I am proud to announce that working with Buffalo State-SUNY we are now offering a fully online Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy (COETAIL) Program to International Educators. This is a special program that only International Educators (Educators working at recognized International Schools) can apply for.

I can't believe it's been four years since we started this program at ISB and three years since Kim Cofino and I took it on and expanded it to other International Schools. At the moment we have 5 Cohorts running (a total of about 100 educators) throughout Asia and now with the online option we can expand into other regions as well.

Here are the details of the program:

The first fully online Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy (COETAIL) program offered by SUNY will begin February 5th, 2012.

This 15 Graduate Credit program has been created specifically for International Educators and is taught by International Educators. Over 120 educators have completed the program thus far and SUNY calls it "A rigorous set of courses that address the current and future needs of educators."

Online COETAIL Details:
- Starts Feb. 5, 2012 and ends May 5, 2013
- No Summer Classes (we like our summers too!)
- 15 Graduate Credit Program. Credits can be used towards a Master's Degree from SUNY
- No need to travel, all you need is a computer and an Internet connection
- Only International Educators can apply, due to special rate.

For more information and to register visit http://www.coetail.asia/online12-13/

It really is a fantastic program that is seeing great results. We surveyed graduates of the program six months after completion to see if the program's concepts, knowledge and understanding had brought about change in their teaching. 86% of educators strongly agreed or agreed that what they learned had influenced their teaching practice a full six months after they completed the program. You can see other stats in the infographic below.

It's also great to hear administrators liking what they are seeing and hearing from those that are in or have completed the program. I was having dinner with an administrator this past week who was here in Bangkok for the recruiting fair. He works at a 1:1 Mac school and is looking for educators who have a pedagogical understanding of how to teach in a 1:1 environment. He was impressed with the knowledge, skills, and understandings that the COETAIL participants had...but what he was really impressed with was what they were doing with students in their classroom.

That, I believe, is the real strength of this program. From the first course teachers are creating lessons and implementing new ideas in their own teaching practice and reflecting on their outcomes as they build their own skills and knowledge. 

This new online cohort starts on February 5th. So if you are an International Educator and you or someone you know is interested, visit http://www.coetail.asia/online12-13/ and sign up today!

As I’m rolling out the PD announcements I can’t leave out my most looked forward to conference of this summer. I’m honored to be this years Keynote at the Laptop Institute in Memphis this summer. A whole conference dedicated to 1:1 classrooms. Besides keynoting I’ll also be doing somewhere between 4 and 6 break out sessions. We’re gonna get geekie with it! 

While you’re there…also have a look at the pre-conference sessions. If your school is going 1:1 garunteed you can find a pre-conference that will fit your needs. There’s only about 5 I want to attend. 

Although I’m officially retired from the planning committee this year…..I’ve been honored as being invited as a speaker and cohort leader for next year’s Learning 2.011 conference. We learned a lot last year about using the cohort model along with the unconference approach and this year the organizers are once again pushing to redefine what it means to be a conference. That’s what I love about this conference, it’s created by educators that are looking to get out of the box, do things different and meet the needs of the 400 people who are lucky to attend. 

One great thing about holding this conference in China is presenters and cohort leaders love a free trip to China…that’s something you don’t get the chance at everyday and over the years we’ve been fortunate enough to continue to attract great cohort leaders and this year will be no different!

Year after year cohort leaders tell us this is one of the most switched on group of educators they get a chance to interact with. To listen to last year’s cohort leaders debrief stop by Wes Fryer’s blog where he’s posted a podcast of last years debrief with cohort leaders to get a feel of the conference and what to expect. 

Last year the conference sold out by July so you are gonna want to register early for this one!

The course, much like the book, is meant for newbies to the web and web 2.0 tools. So if you know of someone in your school or district that needs some structure and a grad credit to get them into the Web 2.0 world this just might be the thing. 

Here’s a PDF Poster with information about the course that you can hang in your staff lounge as well.

Thanks again to PBS, WVIZ and of course you….my PLN!

Click on the Image to download the Poster

I’ll be joining at least one session online and will be following this closely to see what people think. I’m just honored they decided the book was good enough to offer a class around.  

Amazing what can happen when you openly share your thoughts and ideas on the web. First you start blogging…then you write a book…crazy world we live in. 

$2.00 OFF LIMITED TIME!

To celebrate this I’ve decided to offer Reach to those of you who have not bought a copy or gotten one of the over 5,000 free copies to date a limited time discount of $2.00 off. If you have already bought a copy I appreciate your support! 

1. Go to the website here

2. Enter the discount code: DT3PXCWH

(CreateSpace is an Amazon.com affiliate)

(If you take the course the book is included)

I love the fact that there’s no definite beginning or end, which
acknowledges the fact that all teachers come to a school with different
history and different needs. Not everyone will need to start with “full
collaboration” when they come to ISB because they might have already
done something like that at a previous school.

Nice work Kim!

Read the full article here with comments!