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 [email protected] 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.
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 [email protected]
The Deaf Initiative in Technology (DiiT), a project of NSF's Advanced Technological Education program, series of workshops provides computer, graphic communication, and business-based training workshops in sign language to deaf and hard-of-hearing adults. The rapid pace and complexity of technology puts increasing demands on companies, organizations, and professionals. To stay knowledgeable and competitive, deaf and hard-of-hearing professionals get up-to-the minute technical skills through DiiT workshops. Without the need for interpreters that most professional workshops require, workshop participants get the benefit of direct interaction with the instructors. DiiT offers workshops in Graphic Communications, Information Technology, and Business. On this site, visitors will find information about the project, descriptions of the multitude of workshops offered and how to register for them, and an archive of past workshops.
Here is a small sample of the valuable resources in ATE Central that focus on Information Technology:
The IT Across Careers (ITAC) team is part of the Workforce and Human Development group within the Learning and Teaching Division of the Education Development Center (EDC). ITAC develops and designs standards-based programs and curricula with technology at the core in partnerships with communities, public and private organizations, and the education sector. Their mission is to support information and communication technology (ICT) fluency for all learners and nurture the interests and talents of all users and producers of ICT. The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the IT Across Careers Project at Education Development Center, Inc. to develop a common curricular framework and resources for teaching the basic (core) IT applications across all program or career areas. The ITAC project has developed a library of resources that provide a common, skills-based structure. On the site, visitors will find rubrics, lesson templates, and customized lesson examples for many areas applicable to information technology such as databases, publishing, and GPS and GIS. The Resources by Career Area allows visitors to select which field particularly interests them, and see all resources on the site that relate to that area.
From the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET):
Preparatory Program for Information Technology Presents a comprehensive, detailed and flexible introduction to the principles of Information Technology in 20 modules. Originally developed for Job Corps Centers, this curriculum integrates technical and foundation skills and outlines a variety of teaching/learning strategies related to real-world situations and work environments. Each module consists of a series of lesson plans that include identified learner outcomes, material and resource checklists, content outlines, activity and assessment suggestions, and supplemental step-by-step handouts.
From the Center for Information Technology Education (CITE):
These model cases, by The Case Files project of Nashville State Community College, represent the problem-based learning strategy the program has worked to further. Here, visitors will find examples of the strategy applied to many different fields, including HVAC, business analysis, team dynamics, and building design. Many of the modules have videos and interactive resources attached, as well as questions for students to investigate and answer. Visitors can also find documents which explain the pedagogical reasoning behind using this method of teaching and how each module helps students construct meaning.
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 ([email protected]) to get started!
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.