Advanced Technological Education ·

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.

In This Issue

Resources in Professional Development

From SC ATE Center of Excellence:

Teaching Technicians

https://teachingtechnicians.org/

SC ATE's esteemed TeachingTechnicians project is "the nation's premier destination for information related to faculty development for technician educators." On the site, visitors will find upcoming and past professional development events. With a quick, free registration, visitors can post their own events, save event searches, and receive notification when new events of interest are added to the site. The Resources section contains links to other ATE centers and projects, a video library, books, classroom resources, tips, and media.

From the National Center for Manufacturing Education (NCME):

Professional Development Facilitator Guide

http://www.meteconline.org/view_abstract.php?id=11

This professional development facilitator guide introduces concepts and techniques of continuous improvement of individual skills and commitment to lifelong learning. Four competency-based activities guide students through real world scenarios. They create a resume, assess their individual learning style, become acquainted with professional societies, and establish time management skills. In a culminating activity, students develop a portfolio in response to a job posting, drawing on all the skills learned in the preceding tasks. An actual company that implements the competencies developed is profiled. A student workbook (Professional Development Participant Journal) is also available from METEC. To purchase these low-cost materials (prices range from $15-$25), users must first create a login with METEC. Registration is free. Users may then view details on how to order the guide.

From the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC):

Solar Education Technology Programs: Tools for Students, Educators, and Trainers

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/education_training.html

The US DoE put together educational tools to help you or your students learn more about solar electricity, or photovoltaics (PV). Whether you're just interested in learning some facts about PV or want to challenge your students, you've come to the right place! Resources include:

  • History Lessons: This solar timeline shows the development of solar electricity, or photovoltaics (PV) from the 7th century B.C. to the present day and the future!
  • PV Quick Facts: These interesting facts about the technology are useful for quick reference.
  • FAQs
  • Myths of Solar Electricity: This information will aid in the learning process and dispel many common myths about the technology.
  • Educational Resources: This site features links to educational resources such as lesson plans, competitions, and activities on energy efficiency and PV.
  • Adult Education and Vocational Training: This features links to continuing education and vocational training opportunities in solar, including classes for homeowners interested in renewable energy systems and building energy-efficient homes.
  • Glossary of Terms: This glossary provides definitions of a number of important terms associated with electricity and power generation, including key terms related to solar electricity, or photovoltaics (PV).

ATE@20

ATE@20 Book

Making the Most of the ATE@20 Book + Blog

Amid the celebration of ATE's twentieth anniversary at the 2013 PI meeting, the book ATE@20: Two Decades of Advancing Technological Education, was introduced and eagerly welcomed by the community. Detailing the story of the ATE program from its inception and early successes to its current nationwide and international reach, copies of the book were available for all attendees.

We hope all of you will find the ATE@20 book and the ongoing ATE@20 blog informative and useful tools to promote individual achievements as well as the aggregate successes of the program. It's a great resource to share with other educators, campus administrators, industry partners, and students.

To help you get started with the book, we will be contacting all ATE Projects and Centers within the next couple of weeks to see about sending you extra copies. Even after your initial shipment of books, if you would like additional copies to distribute on your campus or to other interested parties at a later date, we will be happy to send out more.

Remember that the material on the blog is being created for you to use and redistribute — please visit the blog today and let us know what you think or get in touch if you have ideas for future stories. The material on the blog can be reposted, shared through social media, or used in newsletters! For more information or to get in touch with us about the book or blog, please contact us at ate20@atecentral.net.

For those looking to obtain an electronic copy of the book, a PDF version is now available for download on the ATE@20 blog site. We hope you find the book and blog informative and useful and we want to thank all of you for the wonderful contributions you shared with the ATE Central team and the book and blog's writer, Madeline Patton.

Community Connection

Conference

Accessing Content Presented at the 2013 ATE PI Conference

Last week wrapped up the 2013 ATE PI Conference in Washington, DC. As in past years, it was a great success, with hundreds of attendees from projects, centers, NSF, and industry partners coming together to share successes, learn from each other and celebrate a very special ATE related anniversary.

This year's conference, aptly titled ATE@20: Sustaining Success and Advancing Innovation, highlighted the breadth of innovation, research and scholarship ATE has achieved over its twenty year tenure, while also looking forward to the program's future. Plenary sessions featured keynote speakers Rick Stephens, the Honorable David E. Price, Carolyn Corbin, and Jeff Wacker while Moira Gunn facilitated a lively discussion between students and their employers on the experience of technicians in the workforce. Additionally, roundtable discussions, workshops, and informational sessions focused on diverse topics from emerging technologies to regional collaboration among community colleges to cultivating effective industry partnerships for long-term sustainability. If you were unable to attend all of these interesting presentations, a complete listing of the conference agenda is available at the AACC website.

The showcases were, as always, a place to connect and share information and outcomes. Projects, centers and students provided materials about their tremendous work and initiatives during these popular informal sessions.

For those following up after attending the sessions as well as those unable to make it this year, conference presentations, videos, and photographs will be available on the conference website by November 8th.

You should have received an email from AACC linking you to a follow up survey — we encourage you to share your thoughts and ideas and provide feedback to Ellen Hause and her wonderful team!

Did you know?

According to the EvaluATE Advanced Technological Education Survey 2013, NSF-funded ATE projects and centers offered more than 3,240 professional development opportunities in 2012. These opportunities served more than 72,840 educators — roughly 44 percent of whom were two-year college faculty and 33 percent secondary school teachers.

ATE Events

Ongoing Events
– Integrated Geospatial Education and Technical Training - Remote Sensing Online
– Photonics Faculty Development Course: Fundamentals of Light and Lasers Online
– Online Training: Increase Female Enrollment in STEM Classes Online
– PV Site Assessor Training Online Online
– Basic Photovoltaics (Solar Electricity) Online Online
– Logistics & Supply Chain Forum Jacksonville, FL
– National Educators Workshop: Materials in Enabling Technologies: Defining the Future Tulsa, OK
Upcoming Events
– miGoogle Educator Conference Brighton, MI
– Spatial Plexus '13: Inspecting "Wicked Problems" with Geospatial Goggles Atlanta, GA
– 2nd Annual Southeastern United Grape & Wine Symposium Dobson, NC
AIM Careerlink Webinar - Job Posting Form Online
– 2013 CAEL International Conference, Destination Education: Charting a Course to Degree Completion San Diego, CA
– Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers (SNAME) 2013 Meeting & Ship Production Symposium Bellevue, WA
Using Universal Design Principles to Improve Student Learning and Success Online
– Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities National Conference Northbrook, IL
Case Study Webinar: Computer Programming Instructor Increases Retention of Female and Male Students Online
Southwest Center for Microsystems Education (SCME) Fall 2013 Workshop Series: MicroCantilevers Albuquerque, NM
– VESTA VIN 266 Sensory Evaluation Workshop Waco, TX
Dedicated Energy Crops: What, why, and where? Online
– 2013 Michigan Digital Learning Conference: Technology Trends in Teaching and Learning Clinton Township, MI
– Hands-On Introduction to Nanotechnology for Educators University Park, PA
AIM Careerlink Webinar - Job Classifications Online
Massachusetts STEM Summit 2013 Foxborough, MA
VEX Scrimmage Thief River Falls, MN
– Free Optics and Photonics Technician Education Workshop for Two-Year College Faculty and Staff Waco, TX
– Advanced Laboratory Tools for Introductory Physics (aLTIP) Workshop Avondale, AZ
– National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) Conference & TransComp Exhibition Houston, TX
– Intermodel Association of North America (IANA) Intermodal Expo 2013 Houston, TX
– FABTECH 2013 Chicago, IL
TAKING SHAPE: Additive Manufacturing Summit Minnetonka, MN
Questions, Data, Conclusions, and Recommendations Online
Sips of History: Celebrating 30 Years of Yakima Valley AVA Prosser, WA
Defining Machine Education in Florida Tampa, FL
Dream !t Do !t Northern Minnesota VEX Robotics Tournament Thief River Falls, MN
Southwest Center for Microsystems Education (SCME) Fall 2013 Workshop Series: Crystallography Albuquerque, NM
– CA Perkins Nontraditional & Special Populations (JSPAC) Conference 2013 Sacramento, CA
– Robotics, Engineering, and Technology Days Warren, MI
– ACTE's CareerTech VISION 2013 Las Vegas, NV
– Esri Mid-Atlantic User Conference Baltimore, MD
Dream !t Do !t Southern Minnesota VEX Robotics Tournament Albert Lea, MN
– Winter Working Connections 2013 Frisco, TX
– Winter Working Connections 2013 Frisco, TX
– CNS-ASU Winter School 2014 Mesa, AZ
– Emerging Technologies and Technicians Workshop Clearwater, FL
– CNF TCN Short Course: Technology & Characterization at the Nanoscale Ithaca, NY
– Dream !t Do !t Central Minnesota VEX Robotics Tournament St. Cloud, MN
– AACC Workforce Development Institute St. Petersburg, FL

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 submit them online.

To add a continuously-updated list of ATE and STEM education events to your website, use the ATE Event Widget.

News & Reminders

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If so, please make sure we've found that site and added it to the ATE Social Media Directory. Having your social media presence linked through the directory will help ensure that interested parties can find you online. In addition, if you currently publish a newsletter, please let us know, as we will be adding links to newsletters to the information available on ATE Central.

Follow ATE Central on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with all things new at ATE Central and in the ATE Community as well as in the world of STEM Education

Want to know which ATE Projects and Centers and ATE partners and collaborators are using Social Media? Check out our ATE Social Media Directory and follow them too!

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. We'd be happy to provide you with more information about CWIS and give you a quick tour of its features — please e-mail cwis@scout.wisc.edu to get started!

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