A Time to Give Thanks...

Here at School Island, we are most grateful for our growing "family" and to all those who have shared their great suggestions. Your suggestions make School Island the best study experience around. In this issue, we recognize a special member of our School Island family - Monique Darrisaw. Also in this issue... learn more about our new Pre-Calculus course as well as a number of new enhancements. Lastly, find out about upcoming conferences and learn why paper-based learning may become a thing of the past.

Recognition

Recognizing Monique Darrisaw...

In a Special Report on Education entitled "Changing Directions" by Eddy Ramirez in the October 1, 2007 issue of US News & World Report, Mr. Ramirez highlights recent changes that have been made in NYC schools. In his article, he features an interview with Monique Darrisaw at the Academy of Urban Planning – a member of our School Island family. School Island commends the ACU staff and students for the tremendous strides they have made. To read the full article, check out Please see http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/2007/09/18/new-york-city-schools-win-500000-broad-prize.html.

Enrollments

Just a friendly reminder to all schools to send in your student enrollments and to take a few minutes to "houseclean" your teacher and administrative accounts. For more information, click the 7/24 ***Important Account Info for Admins*** link in the Information Center portion of the Administrator Home page.

For Students

Renaming of Language Arts Course Series

The Language Arts course series found on the Student Home page has been renamed "English & Foreign Languages" to make it easier to find the French and Spanish courses.

For Teachers and Administrators

Custom Login IDs

A new School Island preference allows Teachers and Administrators at a school change their own School Island Login IDs. For example: If your teachers prefer to select their own Login ID (such as their e-mail address or network Login), they may do so by going to the Preference page and checking the Allow teachers and administrators to change their Login ID checkbox. Once enabled, Teachers and Administrators may change their Login ID using their Profile page.

Note: This preference does not allow students to modify their Login IDs; just Teachers and Administrators.
 

New Pre-Calculus Course

School Island now has a new advanced course in mathematics, Pre-Calculus. Topics in the initial release of this course include:

• Introduction to mathematical functions, domain, and range
• Composition and decomposition of functions
• Linear and quadratic functions and regressions, polynomial functions, as well as maxima and minima
• Rational and radical functions
• Introduction to matrices
• Sequences and series
• Exponential and logarithmic functions and regressions
• Graphing and transformations

Additional units to be released in the coming months include:

• Trigonometric functions
• Parametric and polar equations
• An introduction to limits and derivatives

Pre-Calculus features a wide-range of graphics and fully worked-out problem solutions incorporating both algebraic and calculator techniques. In addition to a comprehensive listing of formulas and equations, the extensive set of reference information provides step-by-step instructions and examples of many advanced algebraic techniques including: completing the square, grouping, synthetic division, u-substitution, matrix arithmetic, and regressions. The Calculator Tips include step-by-step instructions and examples of many tasks commonly done on a graphing calculator, including finding the roots, maxima, minima, points of intersection and slopes of graphs, regressions, scatter plots and curves of best fit, matrix operations and solving matrix equations, and calculating the area under a curve.

For Administrators

New Delete Account Function

While maintaining School Island, Administrators may need to delete accounts of users (Teachers, Administrators, and/or Students) who are no longer in your school or district. User accounts may be deleted in one of two ways:

1. To delete a single account:
   a) Go to the Accounts page.
   b) Click the Delete icon in the Delete column of the user account targeted for deletion. School Island displays a confirmation message indicating the selected user account has been deleted.
    
2. To delete multiple accounts:
   a) Check the check box next to each user account you wish to delete.
   b) Click the Delete Checked Accounts link located below the list of accounts. School Island displays a confirmation message indicating the selected user accounts have been deleted.

Statistics & Surveys

8.5 Undeniable Facts and Statistics About Online Education

Paul Jacobelli writes some sobering facts he feels you must see and understand if you want your school to survive (and actually thrive) in the coming years. Here's a summary:

1. Over the next few years there will be over 2.3 million US students taking distance-learning courses.

2. Over 85% of four-year colleges already offer online courses.

3. Online learning got a huge boost on April 1, 2006 when Congress passed legislation removing the so-called "50-percent rule", which require colleges to deliver at least half of their courses face-to-face to qualify for federal student aid.

4. The State University of New York (SUNY) has 2,000 online faculty. This year, SUNY is expected to reach 20,000 online enrollments for summer courses alone. In less than 10 years, SUNY online has grown from 119 students to over 100,000.

5. Contrary to what many have been led to believe, retention in online courses is up to 50% higher than traditional classroom courses.

6. According to a 2001 “No Child Left Behind” report, 36% of public school districts have students in distance education (46% of rural districts). 72% of K-12 schools offering distance learning plan to expand their online courses.

7. A U.S. Department of Labor report states 80% of jobs in 2010 do not exist today, with a large percentage being learned online.

8. A recent ThinkEquity Partners study looked at the worldwide potential of US online education and found:

• For every foreign student studying in the U.S., there are three to five students who would consume U.S. education online if they had the access or the resources.

• Potential of 1.6 million international distance learning candidates.

• In the next 20 years, there will be 36 million additional skilled white collar workers needed in Asia and globally.

• Global demand for higher education will top $215 billion by 2025.

 8.5 According to a recent survey, over 50% of career colleges say they are exploring e-learning options.

Source: For the full article, check out 8.5 Undeniable Facts and Statistics About Online Education.

Conferences

November 1-2-3

Communities in Schools Leadership Conference, Atlanta GA. For more information, go to http://www.cisnet.org/.

November 7, 2007

SCOPE Technology Conference, Islandia, NY.

November 4-5-6

Science Teachers Association of NY State (STANYS), Ellenville NY. For more information, go to http://www.cisnet.org/.

November 15-16

NC Science Teachers Conference, Greensboro, NC. For more information, go to http://www.ncsta.org/.

November 17, 2007

Association of Math Teachers - NY City (AMT - NYC), Hunter College, NY. For more information, go to http://www.ncsta.org/.

November 18-19-20

NYS Association of Technology Educators (NYSCATE), Rochester, NY. For more information, go to http://www.nyscate.org/.

November 26-27-28-29

NC Technology Conference, Greensboro, NC. For more information, go to http://www.ncetc.org/.

Quick Links

E-Learning Sites

For more information about e-learning, check out the following sites:

• National Education Technology Plan

• Virtual Schools and E-Learning in K-12 Environments

• Putting a World-Class Education at the Fingertips of All Children

• E-Learning: Impacts of IT on Education

• US Open E-Learning Consortium

As a member of the School Island family, this is your newsletter. If you have any comments, ideas for future newsletter articles, or suggestions for a School Island product feature or enhancement, please send them to support@schoolisland.com. We would love to hear from you!