Consistently, as I move about the TechEd venue, I hear surprise and confusion expressed as educators interact with Web 2.0 technologies. While it is important to applaud those seeking to learn about the various Web 2.0 technologies, it is alarmingly clear that the average educator is woefully behind in tech savvy knowledge. While it is true that knowledge often seems scattered, time and money are also commonly cited as major barriers to learning and implementing new technologies. The @ONE Project is trying to change this.
The @ONE Project was initially designed with the purpose of making it easier for California Community College faculty and staff to learn about technology that would enhance student learning and success. With this goal in mind, the @ONE Project provides training, online resources and research for free – or at a very low cost (funding is provided by a Telecommunications and Technology Infrastructure Program grant from the Community College Chancellor’s Office). The great news is that you don’t have to work for a California Community College to use these services. These training tools are available to all educators.
Training offerings include:
- Desktop Seminars (presented at lunch)
- Online Courses (led by an instructor)
- Self-paced Training
- In-person Institutes
With the desktop seminars taking very little time and so many training options available for free or generally less than $75, the major barriers to an educator’s learning are removed. This makes @ONE inviting, not only for the educator that seeks to be proactive in their technology training, it also provides an inexpensive option for schools/institutions to effectively train their educators. Quite an attractive option for either party in these economic times.
Because @ONE provides training in such a variety of subjects, from file management to Dreamweaver MX, it may seem a daunting task to decide what classes to take. @ONE works with both educators and administrator’s to help create the most beneficial paths for learning. In addition to having training for a wide variety of subject, @ONE provides courses that aimed to serve varying levels of proficiency. With this flexibility it is easy to see several ways of using @ONE to provide the learning/training for education staff. I hope to bring you more regarding the @ONE Project in a future installment.
