This project team is developing the Individualized Remote Information System (IRIS), a small affordable video camera and software system that enables remote observation of students and teachers in classrooms during the school day. Practical education applications of IRIS include classroom observations of teachers during preservice or inservice education, induction, supervision, or educational research involving observations. The camera can be placed in any area of the classroom for monitoring, and the software interface will facilitate immediate performance feedback between the observer and the observed. The software will also contain a customizable web-based protocol for logging and tracking data that is collected through the observations. Project Activities: Technology development includes prototyping, feasibility testing, and commercial production of a hardware platform that is durable, portable, safe, secure, and affordable. After development, the research design will include three groups of 12 third grade teachers from three elementary schools. All teachers will participate in a reading comprehension workshop, to be delivered by a reading expert. Teachers will be randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group will receive follow-up coaching, observation, and feedback, from the expert via IRIS. The second group will receive the same treatment, in-person from the expert. The third group will receive no additional follow-up from the expert, which is typical for these types of professional development workshops. Through surveys and observations, the researchers will measure the degree of teachers' enactment of the reading comprehension strategies. Student achievement will be measured using standardized reading comprehension tests. Products: Products will include the Individualized Remote Information System (IRIS), a video camera and web-application system that enables remote classroom observation, data collection, and immediate performance feedback. Project Website: http://www.therenow.net/projects
