NACOL Announces Next Teacher Talk Webinar for Online Educators: 'What Works in Creating Student-to-Student Interaction in Online Courses'

WASHINGTON, April 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) is pleased to announce the next Teacher Talk Webinar:

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071101/6061LOGO )

"What Works in Creating Student-to-Student Interaction in Online Courses"

Presenter: Dr. Susan Lowes, Director, Research and Evaluation, Institute for Learning Technologies, Teachers College/Columbia University

Thursday, April 17, 2008; 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Register: http://www.nacol.org

As more and more middle- and high-school students take online courses, virtual school administrators and teachers are looking for ways to make the online learning experience as engaging and effective as possible. Much of this effort has focused on creating interactivity (animations, simulations, etc.) and on adding interaction among students (group projects, discussions, etc.).

This webinar will present the early results of interviews with virtual school teachers who have structured interactions in their virtual courses in ways they feel contributed to student learning, including their successes, the challenges they faced, and how they resolved them.

"Today's students are ultra-communicators using technology," said Susan Patrick, NACOL's President/CEO. "This webinar will focus on the use of research to improve teaching practices in online courses with a particular focus on building collaborative communication skills to improve academic rigor and develop critical-thinking skills."

Registration is open until 3 PM (ET) Wednesday, April 16, 2008. Registration is available with member and non-member pricing to individuals and institutions.

About NACOL

The North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) is an international K-12 nonprofit organization representing the interests of administrators, practitioners and students involved in online learning worldwide. NACOL hosts the Virtual School Symposium, October 26-28, 2008 in Phoenix, AZ.