Fermilab LInC Online

LInC Partnership Program Plan for 2001/2002

Team: Your Team Name Here


LInC Online Course

Test chat date:   Chat meeting day before class starts to meet facilitators and classmates and to make sure chat software is working
Start date:   First day of class - Almost all past teams have chosen to offer their first course in the winter. This allows time in the fall for enrolling participants and making sure all tools and materials are ready. Please coordinate with your facilitator for all dates and times in your 2001/2002 plan. We would like to have you continue with guidance from your current facilitator. To make this possible, you will need to pick mutually convenient times.
End date:   Last day of class - Typically the class lasts 14 weeks, not counting the test chat or vacations.
Chat meeting day:   Day(s) of week you will hold your chats - Typically at least 2 hours weekly is needed.
Chat start/end time:   Time of day your chats will be held, include time zone - Typically at least 2 hours weekly is needed.
Weekly staff meeting day/time:   Day of week and time (including timezone) you will get together for weekly staff meetings - Typically at least one hour is needed.
Audience:   Describe the primary audience for your course.
Number of participants:   12-20 is the suggested number for a first course. Please do not exceed 24. Typically each facilitator works with 4-6 participants (1-3 project-teams).
Course modification (optional):   Describe the modifications (if any) you are planning for the course. You may need to make modifications if you have a different audience such as pre-service teachers. If you do not need to make modifications for a different audience, you may wish to avoid making a lot of changes until after you have offered the course one or two times and feel more comfortable with the process and tradeoffs.


Facilitator Academy

Start date:   First day of facilitator academy - This is typically offered over the summer.
Number of days:   Length of your academy - Typically this is 3 days for participants who will be offering a shorter staff development than a full LInC course. Your participants are not expected to offer a full LInC course or an online course.
Academy format:   Online or face-to-face


Course Enrollment

Coordinator:   Who will be taking the lead for organizing this aspect? Please include contact information (e-mail, phone, and address).
Announcement date:   When will your team start announcing the course to others? Typically this needs to be started 4 months before your course starts.
Steps:   What steps will you take to let prospective participants know about your course? Who will you e-mail, meet with, call, or U.S. mail? In what publications and listservs can you post information about your course? When is the deadline for inclusion in these publications? What events can you attend to let potentially interested parties know about the course?
Incentives:   What incentives can you provide to your course participants?
Credit:   How will you arrange to have credit granted for your course? What is the process for getting a new course approved? What deadlines are involved?
Screening:   How will you make sure your applicants have the qualifications needed to be successful in your course?
Leadership:   How will you make sure your applicants have the administrative support and capabilities needed to provide leadership and offer staff development in their schools/district after the course?


Technical Issues and Support

Technical Support:   Who will set up the communication tools for your course and provide support on technical issues? Please include contact information (e-mail, phone, and address).
Clerical Support:   Who will provide clerical support such as copying course handouts, sending out mailings, taking course registrations, updating assignments status sheet, ... Please include contact information (e-mail, phone, and address).
Web/FTP Server:   Give the URL of the web server you will use to provide your class-specific materials such as home page, assignment sheet, and chat schedule. This web space (50-100M) with FTP access needs to be available to you by the time you arrive at the facilitator academy at Fermilab. Then you can upload your work from the academy right into your class web site. The LInC core materials will be available on the LInC web site. These should not be copied.
Electronic Bulletin Board:   What bulletin board software will you use for your course? If your agency already provides bulletin board software, you can use that if it is accessible to your intended audience. Most past LInC teams have chosen to use the free www.blackboard.com bulletin board software for their course. Whatever software you choose, it will need to be available to you by the time you arrive at the facilitator academy at Fermilab. Then you can populate it with postings for your course while you are at the academy. If you chose blackboard.com, we can help you get a class board at the academy. (Note: We are not associated with blackboard.com and do not receive any funds from them.)
Chat tool:   What chat communication server software will you use? Most past teams have used IRC server software that works with MSChat and ChatNet. Your chat server software is not required for the academy, though it would be a good opportunity to test it. Your chat server software should be up and running at least 30 days before your course starts.


Other Issues

What issues or obstacles do you anticipate? How will you address them?