PBS TeacherLine Capstone Program Receives ISTE Seal of Alignment
PBS TeacherLine, an online professional development program for educators operated by the Public Broadcasting Service, has received the NETS*T Seal of Alignment from the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) for its ISTE Capstone Certificate Program. The announcement was made at last week's National Education Computing Conference (NECC) in Washington, DC.
ISTE, an organization dedicated to the advancement of both technology use in schools and other educational environments and education in 21st-century technology skills, developed the NETS*T standards for technology in education as a means of certifying educators' professional skills in teaching with today's technology. The standards were updated in 2008 in conjunction with the surge in Internet use by students since the millennium. ISTE awards its Seal of Alignment for Development to professional development programs in education that meet its established benchmarks for teaching with technology. PBS previously earned the Seal of Alignment for Development in 2006 and for Assessment in 2008.
The PBS TeacherLine ISTE Capstone Certificate Program is a series of research-based, graduate-level courses focusing on instructional technology use. The program courses have been updated, effective in the 2009-10 school year, to comply with the newly updated NETS*T standards. The three courses in the program are: Capstone Introduction: Planning a Technology Portfolio (six weeks), Capstone I: Teaching with Technology (12 weeks), and Capstone II: Empowering Students With Technology (12 weeks). Detailed course and enrollment information for fall 2009 can be found here.
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Scott Aronowitz is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas. He has covered the technology, advertising, and entertainment sectors for seven years. He can be reached here.