A Successful Intel Teach Advanced Online Consortium focuses on LMS and Community

Feldkirchen/Munich, 1 ^st February 2008 – The 6^th International Intel® Teach – Advanced Online Consortium Meeting held on the 30^th and 31^st January in Feldkirchen/Munich was motivated by the desire to take the current programme to a completely new level, by combining the latest findings on e-learning with the latest developments in Learning Management Systems (LMS). The main goal of the meeting, attended by government representatives of the 7 participating countries and by Intel Education, was to find common ways on how to extend the reach of the platform by building a solid online community of teaching practitioners, while also expanding the professional development courses offered as blended learning concepts via the platform.

In particular, the solution of a LMS was analysed in detail to understand the challenges and benefits it may present to blended learning. Technical functionalities, as well as time, place and form of study are criteria closely connected to the choice of LMS.

While looking ahead to constantly improve the professional development courses offered, Intel Education is not doing away with the tried and tested. Stressing that “we are not trying to replace face-to-face training, but we are offering activities to the community members so that they can better manage their courses”, Martina Roth, Director of Global Education Strategies of Intel, re-emphasised the company’s commitment to teacher training in a responsible and sustainable way.

And the delegates from the participating countries subscribed to this view, acknowledging the need to add a self-study programme, as well as nurturing the community that has been built through the launch of ‘Intel Teach – Advanced Online’ platform in various countries and through the Consortium, in itself a community of leading educational practitioners.

The meeting was structured in two days of intensive workshop, where the best known methods gained in the countries, as well as specific local needs, were mapped against Intel’s future vision of professional development for teachers and the features and limitations of the LMS. The result were a clear set of actions that will lead to a blueprint for the next generation of blended learning concepts offered by Intel Education. ‘Intel Teach – Advanced Online’ is a Public-Private Partnership, and by drafting in key stakeholders so early in the planning process we ensure that the final product will meet or even exceed the needs and expectations of the target audience.

The programme is built on solid foundations, as explained by Amin Heydarpour, Director of Intel Education Online Programmes Development: “In terms of content and quality offered with our programmes, we are not just leading, we are unique”. With this in mind, and with the outcome of this Consortium meeting, the future for ‘Intel Teach – Advanced Online’ is indeed very bright.

Delegates in attendance were from Germany and Austria, where Intel® Teach – Advanced Online is well established by now and has reached more than 100,000 teachers, from England, France and Ireland; as well as Israel, Italy and Jordan, where the program is starting in Q1 2008.

The Intel® Education Initiative is a large-scale, sustained commitment to accelerate education improvement for the knowledge economy – as a trusted partner to governments and educators worldwide. With an annual investment of approximately $100 million (US) in over 50 countries, Intel’s education programmes focus on:

• improving teaching and learning through the effective use of technology
• advancing math, science, and engineering education and research
• advocating for and celebrating 21^st century educational excellence

The Intel® Teach Programme is a professional development programme that helps classroom teachers effectively integrate technology to enhance student learning. It is the largest programme of its kind, with over 4 million teachers trained in over 40 countries since 1999.

Intel® Teach – Advanced Online is a pedagogical model for teachers’ professional development that builds on teachers’ collaboration for the design, delivery, and assessment of the National Curriculum in order to enhance students’ learning and achievements. Built on the three main educational pillars: Teaching Strategies, Teaching Models and Learning Styles, it also empowers teachers with tools for collaboration.

The programme is part of the Intel Education Initiative, one of the leading Public-Private-Partnership Initiatives worldwide for the inclusion of ICT in Education. It is currently running in Germany, Austria, UK, Ireland and France and it will start soon in Israel, Jordan and Italy.

The UK version can be accessed via aoc.ssatrust.org.uk*