Professional Development: Online Classes Course Catalog

African American Experiences: Window to the Past
African American experiences during slavery are identified in the National and State History Standards, “the student understands African life under slavery.” This course will draw upon eye witness accounts, diaries, newspaper articles, broadsides, engravings, and songs to understand the cultural landscape of the period. Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University. Cyberbee Learning

Cable in the Classroom 101 (This class is a collaborative effort between ITSCO and Time Warner Cable Mid-Ohio Division.) Cable in the Classroom, an education foundation, offers a website that has a vast amount of educational resources. Included are cable’s educational television programming and web resources, publications on current topics in education, high speed learning tools, media and information literacy resources, podcasts and more. This course will take an in-depth view of these resources and will provide teachers with an opportunity to supplement their existing lesson plans and develop new ones using cable’s teaching tools.

Time Warner Cable Mid-Ohio Division is offering a special promotion for this class. Please contact Mary Peters at (614) 481-5417 or mary.peters@twcable.com for more information.

Creating Web Pages for the Classroom with Dreamweaver
Through web authoring, teachers can share lessons, resources, and class information with students and parents. Web authoring also opens doors for students in the form of projects, collaboration, and online learning. This course will center on the basic skills necessary to create a web page using DreamWeaver MX, classroom integration, and publishing to the web. Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.

Creative Activities for the Classroom using Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office offers endless possibilities for educational integration. In this course you’ll create a newsletter with Word, a placemat with PowerPoint, a timeline with Excel and an iron-on transfer with Paint – all of which will be aligned to individual content standards and ready for use in the classroom. We also focus on the use of templates and strategies for efficient class applications. Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.

Designing a WebQuest
Are you looking for...a better way to engage students in the learning process? ...ways to use the Internet with existing curriculum?...students to spend more time using information than searching for it? WebQuests are excellent tools for accomplishing these goals and others. A WebQuest is an inquiry oriented activity that uses pre-defined resources primarily from the Web. The WebQuest is based on an engaging task and can be a short assignment or a long term project. Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.

Everyday Artifacts: Using Primary Sources in the Classroom
While rummaging in grandma's attic, have you ever discovered a box of old photographs and marveled at the images, never to know who is pictured? Or found old newspapers, magazines, or sheet music and wondered how they survived the ravages of time? Imagine seeing the hand-written journal entry of Walt Whitman's observations of the wounded at the Battle of Antietam or viewing the only known picture of Lincoln at Gettysburg. Now you can reconnect with our nation's history through the many online collections presented by libraries, organizations, and museums. This course will explore history from the hand-written documents of the founding fathers to the social and cultural landscape of a growing nation. In words, pictures, and sounds, primary sources offer us the unique opportunity to dig through all sorts of original artifacts and bring living history into our classrooms. Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.  Cyberbee Learning

Graphic Organization with Inspiration /Kidspiration
A graphic organizer provides a visual of facts, ideas, and concepts. This visual allows the mind to "see" relationships and patterns. In this course you will learn how to use and then integrate Inspiration into your existing curriculum in support of teaching and learning. Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.

Hiking, Building, and Climbing: Henry David Thoreau for all Ages
Using three delightful picture books by DB Johnson discover the life and philosophy of Henry David Thoreau. This course will include interactive and engaging activities that teachers can use with students of all ages. Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.  Cyberbee Learning

Kids Safety and Ethics in the Digital Classroom
Sail on the S.S. Cookie to learn about copyright, Web site evaluation, and current laws regarding Kid Safety on the Internet. Virtually interact with students in the class via e-mail, discussion boards, and file sharing. Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.  Cyberbee Learning

Out of the Dust and Into the Light
When the billowing black clouds of dust rolled and swirled across the plains in the 1930s, the American landscape was drastically changed. With their crops destroyed, a steady stream of humanity trekked westward to the promised land of California. John Steinbeck wrote vividly about the migrant camps in the Grapes of Wrath, Dorothea Lange documented the harsh conditions with compelling photographs, and Woody Guthrie, a refugee himself, sang dust bowl ballads. The stark reality of the depression era contrasts sharply with the decades before and after it. This course will travel down the highway of time and study first hand eyewitness accounts, photographs, and music along with John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust. Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.  Cyberbee Learning

Revolutionary Viewpoints
April Morning by Howard Fast is on many core reading lists and addresses several of the standards in reading/language arts as well as social studies. This course draws upon primary sources and the book as a means to interpret the events of April 19, 1775.  Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.  Cyberbee Learning

Web 2.0 Tools for Educators
Heard of 'Web 2.0' but don't really know what it is? In this class, participants will gain a broad understanding of 'Web 2.0' and explore 'Web 2.0' applications such as blogs, wikis, RSS and more. We will look at examples of how teachers and students are using 'Web 2.0' applications, discuss integration ideas and learn how to get started with these cool, collaborative and free applications!

Note:  Participants will need to have a computer with broadband access and access to email.  Some sites for this class may be blocked at school.  Participants will need to be able to access these sites either from home or be able to have them unblocked at school.

Who Dunnit? Forensic Science as Inquiry
Forensic science is the study of objects that relate to a crime. The objects are evidence and analyzing the evidence is what forensic scientists do. They observe, classify, compare, use numbers, measure, predict, interpret data, and draw inferences. Scientists they are and crimes they solve. Forensic Science is a perfect way to teach students inquiry.  Participants in this class will solve a mystery and gain ideas for creating their own Who Dunnit mystery.  Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.  Cyberbee Learning

Wikis for Book Studies
Each semester, participants can choose their own book for our online class to study and develop materials to use within the classroom.  Focus will be placed on creating and using Wikis, Internet research, literary elements, emerging technologies, and assessment.  Participants are responsible for obtaining the book or unabridged audio file.  This course may be repeated for graduate credit (as long as you are studying a new book). Two semester-hours of graduate credit is available through Ashland University.

Writing Across the Curriculum through Digital Scrapbooking Part 1 (of 2 courses)
It’s all the fun of scrapbooking with an educational twist!  Combine journaling with digital images and the possibilities are endless for classroom activities.  Scrapbooking offers a way to use standard curriculum to allow students to create a personal relationship with the material. Information is gathered and transformed into meaningful learning as students find their own voice and present it in a way that others can understand. Scrapbooking can be an excellent motivator while providing a tool for organizing, analyzing and sharing information.  PART 1:  This course serves as an introduction to writing across the curriculum and digital scrapbooking use Photoshop Elements (PSE).  Skills covered include navigating the PSE work area, inserting and manipulating images and photo restoration.  Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.

Writing Across the Curriculum through Digital Scrapbooking Part 2 (of 2 courses)
The second part of this series builds on digital imaging skills.  In addition to writing across the curriculum, PSE skills such as effects, filters, text effects, clipart, and creating backgrounds will be covered.  Participants must complete part one before taking this course.  Two semester hours of graduate credit is available for this course through Ashland University.