TouchSmart Publishing and 24/7 Educational Services Announce Strategic Technology Partnership
TouchSmart and 24/7 have strategically partnered to develop and deploy teacher professional development (PD) courses using TouchSmart's innovative technology that turns the PD book into a remote control for 24/7's web-based PD courses.
Cincinnati, OH (PRWEB) February 1, 2005 -- TouchSmart Publishing, LLC and 24/7 Educational Services, LLC today announced a strategic partnership to develop and deploy teacher professional development (PD) courses. As part of the agreement TouchSmart Publishing has agreed to develop and offer courses through 24/7 Educational Services website - www.my247ed.com - and paper-based catalogs that uses the technology.
According to Jason Barkeloo, President of TouchSmart Publishing, Training teachers to implement our easy-to-use technology platform is an important goal in our quest to deploy our technology." Barkeloo added that, Interactive textbooks and flash cards based upon our technology promise to connect more students to digital content."
Tod Whitman, President and CEO of 24/7 Educational Services, explained that, 24/7 is pleased to deploy TouchSmarts professional development course targeting teachers around the world. Exposing teachers to break-through technologies that impact learning allows them to be ahead of the deployment curve, instead of running to catch up. A teacher will register for a course through our catalog in which a professional development book is delivered to the teacher. The teacher can then sit down in front of the computer or television and interact directly with the digital content of the course by pressing pictures and words on the pages."
24/7 Educational Services reaches teachers around the world. In order for teachers to maintain licensure and certifications they frequently are required by their respective State laws to participate in continuing education courses. In this era of teacher accountability with legislative mandates like No Child Left Behind (NCLB), States and teachers are increasingly turning to online PD courses. Receiving courses in the comfort of their offices, classrooms, and homes that meet these requirements reduces the onus many teachers experience by having to get a substitute and taking courses during the school day, when students would be better served without their absence.
Whitman continued, Too many times PD opportunities are viewed as a quick fix", versus a beginning or continuum of learning. The analogy of a still-camera and a movie-camera works well. Still-camera - Often, traditional PD has very defined times – whether a day or several days. Motion-camera - With our web-based courses, theres time for implementation and reflection, as our courses are available to the educator for up to a year after the course is completed. Educators are encouraged and able to interact with the instructors even after the course is completed. By having content in a digital form, book marked in a browser, the need for stacks of reference manuals or notebooks dog-eared sitting on shelves with good intentions, becomes a thing of the past. The TouchSmart product puts both at the touch of your fingers."
Barkeloo notes, Teachers have to achieve professional development standards and this is a cost-effective method for distributing content to them. We believe this is the best way to help teachers meet their continuing education requirements while at the same time exposing them to our new technology."
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
This deployment will occur in two phases. The first phase will have the course available and accessible only through the on-line environment. Courses will be available within 90 days and listed in the course offering catalogs being produced and distributed by 24/7 Educational Services. In the second phase the teacher will receive the TouchSmart course book" through the mail. This book will enable the teacher to access additional course content in a multi-media format by simply touching words and pictures in the book and having it call up the content from the web or a DVD player attached to a television.
Whitman concluded that, Coupling our two technologies to deliver PD courses to teachers is a ‘win-win strategy. As the teacher selects courses that are often paid for by the State or school district, we believe the teacher will try cutting edge courses and technologies such as those offered by TouchSmart. 24/7s goal is to deliver PD content in a convenient way to teachers and the TUI-based technology is exactly inline with our goals."
About TouchSmart Publishing, LLC.
TouchSmart Publishing is a developmental-stage company. It provides a solution to distribute educational content through its proprietary touch-sensitive books to K-12 education market with a particular emphasis upon math, science, and special education needs students. In partnership with content owners, the Company connects paper and digital contents by providing the technology to create easy-to-use interactive textbooks. By touching pages in a book the student is able to connect to digital content because the book becomes a remote control to multimedia content. Its remote controlled textbook touch user interface (TUI) technology connects to Macintosh, PC, and televisions via a DVD player. As a result, TouchSmart Publishing provides a bridge over the digital divide for more students, regardless of learning style, special needs or socioeconomic position.
TouchSmart is a Main Street Ventures company.
http://www.digitalrhine.com/
For more information, please visit the TouchSmart Publishing web site at http://www.touchsmart.net.
About 24/7 Educational Services LLC.
24/7 Educational Services, www.my247ed.com is a privately held education company founded in 2001. Its founders – all current or former teachers and administrators, have a broad technical, engineering and business backgrounds and a rich history of creating and teaching courses throughout the United States and overseas. www.my247ed.com aggregates, develops, markets and delivers professional development and college/university credit courses in compliance with the standards and procedures set forth by individual States. All courses offered on the www.my247ed.com site are approved or accredited per the requirements of each individual State and their respective State Education Boards. Courses are then made available online, via CD-ROM, video-cassette, audio-cassette, streaming video, a combination of several, or through the traditional classroom setting, and can be completed at the discretion of the educator over a year's time. Users of www.my247ed.com's site can easily track professional development opportunities and credit hours completed with www.my247ed.com or independently of www.my247ed.com within a secure area of the of www.my247ed.com's Professional Development Management System (PDMS) on its website.
The products and services 24/7 Educational Services delivers allows educators to take courses at their own pace, at a schedule they set and location they desire. With over 170 courses, this is truly a one-stop-shopping location for all continuing education needs. It eliminates the frustrations of searching in several different places for needed professional development and credit hours by offering the courses all in one easy location--the Internet. It allows educators to have easy access to a diverse selection of professional development courses, improving the probability that the educator finds a subject of interest. It's available at any time, not simply after school or on Saturday, and eliminates the need to find transportation.
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