From juanita.dickson at maine.gov Tue Dec 16 15:25:54 2008 From: juanita.dickson at maine.gov (Juanita Dickson) Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:25:54 -0500 Subject: [MLTI-MS] Updated Professional Development Offerings Message-ID: <24F1EF2D-5237-4182-BC95-C50D5C82FA58@maine.gov> MLTI has updated our Professional Development Offerings! 2008/09 Content Trainings Due to sessions quickly filling to capacity, we have added the following sessions to York/Cumberland Regions. We are still working to re-schedule the Washington region trainings for Spring 2009. As other sessions fill up, we'll do our best to schedule a second. January 12: Podcasting, Gorham Middle School January 16: NoteShare, Saco Middle School January 23: EcoScience, Gorham Middle School For complete session descriptions and online registration, please visit: http://www.maine.gov/mlti/events/content AIM for ALL Kids from Kittery to Fort Kent (Accessible Instructional Materials) With support from their local school districts and the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI), increasing numbers of Maine educators are learning how to use technology to differentiate learning opportunities. The more ways that students can independently access the curriculum, the more likely they are to be fully engaged and successful learners. Yet most instructional materials used in classrooms remain text-based and in print format, making them inaccessible to some students. Providing accessible instructional materials (AIM) means that all students have equitable access to learning. This MLTI content meeting presents a framework for guiding and supporting the acquisition of AIM in a timely manner. Skills include: * acquiring instructional materials in digital text and audio formats from free Web-based libraries * using Bookshare.org as a free source of accessible digital text versions of copyright books and periodicals for students with print disabilities * understanding Maine?s workflow for acquiring textbooks and core instructional materials in specialized formats from the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) (http://nimac.us) * scanning existing print materials with OCR software * converting digital text materials to audio format * considering a student?s need for AIM in the IEP process * understanding the role of assistive technology in students? uses of AIM For more information, a schedule of sessions and online registration, please visit: http://www.maine.gov/mlti/events/aim Juanita Dickson (Deschambault) M.L.T.I. Maine Department of Education 23 State House Station Augusta Maine 04333 (P) 207-499-7142 (7:30am - 4:00pm) Visit MLTI on the web at http://www.mlti.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/mlti-ms/attachments/20081216/98b0d28b/attachment.html From Laura.Brown at maine.gov Thu Dec 18 16:47:37 2008 From: Laura.Brown at maine.gov (Brown, Laura) Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:47:37 -0500 Subject: [MLTI-MS] =?iso-8859-1?q?Project_Tomorrow=B9s_Speak_Up_2008_Surve?= =?iso-8859-1?q?y_Ends_Soon!?= Message-ID: Speak Up 2008 is a unique opportunity for schools and school districts to share their views on virtual schools and online learning. In past years, virtual schools and online learning have become a hot topic for schools and districts. Some key trends that have emerged through Speak Up over the last few years are: - Students (41%), teachers (28%) and parents (42%) believe online learning should be offered in schools. - Top Reasons High School students want to pursue online learning: secure courses not offered at school (47%); want to work at their own pace (43%). - Middle school students want to take online courses for extra help (42%). - Over 20% of teachers chose online classes as a key element for increasing student achievement in the 21st century school - an increase of almost 28% over the 2006 data findings. - Over 26% of teachers chose online learning as their first choice for training. In this year?s surveys, Speak Up 2008 questions dive deeper into online learning and ask students, educators and parents: - To weigh on new state policies requiring students to take an online class prior to graduating; - About designing a new kind of text book that is 100% online; - The reasons for and benefits of offering, taking or teaching an online class. Administrators and teachers are also asked how they are using technology to create professional learning communities. We also ask administrators to identify the barriers to implementing online courses in their district (or school). The answers to this 15 minute survey will help enhance our understanding of current trends nationally and identify strategies for expanding online learning opportunities for students and educators. To register for Speak Up 2008, please use this link and scroll down to Activation, where you can register you school or your entire district: http://www.netdayspeakup.org/speakup2008/index.asp To encourage participation after registering, use this link for great resources to promote the survey: http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/speak_up_howto_encourage.html You can find templates for signs that can be posted throughout your school(s), there?s a link to the survey to post to your web site and logos you can use as the ?button,? and there announcements you can customize and email to students, teachers, administrators and parents with survey instructions. (This link, which brings you to the page ?Encourage Participation?, is one page in a Quick Start Guide that is easy to follow, and runs through the process from Registration to Taking the Survey.) The deadline to take the survey is Tuesday, December 23, 2008 and we hope you can participate! This message was sent on behalf of Project Tomorrow. Thank you, Maine Learning Technology Initiative Learning Through Technology Team State of Maine Department of Education V: (207) 624-6746 F: (207) 624-6601 Visit MLTI on the Web: http://www.mlti.org Mailing address: 23 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0023 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/mlti-ms/attachments/20081218/25046deb/attachment.html