|
Project Newsletter
Issue 5
May/June 2007
We’ve definitely gotten behind on the monthly newsletters!
So much time and effort has been going into getting the
modules ready, putting the final touches of getting
logistics for ITAS Academy in place, and scheduling (and
rescheduling!) of classrooms, that we are behind in updates.
A tremendous effort has been given by faculty
members to complete the modules for ITAT and ITAS summer
programs. Drafts and feedback for modules were ongoing for
the months of May and June. The modules are definitely
taking shape and we are moving into the countdown phase
until the beginning of the academies. Teachers and students
will be presented with modules on Solid Modeling, Robotics,
Biomechanics, EXCEL and Leadership.
The teams met to go over preliminaries for
each of modules on June 8th from 11:30 am- 2 pm. This
provided an excellent opportunity for each team to get to
know more about other team activities and review the overall
focus of the academies. Suggestions and modifications were
discussed, and we all went back to our respective drawing
boards to continue working to get everything in place for
July.
Our Project Coordinator, Virginia Carraway,
has placed the equipment orders. Materials are being
collected and sorted for each school. Each one of the
participating high schools will be taking back resources and
equipment in order to put these modules in place in their
own classrooms for 2007-2008 academic year. She has also
been working on getting the final workbook revisions for the
curriculum development teams as well as coordinating the
copies of materials for the classes. This in addition to
trying to keep all of us on-task!
A few changes were made toward the end of
June in regard to participants. These last minute changes
were incorporated into the teacher and student lists, and we
are ready for our “official” ITEST name tags. The final
touches were put on the ITAT and ITAS schedules and insuring
the rooms had necessary equipment. One of last reviews for
modules was scheduled for first week in July.
Moodle (similar to Blackboard) is being used a resource for
materials/ideas/discussions. We have begun to get this in
place and will use it next year as a resource for ongoing
communication between university and schools.
This time period definitely represents the
crunch time. It has been an exciting undertaking and a lot
of effort has gone into (and continues to go in) trying to
make this summer a great experience for teachers and
students. Forgive the brevity, but a few more pieces need to
go in place before July 9th!
Wait! Bring back my robot! Where is an
engineer when you need one?????
|
