As teachers, we know the importance of learning. One of the new buzzwords is the term "life-long learning". We all want our students to learn throughout their lives, and we should also. The section will help you do exactly that--continue to learn and participate in staff development, hopefully while in the comfort of your own home. Many colleges and universities are offering classes and units through on-line courses. These can be used to complete professional development requirements for credential renewal, to move over on the salary schedule, or to receive certifications such as the Cross-Cultural Language and Academic Development (CLAD). One major advantage of taking online classes is flexibility-students are given a start date and an end date, and the coursework can be completed within that time period.
College Courses - You will receive
college credit, and must pay for these courses.
Professional
Development - You might need to
pay for these lessons, but you will not receive college
credit for these courses.
Recently, professors and members other
members of the American Federation of Teachers approved a
resolution "calling for a set of quality standards for
college-based distance-education programs." Read more about
it at http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cti205.htm.
College Courses
- AT&T
Learning Network presents
links to several universities as well as other sources of
online professional courses for teachers. Many of the
university courses offer units for successful completion
of the course and a fee.
http://www.att.com/learningnetwork/virtualacademy/premier.html
- California
State University,
Sacramento, is offering a
Master's Degree in Education: Educational Technology. The
program will be approximately 75% on-line, meaning that
you won't actually have to be in Sacramento all of the
time to take the courses. Classes are to begin in
January. You can e-mail the Department of Teacher
Education from this web site.
http://edweb.csus.edu/projects/imet/default.html
- California
Virtual University offers
individuals the opportunity to take a variety of classes
from different colleges and universities (from both the
UC and Cal State systems). Several formats of
instructional delivery are offered, such as
Internet-based, CD-ROMs or satellite television.
http://www.california.edu/
- About.com has created a collection of
resources related to Distance
Learning. At this site,
you can read articles as well as find links and other
information on distance learning. There is even a listing
of elementary school distance education programs.
http://distancelearn.about.com/
- The
International Centre for Distance Learning
(ICDL) has databases of
colleges and universities that offer distance education
courses. You can search by country or type of course. The
entrance requirements of each school are listed. Added
3/6/00
http://www-icdl.open.ac.uk/
- The Institute
of Computer Technology
(ICT) is a public school
agency in California which provides technology training.
In conjunction with UC Santa Cruz and other
organizations, it is offering an online certification
program for technology in education. Classes are also
given at the Institute, which is located in Sunnyvale,
California.
http://www.ict.org
- New
Promise, Inc. presents a
searchable database of online courses offered by various
universities. You can search by topics, types of courses
or by schools offering classes. Most, if not all, of the
courses are fee-based. You would receive college credit
for completed classes.
http://www.caso.com/
- TeleCampus
offers a listing of online courses from around the world
in a variety of areas. TeleCampus is a service of
TeleEducation NB, a "community of learning centers" in
New Brunswick, Canada. TeleCampus links to over 1,000
education courses at various places. You would surely
find something worthwhile at this valuable resource.
http://courses.telecampus.edu/
- One such program is UCLA
Extension Online courses.
A teacher can participate in staff development courses,
CLAD classes or receive a certificate showing that he or
she has completed a six course program. Students must pay
an application fee to the University, and for individual
classes. However, CTA members receive a $75 discount on
each course they take. Technical requirements (types of
computers needed) can be accessed at http://www.onlinelearning.net/OnlineLearningExplained/holwtech
Information about UCLA Extension Online can be accessed at
http://www.onlinelearning.net or http://www.cta.org
- Apple Computers has developed a
series of courses offered through Apple
Staff Development Online.
Workshops are offered in software, such as AppleWorks and
HyperStudio, and on classroom integration, such as
multimedia or Internet use in the classroom. You must pay
to participate in the workshops. For information on
technical requirements (what you need), go to
http://henson.austin.apple.com/nshelp/covertech.htm
http://henson.austin.apple.com/nshelp/welcome.htm
- Blackboard.com
can help you find a course to take, or to create and post
your own course on the Internet. Most of the courses are
free to take. To create a course (for your students or
staff) costs approximately $100. You can preview a course
before you enroll.
http://www.blackboard.com
- Connected
University, created by
Classroom Connect, offers courses, libraries of resources
and "How-to's" for teachers. The "campus" is now open.
Individual schools or districts can by licenses for their
teachers.
http://cu.classroom.com/
- CTAP
Online, a joint project
between the California Technology Assistance Program and
the Butte County Office of Education, offers online
courses to meet CTAP Certification. Teachers can be
certified for personal proficiency with technology or for
technology integration. Once an individual has been
certificated (by sending their portfolio in for
evaluation), continuing education credits are available.
Coursework can be completed online or face-to-face. Visit
the CTAP Online site for information on the pricing
structure.
http://www.ctaponline.org/
- A free option for professional
development is presented by LETS
NET (Learning Exchange for
Teachers and Students through InterNET), sponsored by
Ameritech and Michigan State University. Internet
activities and technology modules for professional growth
related to technology are linked.
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/letsnet/NoFrames/BigIdeas/b9/index.html
- The motto for NETg
is "Anytime, Anywhere Learning." NETg offers individual
courses on particular tools, such as Microsoft products.
However, individuals cannot buy courses on their own. A
school district or consortium of schools can buy a user
license for a large group of teachers.
http://www.netg.com/
- Tapped
In is a "shared teacher
professional development" environment that exists on the
Internet. Teachers and other educational professionals
can become members for free and spend time exploring the
Tapped In "multi-user virtual environment". When you sign
onto Tapped In, you see a window within your web browser
that allows you to "move" through the building. You can
meet and talk with other professionals or leave notes for
them to read later. The organization provides tutorials
on how to effectively use the site. In addition, TappedIn
holds weekly aftershool events on a variety of
topics.
http://www.tappedin.org
- After looking at or participating in
some online coursework, you might decide that online
learning is really for you! Maybe you want to take the
concept further, and create your own online lessons,
tutorials or staff development courses. Teachnet.Org
is the world-wide-web site for Impact II-the Teacher
Network. Numerous teacher resources can be found at this
site, as well as a guide to building an on-line course
for staff development. Buzz Eyler, who created the guide,
clearly explains steps one should go through to plan a
course of study on a particular topic, as well as
applications/programs that might be useful in this task.
Some of the same concepts could also be used as a method
to deliver content to students during a computer lab, or
when they rotate through a classroom computer.
http://www.teachnet.org/docs.cfm/dcs/onlinetrain
Tour Guide ~ Visitor's
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