Spring Ahead In Math
A Brooklyn-based education company, Multimedia Tutorial Services, creator of Math Made Easy™, makes private, approachable, and friendly tutoring widely accessible through its website TutorialChannel.com. With live online tutoring packages beginning at as little as $49.95 per month, the company’s premiere tutorial program focuses on reaching out and relating to students in fun, stimulating, and personable ways during thirty-minute practice sessions. — NewsWise
Archive for March, 2008
American Sentinel University Offers $1,000 Scholarships Toward a Web Site Design and Development Degree
American Sentinel University — celebrating 10 years as one of the pioneers in online education — is now offering a Bachelor of Science in Web Design and Development degree to busy professionals who want to expand their skills in order to stay competitive in today’s ever changing marketing and communications job market and workplace.To generate interest and encourage participation in the new degree program, American Sentinel University will offer for a limited time two $1,000 scholarships to prospective students who submit online Web site concepts or designs judged to be the most creative and artistic. — Earth Times
Online MBAs from Public Universities Ranked Best Buys by Online Education Experts
168 accredited colleges offer online or distance learning MBAs. Where can consumers find their best buys? Premiering at the number one ranked “most affordable” spot this year is Chadron State College (Nebraska), a public institution with a modest cost of $7,065 for an online MBA degree regardless of the learner’s state of residency. — PR Web
Capella Education Company Announces Promotions
Capella Education Company (NASDAQ: CPLA), a provider of exclusively online post-secondary education through its wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, promoted three executives to senior vice president and vice president positions. Scott Henkel was promoted to senior vice president, operations and CIO, a position he previously held on an interim basis. In addition, Brad Frank was promoted from director of marketing to vice president of marketing, and Anne Core advanced from director of application development and architecture to vice president of information technology. — Business Wire
New Online High School Opens Its Virtual Doors Across Idaho for 2008-2009 School Year
In an age when education is a mouse-click away, a new level of online education excellence has come to Idaho. The addition of iSucceed Virtual High School gives Idaho its first online public high school presence that offers diplomas, iMentor support and nationally respected quality in education. Created by a group of committed community leaders, the school has a specific focus on meeting the needs of underserved students. — Earth Times
Bedford County gauging interest in virtual learning
The parents of nearly 700 homeschooled children in Bedford County will soon be getting a letter in the mail asking if they are interested in enrolling their child in an online public school. The Bedford County School Board on Thursday voted to send the letter to gauge how many students may attend the “virtual school.” If approved for the 2008-09 school year, the Bedford Academy of Virtual Learning would open as one of the first of its kind in Virginia.– News Advance
Board puts limits on online charter schools
The state Board of Education has ruled that online charter schools can operate in Oregon, but with restrictions. Two national companies want to open large online schools that would enroll students from across the state. The schools will allowed to open, but must limit enrollment and secure permission from local school districts. — KTVZ.com
The 3rd International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training (May 28-30 2008)
e-Learning Africa, under the Patronage of the Ghanaian Minister for Education, Science and Sports, is hosting The 3rd International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training. This rotating event hosted by a different African government every year aims to support and reinforce the growing pan-African eLearning community. According to the organisers, the conference aims to meet the networking needs of the pan-African eLearning and distance education sector. — African Press Organization
NACOL Announces Next Webinar: ‘Online Tutoring: Providing Student Support and Supplemental Services’
The North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) is pleased to announce the next webinar in its monthly series: “Online Tutoring: Providing Student Support and Supplemental Services” Presenters: Burck Smith, Founder and CEO, SMARTHINKING Juanester Russell, State Associate Director Mississippi Gear-Up George Cigale, Founder and CEO, Tutor.com Wednesday, March 12, 2008. — Earth Times
Education Major Pearson to Enhance Investment in India
Education major and Financial Times publisher Pearson will increase its investment and involvement in India substantially. Emphasizing that Pearson’s education services were much more than just textbooks, Merchant said that worldwide, the company has a significant presence in testing and assessment, tuition, professional tuition, accreditation and validation and online education and its management. — SIFY Business
StrikeIron Offers Gale Data Enrichment on Salesforce.com’s AppExchange
StrikeIron Inc., the leading provider of Data as a Service (DaaS), today announced that salesforce.com customers can now access and append Gale Business Intelligence data directly into their Salesforce CRM applications. This data enrichment solution leverages the Gale Business Intelligence Web Service from StrikeIron, enabling Salesforce users to instantly leverage timely and valuable company information from Gale, part of Cengage Learning, in sales and prospecting efforts. — Caroline NewsWire
Three Answers from Lori Glazer, Vice President, Executive Publicity Director at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Lori Glazer addresses job challenges, new products, and the integration of Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt. — Publishers Weekly
EDSF Announces 2008 Excellence in Education Awards
EDSF, the international, non-profit organization dedicated to the document management and graphic communications marketplace, today announced the 2008 Excellence in Education and Educator of the Year award recipients. The 2008 EDSF Excellence in Education Award recipients demonstrate educational excellence and innovation as they prepare individuals for careers in the document management and communications marketplace. — PR-USA
American InterContinental University Online has taken mobile learning several steps forward by making it possible for students to check grades, post and read announcements, interact with elements of their learning management systems, as well as downloading instructional content.
AIU uses the iTouch to provide the new services, as well as downloadable podcasts, videos, presentations, and lectures that have been a mainstay of mobile learning. Their convenience, affordability, and the fact that they accommodate multiple learning styles has made many programs eager to provide at least some elements of 100% online, hybrid/blended, web-enabled, or even face-to-face courses. Keep in mind that the courses can work with the iPhone, a regular iPod, and some mobile phone.
This is an exciting breakthrough. Certainly, it is good to be able to access to the gradebook and announcements. But, there is a bigger issue at stake. AIU is using technology and tools the way that people use them in the real world, instead of trying to impose a technology on people, just because it was convenient for the institution or the service provider. So, educational products and learner needs and habits are in alignment.
Here is a demo: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3fcUMWqiLCs
Some learners have immediately embraced AIU’s iTouch / iPhone courses, especially if the technology fits their lifestyle. Student Chris Hawley writes:
I use AIU Mobile anytime I am away from my home computer including while I’m running at the gym, stopped at a traffic light, taking a break at work and in many more scenarios. I’ll even use it when I’m at home since I generally have my phone by me more often than my laptop.
Chris did not mention what kind of phone he has, but it would not be very surprising to learn that he is used to using a phone with the ability to instant message, retrieve information from the Internet, and download information.
While the demo was for the iTouch, it is important to keep in mind that the mobile courses work on the iPhone and other data-transfer enabled cell phones.
The demo for review included three criminal justice courses, all of which allowed one to test the way in which the announcements, gradebook, and the learning objects were presented. At the same time, it was possible to test the way that the e-mail and access to iTunes worked when in a variety of settings.
Unique aspects include taking advantage of the iTouch’s ability to allow individuals to have on-demand interaction (download and communication) wherever one has access to a robust wifi connection.
* View gradebook
* View and post announcements
* Access school e-mail
* Download, view and listen to podcasts, presentations, videos
Using an iPhone or an iTouch offers numerous benefits:
* interactive
* larger viewing screen
* scalable texts and graphics
* can download via computer using iTunes
* do not have to have a cell phone with a dataplan
iTouch iPhone downsides:
* Can’t scale all the screens, which means it’s hard to read some of the text
* Limited memory and storage
Additional benefits:
*iPhone and data-transfer-enabled Cell phone compatibility
* any time, anywhere access
Aligning user needs and and real-world habits and patterns is what is at the heart of the success of Web 2.0, and it’s gratifying to see the philosophy start to extend to mobile learning. This will not only enhance usability, but will also allow students to feel more comfortable with the process. Students will feel motivated and will be able to focus on the content instead of feeling frustrated by the technology or lack of access. Using iTouch and iPhone-based mobile learning represents a positive integration of user needs, technology habits, and learning preferences.
American InterContinental University (AIU), established in Europe in 1970, awards Associate, Bachelor’s, and Master’s degrees in a variety of disciplines. The AIU network includes seven campuses: AIU Buckhead (Atlanta, GA); AIU Dunwoody (GA); AIU South Florida (Weston, FL); AIU Los Angeles (CA), AIU Houston (TX), AIU London (England); and AIU Online (based in Illinois).
Susan talks about the AIU mobile course (warning — video cuts off at the end):
Link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9155276877800369750&hl=en
Reflections on New Developments in Mobile Learning
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7919650162799248639&hl=en A slightly different version posted earlier on elearningqueen.com by susan.
Author: Robert Yannick
Learning French is not easy, so don’t believe when someone tells you it’s as simple as learning one, two, and three. However, there are several methods that can help you understand and learn French in the most effective way.
One of the most wonderful contributions of the Internet is online tutorials. Now, you can study French and master it with less effort through online French lessons. There are countless online French courses in the Internet but it’s important that you know which program corresponds to your needs. It won’t be as useful and effective to you as it can be to others if it doesn’t suit you.
One way of learning French language is by studying the online course lesson via the Internet. However, there are also online programs that allow you to download the whole course so you can copy it on CD and listen to it anywhere you go. Aside from that, interactive programs are also available online in which you can assess your knowledge as you advance your French lesson.
In addition, you can make use of online French courses in increasing your vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar. You can find such programs online that bring about creative and useful lessons that are designed for people who are having difficulty in learning French.
There are lots of websites that offers French vocabulary games and mind-benders that can help you enjoy while learning. Also, there are several online exercises such as critical analysis, web research etc. that could help you progress in a much enjoyable way.
On the other hand, in selecting online French courses, choose the one that offers money back guarantee so that you can demand for a refund if the product is a big flop. If you could find offers like a free trial on French programs, then it’s better. Other websites offer some free lessons hoping that you will like their programs. So take advantage of it and decide which program could help you most with your goal.
However, it is important to remember that you should take a mental break when you get tired to save the stored information in your overloaded brain. Whatever the medium you use in this pursuit, it is best that you know there is no such thing as instant learning. Therefore, if you are determined to learn French, you have to dedicate enough patience, willingness and time.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/learning-french-online-357878.html
About the Author: Yannick is a French teacher living in Paris, owner of ParisByPod , offering French lessons and daily podcast, live from Paris !
Michael Orey, professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia, responded to interview questions on distance learning. Dr. Orey is a pioneer of online education, having developed multimedia learning materials since the 1980s. His insights and core philosophy of online education are valuable for all educators and administrators interested in motivating students and rehumanizing the online learning space.
What is your name, and what is your involvement with e-learning?
My name is Michael Orey and I am a professor in Instructional Technology. I teach online classes and have done so for about 10 years. I also consult with various companies who are engaged in e-learning in various ways. BTW, the photo I have provided shows me sitting on the Veranda of the Jekyll Island Inn teaching an online class using Wimba’s live classroom. This was during a Distance Learning Administrator conference and I believe that my photo was taken at least 5 times during my class because attendees at the conference loved seeing e-learning in action!
How did you get interested in distance education?
It was a natural progression of using technology for learning. I have been in the field of Instructional Technology since the early 1980’s. I was originally interested in Intelligent Tutoring Systems, but my interests just keep evolving as new and more interesting technology becomes available. I was never interested in distance learning when the technology available was postal mail, but as the web has grown, so has my interest in distance learning.
What is your favorite new trend in distance education?
I have been involved with technology for learning for years and over those years I have come to believe that teaching and learning is a very human endeavor. I think that the trends in distance education I think are the most interesting are the ones where closer connections are made between students and between students and teachers. Some of those are live classrooms like Wimba and some of those are 3-D virtual environments like Second Life, but more tailored to the support of collaboration.
What is your favorite technology?
I am a big Wimba user. I have been using a live classroom for nearly 10 years dating back to an early version of Placeware which is now Microsoft’s NetMeeting. I am beginning to believe that some sort of hybrid between Wimba and Second Life would be the next great App for learning.
What kinds of instructional materials do you use in elearning?
I have or are in the process of writing/editing three wiki-based books in my field. I use these in my online classes and make them freely available for others to use. I also have developed things like quizzes and assignments in WebCT to support learning. I use Impatica for recording lectures with Powerpoint. I use Captivate to do software demonstrations. I use videos to support learning as well and have begun to put these on YouTube so that they are freely available.
How do you use textbooks in e-learning?
I have already answered this to some extent with my wiki books. However, I also teach classes where I have not written the text. In these classes, most frequently, I use a collection of readings. These readings I scan into PDFs and provide within a password protected site like WebCT to the students in my classes.
What are your favorite social networks? How do you view them in e-learning?
I am in LinkedIn and Facebook, but I am not a “native”. I seem to only go to these sites when someone wants me to link to them, so I do.
Do you have a few favorite mashups or web applications that work together in innovative ways? Please describe them.
Other than those I just described, no. As I learn new and interesting technologies, I try to weave them in. I did a podcast for a class once, but I did not have a great deal of success with it, so I abandoned it. I have used a wiki to run a class once, that was pretty successful.
BTW, the books I edit online are:
Emerging Perspectives on Teaching, Learning and Technology
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt
This is the oldest book I have. It has evolved over the years to include video, animations, images, narrated powerpoints and other media to support the content of the book.
World Almanac of Educational Technologies
http://www.waet.uga.edu
This book has as a goal to have a chapter from each country in the world so that we can all learn about how technology is being used everywhere. We only have a handful of chapters so far, but we are still hopeful that others will continue to contribute.
Foundations of Instructional Technology
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/ITFoundations/
This book is due to be ready in the fall of 2008. As such, most of the chapters are still just promises.
BTW, the wiki I used for a class can be found at:
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/mikeorey/
This wiki shows some of the ideas I have about Open Resources and Global Issues.
What is your favorite quote? or, what’s a book that caught your eye recently?
Unfortunately, my favorite quote is from my favorite author and not someone in the e-learning world. It is from Kurt Vonnegut:
Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand.
Interviewed by Susan.
By Kyle Collins
ZipRoad (www.ziproad.org) is One Economy Corporation’s innovative education toolthat helps parents, students and caregivers find education-related resources in their communities.
By simply entering one’s zip code, users are quickly on the path to finding information about schools, as well as quality and affordable after school tutoring, homework assistance, and other learning programs in their neighborhoods. Users are able to comment, rate, and review these services, thereby sharing their own experiences and expertise with the public. ZipRoad is available in English as well as Spanish, and caters to parents, caregivers, and students of all literacy levels.
- ZipRoad’s unique features make researching education programs easy. It features:
- A searchable database of schools and after school, summer, tutoring, and college programs.
- Resources which are submitted and updated by users.
- The ability of users to rate, review, and comment on programs and services in their communities.
- Personalized accounts that allow parents to create a list of programs of their interest
Please take a look at this groundbreaking website, as it offers many helpful resources for its users.
Team-based e-learning turns a new page
How do students, who may be located across the globe, collaborate together on team-based project work? European researchers have developed COOPER, the first online platform that integrates elements of e-learning, social networking and project management to help virtual teams get the most from their practical experience. — ICT Results
Future Speak
According to conservative estimates, the worldwide e-learning industry is estimated to be worth over 38 billion euros. But when asked whether teachers and trainers could become dispensable in the future, many remain apprehensive. The point of contention lies in the fact that e-learning places most of the responsibility for learning squarely on the shoulders of the student. However, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), in partnership with DirecWay Global Education (DWGE), has launched the Interactive Onsite Learning (IOL) program, an advanced form of e-learning wherein students can actually interact with their teachers. — The Times of India
Aptara Employees Volunteer to Double Usage With e-Learningforkids.org
Aptara, Inc. announced that a group of employees working in Pune, India, have helped expand educational opportunities for nearly 500,000 children around the world. These children use the courses available from e-Learning for Kids (www.e-learningforkids.org), a global non-profit organization dedicated to fun and free learning on the Internet. — Earth Times
Free college courses feed global hunger for learning
In 2002, when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology started making course content available free online, project organizers had no idea their site would become a favorite destination for science junkies across the globe. They posted lecture outlines and other materials primarily as a resource for fellow educators. But a whopping 55% of the 750,000 monthly visitors come from the ranks of “independent learners” who simply want the knowledge that once required a student ID. — USA Today
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