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e g g n i n n e r all a e h L e C e n i l nl 09 0 2 -
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School eLearning Challenge Program Rewards
Introduction Our schools in America are stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, local, state and federal governments are pushing for the integration of new technology and the expansion of educational programs. On the other, schools are increasingly meeting inadequate budgets for such technological advances. To alleviate this pressure on schools, GlobalClassroom, Inc . is offering a complete and affordable solution to move content, teachers and students online. The next five years are a critical time for education in the US, it’s essential that schools act now, and act smart to make investments for the future.
In order to provide incentives and highlight great uses of Moodle, GlobalClassroom will sponsor regular contests for all cohort member schools to participate in, here are a few of the events: • Prizes for the classroom—like iPod Touches and Flip Ultras (video recorder)—for teachers who: o Create the best discussion-based online classroom, o Create the best overall Moodle classroom, o Engage their students through innovative uses of Moodle. • Spotlight articles and interviews published online in our Blog (globalclassroom.us/blog) and newsletters. • A $10,000 grand prize for the top school participating in the cohort to be selected in spring 2009 (selection by cohort participants, faculty and GlobalClassroom staff).
Meeting the Challenge The biggest challenges that schools face when integrating new technology, such as online, learning management systems, are training, support and cost containment. The School eLearning Challenge is successful by building awareness in teachers and students, setting up Internet policies, training and supporting teachers effectively, providing high quality service and support, and developing a feasible implementation plan supported by school leadership.
Program Costs • $3000 for the school leaders (Includes 5 CEU’s and 5 ACT 48 CPE credits in PA) • Each participant receives 5 graduate credits for content covered during the program (this is included in the cost). • All teachers at a school with a participating cohort member receive access to the training resources and are all eligible for the monthly rewards. • Free hosting and branding of eLearning network
Solution Use the online classroom to develop process, build awareness, develop online learning policies and train teachers. Develop a cohort of school technology leaders that share a common interest in providing an online classroom to their teachers. Make it easy for teachers that are early adopters to get started. Recognize school and teacher success every month.
Program Savings SeLC will save your school thousands of dollars and will constitute a huge cost saving over conventional commercial training, hosting and technology integration programs. For less than the price of a graduate course, GlobalClassroom will prepare your school to go online. GlobalClassroom guarantees your school’s success with a commitment of only a few hours per week. Five Program Objectives 1. Develop a training schedule and implementation plan that will be executed over the next school year
School eLearning Challenge
2. Develop an internet usage and online learning policy for both Students and Teachers that incorporates Moodle as an integrated part of the school community and curriculum
Led by online learning experts, a select number of technology leaders will become part of a cohort to develop and introduce an eLearning center to their school, teachers, and administrators. The cohort will spend several hours per month working collaboratively and individually to develop and execute a thorough, step by step process to implement Moodle.
3. Train other leaders: GlobalClassroom will work to identify and train additional champions of Moodle at your school 4. Provide teachers incentives and perspective while they are creating their online content
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5. Introduce more online educational opportunities to students and teachers
School eLearning Challenge Program Description SeLC is a year long program developed by GlobalClassroom to facilitate the design and execution of a high-quality, well developed implementation plan for Moodle, a web-based learning management system (LMS). Through years of experience, GlobalClassroom has worked to design an effective training program to help ‘coach’ educational technology leaders as they work to implement Moodle.
o Integrating Online Content and Resources into the Classroom Using Moodle - James Gates o Integrating Classroom Content and Standards into Web-Based Courses - Richard Hartshorne Ph. D., University of North Carolina, Charlotte (course participants have the option to purchase five graduate credits from Southern New Hampshire University
The product of that work is the SeLC, a year long program to facilitate and encourage a successful implementation and local adoption of a web-based LMS. The program connects cohort members with each other, and GlobalClassroom staff members and faculty, in a collaborative online environment where resources are easily shared, created, and improved over the course of the school year. The curriculum provides cohort members engaging opportunities to participate in highquality online instruction relevant to the LMS, in addition to optional graduate credits for professional development and relicensing. Each cohort will be led by a qualified facilitator. Laurie Korte, author of Moodle Magic, and Richard Hartshorne, Professor of Instructional Technology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte are experts in the world of Moodle and technology implementation. Each will facilitate these activities in collaboration with GlobalClassroom’s staff.
Courses can be taken any session offered (all courses are offered monthly online).
Participant Requirements Potential participants are encouraged to seek permission from a school leader (local support is the most important ingredient to a school wide implementation plan). Attached is a contract to be signed by the cohort participant and a school administrator. The form must be returned to GlobalClassroom within 30 days after the start of the cohort. All cohort members are asked to commit 12 months to the SeLC (roughly 100 hours, including both courses, all online interaction with the cohort and all training sessions at the local level). Additionally, cohort members should understand that they will remain the on-site point person throughout (and potentially after) the 12-month implementation schedule.
Global Classroom Services
Over the course of the cohort, participants are expected to engage their local colleagues to promote and support the use of Moodle. In order to accomplish this participants are expected to: •Lead training sessions •Provide front line support* •Build/create resources to be used locally and shared with cohort members •Design an implementation plan and create benchmarks to measure growth •Participate in online discussion, webinars, and regular assignments/tasks that help to facilitate the implementation of Moodle •Maintain regular communication with GlobalClassroom staff •Suggest improvements to Moodle and the GlobalClassroom implementation of Moodle •Track Moodle usage and growth locally •Gather local assessment data to gauge possible Moodle benefits
Participants receive all necessary resources to initiate and sustain a successful, school-wide implementation of Moodle. These resources include, but are not limited to: •A custom branded login and registration site for their school (design will be completed in conjunction with the cohort member and our graphic design team) •A complete school-based network with custom logos/branding as part of the GlobalClassroom Moodle--the site will be hosted by GlobalClassroom at no charge for standard Moodle features and will provide certain administrative functions to the cohort participant or the designated administrator at the school; •Access to GlobalClassroom Moodle training resources and materials (digital): pdfs (guides), videos, webinars, staff, and on-site training; •Access to two courses GlobalClassroom TeachersCollege courses (both courses are approved for Act 48 credit in the State of Pennsylvania and for PLUs in Georgia):
*GlobalClassroom will be available to all teachers at participating cohort schools via email, phone, Skype, etc
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School eLearning Challenge
Standard Moodle Features
Below are listed the features of Moodle 1.9. These will be part of the standard training and resources provided to all cohort members and their schools. These include (but are not limited to):
Moodle Resources:
Moodle Activities:
•Assignments o Offline assignments o Submit a file o Online text o Advanced file upload •Discussion forums •Quizzes •Choice •Survey •Journal •Workshop •Lesson •Wiki •Hot Potatoes Quiz •Glossary •Chat •Database •Blog
•Insert a Label •Compose a text page •Compose a web page •Link to a file of website •Display a directory
Moodle Blocks:
•Latest News •People •Online Users •Remote RSS feeds •Messages •HTML •Calendar •Random Glossary Entry •Quiz Results •Search Forums •Activities
Moodle also provides a grading system for teachers to utilize. Each activity created within Moodle is automatically incorporated into a grade book that teachers can use as a full service grading tool that can export to MS Excel and other spreadsheet programs. GlobalClassroom also has fitted each Moodle site with custom software that allows for the easy creation and registration of new courses in addition to personal course management interfaces. Additional capabilities can be added as needed, however there may be a charge for the addition and upkeep of such installations.
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School eLearning Challenge Agreement This agreement is between GlobalClassroom, Inc. (hereafter GC) and ____________________________________ for the duration of the 2008-2009 School eLearning Challenge (SeLC). SeLC is designed to facilitate the successful integration of an eLearning center into a school and its larger community of users. Though hosting is an important part of this initiative and agreement, GC acknowledges that hosting agreements are inherently limited in scope and do not necessary have a positive or lasting impact on the local school. In order to create a more successful implementation, the SeLC will facilitate a collegial online environment for all cohort members as they work collectively (and separately) through their implementation plans. GC agrees to provide standard-level hosting (Moodle v1.9 and any subsequent standard, site wide upgrades to our network), support, and training resources (and as listed above in the SeLC document) at no charge. Additionally, GC offers limited onsite training opportunities throughout the year of the cohort. All teachers at participating schools will also receive complementary access to GlobalClassroom’s TeachersCollege course catalog with over 70 Act 48 courses are delivered online regularly. Cohorts are schedule to start monthly through out the summer and fall of 2008. Each cohort will be facilitated by either Laurie Korte or Richard Hartshorne (this excludes the pilot Cohort which is coordinated by Joseph Thibault). A comprehensive hosting contract is available upon request (please contact Joseph Thibault, jthibault@globalclassroom.us or 802- 578-7422). By signing below I agree to participate in the 2008-2009 SeLC and to adhere to the responsibilities and stipulations as described above.
Cohort Participant
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Joseph Thibault, Executive Director
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School Administrator
School eLearning Challenge
Bios
Laurie Korte is a Technology Integration Specialist with Northbrook District 28 in Illinois (http:// ww1.northbrook28.net/). She develops curriculum connections utilizing technology with teachers to enhance learning experiences for both staff and students. Her work has focused on professional development that is both meaningful and manageable to staff through the constructive use of technology. Laurie has taught Spanish and Science, as well as many other subjects, at a variety of grade levels, worked as an Information Specialist with a Masters in Library and Information Studies, and written curriculum. She is a frequent presenter at regional technology conferences and workshops. Her latest book, Moodle Magic: Make It Happen has been a hit with educators looking to integrate a content management system for free into their school and curriculum. (http://www. ftcpublishing.com/moodle.html)
Cohort Starts In July
Laurie is “Mom� to Max and Dewey (2 small parrots) as well as wife to Mr. Right, Don. Her free-time passion is creative sewing. Email her to say hello! (moodlemagic@mac.com)
Richard Hartshorne is currently an Assistant Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. There, his teaching and research centers on the integration of technology into the educational landscape, as well as instructional design and development., with a focus in online teaching and learning, technology and teacher education, and the integration of emerging technologies into the k-post-secondary curriculum. Richard has taught a variety of face-to-face, online, and hybrid courses in areas such as instructional design and development, media, courseware authoring, and technology integration. Prior to his graduate studies and appointment at UNC-Charlotte, he was a high school Physics teacher at Edward H. White High School in Jacksonville, FL.. Richard has presented at numerous national and international educational technology conferences, presented local and regional workshops, and has published in numerous educational technology journals. Feel free to check him out on the web at http://education.uncc.edu/ rhartsho/ep-web/main.htm or send him an e-mail at rhartsho@uncc.edu.
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Cohort Starts In June
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