WCET Announces Awards for Outstanding Use of Technology in Higher Education

Boulder, CO (PRWEB) October 20, 2010

The WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2010 WCET Outstanding Work (WOW) award, a competition that recognizes innovative uses of educational technologies in higher education. In 2010 the awards go to four ambitious projects, each addressing a challenging issue with a unique solution: changing the role of journalism and new media to promote civic engagement; providing adult learners with on-demand programs and services to encourage degree completion; increasing the adoption of open textbooks to lower student costs; and promoting the integrity of academic online programs.

These winning projects, which will be honored at the WCET Annual Conference on November 10-13 in La Jolla, California, include the following:

Foothill-De Anza Community College Districts College Open Textbooks Collaborative addresses the goal of textbook costs for community college students, a problem than can be a barrier to college success. The College Open Textbooks Collaborative, funded by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, has implemented a multifaceted strategy to increase adoption of open textbooks among community college faculty. The collaborative provides training for instructors adopting open resources; accessibility assurances and peer reviews of open textbooks; mentoring of authors opening their textbooks; research on factors that affect open textbook adoption; and advocacy support for other campus stakeholders in the adoption process. More than 500 open textbooks have been identified and catalogued online. Nearly 100 of these open textbooks have undergone extensive peer review, and many have been reviewed for accessibility standards. Watch the video!

Contacts:

Sharyn Fitzpatrick, Marketing

sharyn(dot)fitzpatrick(at)happyabout(dot)info

650-564-0011

Una Daly, Associate Director

dalyuna(at)fhda(dot)edu

College Open Textbooks, Foothill-De Anza Community College District

650-949-7118

Kentucky Virtual Campuss KCTCS Online Learn on Demand, a partnership of Kentucky Virtual Campus (KYVC) and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), is designed to provide working adult students with flexible access to learn on demand online courses and programs. Kentucky, like many states, has a statewide goal of increasing the number of bachelors degree holders and expanding upon program offerings that prepare students for the 21st century workforce requirements. Learn on Demand, formerly known as the Virtual Learning Initiative, features fully online courses that are modularized, self-paced, open-entry, and competency-based, with all content integrated into the learning management system, eliminating student expenditures for textbooks. The first programs launched include an associate degree in business administration, an associate degree in information technology, and certificates that address specific workforce needs. http://www.chriswitzke.com/kctcs/kctcs-online-2010-v2..mov.zip [Watch the video! __title__ Click this link.]

Contact:

Sandy Cook, System Director, Distance Learning Technologies

Kentucky Community and Technical College System

sandy(dot)cook(at)kctcs(dot)edu

859-256-3240

Rio Salado Colleges Peer-to-Peer Plagiarism Project detects plagiarism among its 36,000 online students, using exclusively internal staff and resources. The system is intended to deter cheating, which will greatly benefit students by helping to ensure the long-term value and integrity of Rios academic programs. As of March 2010, the system has scanned thousands of new student submissions and has detected 450 suspected cases of peer-to-peer plagiarismcases that would almost certainly not have been detected using more traditional monitoring techniques. John Jensen, current Rio Salado faculty president, praised the new system: The peer-to-peer plagiarism detection system is a key element in fortifying Rio Salados commitment to academic integrityIn the end we feel that this system supports authentication in the online learning environment that meets or exceeds the capabilities of the physical classroom. Watch the video!

Contact:

David Staudacher, Coordinator

Media Relations and Public Relations

Rio Salado College

david(dot)staudacher(at)riosalado(dot)edu

480-517-8472

Winona State Universitys Winona360 Civic Media Project is an interdisciplinary innovation laboratory for students, faculty, and information technology staff of the Winona, MN, region to learn and create in emerging media technology, while serving the area with news, information, education, and cultural expression. Winona360.org has been built on a conception of civic media. Civic media goes beyond the traditional journalism of news gathering and reporting and includes any form of communication (text, video, photography, virtual reality, gaming) by professionals and citizens alike. Winona360.org is a community Website, made possible by collaborations between Winona State faculty and students, as well as partnerships with Saint Marys University, Southeast Technical College, and local high schools, which have come together through this project to create a community classroom, supporting new forms of teaching and engaged learning. Watch the video!

Contacts:

James Bowey, Founder, Winona360

Winona State University

jbowey(at)winona(dot)edu

507-457-2605

Kate Carlson, Editor, Winona360

Carlsonwinona360(at)gmail(dot)com

815-508-1480

The WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) accelerates the adoption of effective practices and policies, advancing excellence in technology-enhanced teaching and learning in higher education. More detailed information about the WOW award recipients and their projects is available on WCETs website at: WOW Media Release 2010.

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Veteran Investment Bankers Form One-Of-A-Kind Merchant Bank Focused on Convergence of Technology, Data and Services Companies

McLean, VA (PRWEB) October 19, 2011

Northern Virginias technology corridor welcomes a new, one-of-a-kind merchant bank providing M&A and capital raising solutions exclusively for high growth Business and Technology Services companies. Clearsight Advisors, founded by former and present colleagues Joel Kallett and Greg Treger, along with Bhavin Patel and Beth Seidler has opened its office headquarters in the heartbeat of Northern Virginias technology corridor in Tysons Corner.

Clearsight is the only merchant bank in the Washington, DC Metro area focused exclusively on the technology and services sectors. Led by Kallett and Treger, who have a combined track record of over $ 10 billion in M&A transactions, the Clearsight team has worked together collectively for nearly a decade.

Most banks in the area are singularly focused on the Federal contracting space, said Joel Kallett, Clearsight Managing Director. The DC region is a dynamic business environment that is going through a transformation from a federal-centric community to one that is innovating across the global commercial landscape. This area is home to many pioneering high growth companies that are creating jobs and serving a litany of customers beyond the beltway, and these companies will benefit from a strategic financial advisor that understands their specific needs.

Kallett is an entrepreneur at heart and is now bringing his experience and thought leadership to work at Clearsight. Prior to forming Clearsight, Kallett was Head of the Business Services Investment Banking Group at Houlihan Lokey. His extensive career includes leading the global financial technology practice at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown and time as a Partner with Updata Capital.

Tregers experience spans 15 years advising technology and professional services clients. He was previously with Updata Capital, where he and Kallett first met, and subsequently moved their team to Houlihan.

We formed Clearsight with a few simple goals work with top quality businesses and management teams, get involved early, provide high value-add, strategic and financial advice and participate in helping our clients realize their vision, said Kallett.

In addition to a substantial track record of success advising clients serving the private sector, the Clearsight team has a unique history of advising hybrid companies that serve both the private and public sector with their technology-enabled solutions. As the public sector has become more comfortable with procuring technology solutions on a commercial basis we have seen a growing number of solution providers serving both the private and public sectors. We believe providing a local team with global experience is critical to supporting this underserved community, said Greg Treger, Clearsights Managing Director.

The Clearsight team has advised on over 100 M&A and capital raising transactions with many of the industry leaders locally, nationally and globally, including IBM, Accenture, Deloitte, The Carlyle Group, JMI Equity and Arlington Capital. Unlike other firms, Clearsight is less focused on size and more focused on the fundamental business characteristics of its clients and the underlying dynamic of the markets they serve.

Clearsight is already planning to expand the team by adding senior-level executives who share the vision of the company.

About Clearsight Advisors

Clearsight Advisors is an independent merchant banking firm dedicated to providing world-class M&A and capital raising solutions exclusively to growth-oriented Business and Technology services companies. Clearsight combines deep market insights across software, services and data with vertical expertise in financial technology, public sector technology and education technology. This market knowledge combined with superior strategic and financial advice allows Clearsight to act as a catalyst, enabling entrepreneurs, private equity owners and board of directors to successfully advance their vision. The Clearsight team has executed M&A transactions ranging in size from $ 20 million to over $ 2 billion. For more information, visit http://www.clearsightadvisors.com

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