSF)

This project was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) (www.nsf.gov) to investigate the factors for creating a self-sustaining, self-directed online learning community that fosters capacity building in underserved communities. 2003 Project Site...

LiteracyAccess Online

An electronic performance support system developed by Immersion program graduate students and professors to provide reading strategy and assistive technology support to students with or without disabilities and their literacy facilitators (that may include teachers, tutors, parents or siblings, etc.). Funded by the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. Visit LAO...

Project DEVISE

The goal of the DEVISE project is to design, develop, and evaluate an immersive multi-sensory virtual learning environment that addresses the foundations of physics instruction for students with learning disabilities. Visit Zoning in on Physics...

Instructional Design Knowledge Base

The purpose of the Instructional Design Knowledge Base (IDKB) is threefold: (1) to support faculty teaching courses in Instructional Design; (2) to support students learning Instructional Design; and (3) to support practitioners in the field of Instructional Design. Visit IDKB...