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Using Technology to Enrich Education

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A FutureU Faculty Development Program FutureU CIO Claude Whitmyer, leading a training. Click for larger image.

FutureU is your community of support and services for e-learning and virtual collaboration.

For more information, contact:

FutureU
601 Van Ness Avenue, Suite E433
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-824-7726
415-520-5416 (fax)
query@futureu.com

For more on FutureU’s products and services, visit our online catalog.


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After training with FutureU, 83% of MAINSTREAM FACULTY (not early adopters!) said they now felt like "intermediate," "advanced" or even "professional" Web course builders. Two-thirds had called themselves "beginners" prior to the training.

 
Email Us for more information about how we can meet your faculty development needs.

Sure, software vendors offer training---in their own product. But if you want...

  • Transferable skills as well as product-specific skills
  • a full understanding of the active learning model appropriate to teaching online
  • support for the shift in attitude necessary to long-term success with technology
  • Independent, non-proprietary guidance and support
    •

...then you want FutureU to train your faculty.

Our intensive 16-week course combines online learning with face-to-face workshops. Content involves pedagogy as well as technical training in text-based and audio/video delivery.

FutureU trainers are prepared to teach any of the major course management software packages. We think we do it better--more clearly, more objectively--than the vendors themselves. We respect your product choices, and we always convey enthusiastic support to your faculty, but we won't turn your valuable training time into an extended "pitch" and we will help your faculty learn the shortcuts and overcome the challenges that each package inevitably offers.

We always teach more than the software. We know from experience that products come and go. We've seen some terrific packages turn to dust. We believe strongly that every teacher today needs:

  • Guidance in email management
  • More than a cursory introduction to online facilitation
  • A feeling for when to use which medium
  • A reality check on how to manage the workload
  • A firsthand experience of the online student perspective
  • A little HTML and other transferable skills
  • Repetition, repetition, repetition
    •

College faculties from California to Missouri to Puerto Rico have given "glowing reviews" of FutureU's training programs in the use of technology for education. Project directors say the professors have "exceeded expectations." And, participants report having a darned good time working with us.

To talk about how FutureU can customize our turn-key training solutions to your needs, please call (415) 824-7726 or send an email to Gail Terry Grimes at gail[at]futureu.com

Features Return to Menu

A typical FutureU training program includes:

  • Online assessment of faculty readiness (attitudinal as well as technical) that helps increase buy-in
  • Non-partisan recommendations on technology and basic skills training
  • Three or four multi-day face-to-face workshops in your computer lab, spread across a semester (Up to 20 participants per group)
  • Complete access to extensive workshop materials for use as handouts
  • Self-paced and facilitated online study of FutureU's Faculty Web Book ("Make the Most of Teaching Online") between workshops
  • Email reinforcers of workshop topics following each face-to-face event
  • Complex information conveyed in the simplest, clearest possible way (All FutureU training materials are prepared by a technology expert AND a "non-techie" writer.)
  • Telephone support throughout for faculty and staff
  • Consultation with your staff on individual faculty progress and needs
  • Customized project Web site with links to resources related to building a course web site and teaching online
  • Access for your library staff to FutureU's Library Web Tool ("Planning and Managing Online Library Access")
  • Access for your project staff to FutureU's Decision Makers Web Tool "Choosing Course Management Software")
  • Access to FutureU's "Bargain Hunter's Guide to Building Your Own Course Web Site"
  • Follow-up online assessment and written analysis of results with recommendations for next steps
    •

Benefits Return to Menu

  • Better retention
  • Less expensive than the same level of service delivered by software vendors
  • More comprehensive immersion than any other approach
  • Thorough skill-building in software, but ultimately less dependence on a single platform (Expect a smoother transition if you ever switch.)
  • Improved quality of student participation (because we expose faculty firsthand to the student experience of an interactive online course)
  • Reduced workload for your staff
  • An independent viewpoint (FutureU is not paid to promote any product.)
  • An exceptionally high level of faculty satisfaction

Technology Requirements Return to Menu

For Hands-On Workshops:

  • Course Management System Software (We support all major packages including Blackboard, eTudes, Centrinity (aka FirstClass), Intralearn, Prometheus, WebCT, and VirtualU. And we will even learn your platform if it's not one we already know.)
  • Computer Lab, with a computer and Internet connection for every participant (required)
  • Two LCD projectors with projection screens
  • Two instructor computers running Microsoft Office 2000 and attached to LCD projectors, one Internet ready (or tech staff to assist in connecting our laptops to your Internet connection--which we prefer)
  • Two portable microphones (one lavalier, one hand-held)
  • White board, black board, or flip chart on an easel with pens or chalk (as appropriate)
  • Your tech staff to assist in testing setup and/or in connecting FutureU laptops to your Internet connection

For Online Training:

  • Email, browser, downloading capability
  • Access to the World Wide Web
    •

The Web books used in the online component of FutureU training exist as a series of Web pages accessed by password on the Internet. Each participant receives a personal password for access from their own computer, plus at least one subject-based discussion forum and one peer-based technical support forum.

CMS Compatibility Return to Menu

All FutureU Web books have been tested for use as a course text in WebCT, Blackboard, eCollege, eTudes, Centrinity (aka FirstClass), IntraLearn, Prometheus, Web Course in a Box, VirtualU, and as a stand-alone Web site that can be used with any electronic classroom.

Conversion to other environments is available for an additional fee.

About FutureU Return to Menu

FutureU publishes Web books, provides online and face-to-face learning experiences, consults with institutions, and studies the fields of online education and communications. Don't look to us for Java training; our niche is the "soft" subjects.

We are a virtual company. We develop our products in teams of independent contractors, with a subject matter expert, producer, and programmer on each team. Our sales force also functions virtually.

For more information, please contact Gail Terry Grimes, CEO, at 415/824-7726 or Claude Whitmyer, Chief Information Officer, at 415/648-2667.

FutureU
601 Van Ness Avenue, Suite E433
San Francisco, CA 94102
Vox: 415-824-7726
Fax: 415-520-5416
Web: http://www.FutureU.com/
Email: query[at]futureu.com

Copyright © 1997-2004 by Claude Whitmyer and Gail Terry Grimes.
Published by The University of the Future LLC.
All rights reserved.