STEM » EdTech@VCCS

The VPT MathSite is a new website that provides users with free, supplemental online resources that help prepare them for the Virginia Placement Test-Math. The VPT Mathsite was developed with funds from a DOL TAACCCT grant to support, among other initiatives, the VCCS’s Developmental Math redesign efforts. A group of talented VCCS Math faculty selected high quality online resources aligned to the math assessment and Blue Ridge Community College Instructional Designer Greg Cook designed and developed the supporting website and introductory video found on the site’s homepage. The short video features VCCS students explaining the importance of preparing for the VPT (spoiler: to save time AND money).

The VPT MathSite provides sample math problems and links to online resources that correspond to each sub-unit of Units 0-3 of the VPT-Math. All of the recommended online resources are free, and include popular sites such as the Khan Academy, National Repository of Online Courses (NROC) Developmental Math course, and MathVids.com. College testing centers, local high schools, adult education programs, and other interested educational institutions are encouraged to link to the VPT MathSite and share the site’s resources with any student who may need additional college math preparation or remediation.

The URL for the VPT MathSite is http://vccsblogs.com/math/.

This is a free, one day workshop launching what is called the Technology and Teacher Education Initiative (TEI), which is hosted by SITE and Microsoft Partners in Learning. SITE has invited leaders from teacher educator associations representing Science Education (ASTE), Mathematics Education (AMTE), English/Language Arts (NCTE / CEE) and Social Studies (NCSS / CUFA) to attend the workshop on October 3rd, 2012 in Washington, DC. While community colleges don’t typically have teacher education programs, this event may be of interest to college faculty.

For more information on TEI Information go to www.microsoft.com/pilhighered. To get an idea of the background on this initiative, read an editorial by presidents of participating associations at http://www.citejournal.org/vol12/iss1/editorial/article1.cfm. To register, fill out the form at https://www.research.net/s/GJTR2VH.

Finding ways to lower the cost of education for Virginia community college students is an urgent goal of the VCCS, including the challenge of offering a “$20, 0000 bachelor’s” to Virginia students. A new partnership between the VCCS and Western Governors University accomplishes this, for $3000 less. This new agreement offers community college students a faster pathway to a Nursing degree at a total cost of $17,000. This is from yesterday’s announcement from Governor Bob McDonnell:

Governor Bob McDonnell today announced a new statewide guaranteed admission agreement between Virginia’s Community Colleges (VCCS) and Western Governors University (WGU) that creates a faster and more affordable pathway to a baccalaureate degree for nursing students beginning this academic year. Students who take advantage of the guaranteed admission agreement, which is unprecedented in Virginia, could earn a bachelor’s degree in three years at an estimated total cost of $17,000 in tuition and fees.“This agreement is exciting for Virginia students and families,” said Governor McDonnell. “I would like to commend these two bold and innovative organizations for coming together to help make a college education more affordable and accessible for Virginia families. In this particular case, it is creating an outstanding opportunity for students to prepare themselves for good-paying nursing careers – a career field that is often in demand in every region of the state.”

The guaranteed admission agreement requires students to first earn their associate’s degree in nursing from one of Virginia’s 23 community colleges as well as their license to practice as a Registered Nurse (RN). The students must also be working as a registered nurse to be accepted into WGU. Those students would then complete nine additional courses, for a total of 26 credit hours, through WGU on-line classes to earn their bachelor’s degree in nursing.

The VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics will be hosting a series of three annual conferences on K-20 STEM Education. The first will be held on October 1-3, 2012 with a focus on mathematics as the gateway to STEM Success. This conference includes a track focused on digital learning, as well as a plenary session dedicated to the same topic. The conference organizers are looking for innovative community college faculty to present at the conference, especially those doing interesting work in distance education or flipped classroom models. Contact Amy DeHart at DeHartAK@vmi.edu if you are interested in presenting.

Salman Khan of Khan Academy and Neil deGRasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in Washington, D.C. are two of the scheduled keynoters. Visit the conference website at http://www.vmi.edu/Content.aspx?id=10737419845 to find out more.

Introducing the VPT MathSite

Technology and Teacher Education Initiative

The $17K Baccalaureate

VMI Math Forum