Archives: June, 2009

With a grant from the State Library of North Carolina and the Department of Cultural Resources, NC LIVE, LEARN NC, and NC WiseOwl, a service of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, partnered to extend the reach of the PBS video collection to local schools. Through NC WiseOwl, students and teachers at public schools now have unlimited online access to PBS’ library of award-winning programming, including Ken Burns’ “The Civil War,” as well as the Emmy award-winning series “American Experience” and “Frontline.” The videos are available online in an on-demand streaming format, making them extremely accessible.

In addition, these PBS videos are freely available for home viewing by all North Carolina citizens through NC LIVE based on their affiliation with a local public library or any of the 188 public and academic libraries across the state. Faculty and students of North Carolina colleges and universities may also access this content at no charge.

The statewide video-streaming service became available to all public schools March 30, 2009.

How long have humans lived in North Carolina? What were these people like, and how do we know? This eight-week online course explores the science of archaeology and 12,000 years of North Carolina’s human past. Participants will be introduced to inquiry-based activities that can be adapted to meet their own teaching objectives. The course is open to educators of all subjects and grade levels.

Archaeology and North Carolina’s First Peoples begins July 7, is worth 6 CEUs and costs only $25. Register or learn more on the course information page.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center will offer a unique opportunity for NC high school science teachers to gain an introduction to biotechnology at a four-day workshop at Carteret Community College July 20-24. The registration fee is $50 but participants receive free room and board plus a $50 stipend per workshop day (e.g., a total of $200 for a four-day workshop).

Participants receive technology or regular renewal credits (CEUs), lesson plans, instruction in presenting biotechnology in ways that captivate students, and access to Biotechnology Center programs that provide lab equipment and educational video loans and free lab supplies.

NC Biotechnology Center workshops address multiple objectives of the Standard Course of Study for high school biology and are taught by outstanding university instructors and master high school teachers who are expert at integrating biotechnology into the classroom.

If you are interested, please visit the North Carolina Biotechnology Center website for registration information.

We’ve made two more online courses available for you to teach in your school this fall. Adolescent Literacy: English Language Arts Comprehension Strategies and Introduction to Online Learning are both available for North Carolina teachers who have completed LEARN NC’s Moodle Training course.

These courses are offered on LEARN NC’s Moodle server. LEARN NC is the statewide provider of the Moodle learning management system. All public schools in North Carolina can offer online courses on LEARN NC’s Moodle platform after their teachers complete our online Moodle Training course. We train your teachers. We host your course on our server. We enroll your students. We provide live technical support. All you have to do is teach.

If you’ve completed Moodle Training, you can request a course copy through our website. If you haven’t yet completed Moodle Training, you can read the course description, which includes a list of training start dates.

Adolescent Literacy: English Language Arts Comprehension Strategies course description

Introduction to Online Learning course description

Moodle Training

The State Library is involved in a project to overhaul the eNCyclopedia, its online resource for facts and information about North Carolina people, government, history, culture, and other topics. To do so, the Library would like educators to give their feedback to help them set priorities for revitalizing this valuable resource.

The eNCyclopedia, initially developed more than a decade ago to assist students requesting North Carolina-related information for school assignments, continues to be heavily used by students, educators, and others seeking North Carolina-related information. In order to make changes that improve and enhance the users’ experience and meet their informational needs, they are soliciting feedback about all aspects of the eNCyclopedia, including its content, appearance, usability, as well as the functionality of the website.

There are two surveys, one for educators, researchers, librarians, and parents, and another for students in grades 4-12. Please consider participating in these surveys and being a part of this worthwhile project. Make your voice heard by taking the survey.