Networking, Productivity, and e-Learning for Dec. 14, 2009

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

NCVPS on Twitter

What have we been tweeting about?

It’s all about the Kids – Bridging the New Digital Divide

[Guest blog by Jenifer Marquis, Instructional Technology Lead Teacher, Edgecombe County Public Schools.]

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 21^st century teachers and innovative 21^st century tools. E-learning through NCVPS bridges the New Digital Divide in school districts across North Carolina by providing 21^st century learning opportunities using 21^st century tools.

As we provide e-learning opportunities for students in Edgecombe County through the North Carolina Virtual Public School, our focus is on developing lifelong learners who can use 21^st century technologies to access online learning throughout their lives. E-learning courses allow us to expand learning and teaching experiences beyond the Brick and Mortar walls of our schools. With our one-to-one laptop program, high school students in Edgecombe County have access to technology and curricular content through NCVPS, 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week. This is a winning combination for the students in Edgecombe County. And let’s face it; it’s all about the kids.

See our Edgecombe Kids in action as they talk about e-learning.

Top 100 Tools for Learning in 2009

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009

View more documents from Jane Hart.

Are You Paying Attention?

Director's Blog for Dec. 9, 2009

21st Century Leaders and Learners:

Triple Threat Positions for Educators in the 21st Century

I've had an interesting few weeks around the country in Texas, Florida, and Georgia. One thing is for certain in my travels and amidst the conversations about blended learning and teaching - Educators will be in a triple threat positions in terms of blended learning services in the future.

First of all, face to face courses and virtual full courses are going to be in high demand. We know that the North Carolina Virtual Public School will encompass 20,000 students this spring of 2010. Nationally the movement has grown from 40,000 in the year 2000 to over 2.3 million students served in 2009 in the k-12 market. Pre-service teachers, current teachers, and retired teachers will all have chances to provide full course instruction in many different ways for state virtual schools, home face to face districts, and via vendors. Administrators will lead this revolution, and school support services will continue to provide blended counseling and guidance as to how these environments will work for student success. State virtual schools will continue to prosper, but also we will see blended models with vendors and content providers.

Director's Blog for Dec. 1, 2009

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 North Carolina Virtual Public School here at www.ncvps.org. Both of these pieces address the kinds of critical conversations educational leaders are having around blended learning in North Carolina school districts as we all head into the holiday season and towards serving North Carolina students this spring.

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 Halifax County School District this week in preparation for our January 2010 GO LIVE series. For more on GO LIVE - click here: http://www.ncvps.org/golive/index.htm

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?

Promoting and Marketing NCVPS Utilizing 21st Century Communication Tools

[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 21^st 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 E-lert for November 19, 2009

DLA Training Scheduled for Dec. 1
Join us in the Virtual Office on Dec. 1 at 9 a.m.

Training Topics:
Closing Fall Semester
Opening Spring Semester
Registration
School Support
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.

Did You Know 3.0

Director's Blog for Nov. 19, 2009

North Carolina 21st Century Learners and Leaders:

I just got back from the National Virtual Schools Symposium and have lots of information to share this week, but I have condensed it into links that you can view and use in your blended leadership and learning models in your district, school, organization, or agency.

http://www.inacol.org/ who hosts the conference shared these quick facts that assure us all we are on the right path in North Carolina to be both globally competitive and collaborative with the virtual advantages of www.ncvps.org and www.nclearnandearn.gov:

1. iNACOL has grown from 303 to 353 countries and/or provinces around the world; up 50 countries from last year
2. 1,500 attended the VSS this year
3. 200,000 students gave input into the USED technology plan, their thoughts on online learning
4. The USDE and White House – are now focused on online and blended learning for STEM (shortage of teachers) and continuity of learning (H1N1)
5. Top 10 breakthroughs transforming life over next 30 years - Virtual and/or blended learning was number 8 (World Future Society, 2009).
6. Only 5 states now do not have virtual state-wide initiatives; up from 20 not having them last year
7. Online education is growing - 2000 enrollments: 50,000 - 2009: 2 million.

Finally, data and research suggests new, emerging, and blended student values are these:Freedom and choice; Customization and personalization; Project based; Move at own pace; Clear guidelines; Fast feedback; and Stand up talk lectures are deadly (Speak Up, 2009).

Networking, Productivity, and e-Learning for Nov. 18, 2009

1. Use TweetChat to follow Twitter hashtag conversations live! From the TweetChat website, log in using your Twitter login information. Enter the hashtag you are following and from there it works like instant messaging. You can highlight your favorite people and block the annoying ones in the hashtag conversation. A pause button lets you stop the auto-refresh and leisurely read if tweets are coming in too quickly.

2. Is social media having an impact on our society? Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year: Unfriend. As educators, we need to stay in front of language and technology or we will become irrelevant to our students!

3. Want to broadcast your event with a live video feed? Try TinyChat. Customize, schedule, subscribe, and promote via Facebook and Twitter. Run up to 16 feeds at once!

4. More on the problems of Multi-tasking: Binge Thinking.

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.