Like all of you, my heart goes out to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. If you haven't donated to the relief efforts yet, please consider doing so. Two great places to contribute are the Red Cross, the primary humanitarian organization coordinating relief efforts, and the Humane Society, which is working to save all the defenseless animals left behind.
In addition to the great steps people around the United States and world are taking to help those in need, some online tools are pitching in as well. Here are three examples.
- Edupage reports on a Wall Street Journal story (subscription required) saying that many people see online learning as a prime opportunity to help the more than 200,000 elementary- through college-aged students displaced by Katrina. "Advocates of online learning are working to get federal authorities to relax rules governing things ranging from obtaining teacher certification to using public funds to support online schools," Edupage writes.
- One specific initiative Edupage discusses is Sloan Semester, an accelerated term of free online courses offered by The Sloan Consortium, an organization that works to improve online instruction. College students affected by Hurricane Katrina as well as National Guard members whose studies were interrupted by their service can participate -- up to 10,000 people will be able to enroll in the online classes provided by 200 colleges and universities. The $1.1 million effort is sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
- eLearners.com has set up a Katrina Relief College Database to help connect college students whose schooling was affected by the hurricane with institutions that can offer assistance. Schools fill out an online form with their offerings and contact information, and students can log in to search for institutions meeting their needs. The website, which usually charges schools for student referrals, is offering this service free of charge.
- Learning Circuits Express reports that WebEx, the online meeting and collaboration provider, is providing free services to relief organizations and businesses affected by Katrina. The newsbyte states, "The free services are designed to help organizations improve coordination of their relief efforts and businesses replace lost IT infrastructure capabilities. The service capabilities include web meetings, secure document sharing, group scheduling, task management, database applications, and contact directories. In addition, relief organizations looking to raise awareness of specific aspects of their program or to train volunteers can host free online events and training sessions. WebEx event producers will help organizations pull together and host these online events."
Please pass the word along about these opportunities to anyone who might find them useful.
For more coverage of how colleges and universities are helping displaced students, visit the 9/8/05 edition of eLearners News.
