1) Event planning online: 14 essential social media tools (cool stuff, really!): http://ow.ly/LHpC
2) Mobile education: http://ow.ly/L2uE Changing how, where, and when we learn.
3) Facebook: A platform for e-learning: http://ow.ly/KU6I
4) How Social Media is Simplifying Workplace Collaboration:http://ow.ly/KGk2
5) Top 100 tools for learning in 2009: http://ow.ly/KDlu
Let’s face it; everything we do in education should be about the kids. We know they are different these days. As Digital Natives, they have been immersed in Web 2.0 and other technologies since birth. Students today feel that technology is an integral part of their lives and they want it to be an integral part of their learning as well. Not only do students want to learn with new and innovative technologies, but they need access to teachers who are knowledgeable about e-learning, Web 2.0 tools, computer applications, handheld devices, and interactive technologies that can be used to engage them in learning. Today there is not only a need to bridge the Digital Divide as we once knew it, in the form of Internet access, but also the New Digital Divide which includes access to 21st century teachers and innovative 21st century tools. E-learning through NCVPS bridges the New Digital Divide in school districts across
As we provide e-learning opportunities for students in
See our Edgecombe Kids in action as they talk about e-learning.
21st Century Leaders and Learners:
21st Century Leaders and Learners:
Check out our guest blog from Chief Technology Officer, Ken Buck, of Columbus County Schools this week here @ www.thevlc.org and/or our videocast from Chief Professional Learning and Communications Officer, Dave Edwards of the
And now for more news and notes:
1.) Dr. Setser to serve on National Race to the Top panel Wednesday @ 4:00p.m. http://www.iitsec.org/
Feel free to tweet into the conversation at #ncrttt.
2.) NCVPS travels to the
3.) Where does NCVPS stand nationally? 1.) Key roles in the State Virtual Leaders Alliance; 2.) NCVPS - 5th Largest Virtual School in Nation; 3.) Credit Recovery/Modular/ Blended Learning processes are recognized regionally and nationally.
4.) Want more evidence that virtual and blended learning are taking hold?
[Guest blog by Ken Buck, Chief Technology Officer, Columbus County Schools.}
Sharing information with key stakeholders such as parents and students is extremely important in any successful promotion and marketing campaign. It can be extremely difficult in any school district to effectively and efficiently reach your intended audience because conventional communication strategies used by many schools such as newsletters, school marquee announcements, PTO/PTA agendas and parent-teacher conferences are infrequent, and typically have limited parent participation. There are however 21st century communication tools available that can significantly improve and increase a school districts ability to share important information with faculty, staff, and parents. Columbus County Schools reviewed several communication systems and ultimately selected a commercial online service called “AlertNow.”
AlertNow can deliver voice, e-mail and emergency SMS messages at a rate up to two million per hour, therefore; the product can be used to contact stakeholders across the entire district or it can be used to provide information to a small subgroup of individuals located in a certain section of the district. The product has tremendous reporting features that are very helpful. It can provide information in regard to the exact percentage of voice messages that were received by an actual individual as compared to those that were received by an automated answering device. It can also provide delivery statistics for all other delivery methods.
DLA Training Scheduled for Dec. 1
Join us in the Virtual Office on Dec. 1 at 9 a.m.
Training Topics:
Communication
LEO
We will have modules for preview next week. Look for more details soon!
Learn and Earn Online New Website
Frustrated with LEO registration on the Community College System site? Use the new website,
http://vlc.nccommunitycolleges.edu/learnEarn/index.html
Look for students and colleagues on the new eLearning Portal,
http://www.elearningnc.gov/
Updated information will be available soon on the Learn and Earn website,
http://nclearnandearn.gov/
LEO Questions? Contact Deborah Pedersen, dpedersen@dpi.state.nc.us
Register Now!
We have over 7,000 new registrations for Spring 10! Be sure to register now and send your students through our orientation. See the Spring Student Checklist here.
North Carolina 21st Century Learners and Leaders:
The problem with multitasking really stems from attempting “unlike brain tasks.” Working on four separate spreadsheets is not as difficult of a multitask as is working on one spreadsheet and trying to create a PowerPoint presentation. Creativity will suffer while your brain is in multitask mode.
1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports
Mastery charts were messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs by 5pm on Monday,November 16th. The Status Reports will be available in the registration system (REPORTS section) on Tuesday, November 17th. Mastery Charts and Status Reports will be provided bi-weekly during the fall semester for all Credit Recovery students. If you are new to this program and this is your first time receiving Mastery charts, you may wish to view this presentation detailing how students are assessed in Credit Recovery and how to "read" Mastery charts and status reports. http://content.flypaper.net/0a56d50a-f6dd-45c1-9032-633cecea4985/preview.aspx For the Mastery Chart schedule, click the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18170808/Mastery-Chart-Schedule
2. Credit Recovery Podcast Series
We are excited to announce the new Credit Recovery Podcast Series. This series of interviews with Central Office DLAs, School DLAs, and Lab Facilitators will focus on strategies used to implement Credit Recovery in the schools across the state. Please be sure to check out our first podcast, "Motivating the Credit Recovery Student", where the DLA from Shelby High School details the motivational strategies used to motivate and encourage success for the Credit Recovery students enrolled in NCVPS. The podcast can be found in several locations including the DLA Spa under the Credit Recovery tab and on The Virtual Learning Consultant website at http://www.thevlc.org/2009/11/credit-recovery-podcast-motivational.html. The series will also be available on the main NCVPS website soon. Our hope is that you will find the information shared through these interviews valuable to your program at your school.
Guest blog by Derek McCoy, Director for Curriculum and Innovation, Montgomery County Schools
21st Century Leaders and Learners:
Do students have to retake the EOC and what course code do I use?
1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports:
21 Century Leaders and Learners:We had fantastic events in Alexander County last week kicking off our GO LIVE! (Getting Organized and Leading Innovation in Virtual Education) series across the state. We had over 40 virtual participants across North Carolina, and we are in the process this week of reflecting on what we learned from our strategic eight feedback at the school board, central office, and school levels.
Tomorrow we will meet on these key learnings and begin to develop a "solutions parade" that will begin with three virtual modules in November and a face to face event in Halifax County in December. These virtual modules will focus on research, data, and the "why" behind the issues raised in Alexander County regarding blended learning.
For a glimpse at our work this past week, check out www.thevlc.org. This free website is open to all North Carolina districts and schools and features the following:
1.) The video cast on GO LIVE! from Superintendent Jack Hoke of Alexander County. You can also find it at www.ncvps.org.
[Guest Blog from Chris Shearer, Director of Technology and Media, District Distance Learning Advisor, Franklin County Schools]
With the priority put on providing individual education plans for all students, traditional methods no longer make sense from the student support standpoint. Each student, regardless of the coursework they enroll in, needs support in their courses. Whether students take Advanced Placement courses, Career-Technical courses, distance learning and online, or some combination of these paths, our role as educators must change to one that will support students in their:
21st Century Leaders and Learners:
1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports
21 Century Leaders and Learners:
21st Century Leaders and Learners:
This week our video cast, www.ncvps.org , features a Channel 14 Interview on NCVPS and our GO LIVE! approach this school year to equip North Carolina School districts with the capacity to implement blended learning in their schools as they commit resources to technology, expand offerings, and/or realize or apply for potential federal stimulus dollars via Race to the Top and/or Innovation Grant Funding. GO LIVE! stands for Getting Organized to Lead Innovation and Virtual Education. In an effort to listen and learn from you, we have set up initial leading edge district meetings October 29, 2009 from 9-1 p.m. and October 30, 2009, from 10-2 p.m., in Alexander County, North Carolina. Alexander is one of the school districts along with several other districts that we will be inviting to the first of a series of sessions via a blended learning environment (face to face and via the web) to inform the Spring 2010 roll out of online teaching and learning options, world class professional development, world class student support, and focused 21st Century Strategic Planning for blended learning environments. These leading edge district meetings are not a pilot process. Rather, they are about learning, modeling, and developing an approach to connect strategy to solutions within your district.
As Greg Firn, Superintendent of Anson county says, " Our generation (speaking of those of us in the decade of the 50’s) are still trying to figure out how all of this technology stuff works. We don’t need to. Rather, we have to shift our thinking to the deeper learning of discernment or decision making. Our students need now more than ever the ability and application of decision-making. What is good, what is better, what is best and the obvious – what is not. It is not the applications of technology that should concern us. It is the thinking or decision making skills that one needs in the applications of technology that should be of highest priority."
Continue reading here . . . .
Superintendents:
October and November are great months to take a step back as we all look at budgets, emerging innovation, Race to the Top, and competing priorities within our districts and schools. In an effort to support your work in a “blended” fashion this fall and into your Spring 2010 calendar year, I would like to inform you of several services and solutions NCVPS and Learn and Earn Online now offer for your district at no charge. They are as follows:
1.) Strategic Planning for “Blended” Learning – Our staff knows how to integrate 1:1, virtual learning, face to face best practice, technology planning for Web 2.0, and leadership training into an approach that maximizes student outcomes and propels your district as a national leader in blended learning. Before you purchase your next software package and/or decide on how you will spend funds from external sources, let us help you with retreats, deployment planning, and/or beta processes by inviting us in to meet with your School Board, Executive Cabinet, and/or principals to collaborate on the learning pathway for what your district or school can look like in the next five years.
2.) Central Office Distance Learning Advisor Training – Our phenomenal growth is due in no small part to lessons learned over the past few years in our district and school pilots and with great consultation from our advisory board as well as feedback from many of you. This spring, we are going to really focus on distance learning advisors at the district level, as together, we will shatter the 20,000 student benchmark this spring. In an effort to support you better, I am asking that each Superintendent establish a clear line of site authority position with a Central Office Distance Learning Advisor Contact by November 1, 2009. Please see the leadership challenge here: www.ncvps.org on our video cast, and respond directly to bsetser@dpi.state.nc.us to let me know who your point of contact will be for our train the trainer model in your district.
1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports
1) Twitter’s Value: 5 Eye-Popping Stats
GRADE REPORTS
There was a glitch in the initial grade reports distributed last week in that only "Year Long" courses were in view. This has been corrected and enhanced. The new reports have been distributed in the NCVPS Registration, "Reports" view. DLAs will be able to see the YL and Fall semesters on the same report. If the report is titled "Fall and YL ...". There will be no need to download 2 separate reports.
The current report is titled "Fall and Year-Long 09 Progress report Due 9-24-09". To retrieve the data, follow the process outlined below:
For a DLA to retrieve the Sept 24th progress report
1-Login
2-Click Reports
3-Toggle the radio button beside "Fall and Year-Long 09 Progress report Due 9-24-09"
4-Click "Run" at the bottom of the screen
5-Download spreadsheet and save.
LEO TEXTBOOKS
LEO textbooks are to be treated like any other textbooks; they are the property of the LEA...NOT the student. LEO textbook invoices should be sent to the LEA finance office for reimbursement. State Assoc. Supt., Philip Price, has sent an email to LEAs regarding the reimbursement guidelines.
Any LEO related questions, including this of textbooks, can be referred to Deb Pedersen at DPedersen@dpi.state.nc.us .
Teacher Info for Data Managers
DPI has established a new process for sharing NCVPS instructor social security numbers for school data managers and the SAR report. NCVPS instructors are being issued Virtual Teacher Information Numbers (VTIN), and those will be shared with school data managers. Those VTINs will sync with the instructors' actual SSNs once entered into NCWise.
The VTINs are now in the DLA Spa.
NCVPS Culture Cafe
Join our World Languages courses in particiapting in our Culture Cafe. All details can be found at http://ncvpsculturecafe.blogspot.com.
[Guest blog post by Dr. Donna Peters - Superintendent, Montgomery County Schools.]
We live in a crazy educational world of acronyms. Wouldn’t you agree? How many educational acronyms can you name? Assuredly, we all recognize the power acronyms of the educational landscape: NCLB, AYP, ABC, AIG (and No, I am not referencing the insurance company), EC, ELL.
We seem to be almost rivaling the military as each new day dawns a new learning, acronym paradigm. It is not my intent to minimize the use of acronyms (nor even is it the thrust of this blog post), for each serves a purpose; but in all reality, they can lead to overuse and lose purposeful meaning. Prior to arriving at NCVPS, I worked in a very strategic and progressive district which used 56 different acronyms, carrying 56 different meanings. Leaders and Learners can get lost in the acronym maze.
However, I have one more to add to the growing list, BUT (and this is a big “but”--no pun intended, okay, maybe it was) this one is guaranteed to add value to your professional experience. Let me introduce the PLN, the Professional Learning Network. What is a PLN? How will it add value? In the “social network” (and I really prefer “academic,” “educational”, or “professional”) world of Facebook, Twitter, Edmodo, Ning, or Linkedin, the PLN is a mainstay -- it is what defines these tools, it is what gives these tools substance, it is what shapes these tools, it is what makes or breaks these tools.
A PLN is established when people come together to connect, collaborate, share, and create. I realized the power of the PLN when our staff plugged into Twitter and Facebook. Alvin Toffler penned, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” So, it is here through our PLN where we “learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
%20NCVPS/VLC%20Blog/Images/Setser_on_WRAL.png){kind=link}