Seminary Students Offered More Flexible Program at Emory

Emory University’s Candler School of Theology is improving access to its Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree program by switching to a two-day-a-week class schedule, creating commuter housing options, and offering online and hybrid courses. The changes will begin this fall for first-year M.Div. students.

“This initiative provides students with greater flexibility and accessibility while maintaining Candler’s outstanding academic offerings,” says David Petersen, associate dean of faculty and academic affairs and Franklin N. Parker Professor of Old Testament. “It gives them more time for their academic work and less time commuting.”

Courses Scheduled for Tuesday-Thursday

Under this new approach, first-year students will take required courses on a Tuesday-Thursday schedule and have the option of taking some courses online or in a hybrid online/classroom version. Students who live outside of Atlanta also may be eligible to stay overnight in nearby “commuter” apartments.

The new arrangement, widely endorsed by bishops and district superintendents within the Southeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church (UMC), is especially appealing to M.Div. students who take part in Candler’s Teaching Parish Program. Students in the program attend Candler while serving as part-time pastors in small churches typically in communities outside metro Atlanta — even as far away as Alabama and Mississippi. They receive a salary and housing as part of their compensation, but their commute to campus for class can be daunting.

“These students have more complicated schedules. Not only are they responsible for the life of the church, but they are under the supervision of their district superintendents,” says Petersen. Accommodating these unique needs will enable more students to enroll in the Teaching Parish Program, he adds.

Part-time Housing Offered

Plans are also under way for Candler-subsidized, part-time housing at a nearby apartment complex for long-distance commuters who need to stay near campus a few days a week. The apartments are furnished and contain two bedrooms, each with two beds, allowing up to four Candler students to share the space.

“We want to provide commuting students an affordable and comfortable place to stay during the middle of the week so they can easily get to their courses, study in the library, and have access to all of Emory’s resources,” says the Rev. Shonda R. Jones, associate dean of admissions and student services.

Online Courses Are New Option

Selecting core courses that are available online and in hybrid versions is another new option for students, with the first courses going live in the 2011-2012 academic year. Additional online courses will be added each year during the next three years.

Michael Joseph Brown, associate professor of New Testament and Christian origins, is in the first faculty cohort that will develop courses for online delivery. He believes online components will improve his New Testament course by facilitating quizzes, exams, and other standard course mechanisms. “They free up classroom time for important dialogue,” he says. “Online classes are the way of the future in all of higher education.”

The Rev. Coy Hinton is one of several North Georgia UMC leaders who responded favorably to initial proposals about the new approach. “This seems like a win-win situation for these students and the churches they serve. Thanks so much for thinking creatively,” wrote Hinton, district superintendent of the Atlanta College Park District.

Adds Jones, “We want to make Candler’s high caliber theological education possible for all those who are called to serve. The new concentrated schedule, commuter housing and digital course offerings are the latest ways we’re demonstrating our commitment.”

Get more information about Candler’s Master of Divinity degree and the Teaching Parish Program.

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Newly Revised Concepts in Clinical Pharmacokinetics Web-Based Continuing Education Course Offered by the University of Georgia

/PRNewswire/ -- The newly revised Concepts in Clinical Pharmacokinetics, a web-based continuing education course, is available from the University of Georgia. Developed in cooperation with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and College of Pharmacy, the new Online Course is a continuing pharmacy education course on the fundamental principles of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and the elimination of drugs by the human body as well as clinical application, including case studies of commonly dosed drugs.

The new Concepts in Clinical Pharmacokinetics course is designed for clinical or health-system pharmacists, community pharmacists, consultant and compound pharmacists, matriculating professional pharmacy students and participants enrolled in a PharmD program, as well as others already working in the pharmaceutical industry.

"If you're looking to further your knowledge of pharmacokinetics or you're employed by a pharmacy school requiring a solution for matriculating professional students, then our course might be your solution," says Pamela Bracken, Department Head of Special Projects and Curriculum Development at the University of Georgia. "Our continuing education course, led by two of the textbook authors and online course facilitators, Dr. William Spruill and Dr. William Wade, is designed to help professionals and pharmacy students improve their knowledge of fundamental pharmacokinetic concepts."

Concepts in Clinical Pharmacokinetics course options include:

* Option 1: Application-Based, Web-Based Continuing Education Course
* Option 2: Practiced-Based Activity Certificate
* Option 3: Practice-Based Activity Certificate for Advanced Practitioners
* Option 4: Online Course for Pharmacy Schools


The new Concepts in Clinical Pharmacokinetics is a self-paced, self-study, online continuing pharmacy education program offering Interactive media to enhance a participant's learning experience. The comprehensive, state-of-the-art curriculum is divided into eleven modules and five Cases that include:

1. Introduction to Pharmacokinetics
2. Basic Pharmacokinetics
3. Half-life, Elimination Rate Constant and AUC
4. Intravenous Bolus Administration, Multiple Drug Administration, and Steady-State Average Concentrations
5. Relationships of Pharmacokinetic Parameters and Intravenous Intermittent and Continuous Infusions
6. Two-Compartment Models
7. Biopharmaceutics: Absorption
8. Drug Distribution and Protein Binding
9. Drug Elimination Processes
10. Nonlinear Processes
11. Pharmacokinetic Variation and Model Independent Relationships


Five Cases (Available in Option #2 and Option #3)

1. Aminoglycosides
2. Vancomycin
3. Theophylline
4. Phenytoin
5. Digoxin


The new course, based on the bestselling textbook of the same title, Concepts in Clinical Pharmacokinetics, 5th Edition, presented by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, is rich in multimedia elements that expand on the text and stimulate learning.

For more information on this program, visit www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/pharmacokinetics , or call Pam Bracken at +1-706-542-3537 or e-mail at Pam.Bracken@georgiacenter.uga.edu .

The University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education is a unit of the University of Georgia's Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. The Georgia Center provides innovative lifelong learning opportunities through its continuing education programs. For more information, go to www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/ppd .

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More Than 470 Schools Nationwide Now Using Bible Literacy Project's Curriculum, The Bible and Its Influence

/PRNewswire/ -- Bible Literacy Project (BLP), publisher of the only student textbook designed for public school courses on the Bible, announced today that 470 schools in 43 states nationwide are now using its course. Texas leads the nation in implementation of Bible literacy courses, with more than 100 schools now using the textbook, while Georgia boasts 51 schools. (See a map of your state's use of Bible literacy courses at www.bibleliteracy.org.)

Eight states now have more than 5% of public high schools teaching this course: Georgia (12.3%), Alabama (9.1%), Indiana (8.2%), Texas (7.5%), South Carolina (7.0%), Tennessee (6.0%), North Carolina (5.8%) and Kentucky (5.0%).

In addition, The Bible and Its Influence is achieving acceptance in larger districts. This fall, this course will be taught in 30 districts with enrollment of more than 20,000 students. "Larger school districts often require a district-wide curriculum review, with public review and comment on the curriculum and multiple layers of approval," said Chuck Stetson, BLP's CEO. "Our track record of successful implementation and strong community support has given larger districts confidence that our materials meet the educational needs of their diverse student populations."

Among the new schools offering the course this fall are 15 pilot schools, which have received free textbooks from BLP to encourage the introduction of the textbook in their area. BLP plans to continue this program throughout the 2010-11 school year for districts that qualify.

This fall, Oklahoma implements HB 2321, a law encouraging public school districts to offer Bible literacy courses. BLP will be working with educators across the state to implement this course in their districts. Oklahoma joins Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas in passing legislation to support Bible literacy in public schools. While teaching about the Bible is legal nationwide, these five states have used legislation to raise public awareness and to promote statewide implementation of these courses.

During this school year, Bible Literacy Project will be attending 26 conventions nationwide to reach school board members, superintendents, curriculum developers, and English teachers with information about the textbook.

Because only seven states remain in the organization's quest to be utilized in all 50 states, Bible Literacy Project is offering a free class set of textbooks to the first public school in Delaware, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wyoming ready to teach the course. "When one school implements the course, we quickly make contact with neighboring schools who want to try it too," said Stetson. "We welcome the opportunity to show these remaining states the strength of our program."

Bible Literacy Project is a non-partisan, non-profit endeavor to encourage and facilitate the academic study of the Bible in public schools. Along with the First Amendment Center, the Bible Literacy Project co-published The Bible and Public Schools: A First Amendment Guide, the historic 1999 statement that established guidelines for teaching about the Bible in public schools. The Guide was endorsed by 21 leading organizations, including the National School Boards Association and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. In 2005, the Bible Literacy Project published The Bible and Its Influence, the first student textbook for academic study of the Bible in public high schools in the last 30 years. Since its publication, this program has gained national recognition for its scholarly approach to teaching about the Bible in compliance with First Amendment guidelines. Designed for high school students in grades 9-12, and enjoyed equally by college students and adult learners, The Bible and Its Influence can be taught as an English, social studies, or humanities elective. Bible Literacy Project (www.bibleliteracy.org) is a division of Essentials in Education, an educational publisher.

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Distance Education in the USG: Supply and Demand Up Significantly

Student enrollment in online courses offered by the University System of Georgia (USG) has risen 35 percent in just the past year, and the USG’s online offerings have expanded significantly, the Board of Regents learned during an update today on the USG’s distance-education efforts.

In the two years since the launching of Georgia ONmyLINE (GOML) – http://www.georgiaonmyline.org, a searchable catalog of the online courses and programs offered by all 35 USG institutions statewide, the 35 programs and 1,600 courses offered online have now expanded to 169 programs and nearly 2,870 courses, according to Dr. Kris Biesinger, associate vice chancellor for Information and Instructional Technology (OIIT) Services. In addition, she noted the GOML website has been visited by more than 90,000 visitors from 50 states and 140 countries.

The number of students who are taking at least one online course from a USG institution in any given semester now stands at 43,000, a little less than 15 percent of the nearly 300,000 students enrolled at System institutions.

What kind of student turns to a computer rather than showing up in an actual classroom?

“When you think of distance learners, you probably think of someone who works all day, then logs on to their course in the evenings after their children are in bed,” said Dr. Catherine Finnegan, OIIT’s director of online instructional support services and Biesinger’s co-presenter. “You may think that they never have parking problems, have to use the library or meet with a faculty member on campus. But, to be honest, very few distance students take classes exclusively off-campus. In fact, the vast majority are picking up one or two online courses that fit in better with their busy lives or that help them to meet graduation requirements in a more timely fashion.”

Finnegan said the demographics of the USG’s online learners – revealed by a market analysis study conducted earlier this year – are in line with national trends. “More women than men take distance-education courses from the USG,” she said. “Nearly half of all of our online learners are over the age of 24, or non-traditional students, and 31 percent of them are African American. In fact, these courses attract a slightly higher percentage of minority students overall than are in the general USG population.”

Where are these students taking their courses? The analysis shows that the University System’s two-year, access colleges and state universities generate the most distance semester credit hours each year, and the four USG research institutions the least, Finnegan said. Georgia Perimeter College far outstripped any other USG institution, having generated more than 94,500 distance semester credit hours during fiscal year 2009.

In her presentation, Finnegan acknowledged that, “Probably one of the most frequently asked questions about online learning is, ‘is it really quality learning?’” She was able to report that, “In a national study released this past June, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) found that students who took all or part of their instruction online performed better, on average, than those taking the same courses solely through face-to-face instruction. We believe that our USG institutions are making decisions that ensure quality in our online offerings.”

“Distance education is an approach that USG institutions can use to address a number of our strategic goals, such as building enrollment capacity despite constraints on classroom space,” Biesinger said. “And, as the DOE study shows, we don’t have to worry that increasing online courses will lead to a drop in quality. In fact, quality remains equal to or even higher than traditional classroom instruction.

“As our enrollment growth in the University System continues to climb, we must be creative so that we can continue to serve our traditional student populations while being aggressive in serving currently underserved populations,” Biesinger said in summary. “USG institutions need to fully recognize the importance of delivering education in multiple formats and increase the integration of distance learning into their curricula.”

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Georgia State to help DeKalb County history teachers and students

Georgia State University will soon be helping DeKalb County public school teachers expand their American history knowledge, in an effort to increase student achievement in social studies.
DeKalb County Public Schools, with Georgia State as a partner, was recently awarded a “Teaching American History” grant from the federal government.

The grant, roughly $1 million over the next three years, will cover professional development expenses for American history teachers in elementary, middle and high schools. Educators hope to get an extension of the grant for a total of $1.6 million over five years.

Starting in the fall, Georgia State will offer DeKalb County teachers an opportunity to take two graduate level courses at Georgia State, one in history and one in education.

Teachers will earn graduate course credit at GSU, continuing education credit with their district and a stipend to help cover their tuition, books and supplies as well as travel to historical sites.
Nearly 30 DeKalb teachers will be eligible for the program each year, for a total of 90 over three years. The program is designed to ensure teachers develop the knowledge and skills necessary to teach traditional American history in an exciting and engaging way.

“Our hope is that they learn more historical content, particularly in the areas their students have demonstrated weakness, so not only the teachers learn more content, the students do too and perform better on the state history test,” said Chara Bohan, associate professor of middle-secondary education in GSU’s College of Education.

The courses at GSU will be challenging, graduate-level courses designed to meet the specific needs of Dekalb County teachers and students. They will emphasize educational pedagogy and the American history framework established by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The subject matter will extend over broad chronological periods in the nation’s history and also target specific areas where DeKalb County students need to improve, such as understanding economic and industrial history, said Michelle Brattain, associate chair of the GSU History Department.

“I think this program is very, very important both for GSU and for our community,” Brattain said. “The Teaching American History grant will now allow us to extend our commitment to middle and secondary education in Georgia to a new constituency and build collaborative relationships with Dekalb County and area teachers.”

Georgia State’s Department of Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology in the College of Education and the History Department in the College of Arts and Sciences collaborate to prepare both undergraduate and graduate students to be middle and secondary social studies teachers.

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