PFI launched its distance learning version of the Earth and Environmental Science for Middle and High School Educators on Saturday, February 24 th . Sixteen participants attended the Saturday orientation, where they were introduced to the distance learning website and to each other. They also received take-aways, handouts, and other materials. Another fifteen (for a total of 31) participants were so distant that they did not attend the orientation at Brevard College . Their materials were shipped to them. Our summer workshops are normally limited to 24 participants, but because this distance learning course is not limited by available rooms and transportation, we could accommodate the greater number.
The course runs for eight weeks, with two weeks spent on each of the four topics: Geology, Hydrology, Atmosphere, and Ecology. Each week, participants review topical material, study lessons, complete a quiz, and complete a lesson review. As a culminating project, participants will prepare a lesson appropriate to their student's grade level on one of the topical areas. We estimate that participants will spend five hours per week for each of the eight weeks, producing a total of 40 hours. If participants complete all assignments, they will receive a certificate of completion for CEU credit as well as a Form B for those who are in the NC Environmental Educators Certification Program. We are also able to offer undergraduate credit through Brevard College for those who request it. The appropriate certifications, along with a hard copy notebook, will be shipped to participants at the conclusion of the workshop.
There was a recent restructuring of the PFI staff. Ryan McCormack, who served as curriculum coordinator, has moved on, and we wish him best of luck. Kevin Fischer has shouldered many new responsibilities along with some help from our student interns. Austin Brodfuhrer has become primarily responsible for posting information to the distance learning website and has saved Kevin and Jennifer countless hours and frustrations! Hayley Lawrimore is in charge of much of our ordering and other office functions, efficiently accomplishing a variety of numerous daily tasks. Devin Gentry's specialty is in geology, and he has prepared lessons, activities, powerpoint slide shows, and quizzes in geology and in related topics. Thanks to all these staff members for a successful launch of the new distance learning site!
Keystone College Environmental Education Institute
KceeI continues to see an increase in registrations a result of the 2007 brochure mailings. This year, in addition to mailing 10 copies to each KceeI past participant, brochures were mailed to all superintendents in the state of Pennsylvania and all curriculum coordinators in every elementary and secondary school in the state. KceeI also expanded its market and mailed to 15 counties in New York and Connecticut .
Other brochures were given to: the NEIU-19 for distribution among the 20 school districts it serves; 1,000 were given to Nancy Hlavaty , Curriculum Coordinator for the Scranton School District; 200 were given to Angela Lambert, DCNR Environmental Education Coordinator for the Lackawanna State Park; and 150 were given to Kathleen Sandt , Environmental Education Coordinator for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Over 10,000 brochures were distributed this year.
KceeI's newest course offering, Astronomy (June 17 th – 22 nd ) , is already full with a waiting list. This is the fastest registration has ever filled for a KceeI course. Alternative Forest Products (March 10 th ), Watershed Explorers (June 17 th – 22 nd ), Forests and Society (July 15 th – 20 th ), and Geology of Northeastern PA (July 22 nd – 27 th ) are all at least halfway filled and the rest of the courses, Amphibians and Reptiles (April 11 th ) and Exotic and Invasive Species (July 22 nd – 25 th ) are not far behind. KceeI is anticipating a very successful year with hopes of serving 150 teachers.
KceeI's first course of 2007, Alternative Forest Products , will be held this Saturday, March 10 th . Tim Eichner, Assistant Director of KceeI, Shane Kleiner, DEP Conservation District Field Representative, and Jim Octerski, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County, will be the facilitators for this one-day course on maple sugaring, mushrooms and ginseng. With temperatures below freezing all week, it doesn't look like Mother Nature will be cooperating with us for maple sugaring! Tanya Bruce , ERC Grants Manager, will be visiting KceeI from March 8 th – 10 th and will be attending this course. We are looking forward to her visit.
KceeI just received confirmation from Bill Oldland, entomologist with the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area Office, who will be a facilitator for Exotic and Invasive Species and Forests and Society . Bill is an expert on exotic and invasive pests and diseases. This will be his third time serving as a facilitator for KceeI and we are very pleased to welcome him back.
Spring break began this week at Keystone College . And although Spring is just around the corner, it still looks and feels like winter in Northeast Pennsylvania after the almost 2 feet of snow that fell on Valentine's Day!
Just a reminder…
If you would like to view the Northeast, check out the live “Streaming Camera” at www.atlas.keystone.edu/video.htm
KceeI's website is located at www.KceeI.keystone.edu
Pacific Forest Institute
Tanya Bruce visited our campus on February 9 th and 10 th . On the 9 th she got a chance to see our pond and campus again and have lunch with Dr. David Nystrom, VP for Academic Affairs and Dr. Kay Llovio, Associate Dean for Educational Effectiveness and the PFI staff. Tanya also attended the Flying WILD workshop held on Saturday, February 10 th . There were 16 participants for the workshop which was held on one of our more stormy days.
Project WILD and Project WILD Aquatic workshop was held on February 24 and on March 3 rd the second Project Learning Tree workshop was held.
Our summer workshop brochures were mailed out and we have started receiving registrations for our two summer week long workshops.
In addition PFI staff have been assisting William Jessup University to plan future development to include University Pond as an educational resource as many of our workshops use the area as an outside lab. The University's own science classes will benefit as well. Interpretive planning is scheduled and a conservation easement for the pond is being considered. One exciting project is a large covered bird blind to observe pond life – at this time of the year full of more than hundred waterfowl.
For updated information on the Pacific Forest Institute, please visit our website at:
http://www.jessup.edu/academics/pacificforestinstitute .
ERC Broadband
On February 12th, 2006 Jennie Pressley , ERCB Business Development Manager, was among presenters at a Connectivity Symposium hosted by Foothills Connect which took place at the Rutherfordton campus of Isothermal Community College (ICC). The purpose of the symposium was to make community leaders aware of (1) the status of connectivity in Rutherford County today, (2) the future needs that are currently anticipated and (3) the resources needed to fill the gaps. The Symposium was well attended with about 50 people plus presenters filling the room. A committee will be formed as a result of the Symposium for the purpose of developing a county-wide strategic technology plan.
The Symposium was the brainchild of Tim Will, CEO of Foothills Connect. Fred Bayley, who is the Dean of Adult Education at ICC and Chairman of Foothills Connect, welcomed the group and then Senator Walter Dalton, a Rutherfordton native who serves in the North Carolina state legislature, joined the group by phone to voice his support. Sam Adams of IBM gave a fascinating presentation about the history and future of broadband including its impact on business and society. A panel of four presenters then followed to specifically address Rutherford County . The panelists included Lavoy Spooner of BellSouth, now the new AT&T, which now offers DSL to some of the businesses and residences in Rutherford County; Stu Davidson of Pangaea and e-Polk which will soon be connecting Rutherford County to its fiber network through AdvantageWest funding; Don Thompson of Skycatcher a wireless service which has the technology and plans to reach over 90% of the county; and Jennie Pressley of ERC Broadband. Jennie gave an overview of ERC Broadband's network and how the organization currently supports schools, governments and local Internet service providers as it seeks to further economic development in the Western Carolinas . She also outlined the benefits that broadband brings to a community including connecting school systems for distance learning and Internet2, facilitating high speed communication for government agencies including first responders, providing state-of-the-art healthcare through telemedicine, informing citizens through WebTV and the enhancing the economy through tourism and the growth of small businesses locally and worldwide.
Links: Foothills Connect www.foothillsconnect.com ; Skycatcher www.skycatcher.com
On Feb 27th, 2006 ERCB General Manager, Hunter Goosmann , attended the 2007 Entrepreneurship Summit sponsored by the NC Rural Economic Development Commission. During this conference, representatives from the legislature as well as the University system, Community Colleges, state economic offices, and leading non-profits discussed a dozen initiatives designed to stimulate entrepreneurial activity across the state. To name a few:
* N.C. Senate leader Marc Basnight and House Speaker Joe Hackney have appointed standing committees on commerce, small business and entrepreneurship in their respective chambers.
* The N.C. Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education was recently organized to develop and implement an educational curriculum that incorporates entrepreneurial skills beginning in kindergarten and continuing through adult education programs.
* A Rural Venture Fund was created to be a new source of capital for economically distressed communities in NC.
Much more was discussed. The keynote speaker was Jim Blasingame, host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show "The Small Business Advocate," who spoke on "Why this is the century of the entrepreneur."
All in all it was a very productive and informative conference. For full details, please see the NC Rural Center's press release at http://www.ncruralcenter.org/news/pr.asp?ReleaseID=146 .
As an ongoing local initiative, the Asheville HUB project is actively reviewing ideas for growth. Recently, Hunter Goosmann began holding task force meetings related to fiber infrastructure, High Performance Computing and Data Storage. These meetings are in addition to his serving as a Senior Advisor to the Technology Cluster of the HUB. The momentum the City of Asheville and Buncombe County have developed to improve its ability to grow the economy in this area continues, and ERC Broadband will continue to support the manifold efforts of this vibrant community.
On February 28th, 2006 ERC Broadband held an Open House from 9:30 am to 2 p.m. at its main facility in Asheville to bring awareness of its operations to other tenants in the building. It was a success with at least 75 visitors. Tours of the Point of Presence and Network Operations Center were given every hour beginning at 9:45 . Folks were very interested and enjoyed the chance to meet personnel they've been passing in the hall and sharing elevators with - and the ERCB staff appreciated the opportunity, too. More than once a sentiment was uttered along the lines of, "We've been wondering what you all do up here." If you didn't know about the Open House and missed it, that doesn't mean you can't come visit us sometime. Just call our main number (828-350-2415) or email info@ercbroadband.org and we're happy to set up a formal or informal tour for you or a group.
Please visit www.ercbroadband.org for more information or call 828-350-2415.
On February 14th, Online Education Director Dr. Pam Johnson , and WCU-AAM Director Dr. Beth Rodgers Coulter facilitated an online presentation for the Illinois Online Conference (IOC) - http://www.ilonlineconf.org/ . The title of the presentation was “Snapshot of Where We Are: Tool for Evaluating NETS for Educators” (Session 108). The presentation highlighted an assessment tool being used with PROPEL professional development participants (media specialists). The assessment tool is being piloted to evaluate PROPEL impact before and after participation. The assessment uses ISTE NETS for Teachers standards as a framework.
In March, Dr. Johnson and Dr. Rodgers Coulter will present at the North Carolina Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference in Raleigh . The presentation, “Developing Online Primary Source Specialists,” is about the PROPEL program that was designed by the Western North Carolina AAM partners. PROPEL, a professional development framework for schools and school districts, helps school librarians and media coordinators become AAM Primary Source Specialists. PROPEL focuses on collaboration with teachers in using the Library of Congress online digital primary sources in the classroom. It is based on the foundational beliefs that the school media center is an essential extension of the classroom, that school librarians and media coordinators are a vital link for teachers in curriculum integration, and that teaching and learning should be inquiry-based, constructive, and lead to high order thinking.
The Western North Carolina partners are currently offering PROPEL workshops to six cohorts of media specialists. Partners hosted seven full-day workshops during February and will hold nine full-day sessions during March.
Research on the Western North Carolina AAM program continues. This research study will be available in September of this year.
More information about PROPEL is available at www.aamprogram.org and at www.aamlearning.org .
California University of Pennsylvania
Ave Maria Catholic School
Seven teachers from Ave Maria Catholic School attended their fourth workshop in a series of six scheduled AAM Basic Skills workshops. The workshop, “Electronic Resources in Microsoft Office,” was designed to help teachers prepare primary source-based handouts. The workshop was delivered on-site at the school by Byron Holdiman.
Veterans Oral Histories Project at California University of Pennsylvania
AAM staff met with a local student to plan a veterans history project that he will conduct as an Eagle Scout project. The plan is for the scout to do several veterans interviews and to provide leadership and engage several other students who will also conduct interviews. The project is expected to result in 6 to12 new veterans' oral histories that will become part of the special collection in Manderino Library at California University . Those that meet the proper criteria will be forwarded to the Library of Congress for inclusion in the national Veterans History Project.
AAM in California University Classrooms
AAM staff visited six university classrooms, three of which were in Educational Technology, and discussed the Library of Congress Web site and the electronic resources it presents for teachers. In the Multicultural Diversity class for elementary education majors, students were introduced to five persons with different racial backgrounds and the discussion centered on their importance in U.S. history. In the Seminar in History class, history students learned about how bias can be present with primary sources and the importance of investigating the origins of primary sources. In a Social Studies class for elementary education majors, students learned how to conduct a photo analysis using photographs from the Ansel Adams collection. In total, 130 students received instruction from AAM staff.
Other
Work with the CalNat Professional Development Schools network continued as Michael Brna worked with university personnel, superintendents, and principals from several school districts to continue discussions about offering services to teachers seeking National Board Teacher Certification. Primary source materials can be used by teachers as they prepare their portfolio requirement of the certification process. Dr. Brna also gave a presentation about the effective use of primary sources to four elementary level teachers who are retaking the National Board Teacher Certification examination.
CUP's AAM program Web site is located at:
http://www.cup.edu/education/aam
Eastern Illinois University
The year has entered with a flurry of activity for Eastern Illinois University AAM/Teaching with Primary Sources. Workshops and presentations have been provided in elementary, middle, and high schools in East Central Illinois with wonderful teachers who are eager to incorporate American Memory digital resources into their curriculum. Conference presentations were given at the Regional Office of Education Technology Conference in Mattoon , Tri-County Institute Day in Centralia , and the Technology, Reading and Learning Differences Conference in San Francisco on topics ranging from the improvement of information literacy skills and comprehension to the creation of “digital kits.” The Central Illinois Teaching with Primary Sources newsletter has been well received and has received several hundred hits each month. The joint effort between EIU and SIUE Adventure of the American Mind has been described by a middle school teacher as “a wonderful tool for teachers that constantly reminds me of the great resources available at the Library of Congress.”
EIU's AAM/TPS program Web site is located at: http://www.eiu.edu/~eiutps
Fayetteville Technical Community College & Wingate University
During the spring semester of 2007, the FTCC Congressional Scholars are involved in the mentoring project at their respective schools. Since January 2007, they have been posting weekly reports via the Blackboard site to keep staff abreast of their progress. This procedure has worked well.
On March 5, the current group will have a face-to-face meeting on the FTCC campus. A participant from the 2005-06 Congressional Scholars group will speak to the class about his experience in the program and the use of technology at his school.
Program staff are beginning to solicit comments from the 2006-07 Congressional Scholars and ask the following questions:
· What practices did you incorporate into your school/class/media center regarding technology learned from the CS class? What worked and why?
· What was the impact of the use of primary sources with your students?
This feedback will be incorporated into our yearly report.
FTCC's AAM program Web site is located at:
http://www.faytechcc.edu/scholars/
The Wingate University cohort students are diligently working to complete mentor projects in their schools. Each student is partnering with at least one fellow educator to share the information he/she gained throughout the fall 2006 semester (American Memory primary resources, technology for instructional purposes, and incorporating both elements into the current curriculum). Students will mentor for a minimum of 50 hours throughout the spring 2007 semester. Progress reports are due to the instructors during the month of March.
Wingate's AAM program Web site is located at:
http://www.aamprogram.org/introduction/aam_partners_detail.aspx?id=9
Loyola University
The Loyola partner has established the first annual TPS summer course on the university's schedule. Similar to Loyola's former AAM Phase I course, the TPS course will train Chicago area teachers on instructional uses with primary sources from the Library of Congress. The participating teachers will be recruited upon nomination from their school principals. A recruitment dinner is currently being planned.
Loyola's Assistant Director Kris Maldre is finalizing changes to the program's new and improved Web site. It will include many new links for news, lessons ideas, and events. Web site refinement will be ongoing and the Loyola partner is quite excited for these changes.
Workshops for Loyola education majors are ongoing and expected to increase in number throughout the spring. LOC primary source exposure is steadily increasing at the university as more education students seem to recognize and use the LOC online.
Loyola's AAM Web site is located at:
http://www.luc.edu/schools/education/aam/index.shtml
Northern Virginia Schools Partnership
Peer Coaches Chrissy Steury and Patty Tuttle represented the Northern Virginia Partnership at the Virginia Society for Technology in Education's ( VSTE ) annual state technology conference in Virginia Beach in late February. They engaged participants in a hands-on workshop aimed at differentiating the content, process, and products of primary-source based lessons. Learn more about their presentation here http://www.aamnva.org/conference/20070225/index.shtml
Patty Tuttle and Patricia Carlson, Professional Development Specialist, visited Colorado last month to collaborate with new AAM partners and share AAMNVA's Learn with “Primary Sources Workshop” series. The Northern Virginia Partnership is looking forward to future collaborative projects with the University of Northern Colorado .
AAMNVA launched several subject specific professional development programs this month. First, they began a Pathfinder's Institute for Library Media Specialists to help generate launching points for research on particular topics. Each pathfinder designed in the Institute will focus specifically on resources from the Library of Congress and correspond directly to the Virginia Standards of Learning. Second, AAMNVA offered its 10-hour “Learn with Primary Sources” workshop series to a group of 15 secondary math teachers in order to highlight practical applications of math routines which bring meaning to primary sources. Finally, AAMNVA held the first of several planning meetings with health/physical education teachers to begin developing primary source-based lessons which integrate physical education and health with all of the core content areas.
Northern Virginia 's AAM program Web site is located at:
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
SIUE AAM continues to work with students enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program through seminars. The February seminar included an activity and discussions on teaching for understanding (using primary sources) referring to AAMNVA Best Instructional Practices: Teaching for Understanding Web page found at http://www.pslearning.org/teach/best_practices/teach_understanding.php . Students will have a second learning experience completed in April. The second half of the seminar focused on Illinois technology standards for all teachers and how the standards relate to their MAT experience.
Workshops were delivered to teachers at the Madison County ROE and Lewis-Clark Jr. High School in Woodriver throughout January. The AAM team is currently holding workshops at Illini Middle School in Jerseyville throughout February.
SIUE AAM is teaming up with Eastern Illinois University to provide an institute this coming spring and summer entitled, “Learning with Lincoln .” K-12 educators who have been through the basic workshop series or AAM graduate course are eligible to apply. The institute will serve as a second level of professional development for SIUE AAM alumni. Information about the institute can be found at http://www.siue.edu/education/aam/institute.htm .
SIU-E's AAM program Web site is located at:
http://www.siue.edu/education/aam
Waynesburg College
WC AAM/TPS staff will launch the newly-developed online course “Discovering the Library of Congress” on March 14 th . Participants will take part in both synchronous and asynchronous activities and discussions using the Blackboard e-learning system. This six-week course will introduce educators to Library of Congress' online sources and convey a foundational understanding of best instructional practices for teaching with primary sources. “Discovering the Library of Congress” addresses Level 1 TPS professional development goals.
WC's Spring Institute 2007: “Teaming Up with Primary Sources” began February 1 st . Eleven educators formed three school-based teams and developed cross-curricular learning units for their classrooms. Teams will be re-convened after each unit is field-tested for an in-depth review and revision session. Each team's lesson plans, sample student projects, and assessment tools will be available as a link from the WC AAM/TPS Web site after this process is complete. “Teaming Up” is a Level 2 TPS professional development workshop.
A group of 30 educators, including participants of “Teaming Up,” will join WC AAM/TPS staffers for a customized tour of the Library in Washington, D.C., on March 1 st . Special thanks goes to Vivian Awumey, who was key in organizing the trip.
For the second year, WC AAM/TPS has worked with WC Black Student Union (BSU) in developing an educational exhibit highlighting the contributions of Black Americans. This year the theme was, “Which side are you on?” College faculty and students were challenged to reflect on their perceptions of historical events in the Civil Rights movement, such as the Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-in and the 1963 March on Washington . Primary source documents were used to represent public sentiment both for and against Civil Rights. Library of Congress' African American Odyssey ( http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ ) was a rich resource for this project.
Assistant Director Sue Wise and Digital Preservationist Nancy Wrick , conducted an introductory presentation to Greene County Homeschool Network at their January 2007 meeting. Fifteen families participated, and several families followed up with requests for resources and training sessions. WC is in the process of collecting responses to a preliminary survey that will allow future offerings to this group to better meet their needs.
SIUE's AAM program Web site is located at: http://www.siue.edu/education/aam .