Post by title1parent on Sept 2, 2008 5:33:12 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1138892,2_1_AU02_TEACHTRAIN_S1.article
Teachers turning to Internet for required training
September 2, 2008
By Linda Girardi Special to The Beacon News
Educators can now go online to meet some programs required by the state and federal governments.
Access to the Internet training program "helps the school district deal with some of the required compliance training," said Jeff Schuler, assistant superintendent of human resources for the Kaneland School District.
Schuler said the "Global Compliance Network" avoids having to organize time-consuming training sessions because effective training tutorials covering a variety of subjects -- bloodborne pathogens, alcohol and drug awareness, asthma and autism -- are available online.
Schuler said he became aware of the network through a consortium of school district administrators. The cost to the district is $1,000 per year for the online programs.
"We will have access to all of the training modules for as many employees," Schuler told members of the School Board.
Schuler explained how teachers can log into the system through their personal computers and begin selecting subject areas.
"They are required to go through two modules for general and sexual harassment in the workplace," he said.
Schuler said there also is a useful "Guide for Substitute Teaching" that will be required of Kaneland's substitute teachers.
"We will get from time to time a substitute teacher that does not have school-based experience that may have come from management. This is a training module that we can require of them prior to even placing them on our substitute teaching list," he said.
Schuler said the district would be able to track who has completed the 30- to 45-minute, self-paced training sessions.
Schuler said staff members reviewed the tutorials prior to the district signing on to the network and found the material as effective as previous group training sessions.
"There's no compromise," the administrator said. "This freed up an hour and a half in time in a day that we were able to spend talking to teachers about professional learning communities and expectations for instruction within the district. It's a much richer level of dialogue with staff members," Schuler said.
Teachers turning to Internet for required training
September 2, 2008
By Linda Girardi Special to The Beacon News
Educators can now go online to meet some programs required by the state and federal governments.
Access to the Internet training program "helps the school district deal with some of the required compliance training," said Jeff Schuler, assistant superintendent of human resources for the Kaneland School District.
Schuler said the "Global Compliance Network" avoids having to organize time-consuming training sessions because effective training tutorials covering a variety of subjects -- bloodborne pathogens, alcohol and drug awareness, asthma and autism -- are available online.
Schuler said he became aware of the network through a consortium of school district administrators. The cost to the district is $1,000 per year for the online programs.
"We will have access to all of the training modules for as many employees," Schuler told members of the School Board.
Schuler explained how teachers can log into the system through their personal computers and begin selecting subject areas.
"They are required to go through two modules for general and sexual harassment in the workplace," he said.
Schuler said there also is a useful "Guide for Substitute Teaching" that will be required of Kaneland's substitute teachers.
"We will get from time to time a substitute teacher that does not have school-based experience that may have come from management. This is a training module that we can require of them prior to even placing them on our substitute teaching list," he said.
Schuler said the district would be able to track who has completed the 30- to 45-minute, self-paced training sessions.
Schuler said staff members reviewed the tutorials prior to the district signing on to the network and found the material as effective as previous group training sessions.
"There's no compromise," the administrator said. "This freed up an hour and a half in time in a day that we were able to spend talking to teachers about professional learning communities and expectations for instruction within the district. It's a much richer level of dialogue with staff members," Schuler said.