NWAC Accreditation Certificate Arrives
In the mail today, we received our 2011-2012 Certificate of Accreditation from the Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC). While they had already informed us that the current academic year was under accreditation, receiving the official certificate (pictured below) was a pleasant reminder of our commitment to, “promoting and maintaining a well-balanced education program and for meeting or exceeding standards considered essential for quality education,” states the document.
We thank NWAC for supporting our efforts to provide a rigorous technology curriculum to middle and high school students, and we specifically acknowledge the certificate’s signatories Stan Baker, David G. Steadman, and Leonard Paul.
We received our NWAC Certificate of Accreditation today in the mail.
Shedding Light on the Education Technology Sector
Even in a computer-driven town like Seattle, there are only so many technology headlines to go around. The big software firms usually grab top billing, while the emerging tech sectors and companies – like the education technology sector and Giant Campus – can often find themselves below the fold.
Frank Catalano called attention to this trend of invisibility for Seattle’s niche tech markets in a recent TechFlash post, lauding some emerging education technology players like Giant Campus for developing and delivering cutting-edge education products to customers.
In the article, Seattle’s Invisible Tech Industry, Catalano also highlighted several key factors that are generally keeping education technology companies off the front page, including:
- The complex nature of education and curriculum delivery
- The industry’s less-than-friendly appeal to investors and venture capitalists
- A lack of robust and sustained professional networks
While Catalano is correct that these factors are contributing to the sector’s relative invisibility, the proliferation of online courses in many ways mirrors the transformation seen in post-secondary education over the past decade. And while still in their relative infancy for middle school and high school populations, it is evident that new virtual learning models are gaining acceptance with students, parents, teachers and school administrators.
A recent report from the Innosight Institute reinforced this notion, determining that online courses aren’t just for distance learning anymore. Rather, they concluded that the growth in online learning is taking place in blended learning environments – prominently in schools who supervise online learning along side their traditional classes. Written by education experts Michael Horn and Heather Staker, The Rise of K12 Blended Learning provides an overview of hybrid learning models, and analyzes several market drivers that are encouraging the adoption of online learning.
Also reflecting this widening acceptance is the leap into online learning that some traditional education providers have already made. As one example, Pearson Education recently launched the Pearson Virtual Learning program in coordination with Florida Virtual Schools (FLVS). To their customers, Pearson provides great online courses that FLVS and Giant Campus have created. This partnership opens the door to schools, teachers, and students anywhere taking our STEM, technology, business, and innovation courses.
As an emerging leader in online curriculum development, Giant Campus is a proud member of the burgeoning education technology industry in Seattle. As a group we may not be dominating our local tech headlines, but we are certainly helping students around the world move to the head of the class.
Parents Launch Petition to Support Digital Learning
The National Parent Network for Online Learning has launched an Internet petition to support the Digital Learning Now! campaign.
You can sign the petition online to support the 10 Elements of High Quality Digital Learning.
Rose Fernandez, Executive Director of the National Parent Network for Online Learning, NPNOL said, “For too long parents voices have not been heard when decisions about the future of our schools are being made. By signing the online petition, parents can join with the Digital Learning Now campaign in its efforts to expand digital learning to every classroom in every school in every state in America.”
NPNOL, a nonprofit group, is dedicated to educating the public about the true nature and benefits of K-12 online learning. The group works with and on behalf of the families of the over one-million students who are currently enrolled in online education courses or programs and the millions more who are anticipated to choose this mode of education in the next decade.
An Online Approach to ‘Walking the Halls’
In an iNACOL Leadership Webinar scheduled for February 9th, Director of Faculty Kim Brauer will describe how Giant Campus has standardized and structured our hiring, training and evaluation of online faculty.
Titled Walking the Halls: “A Unified Approach to Online Teacher Hiring, Pre-service Training, Professional Development, and Evaluation,” this webinar will present Giant Campus’ comprehensive framework for managing faculty, and share with listeners:
- The key roles successful online teachers need to master
- Our approach to hiring and training online teachers
- Complete evaluation plans and rubrics
- And more
As an updated version of the well-received presentation Giant Campus school administrators delivered at the iNACOL’s 2010 Virtual School Symposium, Walking the Halls can provide great insight for online school administrators who are asking:
- How can I attract and hire skilled online teachers?
- What can I do to help my faculty succeed?
- How can I walk the halls if there are no halls?
Webinar participants will be able to ask questions and discuss how their school is tackling the perennial challenge of finding, training, and supporting outstanding online teachers.
Register directly with iNACOL for this Leadership Webinar before it starts at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, February 9th. More information and sign up are available at: http://www.inacol.org/events/webinar/index.php
CTE 2.0 – Harvard Study, Secretary of Education
In prepared remarks at the release of Harvard University’s “Pathways to Prosperity” report (Full PDF of the report available here), the Secretary said he wanted “to suggest two takeaway messages….
First, for too long, career and technical education has been the neglected stepchild of education reform. That neglect has to stop. And second, the need to re-imagine and remake CTE is urgent.
CTE has an enormous, if often overlooked impact on students, school systems, and our ability to prosper as a nation…. The mission of CTE has to change. It can no longer be about earning a diploma and landing a job after high school. The main goal of CTE 2.0 should be that students earn a postsecondary degree or an industry-recognized certification and land a job that leads to a successful career.”
At Giant Campus we’re building and creating CTE 2.0. Classes and curriculum for students to get jobs in today’s world, whether they are Technology, Digital Media, Business, Engineering or Science related.
More information on the Secretary’s comments is available Here and the Secretary’s speech is available Here.
Forbes: Six predictions for education in 2011
A recent article in Forbes talks about some predictions for education in 2011, many of which are at the heart of Giant Campus and what we do every day:
1. Just under 40 percent of all U.S. postsecondary students will enroll in at least one fully online course in the fall of 2011.
2. Public school budgets will continue to shrink, so more districts will do more business with online learning providers to fill in the gaps.
3. An increasing number of suburban schools will begin using online learning, too.
4. Not to be outdone, education entrepreneurs will create high quality chartered schools that jump in the online learning game as well.
5. User-generated online content will begin to explode in education.
6. Mobile learning, the subject of increasing hype in the United States, will make its impact in the developing world first.
You can read the full article here:
New Report out on Blended Learning
Innosight Institute has published a new report called “The Rise of K12 Blended Learning”, written by noted education experts Michael Horn and Heather Staker. A good discussion and presentation on the market drivers that will facilitate the explosion of Blended Learning in the traditional classroom.
You can access the report for free: http://www.innosightinstitute.org/innosight/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-Rise-of-K-12-Blended-Learning.pdf
A little excerpt:
“Online learning is sweeping across America. In the year 2000, roughly 45,000 K–12 students took an online course. In 2009, more than 3 million K–12 students did. What was originally a distance learning phenomenon no longer is. Most of the growth is occurring in blended-learning environments, in which students learn online in an adult-supervised environment at least part of the time. As this happens, online learning has the potential to transform America’s education system by serving as the backbone of a system that offers more personalized learning approaches for all students.”
What’s wrong with online learning?
League of Education Voters is a great resource for Washington state parents who are interested in public education. Citizen-founded and citizen-funded, LEV is the only Washington-based organization working to improve education from early learning through higher education. I found this nice blog entry about online education on their site today and thought I’d share. What’s wrong with online learning?.
Scholarships Now Available For Marketing and Entrepreneurship Students!
Check this out parents! Does your high school student have a knack for marketing or wish to start a business? Our marketing and entrepreneurship classes combined with DECA is a great way for your teen to prepare for the future – college or career! We’re now offering Emerging Leader Scholarships to qualifying students who are interested in taking their business skills to the next level.
Giant Campus Emerging Leader Scholarships (Fall 2010)
Scholarship Deadline – September 17, 2010
DECA Scholarship includes:
-One full year (value $750) of Marketing (I & II) or Entrepreneurship (I & II) class – Giant Campus Academy
-DECA membership (value $18)
-Class Transcript – for high school resume & college admittance
To qualify, students:
-Must take one year of Marketing or Entrepreneurship classes
-Must agree to be an active contributor in our online DECA chapter
-Current high school does not have a DECA chapter
Call an Enrollment Advisor by September 17, 2010 – 888.904.2267
DECA members can begin their experience as early as the ninth grade by enrolling in a marketing or entrepreneurship course. They can retain their membership in DECA as long as they are actively pursuing courses in one of the content areas. As part of a high school chapter, DECA members can take full advantage of DECA activities while preparing themselves to be college and career ready upon graduation.
By leveraging their DECA membership, members can become:
-Academically prepared for college and careers in marketing, finance, hospitality or management
community oriented by gaining an appreciation for the benefits of service and their potential impact on the community and world
-Professionally responsible with ethics, integrity and high standards
-Experienced leaders by practicing key leadership skills such as goal setting, consensus building and project management.
Leaders from Microsoft, Starbucks and T-Mobile Pull Back the Curtain for Giant Campus Students
Business Executives, lifelong video game designers and a consultant to President Obama inspire teens and provide actionable career steps in new online speaker series
SEATTLE — August 24, 2010 — Giant Campus, a nationally recognized leader in innovative technology, marketing and business education programs for youth and adults, today announced the availability of its interactive speaker series, Giant Campus Career Connections (http://www.giantcampuswa.com/our-programs/career-connections). The newly launched online series will enable high school students to learn firsthand how some of the leading marketing, business, and graphic and game design professionals from Burger King, Microsoft, Starbucks and T-Mobile turned a passion into a life-long successful career. This series regularly exposes Giant Campus students to real-world insight into technology, entrepreneurship and marketing that they cannot get anywhere else. Each of the speakers helped develop products and designs teens use and see every day.
The students will connect with:
- Denny Marie Post– Former Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Office at T-Mobile USA, Senior Vice President at Starbucks, Senior Vice President at Burger King, and Chief Innovation Officer at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
- Dan Price– 26 year old Founder/CEO of Gravity Payments, the largest credit card payment processing company in the Northwest. Price started Gravity while a freshman in college and was named the Entrepreneur of the Year by the SBA and President Obama for 2010. He consults with President Obama and other high-ranking officials on issues important to entrepreneurs.
- Clayton Kauzlaric– Senior Design Director at Microsoft Game Studios has worked as an artist, game designer and creative director on console and PC titles for nearly 20 years. Clayton also created the Xbox action-adventure gameVoodoo Vince.
- Chris Novak– Design Architect for Microsoft Game Studios. Over his career, Novak has designed for game franchises like Crackdown, Project Gotham Racing, NASCAR, and Knockout Kings.
- Mark Popich– As Design Director at the branding and creative agency Hornall Anderson Design Works, Popich has received numerous awards for work with companies like Eos Airlines, the Seattle SuperSonics, Microsoft, AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile and HTC.
“I am excited to share my experiences with teens from all over the world that are obviously as passionate as I was about pursuing a rewarding career,” said Career Connections speaker Denny Post. “By giving them insight into my business experiences at T-Mobile, Starbucks, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken, hopefully they will pick up on what worked and what didn’t and apply them as they begin their careers.”
Every month, each speaker will give a live online presentation, and conduct a question and answer session that will last a total of 45 minutes. Some talking points of the virtual chat will include:
- What steps are absolutely necessary as teens begin exploring careers
- What qualities are needed for careers in digital arts, computer science, or business and innovation
- What inspired the speakers
- Is there anything the speakers wished they knew sooner about their field
“Since teens today begin building their resume in high school, it’s important that they arm themselves with the most essential steps and skills to building careers in fields like technology and business early on,” said Giant Campus Founder and CEO Pete Findley. “Giant Campus Career Connections gives students unrivaled actionable insight into these fields while also breaking geographical barriers since it is offered exclusively online.”
