Web databases created by the CRDG Learning Technology Section allow easy access, entry, and examination of educational and scientific data by other CRDG sections and members of the community at large. The Hawai‘i Watersheds and School Web of Instructional Media (SWIM) databases provide valuable connections to scientific and curriculum data to scientists, environmentalists, teachers, students, and interested observers.
The Hawai‘i Watersheds Database was created as a part of a Hawai‘i Department of Health project to provide a central place for students, teachers, and professional researchers to develop and test hypotheses to understand the impact of human behavior and natural events on the watershed ecology. The project’s geographical scope includes watershed areas of Kaua‘i, Lāna‘i, O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, and Hawai‘i. The data topics include location, time, weather, land use, ocean characteristics, fresh water characteristics, chemistry, substrates, plants, animals, and investigatory influence. Over 1500 entries from school groups and the community can be found on the site (www. hawaii.edu/environment). This database also supports the Kōlea Watch (www. hawaiinaturecenter.org/kolea/index.html), a project of the Hawai‘i Nature Center, which has recorded 1400 observations.
The School Web of Instructional Media (SWIM) (www.hawaii.edu/swim/) makes connections between CRDG curricula, thousands of extant video, still pictures, and World Wide Web pages, and 350 registered instructors. The SWIM database allows teachers and students from around the world to enrich and enhance their learning experience with its quick textbook-media connections, each linked to a specific concept.