• Job Opening @ Virtually Scholastic

    28Aug
    Author: Katherine Pisana Categories: Educational Technology Comments Off on Job Opening @ Virtually Scholastic

    Position: Writer
    Location:     Anywhere

    Description: Are you involved in the world of educational technology? Studying or teaching online? Developing elearning strategies for your institution and putting together blended learning curricula? Or perhaps you’re training people on how to make the most of a particular technology and writing up online learning materials? And don’t think I’ve forgotten about all you learning management system/virtual learning environment administrators! If you fall into any or all of these categories, (or one that I’ve missed) and you’re interested in writing about your colorful experiences, then you’ve come to the right place!

    Virtually Scholastic is opening its digital doors to guest contributors who know how to wrap timely messages in witty packages. This is a perfect opportunity for writers interested in expanding their readership and amplifying their virtual voice. It’s also a wonderful chance for those of you who’ve been thinking about starting a blog but who aren’t really sure whether to make the investment just yet. Virtually Scholastic has been around since 2008 and has cultivated a loyal following from places around the world like the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Italy, the Philippines, India, Spain, China and Russia.

    If you know how to speak to a global community of practitioners (or aren’t exactly sure what that really means but would still like to have a go), then here are the steps to follow:

    1. Read through some of the content at https://www.virtuallyscholastic.com to get a feel for the tone and the nature of the material.
    2. Write what you propose to be the next post to be published on the site. Make it timely, fill it with interesting links, and remember to include a poignant message. Also remember to include one image along with source to accompany your writing.
    3. Email your article to contact {at} virtuallyscholastic {dot} com along with a brief introduction to yourself and your work.

    Guest contributors will be asked to write between one to two articles a month. Biographies of contributors will be featured on the site once three pieces have been published. Writers will also be expected to monitor discussions of their posts once comments start coming in, as well as to post occasional commentary to other VS posts.

    I look forward to reading your work!

  • Getting to the CORE of things

    14Nov
    Author: Katherine Pisana Categories: Educational Technology Comments Off on Getting to the CORE of things

    I’m involved in a great initiative that I wanted to share with VS readers. Core4Women C4W-logois a collaborative online community hosted in Ning that brings together women who are open to sharing their experiences with online and distance learning with other women who might be considering jumping into the elearning pool themselves. As a mentor, I share my experiences and expertise with this community in order to broaden awareness of the nature and potential benefits of online learning.

    One of the ways that mentors can support women in this community is by engaging in email exchanges and live text chats with community members, as well as contributing to discussions we have on the site. We also host informative web conferences via Elluminate during which mentors introduce topics of interest to the group and both mentors and the members seeking advice can come, watch, learn and contribute.

    In the spirit of exploring creative ways of using technology to further engage us in our efforts to develop this community, I’ve created a couple VoiceThreads. If you’re interested in becoming part of this great initiative (with members now spanning the globe!), you’re welcome to sign up. And, if you’re really feeling adventurous, you’re more than welcome to add a thread to either of the discussions below!

  • The economy and me

    05May
    Author: Katherine Pisana Categories: Education, Educational Technology Comments: 5

    RSS Job SearchI’ve started looking for a job this week, so I can tell you that the economy is much more of interest to me now than ever, particularly how it’s affecting higher education. I subscribe to a number of job search engines and associations that also syndicate new openings, so I’ve been observing the job market in California for a couple of months now. I’ve noticed very few instructional designer roles opening up, and even those that are published directly on university websites come with a disclaimer that although you can apply, they are currently under a hiring freeze so you might never hear back from them.

    I’ve also noticed some phenomenal roles – policy makers, strategists and managers of institution-wide educational technology initiatives. These are generally posted by higher education institutions that have newly established ‘elearning units’ – hubs or centers of excellence with remits to expand hybrid and fully online course offerings for their universities. These jobs sound great, not only because of the stimulating challenges that lie waiting for the people who land the roles, but also because they show signs of greater understanding and openness on the side of the institutions who are ready, willing and eager to invest in educational technology initiatives.

    So, now back to some thoughts on the economy…

    Alan Tait wrote an interesting post on the EDEN President’s Blog about Scotland’s economy and how, through direct engagement with employers, higher education in the UK is able to design custom training for the workforce to ensure that the teaching is relevant, and that the industries feel the benefits. I wanted to include below a snippet of his impressions of the ways in which the oil and gas sectors view the relevance of education:

    I was surprised by the almost total focus on the recruitment of the brightest and best of new graduates, and on coping with the difficulty in persuading new graduates that the Oil and Gas industries are attractive places to build a career. There was almost no focus from the industry representatives on the development of people in their existing workforce. My only contribution was to point out that if the competition for the brightest and best new graduates was already fierce this would only get worse because of the demographic down turn, in many developed countries at least, of this age cohort. This would mean development of the current workforce would become even more important than it was already, and that the emphasis on non-campus based forms of study that supported learning in and around the workplace rather just the campus would become all the more important.

    Some industry giants must have heard Tait’s call because they’re already starting to do their part. Microsoft announced the launch of a new program in February designed to ‘provide up to 2 million people over the next three years with the technology training needed to succeed in the 21st-century economy’. A very important step considering that our focus can’t just be on current college students struggling to get heard in the blogosphere, and kids in K-12 who we’re trying to teach about technology at as early an age as we can. How about the current workforce – those still in it that is? Companies are not likely in the position to invest in on-the-job training, and employees are probably juggling with the new responsibilities faced by so many families who have had to transition from 2- to 1-income households. These types of new training initiatives only require time and determination from the life-long student…and the payoffs of self-empowerment would be priceless.

    So, as the sun spills onto my carpet as I sit on my sofa (a change of pace from being proverbially chained to my desk – the magic of laptops!) and I can still take advantage of the quiet while the commuters are still on the roads returning home, I’ll post this message and get back to work. First point on the agenda: finish watching a webinar entitled ‘The Economy’s Impact on Higher Education’ – part of Educause’s monthly series discussing how the economic climate is impacting upon the education sector. Let’s hope they have some good news…

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