KATE on the Web

I recently realized that the Kentucky Academy of Technology Education (KATE) has had a web presence for over ten years. The original website was actually designed by a contractor to assist districts as they scheduled sessions on Kentucky’s Tele-Linking Network.

Several modifications incorporated additional resources collected or created to make integration of technology into teaching and learning easier for educators.

1. With the assistance of talented web designers and educators who laboriously sorted through thousands of resources, KATE Links was added. This collection of web sites is categorized by subject and grade level.
2. Teachers needed practical strategies that they could quickly adapt in their content areas so the In Your Classroom category was added to not only give quick connections to core content, but to also provide “techknow” ideas.
3. Three categories of links were added at the top of the page with materials on standards, curriculum, tutorials, professional development topics,etc.
4. Technology in Classrooms of Kentucky (TICK) was added in 2006 as a repository of learning objects including instructional units, lesson plans, activities and assessments that are tied to the Technology Program of Studies (adopted in 2006) as well as Kentucky Core Content, state and national technology standards. The repository has over 3,000 learning objects. TICK provides a single point of access for resources specifically applicable to educators. For example, a web search on a topic such as fractions returns over 11 million hits, while a TICK search will only return a list with applicable instructional materials.

Early in 2008, KATE introduced a new and improved version adding “Web 2.0” features to allow educators to not only acquire resources, but to also electronically share high-quality learning resources among all learning professionals. TICK has already been modified to provide alignments to revised technology standards and will be undergoing a major revision during the next year as changes to Kentucky’s Program of Studies are made. With Kentucky’s commitment to the national standards movement, the resources found in TICK will be aligned with the curriculum of many states.

We hope that you will share your comments about the KATE web resources (http://www.murraystate.edu/kate), including ways you are using them and suggestions that can be incorporated into the next version.