Weblog: December 2006
Happy Holidays
The Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center will follow the Winter Break schedule established by Virginia Commonwealth University. VALRC will be closed December 22 - January 2. We will reopen with our regular schedule on January 3, 2007.
All of us at VALRC wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy and happy New Year. We have enjoyed serving you during the past year, and we look forward to working with you in 2007.
December Issue of Update on LD
We are excited to offer you the latest issue of Update on LD. This issue focuses on Learning Disabilities and the Law. This issue includes information on how the laws are applied, a comparison of the laws, the responsibilities and rights of both learners and programs, links for learning more about learning disability law, and even a self-quiz . Read the latest Update on LD now.
Teaching Writing to Adults
The Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center announces Teaching Writing to Adults. This online, three-credit, graduate-level course is designed to provide an overview of the practices, research, and application of instructional techniques for effectively working with adult learners in the writing classroom. It will be offered January 16, 2007 through March 9, 2007. Registrations must be received by Friday, January 5, 2007. Please contact Marianne Baker at 800-237-0178 for registration forms or if you need additional information.
Child And Family WebGuide
The Child & Family WebGuide from Tufts University is a directory that evaluates, describes and provides links to hundreds of sites containing child development research and practical advice. Online searches for many parent topics yield information that is inconsistent with child development research. The WebGuide selects sites that have the highest quality child development research and that are parent friendly, and rates them.
The sites in the family, education, typical development and health categories provide child development articles with research findings. The sites in the resources category provide child development articles with practical information.
Click here to enter the website. (www.cfw.tufts.edu/)
VAACE to Host Regional COABE Conference in 2007
VAACE (the Virginia Association of Adult and Continuing Education) has been selected to host a Regional COABE conference. COABE (Commission on Adult Basic Education) hosts a national conference each year in the spring for approximately 1200 participants from around the country. In an attempt to allow more people to have this national conference experience, COABE is supporting regional events. Our conference, The Colonial Institute, will be held in Williamsburg on October 10 and 11, 2007. The conference's agenda will feature nationally recognized trainers in adult education and literacy. The two-day regional conference will be followed by a one-day VAACE conference for Virginia adult educators on October 12th. As plans are finalized, more information will be posted on the VAACE website. Please visit the VAACE website often for updates.
Google for Educators
Google offers a site as a platform of teaching resources - for everything from blogging and collaborative writing to geographical search tools and 3D modeling software - and the staff at Google want you to fill it in with your great ideas.
To the left of the home page, you'll find a teacher's guide to free Google products, including basic information about each tool, examples of how educators are using them, and lesson ideas. You'll also find lesson plans and videos from our partners at Discovery Education focusing on two of our most popular teaching tools: Google Earth and Google SketchUp.
Usable Knowledge: A New Website for Educators and Researchers
From HGSE News, December 2006
The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) today launched a new Web site aimed at connecting the research of its faculty with educators in the field. The Usable Knowledge Web site features a diverse set of media - text, video, and audio - to make the leading research of its faculty accessible to educators all over the world.
Webquests for Adult Learners
Webquests are another way to actively engage your adult student in learning a topic, enhancing their computer skills in the process. This link from NIFL (National Instititute for Literacy) leads to the following webquests: How to Find a Good Job, Eating Right for a Healthier Life, Managing Your Money, Economic Security, Dream Vacation, and more.
Find a template on this site to help you create your own Webquest for your student. Developed by the Spartanburg County school district in South Carolina, the site also provides webquests created by its teachers. Webquest topics include: Career Inventory, Colonial Williamsburg, Children of the Holocaust, Ancient Egypt, Aztec Adventure, Social Science, and more. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find them.
Here's an Ellis Island Webquest. Great for ESOL students.
EPN: The Education Podcast Network
Podcasts provide an easy and versatile reinforcement to student lessons. These audio and visual files are easily downloaded into an MP3 player or your computer. They appeal to the auditory learner and add variety to the teaching experience.
EPN, or the Education Podcast Network, is an effort to bring together into one place, the wide range of podcast programming that may be helpful to teachers looking for content to teach with and about, and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st century. They provide another way for your student to do independent work.
Subjects include math, science, second languages, social studies, and career development. Be aware that this service merely lists these free podcasts. You will need to make sure that the content is appropriate before suggesting them to your students or incorporating them into a lesson. To find a podcast on the site, click here.
The Condition of Education
A SNAPSHOT OF THE STATE OF U.S. EDUCATION
From Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast, December 1, 2006
Did you know that despite all the criticisms leveled from coast to coast about K-12 public schools, most parents report being very satisfied with their child's school? Did you know that distance education courses are offered at more than half the country's two- and four-year postsecondary institutions? These and other statistics are in the 2006 Condition of Education report published by the U.S. Department of Education, reports Valerie Strauss. Each year, the department collects reams of data and statistically paints a portrait of where U.S. education stands. Between 1972 and 2004, the percentage of racial or ethnic minority students enrolled in the nation's public schools increased from 22 to 43 percent, primarily because of growth in Hispanic enrollment. In 2004, Hispanic students made up 19 percent of public school enrollment, up from 6 percent in 1972. The distribution of minority students in public schools differed across regions of the country. For example, minority public school enrollment in 2004 exceeded white enrollment in the West (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming), 57 percent to 43 percent. The number of children ages 5 to 17 who spoke a language other than English at home more than doubled between 1979 and 2004, from 3.8 million to 9.9 million. Total expenditures per student increased 23 percent in constant dollars, from $7,847 to $9,630 between the 1995-96 and 2002-03 school years. In 2002-03, total per-student expenditures were highest in low-poverty districts ($10,768), next highest in high-poverty districts ($10,191) and lowest in middle-poverty districts ($8,839). To read more of the article go to The Washington Post or click on the full report entitled The Condition of Education,2000-2006 at The National Center for Educational Statistics.