What Virtual Ed is and is not (from Katie - an iForward student)

Virtual Ed Should be about Relationships and Community

Badge for the UW Stout Games in Education Course

Games and Badges- A Whole New Way to Learn!

We are very excited that we are bringing Susan Manning to Grantsburg on May 23 and May 24 to work with iForward teachers and District Staff on how to design courses using "Badging." http://www.uwstout.edu/faculty/mannings/index.cfm

I have been in two of Susan's graduate courses at UW Stout on  Instructional Design  ( E-learning course design).  The most recent was this past February when I took her course on Games in Education (Badging).  She is one of these best professors and teachers from whom I have the privilege to learn.  Her courses are extremely well designed and she truly walks the walk.  Susan is coming from Chicago and will train our design team on how to use Badgestack as we design courses for iForward and GHS http://badgestackproject.org/.

Here is a link to Susan's Bio :http://www.learningtimes.com/who-we-are/the-team/#

Here is a link to more info about badging:  http://www.tcconlineconference.org/badge-based-learning-and-21st-century-skills/  You will notice in one of these links that the Feds are embracing this innovative way to learn. More to come on badges......

College not just for the rich, top education official says

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/147770635.html
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told Madison East High School students  about college affordability.

Free e books--Wisconsin's Library system

Check out this link for Free e books for Kindles or E pubs etc... 
There are fairly good selections and they also have audio books as well.

You can check them out for up to 21 days at a time and renew them and up to 10 books at once.  You do have to register your Library card for the area you are in but thats about it.

Hey free books!!!
Wisconsin Public Library Consortium 

How Effective Is Online Learning? Research says....

Findings: “Few rigorous research studies of the effectiveness of online learning for K–12 students have been published… Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction… Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction” (p. xiv).

U.S. Department of Education. 2010. Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. Washington, DC: Author.

New iForward video on iForward YouTube Channel