Tag Archive for 'professional development'

Schools and Programs in the News - December 24-31, 2007

Updates on: mobile virtual classroom in Arkansas, graduate program in educational technology offered through Michigan State University

“Aspirnaut Initiative,” a partnership project between Vanderbilt University, the Sheridan district and the Grapevine Historical Society, turns a schoolbus in Arkansas into a mobile virtual classrom, using wireless router and antenna. Students in the bus use their laptops to connect to a satellite classroom where a teacher helps them with after-school work. They can also take courses while traveling, independent from the classes during the school day. — Education Week

A graduate-certificate program in educational technology is being offered in Kalamazoo County this winter through Michigan State University. The program targets teachers for grades kindergarten through 12 who need to earn graduate credits toward licensure renewal or who seek to learn new ways to use technology in educational settings. — Kalamazoo Gazette

Schools and Programs in the News — November 26, 2007

Updates on: tracking students’ illegal movie downloads, home schooling, universities’ partnership to aid mature workers work better with technology, Texas high school web management, and Arizona’s university funding policy review

Brian Krebs’s computer security blog for Washington Post provides a detailed overview of the discussion surrounding the Motion Picture Association of America’s proposal to implement the use of software to catch students using their universities’ networks to download pirated movies. — Washington Post blog

Are home-schooled children more aptly prepared for college? This article explores the Utah state requirements for home schooling, options parents have of meeting them, and how being taught at home affects subsequent college admissions and overall experience for the estimated million American children who learn from home. — Daily Herald

A new partnership brings together researchers from the University of Dundee’s School of Computing in the U.K. and the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine in a concerted effort to develop assistive technologies and gain insight into new ways to improve workplace performance in maturing workers by improving the workplace and by increasing the ability of older workers to use technology. — Campus Technology

Round Rock Independent School District in Texas is moving management of its special populations to the Web. Half of the data entry assistants, formerly helping with paperwork, will be reassigned to positions of working directly with students. — T.H.E. Journal

Plans are discussed at Arizona state Capitol to make university funding reflect student performance and graduation rates, possibly replacing the current policy that distributes money based on number of students enrolled. — Arizona Daily Star

IT News - November 8, 2007

Updates on: Facebook’s social ads, Microsoft’s server farm, Interwrite’s donation, Nokia and Vodafone’s web services, Yahoo’s mobile advertising strategy, AMD’s new high performance chip, Sony Ericsson’s new phone with Google maps and RSS feeds

Facebook has unveiled plans to target advertisements by injecting them into its members’ conversations, and now the popular online hangout must persuade its users to embrace the initiative. In addition, companies can now create their own pages on Facebook for free and tailor their pitches to the activities of users’ friends. – CNN

Microsoft will invest $500 million for a new “server farm” data center in a Chicago suburb in the latest investment to enhance its Internet services business, planning to include an element of Web services in each of its business divisions. – Reuters

Interwrite Learning donated 30 Interwrite Pads, Bluetooth-based wireless pads used in interactive classroom instruction, to support distance learning for teacher professional education in Southeast Asia. – T.H.E. Journal

Under a new agreement, Nokia’s Ovi platform–which includes music, maps, gaming and social networking–will be introduced on handsets for Vodafone next year. Handset giant Nokia will also produce a number of devices exclusively for mobile operator Vodafone. – The New York Times

Yahoo unveiled its strategy to make advertising on mobile phones as big a market as computer-based web browsers. The company will rely on three-way partnerships involving device makers, network operators and web services. — ZDNet

AMD is introducing a high-performance chip package that uses a technology commonly found in graphics processors, called parallelism, and applies it to general purpose computing. Called the FireStream 9170, the chip package is aimed initially at high performance computers (HPCs) like those used for climate research and oil exploration. But it could also be used more widely for tasks like video-editing and security tasks. – PC World

Sony Ericsson has introduced a “world standard” 3G USB modem, and has extended its relationship with Google by announcing its first mobile phone with Google Maps and RSS newsfeeds as standard. – PC World

Games in the News – November 8, 2007

Updates on: IBM’s professional skills game, Microsoft’s Xbox

IBM has designed a new video game to help university students and young professionals develop a combination of business and IT skills. The Innov8 interactive 3D video game is intended to help bridge the gap in understanding between IT teams and business leaders. — VNUNet.com

Microsoft showed off a new Xbox feature that will allow parents to set the amount of time that kids can play games. — CNET

Online Education in the News - November 8, 2007

Updates on: Skills database by Partnership for 21st Century Skills, robotics for the classroom by Innovation First

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills launched Route 21, an online, one-stop shop for 21st century skills-related information, resources and tools, such as standards, assessments, professional development, curriculum and instruction environments. Route 21 harnesses Web 2.0 features to allow users to tag, rank, organize, collect and share Route 21 content based on their personal interests. — Earthtimes

Innovation First, the company behind a wide range of robotics initiatives, has launched a new online resource targeted directly toward K-12 and post-secondary education. The free materials include activities, course outlines, assessments, rubrics, miscellaneous resources, and games and challenges designed for the classroom. The basic kit for building radio-controlled robots runs at $549. — Campus Technology

Schools and Programs in the News - November 5, 2007

Updates on: Capella University, Stanford University, Teachscape

Capella University (www.capella.edu), an accredited*, fully online university based in Minneapolis, has announced four new specializations. They include Gerontology, a specialization within Capella’s Master of Science in Human Services, and Early Childhood Education, a specialization within its Master of Science in Education. Two new bachelor’s-level specializations, Homeland Security and Security Management, also are being launched, both within Capella’s Bachelor of Science in Public Safety online degree program. — PR USA

Back in 2005 when Stanford first rolled out with their iTunes initiative, it was hailed as a great step towards openness in education. The author evaluates how Stanford’s iTunes lectures have developed over time, and offers suggestions for the future. — Wide Open Education Blog

Teachscape has launched three new professional development series for pre-kindergarten educators and mentors, combining face to face and online learning programs that incorporate access to training content, reporting, and work management applications using Teachscape’s Online Program Manager. — T.H.E. Journal

Online Education in the News - November 1, 2007

Updates on: online classes, information and communication technology, networked learning, Internet safety, effective online education, and EDUInsight

With the spread of broadband technology and improved online teaching tools, students and teachers are finding online classes to be a more fluid and rewarding experience. The use of Skype, an Internet-based phone service, for example has enhanced the teaching of foreign languages online. Tom Regan reflects on his online teaching experience and compares the experience of online students from five years ago to that of today, referencing relevant research. — Christian Science Monitor

Use of ICT (information and communication technology) for literacy is almost intuitive, given the challenge of reaching out to large numbers which a country like India faces. ICT provides us an effective tool for connecting with a large number of remotely located learners at a low cost. ICT is not about the computers or the educational CDs or the Internet or the specific device or medium we use. It is really about a different process that we deploy for the purpose of enhancing the quality of education. — The Economic Times

What is networked learning? Learning and teaching in the classroom is becoming increasingly easier due to the influx of many new technologies and a myriad of software. Now Web 2.0 is about constructing knowledge collaboratively on the web. Web 2.0 applications (Facebook, MySpace, Blogs, Wiki’s, iGoogle, Flickr, RSS Feeds and YouTube. Etc) are effective pedagogical tools. — Melanie1987

Internet safety. New Jersey on Wednesday began a campaign to enlist educators to address a growing concern — the exploitation of children over the Internet. The goal is to train 1,000 educators, who in turn will train other teachers and students within their districts. About 210 educators attended Wednesday’s session and 40 attended a pilot session in August. The training covers cyberbullying, the dangers of social networking sites and chat rooms and behaviors used by sexual predators. — Newsday

Effective online education goes beyond finding answers. It requires you to process numerous information sources, evaluate them based on credibility and relevance, and piece together a mosaic-like picture of the truth. If you try to educate yourself online without a clear strategy, you’ll quickly find yourself frustrated and misinformed. This article explores useful online education strategies. — Pick the Brain Blog

In the three weeks since its inception, EDUInsight.com is gaining clout as the premier online meeting place where academic administrators can come together to understand and debate the issues of the day, analyze and review the latest trends, exchange ideas, and evolve common sense approaches to student recruiting, student retention, and online education. — eMediaWire

Leah S. Piatt: Interviews with E-Learning Professionals Series

Welcome to a series of interviews with e-learning and distance professionals. This week’s interview is with Leah Piatt, Duke University, who is involved in corporate training and adult education.

What is your name, and what is your involvement with e-learning?
Leah S. Piatt. Relatively new to corporate training and adult education, I’ve been leading the way in our departmental work with e-learning. I’ve worked with Elluminate. I’m eagerly awaiting the day when I will get to actually moderate a class using this tool.

How did you get interested in distance education?
Some of our participants live and work an hour or more away from our training facility. We’re really trying to alleviate travel and time obligations. I anticipate that e-learning will also help with the number of instructor lead classes we teach and bring about a more blended learning approach.

What is your favorite new trend in distance education?
I love the idea of continuing education via distance education. This could open up the amount of guest speakers we have both by eliminating travel time for the speaker as well as allowing someone who’d missed the session to hear the recording and view the presentation later.

What is your favorite technology?
Elluminate

What kinds of instructional materials do you use in e-learning?
Power Point, Word, clip art, Snag-It, Captivate (soon, hopefully).

How do you use textbooks in e-learning?
We don’t use textbooks, rather participant guides and job aids. These can be emailed before the session begins or converted to power point.

What is your favorite quote? or, what’s a book that caught your eye recently?
quote: “While you teach, you learn.” — based on the words of Seneca the Younger, 4BC-65AD

book: The Primal Teen: What The New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids — Barbara Strauch

Online Teacher Training Course for NCLB to Launch in Louisiana

Louisiana will provide teachers with online (or face-to-face) training to prepare them to meet No Child Left Behind requirements and other standards-based education and assessment. The program has been developed by the Louisiana Department of Education and consists of five individual modules, the first of which will launch September 24, 2007.

The program is known as GLEEM, which is an acronym for Grade-Level Expectations Educational Model. The program was developed by the Louisiana Department of Education (http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/index.html), and is a statewide pilot initiative which, according to its website, is designed to do the following:

• Provide participants with a deeper understanding of the Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) and the state comprehensive curriculum.

• Enable participants to deepen their understanding of effective instructional practices by exploring research-based strategies and instructional resources.

• Broaden participants’ knowledge of standards, benchmarks, GLEs, and technology by applying them in the development of standards-based lessons and assessments.

• Explore the potential of learning communities as they relate to professional development and student learning through collaborative learning experiences.

GLEEM is offered to participants in the form of five learning modules which may be taken sequentially as a series, or standalone. Upon successful completion of each module, each of which requires approximately 2 weeks, if taken online, the student will receive credit for continuing education and professional development.

Module 1: An Introduction

Module 2: Effective Classroom Practices

Module 3: Enhancing a Standards-based Lesson Plan

Module 4: Effective Assessment Practices

Module 5: Making the GLE Connection

While the courses are offered face-to-face as well as via the internet, the online version provides individuals with an opportunity to develop a learning community. Participants may be K-12 teachers in Louisiana, or individuals who are interested in the following:

Obtaining a deeper understanding of the grade level expectations and Louisiana’s state comprehensive curriculum;
Increasing his/her understanding of effective instructional and assessment practices as they relate to the comprehensive curriculum; and
Obtaining a deeper knowledge of standards, benchmarks, GLEs, and instructional technology through applications in the development of standards-based lessons and assessments. (from the GLEEM website, http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/lcet/2162.html
The GLEEM program is impressive and it correlates well with the stated goals, vision, and mission of Paul Pastorek, Louisiana State Superintendent of Schools, who articulated his commitment to teacher development in his statement issued in July 2007. Louisiana continues to meet challenges in the post-Katrina era, and GLEEM to be an inspiration for all states facing change and challenges.

Posted by Susan Smith Nash

Knowledge Services and Enterprise Management (KSEM) Certificate Program

A program designed to prepare individuals for careers in knowledge services, which could include learning organizations and technology software and service providers, is being offered by UC-Santa Cruz (California) at their Silicon Valley Campus located at the NASA Ames Research Center in the South Bay at Moffett Field. It is not clear from the information in the brochure how many (if any) courses are online. Nevertheless, the certificate program appears to be very valuable.

Knowledge Services and Enterprise Management (KSEM) Certificate Program is USCS Extension graduate-level certificate program at the UCSC Silicon Valley Campus in cooperation with the UCSC Baskin School of Engineering. The courses are offered face-to-face. Some may be offered online, but it’s not clear from the informational materials.

While the program is interdisciplinary, individuals must have a solid background in statistics, and should be familiar with stochastic processes and other algorithmic approaches. KSEM is, according to UCSC literature, a program that requires students to bring together the application of information technology and the knowledge services to enable individuals to manage high tech enterprises and other complex systems. Ideas from many different fields come together with the goal of addressing challenges faced in today’s global and knowledge-based economy.

The program could be beneficial for individuals who would like to work in knowledge management systems design, enterprise systems design, new product and service development, portfolio management (products and services), service management and e-business, marketing and product positioning, global supply and value change management, manufacturing and outsourcing, business intelligence, and risk management.

Core courses cover areas such as technology and information management, knowledge services and data analytics, data mining, eBusiness technology and strategy, and more.

For information, call 831-459-1384
Visit http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/programs/ksem

posted by susan smith nash