What you need to know about how career and technical education is affecting the lives of our students. What the district is doing to further career and technical eduction. What is Whoami and why you should care.
Inter-workings Your employee news source for happenings around the district
Spring 2011
The Career and Tech Education Edition
## Carrerline Tech Center Students
OTTAWA AREA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT
INTERWORKINGS SPRING 2011
IN THIS ISSUE
Features: 3 Superintendent’s Message
What are some of the challenges facing education today, and the vision for the future
4 Career and Tech Education Overview
Career and Tech Education has changed, have you been able to keep up with the amazing changes that are happening for students?
8 Meet Your Colleague
Kris Henderson
10 Whoami
The districts newest initiative to help further success for all students
12 Early College Credit
For college bound students early college credit is a way for students to get a “jump start on their college career when they are attending Careerline Tech Center.
14 Weird Careerz
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How viral marketing is making an impact
News for you: 12 New Employees
The whos who of who’s new.
11 The Guide to Green
What the ISD and you can do to be a bit more green
13 Pet Parde
Who’s pet is the newest star?
19 IT’s Cool
Information Technologies tips and tricks to help you breeze through common technolgy questions.
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SUPERINTENDENT’S MESSAGE
Someone asked me the other day what I considered the biggest challenge facing public education. I’m sure the individual thought I would say “lack of funding.” Instead I said “an undeserved lack of respect.” The person looked puzzled, so I took the opportunity to elaborate. Public education is not perfect, I continued. We are learning everyday how to improve our product. Our teachers are embracing new technology, new curriculum and instructional methods. At the same time, they’re addressing the new demands posed by a rapidly changing global world. We still have a lot of work to do…but we’re getting there. Despite the national obsession with standardized test scores, which are consistently used to discredit our teachers and schools, I added, we are somehow managing to churn out some of the most fascinating, well prepared, literate, and worldly young people that I’ve ever seen. They manage school, athletics, extra-curricular activities, social lives, and jobs. They attend colleges and trade schools, earn degrees, certificates, and licenses. They go on to serve our country, our businesses, and our communities. They get credit for none of this…only their standardized test scores seem to count. Everywhere I go the rhetoric is the same: test scores are bad, therefore schools must be failing, therefore teachers must be incapable and students must be ill prepared for college and careers. But, for the majority of schools, the
evidence to support this rhetoric is thin at best and in some cases non-existent. Critics point to urban schools struggling with poverty, broken neighborhoods, and fractured families and hold these schools completely responsible for their students’ lack of achievement on standardized tests. They then skillfully extrapolate those conditions and results to all schools. This rhetoric is powerful and results in the large scale consistent lack of respect that we now experience. It is contagious, dangerous, and agenda-driven. It poses a far more potent threat to our future than lack of funding. We must not sit quietly and allow the politically correct bashing of public education to go unchecked. In upcoming editions of Interworkings, we will provide you with facts and information that you can use when you are challenged to defend our industry. Each one of us must become a knowledgeable walking billboard for education…a new kind of social media campaign. We’ll provide information you can tweet, post on Facebook, and more importantly just share whenever you hear our schools being maligned. It begins by challenging what people have been lead to believe. Gloves off. Game on. Stay tuned.
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Building
Future the
CAREER TECH ED REDEVELOPED FROM COMMUNITY-DRIVEN VISION
Once upon a time, vocational schools existed to prepare students to step into entry-level jobs in their community. “Today’s students need more options and greater flexibility in how they access the training,” said Jason Pasatta, OAISD’s Development Director of Career and Technical Education. He’s leading a two-year-old initiative to redevelop career and technical education in the Ottawa Area ##
Intermediate School District.
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According to Pasatta, work skills taught for specific occupations won’t cut it for emerging career fields. Most jobs will require a broader education that includes a deeper command of “hard skills” like reading, writing and arithmetic, paired with “soft skills” like problem solving, self-management and being able to work in a team.
pay for post-secondary training because they can usually land good-paying jobs that allow them to save for college, or further their education while working,” said Val Putnam, Director of Thompson M-TEC, which provides targeted training for about 300 displaced workers annually.
Updated curriculums are infused with more challenging academics along with more relevant work experiences that better prepare students for two-year and four-year colleges, as well as the work world.
In early 2009, as a long-planned $10 million expansion to Careerline Tech Center was preparing to launch, Superintendent Karen McPhee put on the brakes.
“The evolution of technologies in the workplace is obliterating the distinction between educating college-bound high school students and preparing students for ‘vocations,’” Pasatta said.
How we got here…
Although CTC enrollment is perpetually at or near capacity, McPhee suggested the district and the community take a giant step back to study whether enlarging the building is the best way to prepare the greatest number of students from 11 member districts.
Most students will The evolution of technologies in the workplace is obliterating the distinction need a college degree between educating college-bound high school students and preparing or other post-secondary students for ‘vocations.’ credentialing, so career and technical education needs to change in After all, only 18 percent of area juniors and ways that give students strategic advantages in seniors were enrolled at CTC in the 2008-2009 the modern labor market. academic year. A $10 million addition would not substantially multiply capacity, or Upgrades to career and technical education eliminate increasing graduation requirements or should also make it a more compelling option scheduling difficulties that crowd career and for the traditional college-bound student. “An emphasis of the redevelopment process,” Pasatta technical education out of many high school said, “is to build awareness among all secondary student schedules. students of the time and money-saving advantages of CTE, and make these programs more readily available at satellite locations.” “Career and technical education is a great route for students who don’t have outside help to
More than 100 people -- many of them business and industry partners -- participated in a day-long “Futures Conference” to examine trends in career and technical education and community work force development needs. ##
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BUILDING THE FUTURE
A committee culled from participants drafted a “Vision and 5-Year Plan” for redeveloping career and technical education in the county. Almost 100 people returned for a subsequent meeting to give input on recommended changes. A revised version of the plan was ultimately accepted by the OAISD Board of Education.
First, it defines career and technical education as a network that imbeds changing technologies in programs, services and facilities. Second, it promises to serve all Ottawa area students, not just those who typically enroll at Careerline Tech Center. Third, it envisions new ways of delivering programming, including middle colleges, theme schools, and partnerships with private businesses. Pasatta, who earned his master’s degree in educational technology from Harvard University, said the “Vision and 5-Year Plan” acknowledges that every student needs to master hard and soft skills to be contributors in tomorrow’s workforce. He says the plan builds admirably on innovative blended learning and technology-rich programs already operating in the district.
Jason Pasatta is the OAISD’s Development Director for Career and Technical Education.
“The ‘Vision and 5-Year Plan’ represents a philosophical departure from career and technical as it’s been known in the district,” said Pasatta, whose position was created to implement the changes. ##
“Some of the best examples,” Pasatta said, “are Holland Public Schools’ New Tech High School and VR Tech learning lab for students at-risk of dropping out, Careerline Tech Center’s fast-growing ‘early college’ programs, and West Ottawa High School’s International Baccalaureate program, which is designed to create thinkers with a global world view.” Making the change… Efforts to redevelop career and technical education are perhaps felt most acutely at Careerline Tech Center, where curriculums are becoming more academic and are being
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BUILDING THE FUTURE
realigned to provide students with a smooth transition into college or other post-secondary training. In more instances every year, that transition is becoming practically seamless, especially in the lakeshore’s “high needs” areas: health care and engineering.
lessons, and possibly volunteer opportunities or internships for students. That pilot may be extended to other area communities, many of whom have been awarded or are seeking, grants to improve residents’ access to college.
“This area decided to invest money OAISD Often students are dually-enrolled, earning high saved for career and technical education in ways school and bargain-priced college credit in one that will benefit all students,” Pasatta said. fell swoop, helping them offset the cost of postHe’s guessing the effects of this initiative will secondary education. eclipse benefits a new wing at CTC would “There is a lot of interest in early college and we have added. want to provide students with more options,” said Doug Cook, Director of Careerline Tech Center. “It’s a great advantage for families and students who are willing to work hard for it.” Lake Michigan College currently offers opportunities for CTC students to earn up to 30 direct credits, plus runs some of its classes evenings at CTC. LMC also intends to pilot a two-week “college boot camp” at CTC this summer to help ready students for college success. Ferris State University also awards direct credit for some CTC coursework. Grand Rapids Community College, which runs a lot of classes across Port Sheldon Road at Thompson M-TEC, is among other area institutions of higher learning working with OAISD officials to blur the line between high school and college. Based on alumni surveys, there is also a renewed effort to provide students with more relevant learning experiences. This summer, nine teachers in the Grand Haven and Spring Lake area will be matched with local employers with a view to develop practical
Allison Deemter, 19, of Blendon Township, was a student in OAISD’s Dental Careers program last spring when Lake Michigan College awarded her its Presidential Scholarship. The scholarship pays for four semesters of full-time studies as long as Deemter maintains a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Deemter makes the 25-minute drive to the LMC campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays for her core classes. On Monday and Wednesday nights, she takes her dental classes close to home at Careerline Tech Center. She’s on track to graduate in May 2012 as a registered dental assistant.
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MEET YOUR COLLEAGUE: KRIS HENDERSON Most high school students have heard of FAFSA. Many just don’t understand that to get money for college, they have to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid months before they graduate. Kris Henderson arrived at Careerline Tech Center in fall 2010 to pilot a program to help students map out plans to achieve college and career goals, including filling out FAFSA. ##
Her efforts supplement the work of high school guidance counselors, whose time is often consumed by academic scheduling and the social and emotional needs of teens. Henderson, in contrast, is a career development facilitator, a new specialty for professionals who work in a variety of settings to provide career assistance.
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KRIS HENDERSON
The bonus for CTC is that Henderson also holds a master’s degree in professional counseling and is certified as a K-12 guidance counselor. She has a private counseling practice in Grand Rapids that keeps her busy two nights a week. “We’re focusing in a career planning and employability skills for students in a variety of programs,” Henderson said. “The goal is to get more students registering for post-secondary programs and applying for scholarships.” Henderson provides a teacher-led curriculum “Path to Scholarships” to about 400 students per trimester. She also meets with students individually and in groups. If it’s important for her to “get to know the whole student” to help them define and achieve their career goals, she’s willing and able to do that, too. But all most students need is basic information, a timeline and reminders, Henderson said. Have they taken the ACT? Will they need to retake it to get the score the college of their choice requires? What do they want to go into? What is the career outlook? Which institutions train for that career? What’s the cost? Are all college requirements satisfied by the student’s high school coursework? Is their grade point average sufficient?
higher education, but all students can benefit. Even parents with four-year college degrees may be coping with schedules too demanding to make sure their son or daughter files FAFSA on time, Henderson said. “I love helping people figure out what they need to be successful in whatever they want to do,” Henderson said. “It’s rewarding.” Henderson was a Hudsonville Public Schools counselor before joining the staff of the Health Sciences Academy at the Kent Intermediate School District for the 20092010 school year. She joined the OAISD last summer. Henderson’s leisure hours are often spent keeping fit with Zumba and kick-boxing. She also likes reading works of Maya Angelou and James Patterson in the company of her aged black and white cat, Ted Nugent. Henderson lives in Grandville with her husband of 33 years, David. They have two adult children.
Bridging the information gap from high school to college is especially helpful to students who will be the first in their families to advance to ##
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WHOAMI
WHOAMI Helps Students Get On Their Career Path It used to be that only computer geeks writing IP commands knew the term “whoami.” But times are changing. “Whoami” is the name the OAISD is giving a new career and college preparation initiative that’s being constructed to benefit every sevenththrough 12th-grader in the district, regardless of whether they ever study at Careerline Tech Center. Whoami, or Who Am I, is an interactive, webbased project that will help students define their career interests and strengths. It also helps them chart the coursework and other relevant learning experiences needed to place them on the path of academic and career success. Whoami, which remains relevant for at least two years beyond high school, also guides students to create an electronic portfolio showcasing hard and soft work readiness skills – complete with comments and ratings from others. What’s more, Whoami also creates an online social network of students, educators and professionals across the district who share similar career interests and are willing to support each other’s professional development. Technology Director Mike Rohwer and staff hope to put Whoami into students’ hands by January 2012. “We don’t think there’s anything else like this,” said Jason Pasatta, Development Director of Career and Technical Education. “It has the power to bring students and future employers together.” ##
It’s not the first time Ottawa Area students have written an educational development plan. Almost 13,000 area students create or update an EDP using the online curriculum Career Cruising annually. Nevertheless, a 2009 survey of students who graduated from 14 area high schools in 2006 revealed that more than 80 percent didn’t remember having one. Pasatta predicts students will value Whoami more because they will develop relationships based on careers along with the portfolio of their work accomplishments. Pasatta said he and staff will be recruiting postsecondary educators and professionals to participate in the online networks. “Knowing people working in the field a student is considering may help students find their passions and pursue them despite barriers,” Pasatta said. Almost 90 percent of the Class of 2006 surveyed by Hope College’s Carl Frost Center for Social Science Research had participated in some form of formal schooling in the three years since graduation. However, almost 40 percent changed their majors and 45 percent quit school before completing studies, usually because of financial pressures. Pasatta hopes Whoami will function as a tool that better prepares students for academic success, because about 60 percent of jobs in the state will require at least an associate’s degree by 2025, estimates by the Michigan College Assess Network.
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OTTAWA AREA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT
THE GUIDE TO GREEN
Going Green “Green” It’s the new buzz-word for energy efficiency, reducing waste, and a multitude of other aspects all in the name of being more ecofriendly. The OAISD is working towards become a more eco-friendly place.
• Please be receptive to energy awareness training, including emails, checklist and handouts. Ideas and feedback are encourages, as well as incorporated into curriculum where possible.
In 2005 the facilities management staff conducted an energy audit and created a plan to help reduce energy costs. This energy initiative is supported by the OAISD Board of Education which encourages and expects employees and students to help contribute to energy efficiency. The following are guidelines that everyone can follow to help the energy initiative be successful.
There are many practical ways to reduce energy usage, and cost at home, too. Here are some practical measures that anyone can take to reduce their energy cots.
• All unnecessary lighting shall be turned off. Lights shall be turned off when staff and students leave for the day. Staff should use the minimal amount of lighting necessary in the area they are working.
• Use a programmable thermostat to manage your daily heating and cooling needs.
• All technology should be powered down at the end of each work day.
• Turn off the television, fan and lights when you leave a room.
• Personal electrical devices are not permitted in the district; this can include space heaters, refrigerators, coffee pots and lamps. • The optimal energy efficiency and comfort target is 70° during the winter (heating season), and 75° in the summer (cooling season). Please dress appropriately. • Interior and exterior windows and doors should be closed where possible • Non-essential coolers and freezers need to be shut down in the off-season
• Set your thermostat between 78° and 80° during warm months and 68° to 70° in cooler months.
• Make sure ceiling fans are adjusted in the spring and fall to circulate air for warmth or cooling.
• Buy CFLs to replace less-efficient incandescent bulbs. • Air dry dishes instead of using the drying cycle of a dishwasher
Have you been wondering about something “green” or have something you want to share? Please drop us a line (tlantz@oaisd.org) and let us know what you would like to see. We would love to share your ideas.
• When purchasing appliances look for energy-efficient appliances and products • Turn off or unplug electronic devices when they are not being used. For more helpful tips check out: http://www.energysavers.gov/tips ##
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CTC & COLLEGE CREDIT
College Credit Partnerships Save CTC Students Time And Money Careerline Tech Center is offering students a running start on college through direct credit partnerships with Lake Michigan College and Ferris State University. Additional agreements are in the works.
students don’t have to enroll at a specific college to convert the credit. Students are dually enrolled, so the credits appear on a college transcript and will be accepted by most Michigan colleges and universities. “The best part is when a student who isn’t convinced he or she is college material, is successful,” said Sue Gardner, CTC’s associate curriculum director. “By earning real college credit, they prove something to themselves that could change their life.” Since CTC began awarding direct credit in health and early childhood careers in 20092010, 560 students have earned 1,442 early college credits, Gardner said. Currently, early college credits are available in more than 20 classes.
Deedee Stakley is Director of the Early College program at Lake Michigan College and Sue Gardner is a curriculum associate at OAISD’s Careerline Tech Center.
These arrangements align CTC curriculum in a way that students can earn up to 30 college credits at reduced tuition simultaneously with high school credit, saving students time and money in reaching their academic and career goals. Direct credit is even more useful to students than articulated credit, which CTC has long offered through many local institutions because ##
Lake Michigan College, whose main campus is in Benton Harbor, charges $44 per credit hour for early college classes taught by CTC or high school staff, who are trained as LMC adjuncts. Students who earn 30 hours of direct credit at CTC get the equivalent of their first year of college at the bargain price of just over $1,300. That’s about one-third the cost of taking the same classes on campus. Only 25 percent of students who earned direct credit at CTC are continuing their studies at LMC, but Director of Early College Programming Deedee Stakley said recruiting isn’t the primary objective. “We just want students to continue somewhere,”
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Stakley said. “That’s more likely if they started the transition to college in high school.” LMC is considering offering some core academic classes at CTC in the future so Ottawa area students don’t have to trek to its South Haven campus. A study by the Michigan College Access Network estimates that 60 percent of jobs in the state will require at least an associate’s degree by 2025. Writing curriculum in a way that satisfies both high school and college requirements is hard work, but expanding the K-12 school system into a K-14 or K-16 school system is “absolutely the best thing we can do for kids,” Stakley said.
Did you know that the OAISD is on Twitter? Follow us for news and updates. Search for “OAISD” on twitter.
The ISD’s Pet Parade! Meet Annie. She was purchased by Lucy Evans at a garage sale and was originally going to be her classroom pet. That changed when Annie bonded with Lucy’s husband, Gary, he remains the only person Annie trusts enough to hold her. When she hears his truck pull into the garage, she ‘sings’ until he feeds her a saltine cracker. Lucy says that “Annie keeps our ‘nest’ from truly being and ‘empty nest’.”
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WEIRD CAREERZ
WeirdCareerz.com: Engaging Middle Schoolers In Their Future
A screen shot of Weird Careerz.com, which allows middle school students to have fun and build an interest in future careers.
When former Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation to increase high school graduation requirements beginning with the Class of 2011, OAISD staff anticipated a need to market Careerline Tech Center to middle school students. The new requirements make high school fairly ##
prescriptive. Students now need to understand by eighth grade, when they begin mapping their high school path to graduation, what the benefits of career and technical education are so they can reserve space for it in their schedules. “Our aim was also to shatter the myth that the Tech Center isn’t for students on a college track,”
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said Michelle Ready, communications supervisor. “That may have been the case when it opened in the 1970s, but that’s certainly not true now.” “Students going into high school need to know they can earn college credit along with high school credit in many CTC programs, saving time and money in their pursuit of the college degree that will multiply their earning potential,” Ready said.
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No billboards, TV or radio ads announced the site. Organizers created a “mystery buzz” by mailing out postcards, slapping window clings on some middle school lockers, and writing the web address in chalk on school sidewalks. Hits to the website spiked on launch days, but there’s a respectable residual effect as students post their performance and join weirdcareerz. com’s Facebook fan page.
But it’s not easy to engage a middle school crowd. An online platform is the best bet, Ready said, since research shows that almost two-thirds of middle schoolers surf the net daily. That’s why OAISD officials teamed up with intermediate school districts in Muskegon and Kent counties to hire the Muskegon marketing firms Relevant and Qonverge (recently merged and named Revel) to design an interactive website to prompt fun-loving, middle schoolers to imagine themselves in careers -- and at career training centers. Weirdcareerz.com is a game like the perpetually viral “elfyourself.” It allows students to paste their face on dancing Avatars that they outfit in “career gear” like a lab coat, chef’s hat, or aviation jumpsuit. Many share their “performance” with friends and family, or post it on social networks, where others will spot it and decide to play, too. As the curtain comes down, players are directed to their county’s career tech center website. Few will recognize this as marketing. “Weird Careerz” was launched last spring in Holland, Zeeland, Spring Lake and Grand Haven.
Once a student creates their dance they can share it on Facebook or send to other friends.
“We want to fly under the radar,” Ready said. “If kids could be sure Weird Careerz is associated with school, some wouldn’t check it out. If we can attract them to the site, we’re pretty sure we can engage them and get them thinking about their future.”
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NEW EMPLOYEES
New Employees New employees who started during the 2010-2011 school year. Harriet Braam Sarah Overacker Adam Weiler Al Heslinga Amy Dickinson Denny Holt James Larsen Janice Bruursema Jill Landman Joslyn Burnaby Julie Cardenas Kristine Henderson Melinda Plank Nathan Vannest Renee Kolean Shelly Slater Tamara Meeusen Tim Anstett
Aide - GH CBI Teacher - SXI 6
CBI CBI
Printing/Graphic Arts ParaPro Diesel/HEM Parapro Student Services Associate Auto Mech Instructor Printing/Graphic Arts Instructor Accounting Coordinator Culinary Arts Parapro Science Consultant Nursing Careers Instructor Career Development Facilitator Math Consultant Auto Mech Instructor Learning Support Specialist Healthcare Foundations Parapro Advanced Healthcare Parapro Nursing Careers Instructor
CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC CTC
Rex Thelen CTO Sara Feaster Parent Educator Scott Powers CFO Stacey Sills Health Education Coordinator Diane Boeve Nursing Service Coordinator Kristin Finkbeiner-ButlerSocial Worker Lourdes King Bilingual Parent Educator
ESB ESB ESB ESB Infant Program Infant Program Infant Program
Susan Wronski
Infant Program
Temp Teacher - 1/2 time
Derek Ehnis
Teacher - PE
JSC
Rachael Cooper
Teacher - Social Studies
JSC
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Adam Castro Amy Andrini Deb Brandsen Doug Mulder Gwenyth Pamer Jennifer Thompson Kathleen Kokolow Leonza Hudson Luke Holden Nathan Strohmeyer Kim McGhan Peter Manting Stacey Jaszewski Taylor Otten
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Behavioral Assistant Health Adie - PT Behavior Specialist Teacher - SCI Nurse Speech Pathologist Aide - SXI Health Aide - PT Teacher - SCI Custodian - 2nd Shift Behavior Assistant Aide - SXI Behavior Assistant Teacher - SCI 4
OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC OAC
Carole VanderZwaag Aide - Papermaking
Papermaking 101
Anna Carin Veurink Teacher’s Assistant
Sheldon Pines
Anthony Rheeder Hannah Simpson Kaarina Raffenaud Keith Soule Linda Jackson Sarah Mc InTyre
SPS Aide Teacher Assistant Teacher Teacher Assistant Teacher Assistant Behavior Specialist
Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines
Taylor Otten
Teacher - SCI 4
OAC
New Employees Employees who tranfered roles during the 2010-2011 school year. Carole VanderZwaag Anna Carin Veurink Anthony Rheeder Hannah Simpson Kaarina Raffenaud Keith Soule Linda Jackson Sarah Mc InTyre
Aide - Papermaking Teacher’s Assistant SPS Aide Teacher Assistant Teacher Teacher Assistant Teacher Assistant Behavior Specialist
Papermaking 101 Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines Sheldon Pines ##
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IT’S COOL
Tune Your Software Knowledge Through Atomic Learning Has one of the Client Support Tech’s answered a “How to” question for you and then you realized you wanted to learn more about the software or search for an answer. Now you can with the help of the Atomic Learning web site: www.atomiclearning.com. Atomic Learning has just completed an update/re-work of its site. There are some very nice features that have been added to the site. The ISD has its own account that we all can use. Username: oaisd, with the same for the password; oaisd.
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Use the listed URL sites to familiarize yourself with some of the new features. Have your sound or headphones on to listen to the directions. You can watch them as many times as you like. Understanding the user interface http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/75829/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=2218 Finding an answer to a specific question. http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/75830/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=2218 Using the Filters in your search http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/75831/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=2218 Setting your preferences http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/77369/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=2218 Browsing available training http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/75836/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=2218
The Atomic Learning web site has other helpful features including Tips and Assistance located directly on the main page. New to Atomic learning is the ability to earn college credit, extra fees are required for this new feature. This new addition to the online learning website could be your ticket to learning that new software that you’ve always wanted to learn but didn’t think you had the time and have the ability to earn college credit.. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Help Desk at (616) 738-8940, ext 3000. ##