EDUCATIONAL
POLICY & LEADERSHIP STUDIES
Offering Interactive Learning on Your Desktop
Educational Administration faculty pictured L to R: Carolyn Wanat, Marc Haack, Susan Lagos Lavenz and Larry Bartlett
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From
our classrooms to your desk, The University of Iowa Educational
Administration Program is blazing trails to reach its students.
Beginning this summer, following a successful pilot launch,
prospective school administrators will have the option to
take courses not only on campus, but also simultaneously through
real-time, web-based courses available “live”
on their own desktop computers.
The courses use Elluminate Live!, a software program that
enables users to talk over the internet, chat online, and
share whiteboards and other applications.
Educational Administration graduate student David Dude, a
math teacher at Davenport Central High School, sees two benefits
of taking a course using Elluminate Live!.
“First, I don’t have to expend both time and money
driving to Iowa City,” he said. “Second, the class
sessions are archived, so any student—especially students
who were absent—can review the class as needed.”
But the technology, while important, is only one piece of
the delivery, says Associate Provost Chet Rzonca, dean of
the University’s Division of Continuing Education.
“Distant learners receive a quality formerly available
only to campus students,” he said. “This program,
the first at the University to offer all its coursework ‘live’
online, accommodates the need to prepare educational leaders
that could not or would not participate in a traditional campus
program.“
Clinical associate professors Marc Haack and Susan Lagos Lavenz
who are using the technology this spring to teach their courses,
say one of the most rewarding parts of being an instructor
in the program is knowing they are meeting the needs of their
students.
“Whether students live in Cherokee, Chicago, or China,
our ability to reach them is limitless,” Haack said.
Lagos Lavenz says the use of this new technology is of great
benefit for the instructors as well.
“It keeps us connected with the field, and is one more
way we can unite people and practice,” she said.
“Iowa’s Educational Administration faculty aren’t
afraid to embrace new ideas,” Dude said. “Their
efforts at blending academic knowledge, real-world experience,
and emergent technology are much appreciated.”
To learn more about Elluminate Live! at Iowa, visit www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/ccp/tech-support/elluminate.htm
For more information on the Educational Administration program,
visit www.education.uiowa.edu/epls/programs/
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