Awards
The eLearning Strategies Symposium is now accepting nominations for two eLearning awards which will be presented during the December 7th keynote. Full information, links to the online submission form, and the timeline are listed below. Recognize your local online teacher and eLearning advocate by submitting a nomination by September 9, 2013.
Online Teacher of the Year
The Online Teacher of the Year Award recognizes an online teacher who has made a noteworthy contribution to eLearning in an online or blended setting. Supporting and engaging all students online** is the key element in this award. Nominees must be currently teaching online with K-12 students.
Nominations may be submitted by the individual nominee or by another person who is able to support the nomination through personal involvement with the nominee.
**”Supporting and engaging students online” based on iNacol National Standards for Quality Online Courses means: “Learning activities and other learning opportunities are developed to foster instructor-student and student-student interaction. The technology and course content encourage exchanges amongst the instructor and students through email, discussions, synchronous chats, simulations, lab activities, online collaborations and other group projects. Within the grading policy, guidelines defining student participation and expectations are provided.
Threaded and/or synchronous discussions are available for developing community, asking and finding answers to questions about the course, and around the content. Access is available to groups or individual students based on the purpose of the activity. Rules, roles, and expectations for the discussion are clear and posted within the discussion forum.” (iNacol, 2011, Standard 10, p. 13)
Nominations for this category are submitted through the eLearning Special Interest Group (eLSIG). Unless ineligible, the eSS Online Teacher of the Year recipient will become the CUE/CLRN nominee for the National Online Teacher of the Year Award through SREB/iNACOL.
Required Nomination Materials:
- Two-page overview of the nominee’s contributions to educational technology in a classroom setting and how the nominee uses technology to support standards-based curriculum on an ongoing basis.
- A current curriculum vitae or resume.
Please note that the iNACOL/SREB National Online Teacher of the Year (NOTY) nomination requires additional materials which are listed below. You are not expected to submit these at this time, but we wanted you to be aware that if selected for the eSS Teacher of the Year award, the recipient will have just a few weeks after notification to assemble the extra data.
1. A narrative from the nominee describing what they see as their most important contributions/accomplishments, the directions that they see online education heading in the near future, and what they see as the next important challenge to be faced in the field of K-12 online learning (1- 3 pages).
2. Evidence that the contributions were truly beneficial to the industry. Such evidence could include, but is not limited to:
a. how stakeholders were positively impacted by the contributions; and
b. how the contributions were innovative and made actionable with K-12 online learning community.
3. Two letters of support.
eLearning Advocate Award
The eLearning Advocate Award is presented to an individual or organization that has contributed significantly to promoting, advocating, or implementing eLearning at their school, district, county or state. It may include organizations, members of the state and/or federal legislature or their staffs, educators, or individuals who have made sustained and/or extraordinary efforts in promoting eLearning to advance student achievement.
Nominations for this category are submitted through the eLearning Special Interest Group (eLSIG).
Required Nomination Materials:
- One page overview of the nominee’s contributions to eLearning.
Timeline
Submissions close: September 9, 2013
Announced at eSS – Dec. 6, 2013
