Your child's class is being asked to volunteer for a research project. This project is concerned with teaching young children about literature and history by using the Internet. Students will interact with elders, using a software system called Palaver Tree Online. Palaver Tree Online is a research project of Amy Bruckman (PI), Jason Ellis (PI), and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

For your child to participate in this project, both you and your child must complete this permission form.

Palaver Tree is an online community that supports kids interviewing elders on the Internet to build up a shared database of oral history. For more information on the software, please see http://www.cc.gatech.edu/elc/palaver/

In order to study the effectiveness of the software, we will do some or all of the following:

• Sit in on a number of the classes to see the software in use first-hand.
• Administer a survey to the classes that participate before and after they use the software.
• Interview a subset of the students before and after they use the software.
• Videotape some of the classes.

The risks involved in this study are minimal. Every effort will be taken to assure the confidentiality of participant comments in interviews, and test results will be presented anonymously.

Reports of injury or reaction should be made to Amy Bruckman at (404) 894-9222. Neither the Georgia Institute of Technology nor the principal investigators have made provision for payment of costs associated with any injury resulting from participation in this study.

For research purposes, interviews and some classes will be recorded. All information will be kept confidential, and will be used only for research purposes. Descriptions of your child and records of his or her experiences may appear in written and oral presentations of the results of this research. All efforts will be made to protect the identity of the participants; therefore all names and identifying information will be changed to insure confidentiality.

Your child has rights as a research volunteer. Taking part in this study is completely voluntary. If your child does not take part, there will be no penalty. Either you or your child may discontinue your child's participation at any time with no penalty. If you have any questions about your rights as a research volunteer, call or write:

Barbara S. Henry, Manager, Contracting Support Division
Office of Contract Administration
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0420
(404) 894-6944

Your signature below indicates that the researchers have answered all of your questions to your satisfaction and that you consent to your child's participation in this study. A copy of this form will be given to you.

Participant's (Student's) Signature ________________________ Date: ___________

Parent/Guardian Signature ______________________________ Date: ___________

Investigator's Signature _______________________________ Date: ___________

In order to access the community, you will need a username and password. Please indicate your desired Palaver Tree Online username and password below, the student's full name and a parent or student e-mail address.

Username: ____________________________ (2 to 20 characters)

Password: ____________________________ (4 to 10 characters)

Student Full Name: ____________________________

E-mail Address: ____________________________