Penn State Intercom......April 30, 2001

Faculty Academy focuses on
'Building Bridges for e-Learning'

Pennsylvania educators from kindergarten through the university level will delve into the emerging new world of e-learning when they gather June 18-20 for the second Faculty Academy to be held on the University Park campus.

Coordinated by the School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), the theme for the 2001 Faculty Academy is "Building Bridges for e-Learning."

"As educators, we are charged with preparing students of all ages to work and succeed in the future, and therefore we must create learning environments that facilitate learning in the knowledge age," said James B. Thomas, dean of IST. "This requires that we explore ways to build bridges from theory to practice, across disciplines and across levels of education."

The inaugural Faculty Academy brought together more than 200 faculty members and administrators from some 60 institutions of higher learning across the Commonwealth. This year, conferees also are being invited from the state's elementary, middle and high schools.

Sessions at "Building Bridges for e-Learning" have been developed to help provide key insights into the implementation of educational technology.

"We will be examining the cutting-edge tools and methods that have been successful in e-learning systems and environments," said John Harwood, senior director of the Center for Education Technology Services and a member of the Faculty Academy planning committee. "We also will be delving into ways educators can gauge how effective they have been in integrating technology into their classrooms."

Participants in the conference also may involve themselves in an ongoing "community of learning." This virtual community had its beginning on the World Wide Web in the wake of the 2000 Faculty Academy. Located at http://www.pafaculty.org, this Web site is an online source of information and resources for faculty academy participants.

For information about the 2001 Faculty Academy or to register, go to the Web site listed above. For information, call Charles C. DuBois at (814) 865-4458 or e-mail news@ist.psu.edu.

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