Databus Issue: 2007 4 12/04/2007
The California Learning Resource Network
Brian Bridges and Deborah Stauss
PDF
Looking for educational technology
resources that will actively engage
your students and challenge their
learning? How about free primary, secondary
or reference web-based resources
that are suitable for use in the classroom?
Allow the California Learning Resource
Network to assist you with your task!
What is CLRN?
In December 1999, the California
Department of Education awarded the
SETS (Statewide Education Technology
Services) Learning Resource contract to
Stanislaus County Office of Education.
Partnering with county offices of education
around the state, the California
Learning Resource Network (CLRN)
was developed. CLRN provides educators
with a ¡°one-stop¡± resource for critical
information needed for the selection of
supplemental electronic learning resources
aligned to the State Board of Education
academic content standards.
California educators with specific
content experience are selected through
an application process to act as reviewers
once they have completed a rigorous training
program. The review process utilizes
the State Board of Education approved
review criteria which covers three areas:
legal compliance, standards alignment
and minimum requirements. Resources
on CLRN are not state adopted. CLRN
reviews resources in the curriculum areas
of English-language arts, history, social
science, mathematics, science and visual
and performing arts. During the 2007-08
school year, CLRN will be adding English-
language development and physical
education resources to the website.
What are CLRN¡¯s objectives?
The objectives of the CLRN project
are to identify and review supplemental
electronic-learning resources (ELRs) that
are aligned to the state academic standards
(supplemental electronic-learning
resources include software, videos and
Internet resources that can be used to
explain further, practice or assess some
standards for the grade and subject);
identify and review free web-based primary,
secondary and reference resources
(WILs) that contain no advertising or ecommerce;
identify and review electronic
learning assessment resources (ELARs)
that will allow educators to gather student
data to make instructional decisions; and
to maintain an interactive website to provide
information about resources through
online searchable databases and links to
state educational technology projects.
The CLRN Home Page
The CLRN website (www.clrn.org)
has been designed to be very user friendly.
Educators can search for ELRs, WILs,
ELARs and educational events in a variety
of ways. Across the top portion of the
CLRN home page are pull-down menus
for learning resources (ELR), assessment
tools (ELAR) and web info links (WIL).
The home page also has links and pulldown
menus to other resources that can
prove helpful to California Educators. The
QUICK SEARCH feature allows users to
begin identifying resources immediately
using a keyword or program title. Just
select the type of resource desired, type in
the word or phrase and click on the ¡°Submit¡±
button to get a list of resources that
meet the desired criteria.
How to search for resources
Once a user has determined the type
of resource needed, just click on the
appropriate menu (ELR, ELAR, or WIL)
and choose the search option. There are
three ways to search the ELR database
¨C basic search, advanced search and
search by standard. The basic or advanced
search screens allow the user to select
one or more criteria by which to identify
resources. To search by standards, an educator
must first select a grade level, then a
subject area and finally a strand. Then one
or more of the standards in the strand can
be selected. The list of requested standards
is below the chart. There is also a ¡°Select
All¡± button to choose all the standards
covered by the strand. Click on the searchbutton to get the list of resources. Each
title on the list is a link to further information
about the individual program.
What information is included
in the CLRN review?
From the search results list, educators
can click on each title to see the description
page for the specific resource. This page
gives general information, the purpose of
the resource and a brief description. To the
right of the screen are links to access the
standards match, a profile, an abstract,
additional features, the reviewer¡¯s notes,
publisher information and a print version
of the review. The majority of the reviews
also contain links to the publisher¡¯s website
or to a demonstration of the resource.What is a Web Information Link?
The second searchable database on
the CLRN website is the web information
links. The CLRN web information
links (WIL) database is a collection of free
primary source, secondary source and reference
web sites that are accessible through
a standards-based browse function or a
search function. WILs contain no advertising
or e-commerce and are safe for student
use. The main functions of the web info
links collection are accessed via a dropdown
menu feature on the home page. The
WIL search feature works the same as the
ELR search feature mentioned previously.
The browse function is organized around
the standards. Click on a subject area to
browse the major topics of the standard. To
further define the search criteria, subject
areas are broken down into subcategories
using the standards¡¯ domains/strands.
Clicking on the strand further defines the
web resources identified. Each WIL review
provides educators with a description,
grade level, reading level, subject area, categories
(standards), media format and link
to the resource website.
What else does CLRN have to offer?
Although CLRN is a free website,
there are some benefits to being a member.
Along with receiving a monthly
e-newsletter highlighting newly reviewed
resources, changes to the CLRN project
and upcoming educational events; you can
set-up a member profile to maintain a list
of resources in which you are interested;
request to receive e-mail notification of
subject area and grade level resources and
web-information links as they are posted;
and have the privilege of recommending
resources that you would like CLRN to
review.
CLRN has exceptional people across the
state to assist in presentations and workshops
in your local area. Let CLRN know
if you are interested in setting up training
for your district, school or group and we
will schedule an available liaison to visit
you. Materials such as brochures, pens and
pads can also be requested for staff use by
contacting the CLRN office. «±
Brian Bridges is director of the CLRN
project and can be reached at the Stanislaus
County Office of Education at
bbridgess@clrn.org. Deborah Stauss is an
event planning specialist at CLRN and
can be reached at the Stanislaus County
Office of Education at dstauss@clrn.org.
