Have You Explored Voicethread.com??

This looks like a very interesting tool for all disciplines. Have any of you had direct experience/success with it? :

http://voicethread.com/#home.b409.i848804

Being a neophyte with so many new tools at my disposal, I am trying to focus on those that best can serve my foreign language teaching purpose .

On-Line School Advantageous for Girls? One School Thinks So…

I just came across the following post on isenet.ning.com, posted by collaborator, Paul Miller:

From the Tennessean 6/29

Harpeth Hall staffers design Online School for Girls

Girls learn differently.

At least that’s the philosophy behind the new Online School for Girls, a virtual school developed by employees of Nashville’s Harpeth Hall.

The Green Hills private school has been educating girls in a traditional setting for nearly 60 years, but next year will expand course offerings into cyberspace. To pull it off, staff members connected with three other girls schools in Ohio and Connecticut to build a program that will eventually be open to girls across the world.

But is there really a benefit to offering same-sex classes online?

The folks at Harpeth Hall think so.

Girls like to collaborate and connect with each other, said Molly Rumsey, who sits on the online school’s board and is a member of the technology department at Harpeth Hall. That’s why the online courses will use a social media model that allows students to post questions and have a digital dialogue with classmates.

Lessons will reward creativity and show students how what they’re studying is applicable in the real world — two principles research shows help girls learn. The online school will also allow students to take challenging courses that may not be offered at their school.
6 pilot courses planned

Next year, Harpeth Hall girls will pilot six courses so employees can work out all the kinks and tweak the courses as necessary. Eventually, any girl will be able to enroll in the courses, whether she is in public school or home school.

“They will be able to connect with girls all over the world,” Rumsey said. “It’s really unique.”

Organizers don’t know yet how much the courses will cost or what subjects will be offered. The pilot courses include genetics, multivariable calculus and differential equations.

States across the country, including Tennessee, have or are developing online courses for students, but this would be the first set of courses geared toward girls, according to the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools.

Conversations about creating online programs for girls began last year, and Harpeth Hall moved rapidly to get the courses ready to launch.

“We recognized the importance of online education,” said Karen Douse, director of library and information services at Harpeth Hall. “And we knew it would be a great opportunity for our girls and girls around the world.”

Chloe Lainhart, 17, will be a senior this fall at Harpeth Hall, but before enrolling in the all-girls school, she attended classes on a coed campus. Based on her experience, she agrees genders learn differently and sees the value in the Online School for Girls.

“I am actually really excited about it,” she said. “There are so many opportunities at Harpeth Hall, and this is one more we can learn from.”

What do you all think??