Category: Insights
Classroom Technology – Digital Textbooks
Advancements are being made in technology every day, and slowly these advancements are now being implemented into the classroom, and are trickling down into K-12 classrooms. As good as this sounds, the key word here is “slowly” – there are some things that need to be considered when thinking about implementing new tools.
Digital textbooks are working their way into schools everywhere, allowing easy, portable access to that stack of books that you would normally have to carry around – but one of the major roadblocks to the adoption of digital textbooks in schools so far has been financial. Schools do not have the funding to adopt the technology needed to support digital textbooks while still providing traditional textbooks. Schools also for the most part do not have the internet speed and connectivity required to support digital textbooks. Another issue is finding teachers that are willing to adopt these new digital textbooks, and then the amount of professional development required to get teachers up to speed on these new technologies and materials. Also, what platform and format will these textbooks be offered on? How will you implement supplemental teaching materials that are required to support these new textbooks?
In the end this adoption is probably inevitable. The way to make it happen is a collaboration of teachers, IT departments, administrators, and curriculum experts. If you create a consistent, useful, and easily accessible platform, the hassle of implementation should be greatly reduced.
College Completion Rates
In 2018 it is projected that 63% of all job openings will require post-secondary education or training. The problem with this statistic is that although higher education is readily available, by age 30 less than 50% of Americans have earned a college degree. The new initiative from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aims to improve student outcomes through the use of technology. The Foundation is going to award $35 million in grant money to institutions or organizations that utilize technology to increase enrollment and completion rates in higher-education.
What do you think? Is it the rising costs of higher-education hindering completion? The time that has to be invested in it? A combination of both? Or perhaps the use of outdated methods is less desirable to today’s potential employees? Let us know in the comments!
Learn “Little Known Windows 7 Shortcuts” with Expert Tom Carpenter
Here at LearnKey, when we say the people who present our training courses are experts, we mean exactly that. We don’t find some random guy on the street who can read from a cue card, we find people who really know their stuff and are considered experts in their various fields. When they provide us with tips, we listen!
Tom Carpenter has been an expert for LearnKey in a variety of different courses, and since he also has his own blog with tidbits of information, we thought we’d showcase some tips from the source himself. In his post Little Known Windows 7 Shortcuts, he showcases…well, little known Windows 7 shortcuts. These tips will make using Windows 7 much faster and more efficient. Plus you can show off to your co-workers and look like you are a Windows 7 expert yourself! Check out his blog and enjoy!
Educators: Come one come all – Adobe CS5 training
Yes, you read the headline correctly – Adobe CS5 training is available for you and your students, with more coming soon! This release has been a bit different for us compared to the CS4 release for many reasons.
First, we decided to produce each ACA course with both a Mac and Windows version. For example, you can purchase Photoshop, Flash, and/or Dreamweaver presented on a Mac or Windows environment. Our goal is to accommodate individual schools based on their needs; some schools use Macs and others use Windows-based PCs. The essential content is the same, we meet all the objectives to prepare for the ACA exams in both versions.
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Adobe CS5 Training – They Just Keep Coming!
Last week saw the release of not one or two, but four Adobe CS5 training courses. This puts us up to 7 training courses released covering 5 of the Adobe CS5 programs – Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Illustrator – with InDesign and Photoshop (presented on PC) coming soon.
Two of the four courses released are part of our ACA Certification training utilizing the Windows versions of the Adobe programs, versus the previously released versions utilizing the Mac programs.
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Are You Ready For The Recession To Be Over?
I think everyone would agree that the last couple of years have been filled with stress and worry over the recession and we would all like to put these years in our rear-view mirror, but are businesses ready for the end of the recession?
Many companies realize the need for talent-driven innovation to make their companies successful, but it is surprising how many lack strategic plans to hire and retain talent. In a down economy it is typical to tighten budgets and take away benefits, but these companies need to think about investing more of their resources into retaining employees. In the article Is Your Talent At Risk? in InformationWeek it says that one out of every two employees is thinking of leaving their company and 30-40% of those thinking of leaving do leave.
Continue reading “Are You Ready For The Recession To Be Over?”
CIW Shoot
Last week in the LearnKey studio we were pleased to welcome James Stanger – President and Chief Certification Architect for Certification Partners, and Stephen Schneiter – Certification Specialist for Certification Partners. Certification Partners is the owner of the CIW brand of IT certifications. We have been hard at work producing the newest version of their CIW Web Foundations Associate certifications. These certifications include; Internet Business Associate, Network Technology Associate, and Site Developer Associate. Armed with these certifications and the CIW Web Foundations Associate credential individuals will be well equipped to begin a career in IT and Web Design.
Stay tuned for more to come from the CIW / LearnKey product line. We are really excited about this series. It’s really going to be a great feather in your cap!!
Access 2010 Training Shoot
The week of September 27 – October 1 saw the LearnKey crew shooting the Microsoft Office Access training with Jason Manibog from Boise Idaho. He is currently a training manager for LeapFox Learning, but has been in the training industry for over a decade. He specializes in SharePoint, Access, and Excel training.
It didn’t take him long to adjust from the real-time teaching environment of the classroom to the more disjunct method of recording. He quickly picked up on the process and within the first day was sailing along smoothly. He posted some impressive film time for a newbie!
He also managed to keep his sense of humor in the sometimes stressful environment, making jokes and laughing through the process. His preparation before shoot and his knowledge of the subject matter made the filming a very straightforward effort. He is definitely an author we hope to bring back for future projects.
Distance Education
One of our Sales Representatives recently returned from the New Mexico Technology in Education (NM TIE) conference and one of the biggest things he noticed was the attendees were predominately from Higher Education, mostly community colleges and they all had one thing on their minds – distance education.
One reason distance education continues to be a growing trend in higher education is because it is convenient and you can fit it into your schedule. This has become increasingly important as costs of higher education continue to rise in a down economy, most students are working and going to school. Distance education allows students the opportunity to do both.
Doing More With Less
Computerworld’s 2011 Forecast survey of IT executives found that most viewed spending restraints as the biggest challenge for the upcoming year and few expect to reverse the cuts made over the last two years.
So what does that mean for the future of today’s businesses? This kind of situation can be handled many ways. Companies can start charging more for their products and services, they can cut the more costly products and services they have to offer – but in the end all that does is hurt the end user. The way to produce quality results is to do more with less – re-evaluate the way you do business instead of just looking at the cost of the end result. Are there ways to implement technology you are currently using to automate processes and cut down on your workload? Are there new technologies that are more efficient at doing what you need to do?