FUTURISTIC TEACHER PREPAREDNESS

Students and faculty members in the College of Education have begun using College LiveText, an online service for the preparation of portfolios, lesson plans, curricular projects and other instructional creations. The software allows students to search for and align their instructional materials with local, state and national standards. Students may also search and choose online digital movies and embed them into their instructional projects.

Students create materials using CoE faculty-designed templates for lesson plans, portfolios or instructional projects. The templates help students incorporate necessary elements into each instructional project, assisting in the development of high-quality learning activities.

Students can also electronically share their materials with professors, who provide feedback and evaluate materials using online assessments and review tools. Students can create electronic portfolios and share these with cooperating teachers, prospective employers or anyone else with Internet access. 

"Students purchase this online subscription service once as an undergraduate, and access continues throughout their pre-service educational career and their first year of professional teaching," says CoE Dean Phillip Wishon.

INNOVATION AWARD ENERGIZES TEAMWORK

Students and professors have won one of five 2004 Innovation Awards from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council for their efforts to promote renewable energy sources through a "real-world" undergraduate program. JMU was recognized for a range of efforts that encompass solar, thermal, photovoltaic, small- and large-scale wind power, fuel cells and alternative fuel vehicles and for "heavy emphasis" on experimental learning, teamwork and hands-on study. The IREC award specifically cites JMU's renewable energy activities in the Department of Integrated Science and Technology's energy sector, according to ISAT professor Jonathan Miles. "The fact that JMU was recognized with this award is a testament to how far a visionary undergraduate program can reach.

  "The ISAT program promotes an integrated, real-world view of renewables by mixing technical, economic, policy, decision-making and other personal and professional skills into an active learning environment," Miles adds.

OH, WHAT A WEB WE WEAVE

More than 6 million full-text scientific and medical articles will be available online for the first time thanks to JMU and six Virginia colleges and universities. The consortium, in conjunction with Amsterdam-based Elsevier, a leading publisher of scientific journals, will provide more than 1,800 publications for a Web site that will be accessible to students and professors throughout Virginia.

"We are proud to support the James Madison University Cooperative libraries in their goal of providing the best research materials available to their communities," says Frank Vrancken Peeters, Elsevier's managing director for sales.

JMU played leading roles in negotiating the contract with Elsevier, procuring data to be used on the ScienceDirect site and managing consortium accounts. Sharon Gasser, director of JMU library technical services, was instrumental in contract negotiations.

"We're pleased that for the next five years JMU students and professors will have online access to more than 1,800 scholarly journals," she says.

Consortium members include JMU, George Mason, Old Dominion, Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech and William and Mary.