District Administration - January 2012 - (Page 59)

choose, and they are aligned to the ISTE NET*s for Teachers. e staﬀ of STAROnline provides support to participants and school district-level staﬀ who might be overseeing the teachers enrolled in the courses. ey also oﬀer Continuing Education Units that teachers can use toward recertiﬁcation or for graduate credit. Regional Oﬃce of Education #26, in Macomb, Ill., which supports local school districts in providing educational opportunities for all students, has used STAR-Online courses for many years. “With the reduction in state and federal funding, the Regional Oﬃce of Education has had to limit the amount of technology-related professional development oﬀerings,” says John Meixner, Hancock/McDonough Regional Superintendent of Schools. “STAR-Online has provided opportunities for teachers in our two counties to receive the most current professional development to enhance their own professional growth and meet state certiﬁcation requirements. STAR-Online allows the teachers to assess their knowl- edge and skills related to technology and other emerging topics.” Another option for high-quality, online technology professional development for educators is through online graduate-level courses targeting the use of emerging technologies to support teaching and learning. e Wilkes University/ professional learning community and use the information and resources to set up a train-the-trainer model in their district. Along with other educators in her previous district, Newark (N.J.) Public Schools District, Kirstin Riddick, now an assistant principal at the Rosa Parks Central Community School in Orange, N.J., “When I see a lot of people struggle with a certain topic, I help them, but then I try to develop a course so that more can beneﬁt from the instruction.” —Kathleen Pantaleo, instructional technology specialist, William Floyd School District, Mastic Beach, N.Y. Discovery Education online master’s program in instructional technology allows educators who are not in the program to sign up for courses, which most online master’s programs do not oﬀer. is gives teachers the ability to take a course or two to see if they want to enter the master’s track. Some school districts have groups of educators take these courses as part of a wanted to form a virtual and face-to-face professional learning community so that members could become more proﬁcient at educational technologies. ey took Wilkes/Discovery classes together and are set to graduate next May. “We worked together in each other’s classrooms and homes to complete the course requirements,” Riddick recalls. “If we could PROVEN ONLINE COURSES ASSESSMENT An average graduation rate increase of 24 percent over two years. Read the study: STEM www.plato.com/improvement www.plato.com | 1.800.44.PLATO Copyright © 2011 PLATO Learning, Inc. All rights reserved. 175-COMM04 01/12 www.DistrictAdministration.com January 2012 59 http://www.plato.com/improvement http://www.plato.com http://www.plato.com http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2012

District Administration - January 2012
Contents
Letters
News Update
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Finding the Perfect Fit
Kansas City Plots Next Steps
Seeking Savings in Special Ed
K12 Guide to Audio/Visual Solutions
Equipping Teachers to Infuse Technology
Flipped Classrooms Gaining Ground
Buying in Bulk
Online Identity Management
Going Mobile
Student Counsel
Online Edge
New Books
New Products
Product Focus
Professional Opinion

District Administration - January 2012