This blog series provides readers with insight on the valuable content that will be shared at the upcoming session: Integrating Knowledge and Skill Statements into Curriculum: A College’s Story at the Career Clusters™ Institute in June.

Becky Burton is currently the Director of Career Clustersâ„¢ and Director of Radiography at Amarillo College. As Director of Career Clusters, Mrs. Burton is leading the college in developing core curricula across Career Clustersâ„¢, collaborating with area secondary school districts to vertically align programs of study, and streamlining articulations for technical and academic dual credit.

Dr. Robin Nickel has 17 years experience working in postsecondary education and curriculum management including analyzing college needs, presenting practical solutions, and implementing institutional change. Nickel is Associate Director at Worldwide Instructional Design System, a curriculum-design software, training and consulting services company.

The Power of a Process

Adapting curriculum to local workforce needs requires a clear curriculum development process. What does this mean for frontline educators in colleges?

As educators are working to integrate academic, career, and technical instruction, curriculum design efforts are being examined and an efficient design process is needed. Ideally, this process should ease the burden on educators and help them organize, approve, and disseminate quality curriculum. An emphasis on curriculum relevancy is also part of the challenge, as educational offerings are to include competencies, problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills, and knowledge of the industry. Many business coalitions already work with educators to determine what skills and knowledge are needed in Career Technical Education (CTE).

A Consistent Approach to Curriculum Process A Must

Because curriculum should ideally be customized to local needs, the task to implement industry-defined skills or core abilities (critical thinking, responsibility, teamwork, etc.) – into a local course or program can:

• seek industry input, incorporate findings into offerings
• infuse Career Clusters, with their associated Knowledge and Skills, into curriculum
• determine course outcomes and overlaps/gaps so informed decisions are made about dual enrollment agreements for high school and college course work
• design assessments that target course and program outcomes
• incorporate extended learning opportunities, such as job shadow experiences, mentor programs, internships, etc.
• manage curriculum change

Clear course and program outcomes with associated performance standards and assessments – what is defined as curriculum – become the basis of learning in any environment. This curriculum should directly interface with learners, empower them, and it should be developed in a consistent, efficient manner that won’t duplicate efforts or dumb-down the quality.

Some college systems use a common curriculum design system to help ensure the externally-driven standards are being addressed and taught in their own local courses and programs. In several cases, the process simplifies articulation between secondary and post-secondary systems, ideally providing a general road map of what courses are offered at what institution and of those, what are offered for credit.

Learn about a successful example of a college — Amarillo College – that adopted a process and tool to implement Knowledge and Skill Statements into their curriculum and foster more consistency among programs. Attend Nickels’ and Burtons’ session: Integrating Knowledge and Skill Statements into Curriculum: A College’s Story at the Career Clustersâ„¢ Institute in June.

Ramona Schescke, Member Services Manager

This blog series provides readers with insight on the valuable content that will be shared at the upcoming Career Clusters â„¢ Institute. Guest bloggers are among teachers, faculty, researchers and other experts that will present at the national gathering in Washington, DC in June.

Kathy Belcher has served as Project Coordinator at the University of North Texas since 2008. She coordinates high school CTE curriculum and professional development resources for STEM and Manufacturing, federally funded by the Educational Excellence Career Grants. She is a graduate of the University of North Texas and holds professional teaching certifications in Art Education and General Elementary Education. Belcher serves as secretary for the Texas Technology and Engineering Education association.

Why use social media technologies in the CTE classroom? As a teacher, I will have to learn what the technologies are, how to use them, integrate them into my existing curriculum, make the case to my principal, add planning time to my already busy teaching schedule, and monitor their use.

Social media technologies can support active learning, social learning, and student publication, by providing environments and technologies that promote and foster these interactions (Ajjan, et al., citing Ferdig, 2007). Teachers who use social media technologies in the classroom encourage individual sharing, promote social interactivity, provide a virtual space where learning begun in the classroom can continue beyond the classroom walls, and inspire lifelong learning (Robbie, et al., 2008).
Research in the field reveals many positive student learning outcomes using social media technologies. Listed are some ideas on how to use such technologies to maximize those outcomes:

• Create a collaborative Web site, or wiki to exchange ideas and information on a collaborative project by adding, removing, or editing site content.
• Create a daily online journal blog to reflect on their progress; read, post comments and respond to each other’s blogs for peer-review; include images and links to web content; and express opinions.
• Work collaboratively through social file sharing (DropBox, Google Documents, Moodle) creating shared folders and files to retrieve and edit documents in one location. And, create a forum for parents and others to view their work.
• Meet virtually in one centralized location with numerous people to discuss and collaborate in real-time to achieve a common goal through social collaboration (Skype, Google+Hangout); and continue learning beyond the classroom walls.
• Create a virtual identity and connect, network and interact with family, friends, classmates and teachers, creating and building relationships critical not only to personal success but also to professional success through social networking (Facebook, Twitter, Google+). Post homework assignments and deadlines for assignments or tests, or poll the classmates on relevant topics.
• Share videos, photos, and personal publications through social creativity sharing (YouTube, Flickr, Writeboard) to develop as creative and innovative thinkers and leverage social creativity.

There are many benefits linked to students’ use of social media technologies in the CTE classroom: increased active and social learning; improved student-teacher relationships; positive experiences in and outside the classroom; and perhaps the one I like best is “Social media helps students learn how to collaborate and collaboration skills are viewed by educators as the “quintessential skill” for students in the 21st century” (Smith, 2010).

Learn more about how you can use social media technologies to support student learning by attending Kathy’s session at the National Career Clusters™ Institute. Attendees will leave with access to FREE curriculum and professional development resources made possible through the UNT/TEA Career Education Excellence Grants.

Register today.

References:
Robbie, D., & Zeeng, L. (2008). Engaging student social networks to motivate learning: Capturing, analyzing and critiquing the visual image. The International Journal of Learning, 15(3), 153-160.
Smith, N. (2010, May 4). Teachers embracing social media in the classroom. TechNewsDaily. Retrieved from http://www.technewsdaily.com/421-teachers-embracing-social-media-in-the-classroom.html
Teclehaimanot. B., & Hickman, T. (2011). Student-teacher interactions on Facebook: What students find appropriate. TechTrends, 55(3), pp. 19-30.

Ramona Schescke, Member Services Manager

This blog series provides readers with insight on the valuable content that will be shared at the upcoming Career Clusters â„¢ Institute . Guest bloggers are among teachers, faculty, researchers and other experts that will present at the national gathering in Washington, DC in June.

Lead Presenter Greg Quam has been the Career and Technology Coordinator for the Platteville School District over the past 15 years. Quam serves on the Wisconsin Project Lead the Way State Leadership Team and is presently fulfilling the duties of chairperson, founder of the Platteville Project Lead the Way Rural School Consortium and co-founder of the Southwest Academy for 21st Century Excellence.

Regardless of where a student lives – be it in an urban city, suburban neighborhood or rural region – they will have to prepare for competitive, high-demand jobs. In rural areas, where schools can sometimes feel isolated, we must make significant efforts to deliver them access to important educational and training opportunities.

To address this issue, some rural districts in Wisconsin have collaborated to create the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Rural Initiative, a program in which five rural districts joined forces to provide CTE engineering courses that were thought to only be available in large districts. The initiative helped schools handle costs, teacher training and accessibility issues that a small rural district would not have been able to manage independently.

PLTW is nationally-recognized as a rigorous, project-focused program designed to prepare students in engineering. The program already had long established presence in rural areas of Wisconsin; however it was clear that plans to expand these offerings would be profoundly impacted by funding.

The Southwest Academy for 21st Century Excellence was formed through the collaborative efforts of the Platteville Project Lead the Way Rural School Consortium, CESA 3, and Southwest Wisconsin Technical College as a way to offer the higher level PLTW engineering courses to students who wanted to continue in the PLTW coursework. Students had access to courses that their home school were simply not able to provide.

The high schools involved in the consortium each teach two of the core level courses, but in rural schools due to small student enrollment, it was not fiscally possible to offer a higher-level class for a handful of students. However, with the Academy, students now are able to take these higher-level s engineering courses at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College on Wednesday evenings. The course is taught by the college’s engineering technology program instructor, and students are assisted with their projects by their district’s PLTW instructor and a mentor from the local business community. This model has proven very successful in delivering higher level engineering curriculum that may not otherwise be available in small, rural school districts.

Our engineering Academy began in the fall of 2009 with 12 students participating from three school districts. The Southwest Academy for 21st Century Excellence was selected as a national model PLTW program in 2010 for its success in promoting STEM education among small rural Wisconsin school districts. Participants will learn more about STEM and how all schools can use a consortium effort to provide quality implementation.

Learn more about how you can collaborate with schools and institutions, and leverage resources for your students by attending Greg’s presentation at the Institute. Register today.

Presenters include Greg, who will present with Julie Pluemer, Career Prep Specialist at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College in Fennimore, WI; and Mary Johannesen, Project Coordinator at the Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) #3 in Fennimore, WI.

Greg can be reached at [email protected].

Ramona Schescke, Member Services Manager