About Tapped In

Vision: Transforming teacher professional development online

Research has shown that student achievement is directly linked to teacher quality. State and national teaching standards provide a framework for teachers' professional growth that requires teachers to engage in ongoing professional development throughout their careers. The increasing demand for continuous professional development means that providers must expand face-to-face programs to include online activities and content that engage teachers anytime, anywhere. The growing recognition that no single organization can satisfy teachers' ongoing professional development needs requires that educators and providers form communities to share strategies, resources, and support. Tapped In was developed to support this vision.

Tapped In is a Web-based learning environment created by SRI International to transform teacher professional development (TPD) for professional development providers and educators. Tapped In enables providers to offer high-quality online professional development experiences and support to more teachers cost-effectively. Through Tapped In, educators can extend their professional growth beyond courses or workshops with the online tools, resources, colleagues, and support they need to implement effective, classroom-centered learning activities.

Tenant Services: Tapped In enables TPD providers to meet their goals

Tapped In offers TPD providers and other organizations the latest in online technology, along with the online learning strategies and support needed to use online technology effectively. Through Tapped In, organizations can develop, implement, and manage online courses, workshops, seminars, mentoring programs, and other collaborative activities that supplement, or function in lieu of, face-to-face activities. Tapped In experts work with organization staff to design and facilitate online activities that are motivating, standards based, and attuned to the learning styles and technical facility of participating teachers. We help organizations address the dual challenges of sustained follow-up support and scaling-up services to reach all who need them. Organizations also benefit from the resources and expertise of other tenant partners that participate in the Tapped In community.

Online activities take place within custom virtual buildings within the Tapped In environment. Each organization gets their own building, which typically has 3 floors:

A ground floor with a reception (where members find help desk staff and news) and other public rooms (conference rooms, etc.).
A second floor with group rooms, which can be open to the public, moderated, or totally private. Group owners can assign moderators and permissions to group members.
A third floor with personal offices for members affiliated with the organization.

Tapped In features

Customized virtual buildings with public, group, and personal rooms
Tenant-branded membership and log-in pages
Group creation and management
Event rooms with registration, sessions
Calendar system
Job bank
Guests and member access via standard Web browsers
Student accounts
Targeted mailings

Communication:

Text-based chat and private messaging
Threaded discussion boards in every room
Conversation transcripts automatically emailed
Messages saved for someone who is not logged in

Information sharing and retrieval:

File and URL storage in personal and group rooms
Room "sticky notes" for posting welcome messages, agendas, etc.
Tenant, group, and member directories
Search for members and other resources

Staff services

Online orientation and tutorials
Help available via e-mail and chat
Support and publicity for provider activities
Daily hosted events
Monthly newsletter emailed to members
Experienced online meeting facilitators
Customization, data collection, and training

Educator activities: Tapped In gives teachers a career-long online home

Tapped In brings educators together both locally and worldwide to cultivate a community that supports each teacher as a professional. We build the capacity of teachers to support one another through peer networks supported by the Tapped In community. Educators

Plan and conduct learning projects with colleagues and students.
Participate in or lead topical discussion and groups.
Manage and attend online courses offered by TPD providers.
Mentor other educators.
Try out new ideas in a safe, supportive environment.

Resources, experts, mentors, and new colleagues are available to all. Collectively, these elements of Tapped In form a uniquely supportive, career-long online home for education professionals.

The creators of Tapped In

SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning focuses on significant issues in learning and teaching, and on the ways that innovative uses of technologies can help address those issues. In our work, we routinely partner with education organizations, school systems, and technology companies. We also engage in participatory design of new learning technologies with our user communities.

Members of the Tapped In team, left to right, include: Zaz Harris, designer and software engineer; Patti Schank, technology director and project co-director; Mark Schlager, project director from 1995 to 2008; Melissa Koch, product strategy director; Larry Hamel, software engineer (contract); Judi Fusco, community director and project co-director.

Individually pictured on the right, top to bottom: BJ Berquist and Kari Holsinger, community support; Aaron Becker, interaction designer.

Our sponsors

Tapped In went online in 1997 and has had ongoing funding from the National Science Foundation, an independent U.S. government agency responsible for promoting science and engineering through various programs that fund research and education projects.

We have also received support from Sun Microsystems, a leading provider of hardware, software, and services. Sun donated the server on which Tapped In runs.