University News
WIU STAR-Online Receives Gold Star
February 8, 2002
MACOMB, IL -- Western Illinois UniversityÂ’s STAR (Supporting Teachers with Anytime/Anywhere Resources) Online project is being featured for the month of February on the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) website (www.aascu.org).
The AASCU Teacher Education web page publicizes innovative and effective programs that are examples of leadership in teacher education among its 430 member institutions. This is a new endeavor for AASCU, and STAR-Online is the first program to earn this distinction.
STAR-Online, administered by WIU’s College of Education and Human Services, enables K-12 teachers with little experience in using computers to create technology-rich learning environments in their classrooms without having to attend workshops or classes. Teachers can access online training modules from schools or their homes, at their convenience. This “anytime/anyplace” professional development system provides teachers a rich array of individualized training on how to use various technologies and how to incorporate them into their teaching. WIU project staff are available by phone or online to provide assistance. Staff also conduct regional training sessions.
“STAR-Online is providing high quality professional development to large numbers of teachers and schools throughout Illinois and the nation,” said Eva Griffin, director of AASCU Office of Teacher Education. “It is an exemplary program and should be a model of how a university can use the power of technology in innovative ways to provide cutting edge programs to K-12 schools.”
This year, a total of 2,524 participants have registered for STAR-Online from 673 educational sites around the country.
STAR-Online is a five-year project funded by a United States Department of Education Star Schools grant. This is the fourth Star Schools award to WIU, which is the only institution of higher education in the nation to have received multiple Star Schools grants. For more information on STAR-Online, visit www.star-online.org.
Posted By: Darcie Shinberger (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing
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