MONTEREY, Calif., Nov. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- After two years of development, the Kentucky Learning Depot is now open to P-20 educators across the state looking for a one-stop, low-cost, high-tech solution to their digital content needs.
The Learning Depot is a highly searchable database of quality curricular resources to be integrated into teacher tools, like a learning management system, quickly and easily. Subscribers will have access to several collections of content, including the robust multimedia learning objects from the National Repository of Online Courses (NROC).
In addition to powerful search functions with extensive metadata tagging, the depot offers a subscription cost reduction to educators who submit high-quality learning objects and adaptations back to the repository, promoting growth of the repository outside of the 673 NROC objects and roughly 100 other Learning Depot objects already available. A team of more than 50 reviewers ensures that every object that resides on the repository is vetted and ready for instructional use.
"A group of more than 60 representatives from the P-20 state agencies, schools and institutions have worked hard to build the Kentucky Learning Depot as a learning community," said Depot Manager, Miko Pattie, Senior Advisor, Information & Technology, Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. "We have a system where educators can rate the available content and comment on other educator's submissions, similar to many Web 2.0 applications like YouTube and others."
Content can be utilized in a variety of learning environments, such as face-to-face, online, or blended. Teachers using the Blackboard, Moodle, or ANGEL learning management systems will find simple navigation tools for pulling content from the Depot directly into individual courses. Video tutorials will be available for professional development purposes.
As part of the Sharable Content Object Repositories for Education (SCORE) initiative launched by the Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB), the Depot is aligned with 16 member states in quality standards for minimum technical requirements, interoperability, accessibility, and content metadata tagging. This collaborative effort also affords for lowered curriculum development costs, greater customizability, and higher student engagement across the region.
NROC is an open educational resource (OER) project of the Monterey Institute of Technology and Education, supported by a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The OER movement is fueled by the belief that everyone is entitled to an education no matter where they live or what their circumstances are. By joining NROC, educational institutions support OER and receive a variety of benefits including customizable content, specialized support and professional development resources. NROC's content is also accessible to individual learners free of charge at http://www.hippocampus.org .
ABOUT THE MONTEREY INSTITUTE FOR TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
The Monterey Institute for Technology and Education is a non-profit educational organization committed to helping meet society's need for access to effective, high-quality educational opportunities in an era of rapid economic, social and personal change. The Monterey Institute for Technology and Education was founded in 2003 as a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. Learn more at http://www.montereyinstitute.org/nroc .
The Kentucky Learning Depot is a collaborative program that allows educators to share rich, engaging, quality, and standards-based digital learning objects to improve their courses. It is about educators connecting with content to build a learning community. The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is leading this effort via Sharable Content Object Repositories for Education (SCORE) so that all educators in the 16 member states can share learning objects to improve teaching and learning. Learn more at http://kylearningdepot.org .
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CONTACT: Terri Rowenhorst, NROC Membership Director Monterey Institute for Technology and Education, 719-783-0804, trowenhorst@montereyinstitute.org
WEB: http://www.MontereyInstitute.org
Media Contact: See above.
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