Fermilab LInC Online

LInC Partnership Program Plan for 2001/2002

CESA #11


LInC Online Course

Test chat date:

Wednesday, January 9, 2002
(Project Coordinator will meet with teams on November 14 to assist with accessing software and develop comfort level)

Chat meeting day before class starts to meet facilitators and classmates and to make sure chat software is working
Start date: Monday, January 14, 2002 A fall meeting day will be held for teams to meet and discuss the course, define equipment, materials, course goals and try chat software. Coordination with the Fermilab facilitator for all dates and times in the 2001/2002 plan.
End date:

April 27, 2002
(Modifications may be needed for spring breaks)

Last day of class - the class lasts 14 weeks, not counting the test chat or vacations.
Chat meeting day:
Wednesdays
Day(s) of week you will hold your chats - Typically at least 2 hours weekly is needed.
Chat start/end time: 6P-8P Central Standard Time
We will be flexible in planning the time based on the needs of the participants.
Time of day your chats will be held, include time zone - Typically at least 2 hours weekly is needed.
Weekly staff meeting day/time:

Wednesdays from 5-6P before CHAT.
Debriefing sessions with facilitators will be held on Wed. from 8:00-8:30PM.
Face to face sessions will be held on an as needed basis.

Day of week and time (including timezone) you will get together for weekly staff meetings - Typically at least one hour is needed.
Audience: A TLCF grant is supporting this initiative. 5 public schools and 4 private schools have been written into this grant. Describe the primary audience for your course.
Number of participants: 20-25 participants with 5 facilitators. There will be 5-9 teams with 3-4 participants on a team. (The private school participants may join with a public school team) 12-20 is the suggested number for a first course. Please do not exceed 24. Typically each facilitator works with 4-6 participants (1-3 project-teams).
Course modification (optional): The CESA team, after experiencing the course, believes strongly that a constructivist approach needs to be modeled more strongly in the presentation of the course. We intend to use the same framework for a model, but adapt as the participants move through the course and define learning experiences based on their needs. There will be the requirement for only one scenario(to be called overview summary) to be written by a team. Chat sessions will be defined based on input from the participants and indications of their needs. Describe the modifications (if any) you are planning for the course. You may need to make modifications if you have a different audience such as pre-service teachers. If you do not need to make modifications for a different audience, you may wish to avoid making a lot of changes until after you have offered the course one or two times and feel more comfortable with the process and tradeoffs.


Facilitator Academy

Start date: We will hold the facilitator academy in conjunction with another CESA summer staff development offering, either STAR Academy (June 25-27) or Facilitating the Future (June 18-20). First day of facilitator academy - This is typically offered over the summer.
Number of days: Based on the interests of school districts and funding source to support the LInC course, we'll offer a three day face to face training session. Length of your academy - Typically this is 3 days for participants who will be offering a shorter staff development than a full LInC course. Your participants are not expected to offer a full LInC course or an online course.
Academy format: At this point, we believe it will be face-to-face. This will be determined by the participants. Online or face-to-face


Course Enrollment

Coordinator: Trish Graves
CESA #11 Educational Consultant
225 Ostermann Avenue, Turtle Lake, WI 54889
(715)-986-2020
trishg@cesa11.k12.wi.us
Who will be taking the lead for organizing this aspect? Please include contact information (e-mail, phone, and address).
Announcement date: Schools(administrators and technology steering committee representatives) written into the grant will meet with the project coordinator on September 20 for an overview of the project and to discuss criteria to select participants within their schools. When will your team start announcing the course to others? Typically this needs to be started 4 months before your course starts.
Steps: Because this is grant funded with specific schools designated, the plan will accommodate those five districts and four private schools first. The grant funded programs are shared at state technology meetings throughout the year, so we envision the course to accommodate other schools and learners after our first year of implementation. What steps will you take to let prospective participants know about your course? Who will you e-mail, meet with, call, or U.S. mail? In what publications and listservs can you post information about your course? When is the deadline for inclusion in these publications? What events can you attend to let potentially interested parties know about the course?
Incentives:

Reduced credit fees
Web editor and chat software
Opportunity to experience an online course

What incentives can you provide to your course participants?
Credit:

We have a working relationship with several universities in the area. The syllabus is submitted to the outreach office at each university and request made for reduced fees for the course. The syllabus will be submitted to several universities to have final approval by August, 2001.
We will attempt to negotiate a reduced credit fee of $75-100/credit.

How will you arrange to have credit granted for your course? What is the process for getting a new course approved? What deadlines are involved?
Screening: Using a similar format to the Fermilab application, the project coordinator and facilitators will review the applications from the nine schools to select participants. How will you make sure your applicants have the qualifications needed to be successful in your course?
Leadership: Meetings will be held with administrative teams from the nine schools to share the expectations and review the "application" process. Administrators will be invited to participate in the online process to appreciate the dimensions of the course. How will you make sure your applicants have the administrative support and capabilities needed to provide leadership and offer staff development in their schools/district after the course?


Technical Issues and Support

Technical Support:

School districts have technicians working in their districts that are CESA employees. These technicians, working with the CESA agency technical staff will install needed software and monitor server use as well as provide technical support during the course.

Gary Edwards
CESA #11 Educational Technology Consultant-Facilitator of District Technicians
225 Ostermann Avenue
Turtle Lake, WI 54889
garye@cesa11.k12.wi.us
(715)-986-2020

Who will set up the communication tools for your course and provide support on technical issues? Please include contact information (e-mail, phone, and address).
Clerical Support:

Janelle DeFoe and Nicole Hunt-Pietz
CESA #11
225 Ostermann Avenue
Turtle Lake, WI 54889
(715) 986-2020
Janelled@cesa11.k12.wi.us
Nicoleh@cesa11.k12.wi.us

Who will provide clerical support such as copying course handouts, sending out mailings, taking course registrations, updating assignments status sheet, ... Please include contact information (e-mail, phone, and address).
Web/FTP Server: www.cesa11.k12.wi.us/linc/w02 Give the URL of the web server you will use to provide your class-specific materials such as home page, assignment sheet, and chat schedule. This web space (50-100M) with FTP access needs to be available to you by the time you arrive at the facilitator academy at Fermilab. Then you can upload your work from the academy right into your class web site. The LInC core materials will be available on the LInC web site. These should not be copied.
Electronic Bulletin Board: DISCUS What bulletin board software will you use for your course? If your agency already provides bulletin board software, you can use that if it is accessible to your intended audience. Most past LInC teams have chosen to use the free www.blackboard.com bulletin board software for their course. Whatever software you choose, it will need to be available to you by the time you arrive at the facilitator academy at Fermilab. Then you can populate it with postings for your course while you are at the academy. If you chose blackboard.com, we can help you get a class board at the academy. (Note: We are not associated with blackboard.com and do not receive any funds from them.)
Chat tool: MSChat/ChatNet What chat communication server software will you use? Most past teams have used IRC server software that works with MSChat and ChatNet. Your chat server software is not required for the academy, though it would be a good opportunity to test it. Your chat server software should be up and running at least 30 days before your course starts.


Other Issues

What issues or obstacles do you anticipate? How will you address them?




Created for the Fermilab LInC program sponsored by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Education Office and Friends of Fermilab, and funded by United States Department of Energy, Illinois State Board of Education, North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium which is operated by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), and the National Science Foundation.

Author(s): Author(s): Lois Martin, Trish Graves, Paul Uhren, Chuck Bouthilet, Greg Paulsen
School: CESA #11, Turtle Lake, WI
Created: February 15, 2001 - Updated: July 13, 2001
URL: /lincon/w01/projects/diversity/staffdev.html