What are the main features?

See a video highlight of the ITM features at: https://videohall.com/p/1256

Feature Description
ITM ProjectProject An ITM project is an inquiry-based, knowledge-building initiative focusing on an overarching curriculum area or cross-disciplinary challenge.

 

·       To start, the teacher sets up the project.

·      Then add students as project members. Students can also browse and request to join in a project using a code set up by their teacher.
Project dashboard: Wondering area and idea thread organizerdashboard1.jpg Project dashboard provides a visual organizer of the collective wondering areas and idea threads in an ITM project, as well as other navigation links.

 

·      Open Area->Open Talk: Each project starts with an Open Area with an Open Talk thread. This is for project members to share initial questions, interests, and ideas to start exploratory inquiry.

·       Add a wondering area: Each wondering area is a major direction of inquiry identified by the project members based on shared interest and emergent problems (e.g., how do we breathe?)

·       Add an idea thread: Under each wondering area, the user adds one or multiple idea thread topics (e.g. how lungs work) for inquiry and discussion.

·      Personal Focus: Each student may set one or more wondering area(s as his/her main focus, with students of shared interests forming flexible groups.

·       Activity Radar: tracking student participation in the wondering areas and idea threads.
Idea threadthread An idea thread represents a line of inquiry and conversation to investigate a challenging problem or issue.

 

·       To co-develop ideas in the thread, students write notes, read one another’s notes, and build on. They can also import notes written in Knowledge Forum to the current idea thread.

·       Their notes and build-on responses are displayed in a two-dimension space organized based on time (x-axis) and contributor (y-axis).
Journey of Thinking (JoT)JoT.jpg The Journey of Thinking (JoT) tool in each idea thread page supports members’ ongoing reflection on shared progress. JoT includes three sections: Our research topic and problems, “big ideas” learned, and deeper research needed.
Multi-Thread Mappingmap.jpg Visualization of multiple idea threads that shows the whole picture of a knowledge building initiative. The user can select areas and/or threads to map, zoom in certain time period, and search for a specific term used across the different threads.
Cross-project Sharing Spacesupertalk.jpg The cross-project sharing space is for different classrooms to create connections between their inquiry projects.

 

·       Create buddy connection: The teacher in an ITM project can mark the project as open for buddy connection, find projects working on similar/related knowledge areas, and send out invitation for buddy connection.

·       Cross-project sharing: students can see the inquiry directions of the buddy classrooms reflected in their wondering areas and idea threads. They can also see the Journey of Thinking syntheses generated by the buddy projects’ members.

·       Super Talk: A Super Talk thread is an idea thread shared between the buddy classrooms. Students can propose challenging issues as topics for cross-classroom Super Talk. Their teacher reviews and approves the Super Talk proposal, which will then be open to members from all the buddy projects for cross-classroom conversation.
Teacher Space The Teacher Space offers a set of tools for the teacher(s) to manage an ITM project.

 

·       managing project members,

·       setting up cross-project buddy connections, and

·       accessing the message center to review proposals of new wondering areas, super talk topics, and buddy connections.