TAPPED IN - Services

TAPPED IN Virtual Environment and Support Services
TAPPED IN helps professional development projects, education agencies, philanthropic organizations, and for-profit organizations use the Internet to connect with and support teachers via the Web.

The technology that supports the community is a Web-based multi-user virtual environment designed to support large numbers of education professionals in a single virtual place. An integrated set of communication mechanisms (speaking, whispering, paging, nonverbal actions) and support tools (e.g., virtual whiteboards, sharable text documents, Web page projection, transcript recorders) enable users to be more expressive than with other types of online tools.

Our staff help organizations to quickly and effectively plan and conduct online courses, discussions, focus groups, and Web tours, often in conjunction with face-to-face activities and other online technologies.

We alleviate much of the burden of training participants to interact effectively online through our live, real-time, online Help Desk service. We also host small-group After School Online activities that teachers attend before their online project begins, thereby enabling the teachers and TPD staff to focus on learning content, not learning to communicate. Finally, because TAPPED IN does not shut down when a project ends, we can provide continuing support to teachers whose TPD project has come to an end. Teachers can continue to learn about new ideas and emerging technologies as professionals in other professions do through informal networking with colleagues.

TAPPED IN technology currently supports the online activities of more than twenty TPD, pre-service, master's degree programs, and state and local education agencies, as well as scores of small local groups from around the globe. Contact us to find out more about the following features and capabilities:

Customized suite of virtual rooms
Tenant-branded membership and log-in Web pages
Training for staff and members
Technical support via email Help Line and real-time Help Desk
Dissemination of tenant's activities in TAPPED IN's mass e-mailings
Weekly hosted events that are open to the entire community
Experienced on-line meeting facilitators
Summary usage data and transcripts
Development of customized capabilities

©1995-2002 SRI International. TAPPED IN is a trademark of SRI International.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers REC9725528 and REC0106926.

Questions? Contact us