The purpose of this article is to revisit the basic principles of technology planning as applied to online education initiatives. While not meant to be an exhaustive treatment of the topic, the article is timely because many colleges and universities are considering the development and expansion of online education as part of their planning…

Over the past six years, the authors have been project leaders for three distance education initiatives in Cape Verde and Mozambique: (1) a blended learning master's degree in multimedia in education for faculty in Cape Verdean public higher education institutions (2005-2008); (2) a teacher training programme for 1375 elementary teachers provided…

This article details the process of upgrading and expanding an existing academic medical library intranet to include a wiki, blog, discussion forum, and photo collection manager. The first version of the library's intranet from early 2002 was powered by ColdFusion software and existed primarily to allow staff members to author and store minutes of…

Now that most states have adopted the new Common Core State Standards, the next major challenge is to simplify and implement them by 2014. That is why it is important to begin this work now. Joe Crawford, Milken Award-winning educator and author of "Using Power Standards to Build an Aligned Curriculum", shares his proven process for…

This issue brief examines the role of central office administrators in the reinvention process and what research and experience matters for expanding student learning. The brief includes examples from central office reinvention efforts currently planned or under way in Atlanta Public Schools, New York City Public Schools, and Oakland Unified…

Assessment, particularly formative assessment, is critical to knowing how a student is performing academically and how best to support that student. Teachers, especially new teachers, need ongoing support in developing and using both summative and formative assessments as an integral part of their instructional practice. Written collaboratively by…

Describes four major types of evaluation: needs assessment, formative, implementation, and summative evaluation. Suggests the general categories of information that must be collected, analyzed, and interpreted, as illustrated by the example of the evaluation of staff development at a two-year college. (AYC)

Workshops, conferences, clinics, seminars, and training sessions are examples of "temporary systems," in which participants suspend their usual roles and responsibilities and concentrate on a few short-term objectives. One mechanism of a temporary system is the use of feedback to determine the extent to which the project objectives are being…

A project was conducted to supplement the process and product evaluation of four Vocational Education Personnel Development Centers (VEPDC) through mail surveys of a representative sample of the clients of the Centers. (These Centers are located at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, The University of Pittsburgh, The Pennsylvania State University,…

The cost of health and safety (H&S) failures to the UK industry is currently estimated at up to 6.5 billion British Pounds per annum, with the construction sector suffering unacceptably high levels of work-related incidents. Better H&S education across all skill levels in the industry is seen as an integral part of any solution.…

Describes the development of a distance learning course at Keele University (United Kingdom) for staff training in the use of information technology for people with special needs. Discusses course design, learner needs analysis, course content, instructional design, and formative evaluation. (Contains 24 references.) (LRW)

Discusses the successes and problems in creating major changes in an undergraduate curriculum and addresses the issues of consistency in management, strengthened advising, revision of the majors' handbook, improvement in professional development skills, insufficient content, sequence of skill progression, uniformity in skill teaching, and faculty…

Designed to help school administrators and board members promote instructional excellence, this publication reports survey results involving over 35 school districts in Northern California, Utah, and Nevada engaged in instructional improvement efforts. Specifically, the report describes alternative strategies used to organize and manage three…

To overcome teacher isolation and help make teaching a more attractive profession, educators might consider a peer support system based on the Stanford Collegial Evaluation Program. This paper describes the program's background, functioning, barriers to successful implementation, and how to neutralize them. The Stanford program uses a peer…

Discusses the development of effective interactive learning environments based on a case study of a staff development program for university personnel that combined a Web-based database with CD technology. Topics include aspects of educational design; software design, including feasibility studies; project management, including team issues and…