| THE STATE 
      EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY 
      OF THE STATE OF  | 
| TO: | Cultural Education Committee | 
| FROM: | Carole Huxley | 
| SUBJECT: | OCE Resources & the NYSED Virtual Learning 
      System | 
| DATE: | February 21, 2006 | 
| STRATEGIC 
      GOAL: | Goal 4  | 
| AUTHORIZATION(S): |  | 
Issue for Discussion 
What plans exist for incorporating OCE resources in the NYSED Virtual Learning System?
The NYSED Virtual Learning System 
(VLS) is designed to encourage use of the Internet as a tool for teaching and 
learning and to assist classroom teachers in locating Internet resources for 
instruction.  VLS offers the full 
text of 
As was demonstrated at the Committee’s Trusteeship meeting in February, the State Archives, Library and Museum have invested in Internet-based strategies for increasing access to our collections, including resources specifically designed for classroom use. Public Broadcasting’s web resources for teachers are varied, extensive and widely used.
VLS represents an opportunity to bring OCE’s resources into the pre-K to 12 curricular mainstream.
Proposed Handling
The Committee will discuss the status of OCE’s involvement with VLS (summarized below) as well as plans for the future. The Committee will then determine what more information they may need, what additional questions should be posed regarding the issue and whether they support OCE’s efforts with regard to VLS.
Summary of OCE Involvement with VLS: OCE representatives have served on the VLS Steering Committee since its inception. Currently, the VLS home page[1] contains links to educational resources from OCE via a document entitled “Cultural Resources”.[2] This document is an all inclusive portal to the resources of OCE. VLS is designed to lead a teacher through the Learning Standards and to link resources to the specific Performance Indicator. Therefore, it will be most beneficial to all concerned if OCE’s resources can also be fully integrated with VLS at every appropriate level of the Standards.
A draft plan for providing OCE resources to the NYSED Virtual Learning System is attached.
Procedural History
This is the Committee’s first opportunity to discuss the issue.
Recommendation
Recommended that the Committee support the effort to link OCE resources to VLS and review progress on an annual basis.
Timetable for Implementation
Ongoing
Attachment
DRAFT Plan for Providing OCE Resources to the NYSED Virtual 
Learning System
| Activity | Human 
      Resources | Details | 
| Determine 
      curriculum areas where OCE content would be most needed and 
      useful | OCE 
      staff EMSC Curriculum 
      & Instruction associates | ·       
      Review what’s in 
      VLS and what’s needed ·       
      Review OCE 
      assets  ·       
      Determine, based 
      on curriculum and standards as well as relative difficulty, where to 
      begin | 
| Identify 
      high-impact content for classroom use | OCE 
      staff NYS 
      teachers | ·       
      Review the 
      materials already created for the classroom ·       
      Identify new 
      content themes suggested by collections | 
| Align identified 
      content to Learning Standards at the appropriate 
      level | NYS 
      teachers | ·       
      Identify 
      activities and lesson plans ·       
      Determine 
      standards alignment | 
| Align items in 
      the OCE Digital Collection to core curriculum and learning 
      standards | NYS 
      teachers OCE IT 
      staff | ·       
      Align each item 
      to the appropriate standard(s) ·       
      Add 
      functionality to OCE Digital Collection website to incorporate standards 
      alignment and teacher tools (similar to Archives’ Throughout the Ages 
      site) | 
| Align NYS PTV 
      and PBS TeacherSource resources to NYS standards | Station 
      Education Directors NYS 
      teachers | ·       
      Choose the most 
      promising materials ·       
      Negotiate rights 
      (if necessary) with PBS or producers ·       
      Determine 
      standards alignment | 
| Teacher 
      Professional Development | Station 
      staff OCE 
      staff BOCES Higher Ed (if 
      TeacherLine course is created) | ·       
      Develop workshop 
      curriculum to train teachers on using OCE resources ·       
      Post workshop 
      materials on websites ·       
      Post resource 
      integration “tips and tricks” on OCE websites and 
VLS ·       
      Consider 
      creating a PBS  |