ADVANCED TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION · APRIL 2010

Welcome to the ATE Central Connection! Published the first Monday of each month, the ATE Central Connection is meant to disseminate information to and about ATE centers and projects, providing you with up-to-date ATE news, events, reminders, as well as highlighting new centers, projects, and resources. In addition, we will also highlight an educational topic with complementary resources found within ATE Central to help illustrate how ATE resources can be used in the classroom.

We want the ATE Central Connection to be a valuable tool; please e-mail info@atecentral.net with any suggestions about how to make the ATE Central Connection more useful for you or to suggest any information you would like to see in an upcoming issue.

Upcoming Events

April 2 Webinar: Electronics Communication Online
April 5-8 Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Preparation Workshop Asheville, NC
April 6-9 Secure Electronic Commerce Instructor Training Workshop Bossier City, LA
April 7-9 ATEA 47th National Conference on Technical Education Indianapolis, IN
April 12-14 Hands-on Nanofabrication Workshop for Educators University Park, PA
April 13-15 License to Steal: National Wine Marketing Convention Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio
April 14-15 NanoManufacturing Conference & Exhibits Mesa, AZ
April 15-17 ABET Symposium Las Vegas, NV
April 15-17 NACTA Judging Conference El Reno, OK
April 16 Webinar: Integration of GIS Across the Campus Online
April 17 SCME: Microsystems LIGA Magic Hands-On Workshop Albuquerque, NM
April 17-20 90th Annual AACC Convention Seattle, WA
April 20 CloudCamp Cloud Computing Event Springfield, MA
April 21-23 2010 Agri-Marketing Conference Kansas City, MO
April 23 GeoTech Center/KITCenter: Using GIS to Make Informed Decisions Workshop Louisville, KY
April 28-30 Strategic Summit on the Computing Education Challenges at Community Colleges Cranford, NJ

For more events please visit the ATE Central Events page or if you have any upcoming events that you would like posted on ATE Central or in the ATE Central Connection please send them to info@atecentral.net

Featured ATE Project

Integrated Geospatial Education & Technology Training (iGETT)

http://igett.delmar.edu/

Housed at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, the Integrated Geospatial Education & Technology Training (iGETT) program's goal is to "help meet workforce demands for geospatial technologists by enabling two-year colleges to expand existing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) programs to incorporate a wide range of remote sensing applications." The project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education Program and collaborators include the National Council for Geographic Education, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the U.S. Geological Survey. To accomplish their goal, the project offered 40 faculty members, who were teaching GIS at two-year college faculty members, the chance to receive training in instructional material development, course enhancement, recruitment, and program development. On their homepage, visitors can learn more information about the project, the summer institutes, curriculum, and resources.

Featured ATE Resources

Here is a small sample of the valuable resources in ATE Central that focus on Automotive Technology:

From MAPS GIS resource collection:

Geodemographics

http://gis.lanecc.edu/maps-gis/modules/geodemographics

This activity, developed by the Lane Community College MAPS GIS Program, is "intended to provide students with a global perspective of several geodemographic variables" using data from the United Nations GEO Data Portal. On the site, visitors will find a link to the student activity (in either doc or pdf) with step-by-step instructions for carrying out the lesson, the web-based map for the activity, and an instructor's guide. This is an excellent activity for high school or early undergraduate students for hands-on work with GIS and the geodemographics.

Earthquakes and Tsunamis

http://gis.lanecc.edu/maps-gis/modules/earthquakes

In this activity, by the Lane Community College MAPS GIS Program, students work in teams to evaluate Oregon cities' tsunami evacuation plans related to a potential 8.1 coastal earthquake. Teams use additional information from a Web-based GIS to study the multi-faceted nature of earthquake damage in addition to tsunami impacts and make recommendations to improve the existing plan. The data originates from the Oregon Geospatial Data Clearinghouse and the Oregon Department of Geology and Mines. On this site, visitors will find both the teacher version of the lesson plan and the student exercise, both as PDFs.

From the GeoTech Center resource collection:

Mobile GIS Project

http://map.sdsu.edu/mobilegis/

This resource provides insight into cutting edge technology in the field of geographic information systems. The stated purpose of this research is "to provide park rangers and other resource mangers with integrated mobile geospatial information services that will support and help optimize their field-based management tasks." Some of technology employed includes ArcPad 6.0, ArcIMS 4.0, Image Web Server, global positioning systems (GPS) and wireless networking technologies. The page provides a project overview along with detailed information on each one of the before mentioned pieces of technology. This is a solid resource for an interactive look at these mobile geographic positioning systems. Users will find it simple enough to understand, yet complex enough to be quite engaging.

News & Reminders

ATE Central Recieves Further Funding from NSF

We are extremely pleased to announce that ATE Central has been awarded a second grant from the National Science Foundation which expands the scope of the project and will allow us to continue supporting the ATE community for the next four years. We look forward to working with all our partners within ATE as well as WGBH Boston and others as ATE Central moves forward into this second phase! For more information please e-mail Rachael Bower (bower@scout.wisc.edu).

Connect with ATE Central Staff

AMSER will be presenting at the AACC's Annual Convention, in Seattle, WA. If you are attending the conference please stop in for our workshop on Sunday, April 18, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm (Check conference program for location). We will also be helping out with the ATE booth in the Exhibit Hall. Please drop in for a visit while you are at the conference.

Can CWIS Software Help Support Your Project Goals?

CWIS is open source software, created with NSF funding, that can help your project or center showcase resources online. It's free and very easy to use — click here to check out a few of the sites running CWIS. We'd be happy to provide you with more information about CWIS and give you a quick tour of its features — please e-mail Edward Almasy (ealmasy@scout.wisc.edu) to get started!

Find Out More About ATE Central

For information about ATE Central and how your project or center can take part and benefit from ATE Central's portal and services you may want to download the ATE Central Handbook at http://atecentral.net/handbook.