You might want to give some thought to creating an online college prep program. A full scale afrocentric high school program like this one:
http://www.keystonehighschool.com/programs/college.php

I spoke with a blackboard sales rep yesterday and they dont have an oferring yet targeted for the very small implementation. They will release a lghtwt version in 60 days that will cost between 10 and 15 thousand for 200 to 300 annual users. According to the rep I talked to their typical implementation for their full product is upwards of 150 thou...

Hey brotha Kem,

I was thinking more along the lines of us developing an afrocentric curriculum that would prepare Black high school students for college, like what these people here are doing for the white kids. What we need is an empty environment like WebCT into which we can put the curriculum. We don't have to tell them what we want the software for and have them jack up the prices. We could even develop a clone of the more expensive environments. We have the talent to do it. Brotha Omo expressed interest in writing curriculum.

River, WebCT has merged with a company named blackboard. I don't think their pricing is going to be different based on who they think the classes will be targeted towards, but for the record I only communicated an interest in evaluating online instructional delivery tools.

I made no mention of any organization, only the approximate # of annual users.

Maybe webCT was low cost but after the merger they are upgrading their target market.

I haven't personally evaluated the software to determine if it is worth a hefty price tag...but I do think there are likely other open platforms that can suffice.

From what i've seen in the demos, it seems more like a way to deliver e-learning and canned content than live instruction.

Ok looks like WebCT is a non option. I just offered it as a possibility. Doesn't look like it is one though.

I'd like to combine e-learning with live instruction. Based on what I've seen many states requuire that homeschoolers follow the same schedule as the public schools. An e-learning evironment could help single parents who have to work meet this requirement if the environment has a way of logging the time the student spends. We would also want a way to store class materials and written handouts for on demand access to supplement live instruction.

These are suggestions. I know you guys will consider all options and come up with the best course of action.

I've used Blackboard and the old incarnation of WebCT. If I had to choose between the two of them, Blackboard was a lot more usable. The cost of it though is pretty rough to swing for smaller institutions.

There are some open-source alternatives to these paid CMS products though. It seems I don't have the post count to post links so I'll just list a few of them:

.LRN (dotlrn.org)

Sakai Project (sakaiproject.org)

Moodle (moodle.org)

There's probably more ways out there to solve the problem of providing online or hybrid courses. There's always the possibility of starting with a CMS that was developed for other purposes and modifying it to suit the needs of an online school.

be of help to your project?
http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/

Oh My Gosh Family ... are we out-doing ourselves or what ????? :eeek:

Biting off more than we can chew ??!!!!?? :cake:

oh gosh ... i don't even know!

All i know is that yall have planted the seed, and it has begun to sprout up !!!! :toast:

I spent many of the last few hours installing, and trying to understand moodle!

Thank You Brother Gorilla for reminding me of it! I remember seeing it before, considering it, but was simply not at the place to even begin taking on anything new. But that has all changed, and i was moved in my Spirit to go ahead and load moodle, to see how it works and how it might be a benefit to us!

I think we need a whole new thread (and then again, maybe not), to talk about the kind of standards we are going to try and manifest, as it relates to our own, new ... BLACK PEOPLE SCHOOL (http://blackpeopleschool.com) ... :D

Okay ... i am not an educator, in that, i'm not trained or anything by the standards set in the world, to do such things. I think if we are really going to try and pull this off, as Sister River intimated in her opening post ... then we are going to have to set some guidelines, have some standards, high expectations, etc., to make this happen.

Again, i am not qualified to truly lead this effort, for i know so little ... but that is not the case with all of us. We are blessed to have many highly educated Sisters and Brothers in our midst, that are qualified to do the things that i cannot.

So ... let's talk about ... register ... look around and begin formulating a plan! :D

I LOVE USSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS :toast:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY USSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !!! :toast:

http://www.blackpeopleschool.com

:heart:

Destee

I know so little about moodle, even after spending hours with it. It is a very resource rich program, and i think it will take hours and hours to master it. With this in mind, i'm thinking that we should not post a lot of "junk" "test" classes and threads over there, in an effort to keep it clean, orderly, looking professional and real ... :)

So ... let's talk about it over here!

I think we're going to need Sisters and Brothers that are willing to teach a class, learn the ropes regarding such things, as they walk through the process of doing it. Once the first few have set up their class, then they can help the rest of us learn, or if nothing else we'll be able to watch and see how they've done it.

Anyway ... i'm thinking out loud now.

Love You!

:heart:

Destee

Imagine the home schooling impact we could have, helping Sisters and Brothers with material to help teach their babies! We can really do this Family ... oh my gosh ... yall scare me! :)

:heart:

Destee

Oh My Gosh Family ... are we out-doing ourselves or what ????? :eeek:

Biting off more than we can chew ??!!!!?? :cake:

oh gosh ... i don't even know!

All i know is that yall have planted the seed, and it has begun to sprout up !!!! :toast:

I spent many of the last few hours installing, and trying to understand moodle!

Thank You Brother Gorilla for reminding me of it! I remember seeing it before, considering it, but was simply not at the place to even begin taking on anything new. But that has all changed, and i was moved in my Spirit to go ahead and load moodle, to see how it works and how it might be a benefit to us!

I think we need a whole new thread (and then again, maybe not), to talk about the kind of standards we are going to try and manifest, as it relates to our own, new ... BLACK PEOPLE SCHOOL (http://blackpeopleschool.com) ... :D

Okay ... i am not an educator, in that, i'm not trained or anything by the standards set in the world, to do such things. I think if we are really going to try and pull this off, as Sister River intimated in her opening post ... then we are going to have to set some guidelines, have some standards, high expectations, etc., to make this happen.

Again, i am not qualified to truly lead this effort, for i know so little ... but that is not the case with all of us. We are blessed to have many highly educated Sisters and Brothers in our midst, that are qualified to do the things that i cannot.

So ... let's talk about ... register ... look around and begin formulating a plan! :D

I LOVE USSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS :toast:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY USSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !!! :toast:

http://www.blackpeopleschool.com

:heart:

Destee




Sister Destee,

I am honored that you decided to keep the discussion here, which is the Brothers Only Chat Forum with respect to our dear brother, Kemetkind. From my understanding, Kemetkind was the then(2007) facilitator of Brothers Only Chat. We will support and make a sticky of this thread for easy access when bro. RICH returns, and monitor its progress.

Relating to the links you posted, BLACK PEOPLE SCHOOL, and this: http://www.blackpeopleschool.com
a pop-up occurs asking for a username and password, is that by design in order to keep the thread clean as you have suggested?

Perhaps the real discussion could also find its way on Thursday’s into our Rebuilding and Reuniting our Community meeting, involving all of our Brothers and Sisters, as well.

This moodle program is in line with the One Step Away From Greatness thread by our dear brother oldsoul…Peace In my sister friend, for real.

Brother Clyde ... i apologize for the username / password requirement, that was showing up. It is gone now.

So take a peek ... http://blackpeopleschool.com

Love You!

:heart:

Destee

The more i look at this, the more daunting it appears! :eeek:

Moodle requires real course work to be put into this, before anyone can take a class!

For the teachers, it's going to be a lot of work, in order that the students benefit greatly.

I don't see how we're going to be able to do this, without financially compensating the teachers.

If we want to attract the very best minds, we're going to have to pay for that, aren't we?

How are we going to do this Family ... living in the internet projects ... with no money?

:heart:

Destee

We first need people familiar with Moodle ... its capabilities and limitations ... oh my gosh ... i'm tired already!

Brother Gorilla mentioned a few open source programs, and i picked this one because i'd seen it before, and was "feeling it" more than the others. This is not to suggest that we have to stay with it, we don't. We may ultimately find that it won't do what we want it to do, or that something else will serve us better. I just wanted to get something up, get the ball rolling and stuff. So please know, we are not bound to moodle.

Here's a link to moodle's site providing insight into the application : http://docs.moodle.org/en/Main_Page

Love You!

:heart:

Destee

Brother Clyde ... i apologize for the username / password requirement, that was showing up. It is gone now.

So take a peek ... http://blackpeopleschool.com

Love You!

:heart:

Destee




Sister Destee,
:bowdown:

The possibilities are endless, and here is the cornerstone of Black People School:

We believe that Black People have the greatest capacity to teach other Black People, bringing with them the needed and necessary empathy, hope, care, and concern, that will propel our children and people to the next level and beyond.

Peace In my sister friend, I love you too!

The more i look at this, the more daunting it appears! :eeek:

Moodle requires real course work to be put into this, before anyone can take a class!

For the teachers, it's going to be a lot of work, in order that the students benefit greatly.

I don't see how we're going to be able to do this, without financially compensating the teachers.

If we want to attract the very best minds, we're going to have to pay for that, aren't we?

How are we going to do this Family ... living in the internet projects ... with no money?

:heart:

Destee




Sister Destee,

Well, this is precisely why the GroupThink Project-Group is basically involved with revenue generating ideas and concepts, for example, an ongoing T-Shirt program and perpetual newsletter (Destee.comNews), growing into a newspaper and/or magazine, and our first homegrown publication as prototype for the many books to follow; all of which lays a foundational storefront for our members as well as our visitors. Those of like minds will support such an effort.

Nothing happens without a vision and action to which you can certainly attest having created Destee.com and the Vision…Peace In my sister friend.

We are truly just: One Step Away*

Understanding Moodle 101

Black People School (http://blackpeopleschool.com) ... :D

This is our first course offering, learning how to work this program, Moodle (http://docs.moodle.org/en/Main_Page), together.

Prerequisite : a desire to learn the program (http://docs.moodle.org/en/Main_Page), so we can teach the rest of the Family how it works, while managing our new school properly.

The Members of this first class will also be the first registrants of The Black People School.

The only way to get inside the school, at this point, is to enroll in this class. I closed open registration until we learn how to use the software, and come up with a plan regarding forward movement, offering classes, teaching opportunities, etc.

If you'd like to enroll in this historic course, please email me (http://destee.com/forums/sendmessage.php) the fields shown below in red, and I will create an account for you. You don't have to send me your password, as I will give you a default one to begin with, and you can change it once you've logged in.

Also, for those who may be interested in hosting your own class, getting involved now will allow you to begin creating your class, while learning the software ... sorta killing two birds with one stone, plus being able to help others ... so I guess that's three birds ... :)

As you can see, the registration requires full names, first and last, already taking us to a new place.

http://destee.com/images/bpregister.jpg

Okay Family ... email me (http://destee.com/forums/sendmessage.php) the required registration info (no password), and I'll get you registered for this class and work! :)

Love You!

:heart:

Destee

:toast: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY USSSSSSSS !!!! :toast:

THANK YOU FAMILY - THOSE WHO HAVE REQUESTED ACCESS TO THIS CLASS !!!! :)

I've created your account, and you will see all the details in the image i sent you.

Please, let the first thing you do after logging in, be to change your password.

I've never done it, so I can't tell you how exactly, but this could be our first tutorial! :)

Also, I don't know what accessibility you have and don't have, so try everything out, and if there's something you can't do, that you should be able to do, let me know.

I think that will be first, just figuring out permissions and stuff.

I am giving everyone TEACHER status to begin with (allowing you to actually practice with your own class hopefully). I don't know if this means you can still actually sign in as a Student or not ... i just don't know any of this stuff yet ... but we'll learn together!

Okay ... let me go see how to give yall TEACHER status ... :look:

Once we all get in, and make sure we have access to everything we're suppose to, we can have this class over there.

Again ... Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!

Love You!

:heart:

Destee

Instead of the TEACHER ROLE (http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teacher_role) ... each participant of this class will be assigned the role (http://docs.moodle.org/en/Assign_roles) of ... COURSE CREATOR (http://docs.moodle.org/en/Course_creator_role).

Course Creator seems to have more priviledges than Teacher. If you can't do something, let me know.

The link above, about assigning roles ... :eeek: ... oh my gosh ... i didn't understand any of that! :injured:

Okay ... here we go ... :teach:

:heart:

Destee

STUDENTS : FIRST THING : CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD !!!!

Here's a quick guide to changing your password.

1. Log into blackpeopleschool.com (http://blackpeopleschool.com)

2. See your name in the Users Online Area on the left side of the home page (see image below)


http://destee.com/images/onlineusers.jpg


3. Click on your name, and you'll go to your profile page (see image below)


http://destee.com/images/changepassword.jpg


4. Click on Edit Profile at the top of this page, and the screen will appear where you can change your password.


If you have any trouble let me know.

Love You!

:heart:

Destee

I didn't think those suggestions would be that useful when I wrote them haha. I just noticed what seemed like a thread looking for distance learning solutions and posted a few ideas.

Moodle seems like a good choice for an online school. It looks like there's quite a bit of documentation and it looks pretty customizable.

On curriculum

I'm not an educator or a good teacher either, but I hope some other folks who are could fill this role. I'm not even sure where I am on the gradient of ideals around these parts, since i'm sort of new.

Compensating Teachers

I would hope that teachers would be willing to do this for free or irregular compensation. The best way to make something like this accessible would be to not charge a tuition or fees. I know this might be a little impractical, but this seems like a good opportunity for experience for less experienced teachers and for willing students to learn.

Study Group Courses

There is a very huge wealth of open courseware out there from a lot of different Universities around the world. I think it would be a good idea that some of the courses in the online school just be study groups for specific courses elsewhere.

There's a lot of impressive resources that go with these open courses, such as lectures (audio/video), practice problems/homework, and exams.

There is also the possibility of some teachers using these materials for courses to build off of to save them time and effort.


Also, could I have an account too? I'd like to poke around and see how things are on there. It'll be interesting to see how this progresses.

I think for a project like this it would be good to use free and open source software whenever possible. I know the price of software might be an issue for some people and I see no reason to use expensive commercial solutions, when there are free alternatives.

I'm up for suggesting things as it takes shape or someone else can.

Sister Destee,

I have successfully changed my password and am ready to begin Moodle 101, whenever you are ready.



Gorilla,

You are cordially invited to share your suggestions with brother and sisters of like minds on Thursday's in Chat, beginning at 7:00 PM Central, every Thursday, we hold our weekly; Rebuilding and Reuniting our Community Meeting, from 7 to 9.

Please consider attending and becoming part of this effort in keeping with the below link:

http://destee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36092

The title of this thread is: One Step Away From Greatness...., which we truly are...Peace In.

I didn't think those suggestions would be that useful when I wrote them haha. I just noticed what seemed like a thread looking for distance learning solutions and posted a few ideas.

Moodle seems like a good choice for an online school. It looks like there's quite a bit of documentation and it looks pretty customizable.

On curriculum

I'm not an educator or a good teacher either, but I hope some other folks who are could fill this role. I'm not even sure where I am on the gradient of ideals around these parts, since i'm sort of new.

Compensating Teachers

I would hope that teachers would be willing to do this for free or irregular compensation. The best way to make something like this accessible would be to not charge a tuition or fees. I know this might be a little impractical, but this seems like a good opportunity for experience for less experienced teachers and for willing students to learn.

Study Group Courses

There is a very huge wealth of open courseware out there from a lot of different Universities around the world. I think it would be a good idea that some of the courses in the online school just be study groups for specific courses elsewhere.

There's a lot of impressive resources that go with these open courses, such as lectures (audio/video), practice problems/homework, and exams.

There is also the possibility of some teachers using these materials for courses to build off of to save them time and effort.


Also, could I have an account too? I'd like to poke around and see how things are on there. It'll be interesting to see how this progresses.

I think for a project like this it would be good to use free and open source software whenever possible. I know the price of software might be an issue for some people and I see no reason to use expensive commercial solutions, when there are free alternatives.

I'm up for suggesting things as it takes shape or someone else can.

Brother Gorilla ... we appreciate, want, and need your input. Thank you for it!

You make some very good points above, and i think we (as a Family) will have to make some hard decisions, as we move forward. So, keep them coming, as it is all good food for thought

As it relates to gaining access to the school at this point, there are prerequisites for this class ... Understanding Moodle 101 (http://destee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=597182&postcount=17) ... and work will be expected.

We're not letting folk in right now, just to poke around, but if you can meet the prerequisite, and still want in, we want you! :)

So take a peek at this post (http://destee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=597182&postcount=17), follow the instructions within it, if interested ... and i'll give you access.

Even if you don't wanna do any work right now, we appreciate what you've already done!

Oh ... and there's nothing wrong with "chaining posts" ... :)

If you have any questions, let me know.

Much Much Love and Peace.

:heart:

Destee

@Destee

It's good to see it taking shape. I'm probably just gonna try out moodle on a virtual machine or something, just so I can have a bit more freedom with seeing how it works.

It'll be interesting to see how this pans out and if I have anymore suggestions I wont hesitate to post them.

take care

be of help to your project?
http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/




Yes sister phynxofkmt,

And based on my review, in my opinion most of which the link offers could be of help, I think at this point, Destee is more concerned that those willing step up and become teachers, through learning Moodle 101, by making themselves available for that class; and of course, you qualify.

We first need people familiar with Moodle ... its capabilities and limitations ... oh my gosh ... i'm tired already!

Brother Gorilla mentioned a few open source programs, and i picked this one because i'd seen it before, and was "feeling it" more than the others. This is not to suggest that we have to stay with it, we don't. We may ultimately find that it won't do what we want it to do, or that something else will serve us better. I just wanted to get something up, get the ball rolling and stuff. So please know, we are not bound to moodle.

Here's a link to moodle's site providing insight into the application : http://docs.moodle.org/en/Main_Page

Love You!

:heart:

Destee




Sister Destee,

Here is some of what I found by visiting the Moodle site, which gives us a foundational understanding:

Moodle: Moodle is a software package for producing Internet-based courses and web sites. It is a global development project designed to support a social constructionist framework of education. Moodle is provided freely as Open Source software (under the GNU Public License). Basically this means Moodle is copyrighted, but that you have additional freedoms. You are allowed to copy, use and modify Moodle provided that you agree to:

provide the source to others; not modify or remove the original license and copyrights, and apply this same license to any derivative work

The word Moodle was originally an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, which is mostly useful to programmers and education theorists. It's also a verb that describes the process of lazily meandering through something, doing things as it occurs to you to do them, an enjoyable tinkering that often leads to insight and creativity. As such it applies both to the way Moodle was developed, and to the way a student or teacher might approach studying or teaching an online course. Anyone who uses Moodle is a Moodler.

Bumped for Sister Linda Chavis

Bro Clyde

http://blackhomeschooler.ning.com/

...Thank You...you are very welcome, Linda


Bro Clyde

http://blackhomeschooler.ning.com/




No, thank you Linda Chavis for following-up and reading the Thread. Could you please explain how the link you provided connects with the School Thread, I think I know but wish not to second guess you...Peace In my sister friend, and also a great survey post to the sisters.

I posted that link based on this comment:

Imagine the home schooling impact we could have, helping Sisters and Brothers with material to help teach their babies! We can really do this Family ... oh my gosh ... yall scare me! :)

:heart:

Destee

I posted that link based on this comment:




Yes sister Linda, Destee is correct to say: Imagine the home schooling impact we could have, helping Sisters and Brothers with material to help teach their babies! We can really do this Family ... oh my gosh ... yall scare me!

You miss my point I think. I posted that link as a resource when the school is up and running so we can see the work the homeschool folks do and what we may add.


Yes sister Linda

Destee[/B][/COLOR] is correct to say: [I]Imagine the home schooling impact we could have

...Bro Clyde


You miss my point I think. I posted that link as a resource when the school is up and running so we can see the work the homeschool folks do and what we may add.

Yes sister Linda Destee is correct to say: Imagine the home schooling impact we could have




Got cha! And thank you Linda, this is now more along the lines of my assumption, just didn't know at what point the resource would be utilized, great idea my sister friend.

http://blackpeopleschool.com/