All Terms

academic vocabulary

Vocabulary that is used to explain a curriculum concept but is not content-specific and may apply to a variety of curricula (e.g., analyze, compare, contrast).

accessibility

The availability of materials, instruction, or physical spaces that are designed to be used by all students, regardless of physical, cognitive, or linguistic background or ability.

accountability

Responsibility for student outcomes, generally measured against state standards.

action research

Teacher-conducted, classroom-based research whose purpose is to measure the effects of new instructional strategies, activities or techniques; the overarching goal is to improve student learning.

active learning

Approach that encourages students to be more fully engaged in learning; strategies include real-world connections, class discussions, collaborative small-group work, extended projects, debates, and hands-on activities.

adequate yearly progress

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools must meet minimum goals for attendance, test-participation, and test scores; aka AYP.

affective domain

Domain of learning that primarily engages emotional factors and attitudes; defined in defined in Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.

aggregated data

Test data that has been organized and summarized so that it can be viewed as a whole.

alternative assessment

Assessment that uses non-traditional forms of student work, such as presentations, portfolios, or projects, to measure learning. Opposite from traditional pencil-and-paper tests.

asynchronous communication

Form of communication in which participants use technology to share communication, wherein each participates at a different place and time, and face-to-face interaction does not occur. Often refers to distance learning interactions, e-mail, etc.

auditory learner

An auditory learner receives and processes information when it is presented to them orally. Auditory learners benefit the most from listening to a presentation of course material.

backmapping

The process of analyzing desired student outcomes (or learning objectives) to identify prerequisite skills and knowledge; starting with what students will know and be able to do at the end of a course and drilling down to what must be learned first, in order for the outcome to be successful.

bandwidth

The capacity, measured in data bits, of a channel or Internet line, usually expressed as the amount of data transferred in a specified unit of time; affect speed and amount of data that can be transferred to (and from) a computer and a network.

benchmarking

Criteria to which student mastery of content can be compared at defined points throughout the instructional year or grading period; used to monitor student progress.

blended learning

An instructional approach that combines classroom-based learning with computer-based, off-site activities; aka hybrid learning.

blog

An online, interactive journal published on the Web, characterized by regular posts by the owner, comments from readers, digital images, and Web links; aka Weblog.

blogosphere

The online social network of blogs; methaphor for social networking culture resulting from bloggers and other participants in blogs..

Bloom's Taxonomy

Model of learning that classifies tasks as favoring one of three domains: affective, cognitive, or psychomotor, and within each domain, tasks could fall into a range of difficulty, i.e. simplist: recall of facts, most demanding: analysis and synthesis of information; defined by a team of cognitive psychologists led by Benjamin Bloom.

broken link

A hyperlink that fails to connect you to a Web page.

browser

A software program used to locate and view Web pages; includes Netscape, Mosaic, Microsoft Internet Explorer, FireFox and others.

chat room

Synchronous, online, text-based communication utilizing "chat" software; allows for real-time communication between multiple parties using the Web.

choral reading

A group or whole class reading a text aloud, in unison, in conjunction with the teacher in order to develop reading fluency; also models correct language being used in context.

cognitive domain

Domain of learning that primarily engages the intellect to understand and apply concepts; defined in Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.

competencies

Areas in which a person has skill or knowledge.

computer-based learning

Instruction that utilizes computer technology as its sole form of delivery and in which the student interacts with a software program and other learners and teachers remotely.