Is your application unique? Is it original? How? Is it the first, the only, the best or most effective application of its kind? How did your application evolve? What is its background?
STEP teachers had access to a unique set of facilities that were used extensively during the summer workshops. SDSCs facilities include an auditorium with extensive audio-visual and computer-multimedia capabilities. STEP participants were also encouraged to use the 20 Macintoshes in SDSCs training room for demonstrating the various tools to their fellow teachers, their staff, or their students.
STEP was designed to evolve as new technologies became available. Because of the dynamic nature of Information Technology, computational science tools, and the individual comfort level of the STEP participants, the three years of continuing education could only be planned one year at a time. For example, the teachers progressed from using Unix-based tools for accessing the Internet to more familiar Macintosh and IBM PC programs, and they discovered the World Wide Web early in its development.
STEP teachers disseminated their applications and use of computational science tools at three Supercomputing conferences, in-services, and tutorials. To encourage participation in summer months, STEP provided the teachers with stipends from the NSF grant. Stipends also enabled the teachers to prepare and present in-service training to their peers. In 1995 alone, 110 in-service presentations, reaching roughly a thousand staff members at the local schools, were presented. These covered topics from NCSA Mosaic and Netscape Navigator introductions to a symposium on the Human Genome Project.
The organizers of the annual Supercomputing conferences have placed growing emphasis on education at both the university and K12 levels. Each year, the conference provides financial support for a selection of K12 teachers to attend, and workshops and activities focused on this important area have become a standard, and increasingly important, part of these annual meetings. Stewart has been fortunate to attend since 1991. STEP presented posters at the 1993 and 1994 Supercomputing conferences, and STEP teachers themselves contributed numerous posters, presentations, and tutorials to Supercomputing 95, which was held in San Diego. The conference was attended by 200 educators from across the United States and several from Mexico. Lead teachers Hal Cox of Hoover High School and Bob Zakoski of San Dieguito High School, for example, presented a worshop on Presentation of Staff Inservice on the Internet, which is available at:
Staff Inservice Presentation (at Supercomputing '95)
An accompanying slide, which highlights this Web Page, shows Cox guiding a student in the Hoover High School computer lab as well as a photo of the five lead teachers and program coordinator Kris Stewart (standing, from left: Olin Elliott, Hal Cox, Bob Zakoski, Dave Harlow; seated, from left: Kris Stewart, Tim Towler).