Fintelo : Online Solution

The Florida Virtual School -- the country's first entirely online statewide public school -- and the University of Central Florida are teaming up to offer future teachers what they call first-of-its-kind training: virtual internships. Until now, teachers new to online instruction had to learn on the job how to juggle the technology and teaching techniques specific to virtual schooling. The pilot program will give six students the chance to team up with experienced online teachers to learn what it takes to manage a diverse assortment of students who could be studying via computer anywhere in the world, at their own pace at any time of day and requesting help with assignments by e-mail, instant messaging and telephone. Future teachers typically tackle internships in traditional classrooms to get a taste of what awaits them in the real world. The virtual training will give UCF education graduates an edge in the work world because they'll be ready to teach in both traditional and virtual classrooms at graduation, university officials said, adding that online education is growing at all levels. Continue reading

When University of Central Florida junior Nicole Nissim got stumped in trigonometry, she checked out what was showing on YouTube. Nissim typically scours the video-sharing Web site for clips of bands and comedy skits. But this time she wasn't there to procrastinate on her homework. It turned out YouTube was also full of math videos. After watching a couple, the psychology major says, she finally understood trig equations and how to make graphs. "I was able to watch them at my own pace and if I didn't get a concept, I could easily rewind it," Nissim says. "It was a lot clearer once I watched the video." YouTube is perhaps best known for its cavalcade of homemade performances and TV clips, but many people like Nissim are turning to it for free tutoring in math, science, and other complicated subjects. Continue reading

A new generation of students with vastly different learning needs is redefining expectations for classroom instruction, and a growing emphasis on school accountability is changing the role of the school district IT leader: These were two of the main ideas outlined in a Dec. 10 webcast from the Consortium of School Networking titled "Major Technology Trends that School District CTOs Must Know." According to William Rust, research director for the IT research and consulting firm Gartner, there is a new digital divide occurring in schools. Whereas this divide used to refer to whether or not students had access to technology, now it concerns whether schools are using technology effectively to achieve results. Rust identified four key trends that school district chief technology officers (CTOs) should be aware of: accountability, the changing nature of learners, the accessibility of technology, and the "internal and external demands" that are now placed on ed-tech executives. "If CTOs are thinking about these four factors and how they can keep up with these changes, they'll stay ahead of the divide," he said. Continue reading

After students at Yale University complained about the increasing energy consumption caused by leaky windows and chimneys, the Ivy created an Office of Sustainability in 2005 to address ecosystem protection and encourage water conservation, recycling, and use of locally grown products in university dining facilities. Yale's president, Richard C. Levin, directed the school to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 10 percent below the University's 1990 level by 2020. In the first two years of its "green" program, Yale reduced carbon emissions by 43,000 metric tons, a 17 percent reduction from 2005 levels. But online learning, which enables students to log on and learn without stepping foot on campus, has even more potential to save energy, proponents say. "While online courses provide obvious benefits of schedule flexibility and convenience, they also provide less obvious 'green' benefits," says Rob Franek, vice-president and publisher and lead author of "Best 368 Colleges." Anytime a student reduces energy use by less driving and less climate control requirements, we call benefit in terms of sustaining our global resources." Continue reading

Ohio State University's medical school has joined the ranks of colleges replacing cumbersome textbooks with the handheld Apple iPod touch this fall. Ohio State med school officials said the iPod lets students study high-quality images of organs and body parts in the palms of their hands, on the fly--a welcome change from the days of endlessly flipping through textbooks to find pictures and directions for surgical procedures. The iPod allows students to see images from several angles, take short review quizzes for helpful reminders, and access videos documenting the many steps of a surgery or procedure. The university is one of a handful of institutions to bring iPod technology to its medical students. In July, officials at the University of Michigan Medical School unveiled the "Dr. iPod" program, which lets students watch and review lectures at any time. The iPod initiative was launched three years after the system was piloted using a video clip that tested the iPod's video capabilities. Continue reading

BAGHDAD -- It makes for a strange college campus: Cement blast walls, helicopters roaring overhead, packs of wild dogs howling, the risk of mortar and rocket attacks. Faculty keep Kevlar flak jackets at the ready. Students bring their rifles to class and leave them on the floor with the barrel pointing toward the front of the room. In November, University of Maryland University College became the first U.S. college to begin offering classes on the ground in Iraq, soon joined by a school from Texas. It is a reflection of the greater stability in Iraq, as violence has dropped, and of the number of American troops leaving small urban outposts for large bases where the courses are taught. The classes, for service members only, offer students a sense of normalcy, a place where a professor calls them by their first name, where classmates debate ideas openly, where academic discussions often encompass the lives they lead in Iraq. Continue reading

Distance Edu Learning Inc. continues its commitment to releasing new features within Fintelo that enhance and facilitate the teaching and learning moment for its users. Below is a list of new features now found in Fintelo:

"We saw the need for organizations to have access to high quality training while keeping their budget low and keeping productivity high, and knew that we could work together to make this possibility a reality." Continue reading