CATC Highlight - Personal Networks Help Virtual Networks

It seems appropriate that in one of the largest US states the concept and practice of blended distance learning would be welcomed in the CATC. Glenn Wright and Gay Berryman head up the responsibilities of the CATC based at the Education Service Center Region 11 (Region 11) in Fort Worth, Texas. The goal of Region 11 is to provide instructors and teachers throughout Texas with tools to improve their teaching skills. The Center supports all content areas for K-12, as well as other services for K-20. Both hands on traditional methods and the emerging tools for virtual and blended distance learning are encouraged.

To keep up with both state and national requirements, teachers are expected to provide students with the tools they need to succeed on standardized tests. Region 11 offers training programs for teachers, materials for teacher use, and a connection to colleagues and experts on a variety of subjects. Region 11 recruits seasoned leaders from the scholastic community to comprise a staff of highly experienced educators from all levels of the profession. "It is quite an honor to be hired by a service center because it means that you are capable of supporting a wide range of students," Berryman explained. Berryman and Wright understand the need to support a wide range of students as they have networking students from high schools, technical training schools, colleges, and universities that receive support from their CATC.

Berryman and Wright both agree that in person training continues to be the most effective form of learning for the instructors with whom they work. "If you are working one on one, you are away from your desk, you are focused, and you don't have your cell phone. When training virtually you are much more easily distracted and it takes much more self discipline. With in person training you know the students are at least getting the basics." However, Wright also acknowledges that the benefits of virtual learning are vast and are only now beginning to be understood. With such a vast territory to cover across eight states, the CATC at Region 11 takes advantage of videos, web conferences, and virtual support as often as possible.

Personal relationships are the backbone of Wright and Berryman's work as the heads of the CATC. They have cultivated working relationships with all of the Academies under their tree as well as their Cisco contacts and their colleagues here at CLI. These relationships offer numerous possibilities for collaboration and the invention of new projects and methods to support teacher training and student learning through education tools like the Networking Academy. For more information on some of the tools and projects that the Region 11 has been involved with read the full article below.

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