Association for Behavior Analysis International

With increasing emphasis globally in education on the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) along with a heightened need for accountability in education and requirements to use evidence-based practices, it is imperative that online instruction be developed using rigorous, scientific methods that result in valid, effective outcomes for students. This symposium will discuss the identification of successful strategies and implementation practices that integrate technology tools and instructional design into global markets. Dr. Osnes will describe a survey of major education markets worldwide and the approach that countries in those markets use to guide instruction. Effectiveness and education standards, who controls instructional content in the schools, and how end users access and use content will be reviewed. Dr. Leons presentation will address the instructional design that has been revolutionized by the learning scientists at Headsprout that has resulted historically in effective, online reading instruction for thousands of students internationally. Lastly, Dr. Berenfelds presentation will describe the GlobalLab program, an online program that allows students to collaborate internationally on science projects. He will also discuss the utilization of education technology in Russia, Mexico, and the U.S. Implications for behavior analysis in the global, education marketplace will be examined.

Adequate achievement of educational outcomes by primary- and secondary-aged students is a global need. However, developing instructional programs in the U.S. for the global marketplace requires both language translation and localization of instructional content to adapt the instruction for non-U.S. nations and cultures. The expense of translation can be prohibitive for companies who compete globally, and often the methods used to identify and prioritize countries for localization are subjective (i.e., self-report of company employees). To determine the countries in the global marketplace in which to prioritize localization of instructional content, a more objective method of identifying participant countries than the self-report process was sought. This presentation will describe the research that was conducted to yield a priority list of countries with the potential to obtain and implement online, instructional content that was developed by a team of instructional designers who were trained in behavior analysis. To be presented will be: the process of developing the research and rolling it out to global participants; the utility of the results to identify the top priority countries in which to invest company resources in translation and localization; and the challenges associated with the endeavor.

Several nations are expressing a common concern over the education of their citizens and making active attempts at improving it, in what seems to be an international movement toward clear and relevant education standards. The growing emphasis on science, mathematics, and technology as valuable knowledge for learners around the globe opens another opportunity for international cooperation in the education field. At the same time, new challenges arise when developing instructional materials that are to be used across different countries. Even though the fundamental learning principles are the same across individuals, modifications to instructional programs are needed in order to accommodate differences in language, teacher preparation level, learner entry repertoires, and other variables that impact program effectiveness and adoption. This presentation will provide an overview of the approach to instructional design that has been revolutionized by the Headsprout learning scientists and will describe and exemplify the ways that global needs are considered when designing instructional programs aimed at international audiences. In particular, the discussion will address how content localization for global audiences is approached and will provide specific examples for the countries (identified in the first presentation) in which behavior analysts are likely to have the most impact.

Dr. Berenfeld has been involved in innovative education and research solutions internationally for decades. He holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics and has a passion for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education. His most expansive projects, GlobalLab and GlobalLab Jr. are programs that emphasize student use of interactive classroom technology tools and research-based instruction in the pursuit of demonstrable skill acquisition in life sciences. The GlobalLab program is an online program that allows students to collaborate internationally on science projects and establishes an online community of practice toward that end. GlobalLab has been widely recognized by the Clinton Administration, Fortune, Wired, and Science magazines as an exemplary education initiative. In addition, UNESCO has called GlobalLab the Worlds biggest science class. Dr. Berenfeld will demonstrate the GlobalLab and GlobalLab Jr. programs and discuss the opportunities and challenges of implementing multi-national education technology solutions in Russia, Mexico and the United States. He will also share his vision for expanding student and classroom collaboration internationally and across subjects.