All posts by John

General, Public

Public Libraries offering online accredited high school diplomas

Color pictureEveryone deserves a second chance. Especially when it comes to education. That’s the premise behind a new program with the Public Libraries, Gale, and Career Online High School.

The new program gives adult learners the opportunity to earn their high school diploma at a public library. The partners: Career Online High School, Gale, and Public Libraries all help with pieces of the program.

The Career Online High School‘s “nontraditional academic format reengages dropouts” and helps them when “returning to a traditional high school is not an option for most of our students.”

“Gale, which had been offering courses on its own for those seeking a high school diploma, decided to shape its program for the public library” and work with Career Online High School to deliver it to Public Libraries.

“Public libraries… are still very much about education, about supplying materials to people who want educational and informational materials. There’s a lot more emphasis on programming versus just content acquisition.”

Together the three are helping those who need it get a second chance.

Read the entire article now!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/n36d8lx, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Academic, General

Colleges move to the cloud

Cumulus_clouds_in_fair_weatherRecently on EdTech, Tommy Peterson wrote a piece about three colleges and universities sharing advice for a successful cloud migration. Moving to the cloud can mean faculty, staff, and students having a Google Apps account or even a Microsoft Office 365 account.

In our 24/7 always connected world, cloud services allow faculty, staff, and students the ability to access their account, documents, and collaborate with others. Besides being always-on, being in the cloud allows for instant updates. “Cloud apps are agile, designed to evolve much faster than IT can make changes in-house. And colleges need scalability, which is a fundamental element of the cloud.”

Locally, the University of Minnesota has made the move to the cloud too. Jim Hall, IT director at the University of Minnesota Morris campus, pointed out the bonus for IT efficiency. “Google has reduced his campus’s IT costs and the resources required to support multiple email clients, calendaring, and more, which frees his staff to work on supporting faculty in teaching.” Another unique bonus has been the Google phone tool to make free long distance calls. By increasing its use, staff have managed to cut monthly phone call costs from $75 to $9.50 per month.

Special tip: have an exit strategy. “You need an exit strategy from the moment you create the partnership (between the cloud service and your institution), and you need to review it regularly,” says Gartner Research Director Terri-Lynn Thayer. “You don’t want to wait until there’s a problem. Sometimes it’s just a matter of greener pastures — you find a better service for your needs.”

General, School Media Specialist

Science Fair idea generator

google_science_fairAre your students struggling to come up with a great science fair project? Look no further than Google’s Idea Springboard. The easy to use tool lets you “find ideas by combining what you love with what you’re good at and a challenge that you care about.” Are you good at chemistry? How about food science? Maybe you want to find solutions to global warming? How about tackling litter? The Idea Springboard has almost limitless possibilities.

This is part of the Google Science Fair global online competition. Are your students ready to compete with the world? Submissions are due May 19th and the list of prizes include, among many others, a $50,000 grand prize! Not ready for Google? Feel free to explore the website for resources. One option are the lesson plans. They spark student creativity or even teacher’s!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Connecticut gets a statewide eBook platform

ctThe Connecticut State Library recently announced that funding for a statewide eBook platform was approved by their State Bond Commission. According to the press release this makes “Connecticut one of the first states to develop a statewide library eBook service…”

Support for the measure came from both the Legislature and the Governor. When Governor Malloy signed the legislation, he said “As the role of libraries change, it’s critical that we continue to provide invaluable resources that support the educational advancement of Connecticut citizens in a digital age.”

State Library Board Chair, John N. Barry said “The Governor and the Legislature recognize the important role that libraries play in the lives of all of our citizens. With their leadership we are ensuring  that Connecticut’s libraries will be well positioned to meet the needs of library users no matter what format information takes.”

The Connecticut Statewide eBook Service will be administered by the State Library’s Division of Library Development with oversight by the State Library Board’s eBook Committee and input from the library community.

Read the entire announcement here.