N E W S W O R T H Y

Free webcast event: “Benchmarking IT Skills in the Community College”

IT Across Careers Project invites you to a free webcast event: “Benchmarking IT Skills in the Community College”. Community colleges are the point of access for preparing students and workers for success in an every-changing technological workplace. Workers in all career areas need to have a basic proficiency in using information technology (IT) core software applications and tools. What does this ”proficiency” look like and how can we know that our students have developed basic IT skills proficiency? In this webcast, the ITAC project will introduce participants to Rubrics to Assess Basic IT User Skills and will share examples of how the rubrics can be used successfully as an integrated teaching tool in the classroom.

Date: November 28, 2006 Time: 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., EST Seating is limited. To reserve a seat for this event, please Register at http://home.learningtimes.net/itac/.

EDC Hails Certiport Study as a Vital Part of the Power Users
Initiative

Findings Reveal Educators Adapt Curriculum for Computer-Savvy Students to Maximize Favorable Learning Outcomes

According to Certiport research, fostering the growth and development of Power Users in the classroom provides a positive impact to the quality of learning for both teachers and students. Among the highlights of Certiport study findings, more than 69 percent of teachers participating in the study indicated Powers Users influence what they teach, and 66 percent stated Power Users influence how they teach. Eighty-four percent of teachers said Power Users have positively influenced their learning and knowledge of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). From the study, educators may look to use technology in the classroom to better suit the learning preferences and needs of these advanced students. A synopsis of the study report may be viewed at http://powerusers.edc.org/research.htm and to view this entire release click here.

Education Arcade

By Sally Atwood - June 2004

It's early afternoon on a Sunday at Boston's Museum of Science. ...a dozen young students are huddled in teams, peering at Packet PCs, their parents listening nearby... Eleven-year-old Katie Long, a self-assured fifth grader from Wellesley, MA, steps in and takes charge of her group.... She's figured out what to do with the technology and begins organizing her troop into attack formation. The boisterous students are playing Hi-Tech Who Done It!... [using] the Wi-Fi network to locate information stations that contain clues....

Read more about the Educaton Arcade research project which aims to develop sophisticated educational games to support the content of courses for advanced-high school and early college students. Entire article

Eight out of ten of the fastest-growing occupations are computer-related. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

While one might think of the typical IT worker as employed by a major software company or systems developer, the reality is that nine out of ten IT workers are found in banks, insurance companies, manufacturing plants or other non-IT businesses. (Source: ITAA 2003 IT Workforce Survey)

Educators' Website for Information Technology
Education Development Center, Inc.
55 Chapel Street
Newton MA 02458
Tel: 617-618-2136

For more information or questions, please email our EWIT Team