Enhancing the NSDL Strand Map Service: Feedback from the Community

Project 2061 developed the Atlas of Science Literacy (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 2001, 2007) as part of a coordinated set of tools to help educators understand and use specific goals for student learning. Based on Atlas, the National Science Foundation's National Science Digital Library (NSDL) program has provided funding to develop the online Science Literacy Maps (http://strandmaps.nsdl.org) to serve as a browsing interface for educational resources, and the accompanying Strand Map Service (SMS) that allows developers to integrate the maps into other applications. Preliminary studies indicate that the digital maps may promote purposeful discovery of online resources by engaging educators with the learning goals presented by the interface (Butcher, Bhushan, & Sumner, 2006; Richardson, Matthews, & Thompson, 2008).

To enhance its educational impact, we plan to extend the functionality of SMS to serve as a platform for collaboration and communication among educators through a user-centered, iterative design process. We are soliciting input from classroom teachers, curriculum coordinators, and the NSDL community to inform the development roadmap for the SMS. We will present some possibilities that are being considered, including: (1) a zoom in/out function, (2) having map versions whose topology are identical to the print version, (3) a visual indication that resources are available for a given benchmark without any need for further user action, (4) an additional tab in the information bubble showing the content standard from the user’s state that corresponds with the currently selected benchmark, (5) an additional tab that lets users add benchmark-specific notes to the information bubble; (6) a threaded discussion that lets teachers give feedback and share experiences with use of resources associated with a given benchmark; and (7) brief tutorials for pathways leaders to use in training catalogers/editors.