Office of Instructional Improvement Volume 2 No. 8

Renton Technical College March 2004 Office of Instructional Improvement Volume 2 No. 8

Here’s What Worked for Me… Please send us tips for this section—what’s working for you—inspired by a faculty member’s suggestion that if we pooled our strengths and creativity, it could only benefit our students. Noreen Light of the Emergency Dispatch Program uses a template to help her students be successful in completing short papers. Here is a copy of Noreen’s instructions, click here, and the template for the students to complete the paper http://home.elp.rr.com/eslstudent/essay_outline_form.htm

Congratulations to Basic Studies! RTC has received a letter of commendation and a certificate from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges congratulating Basic Studies on exceeding its performance goals for Basic Studies. According to Joy Barker this means exceeding performance in learning technology and multiple strategies to reach all students in addition to WABERS, CASAS, performance tasks, student files and recordkeeping. Way to go Basic Studies!

Another Faculty Publication Michelle Lesmeister of the Adult Basic Education Program has just published her textbook “Math Basics for the Healthcare Professional, 2nd Edition” Congratulations Michelle!

Kudos Tim Culler of the Computer Science Program had his article “One Student at a Time” in the FACTC Focus. To read Tim’s article click here.

New Round of UDL Pilot Instructors: The DSDP Grant is looking for new instructors to join the Universal Design for Learning Pilot! In April, the second round of instructors will be selected and begin training for the UDL Pilot. Each new pilot instructor will be teamed up with a “seasoned” pilot instructor to learn about UDL, strategic teaching, adaptive technology and more. By the Fall, the new instructors will have selected the teaching strategies and adaptive technologies appropriate for their classrooms. If you are interested in becoming a new pilot instructor, please contact Cathy Jenner at X5639 or at mailto: [email protected] for more information. If you want to talk to one of the current Pilot instructors, contact: Mike Biell, Barb Culler, Tim Culler, Michelle Lesmeister, Darlene Lewis, Wendy O’Reilly or DeEtta Ryan

Adaptive Technology in the TRC Open Lab: Students are beginning to get excited about the Adaptive Technologies available in the TRC Open Lab. There are tools available for reading, writing, research, scanning in and manipulating text, listening to text being read (good for students with ESL issues) and voice activation. There are also good tools for students with visual limitations, such as enlarged text or colorizing. If you think your students might be interested in using the Open Lab after hours to access these tools and want more information, please contact Cathy Jenner at X5639 or at [email protected]. To see a demo on the AT, come to the TRC Open Lab on March 26th (non-contact day) from 9 to 10:30 am. Ed Rosenthal, President of Next Generation Technologies will be providing a hands on demonstration for instructors only! Contact Sara Hartjoy in Instructional Improvement at x 5517 to sign up. Who can afford college? The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education estimates that at least 250,000 prospective students are shut out of college because of rising tuition and cutbacks in admissions and course offerings. Read their report and call to action at:http://www.highereducation.org/treports/News_Release.pdf

Google for a Grade Joe Janes at the Information school at the University of Washington now offers a class to study Google, the popular search engine. The course explores Google as a cultural phenomenon, the business and the technology behind it. For the full story, visit: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001848831_google02.html

Camera Phone Privacy Issues The controversy over camera phones in the classroom still rages. Here are some more situations and opinions. http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm? slug=23tech.h23

Interested in writing a grant to supplement your program? Beth Arman, Dean of Trade and Industry and Apprenticeship suggests this website on the Shoreline Community College page which includes tips for success and some boilerplate language. http://success.shoreline.edu/workforce/grant_resource_center.htm Beth will be teaching a mostly online SPU course on grantwriting this summer, so watch for the information. Debbie Crumb from the RTC Library suggests this index to the federal government’s thousands of grant programs. Good to know if you are shopping to support a special project. This site assists in navigating the numerous Web sites administered by the various grant-making agencies. Grants.gov is the electronic storefront for Federal grants. http://www.grants.gov/ With the fierce competition for corporate, foundation and federal grants, it is important to apply for the right grant and match your objectives with the grantor’s goals. Scholastic Administr@tor interviewed several experts who share advice for writing effective grant proposals. http://www.scholastic.com/administrator/backtoschool/features.asp?article=granttips

Good site for Math Help Jim Coan of the Surveying Program suggests a good site for math help. It also has information on learning styles and helpful information about math anxiety. http://www.mathpower.com

More Strategies You Can Use Another resource for promoting active, in-depth learning is “Tools for Building Students Notemaking Skills.” This suite of strategies includes the New American Notebook, which gives students a set of skills for acquiring material from their textbooks, mapping, etch-a-sketch, power notes, math notes and concept notemaker. http://www.thechain.com/~scs/silverstrong.com/notemaking.pdf .

Quotable “There is no such whetstone, to sharpen a good wit and encourage a will to learning, as is praise." ~ Roger Ascham

For more information regarding the articles in the Faculty Focus or to give input or suggestions of things you would like to see incorporated into this newsletter please contact the Office of Instructional Improvement. The mission of the Office of Instructional Improvement is to advance educational strategies, seek to improve the quality of learning environments, and support RTC staff as they prepare a diverse student population for work.