Nov. 13, 2009 – The Texas Education Agency (TEA), in collaboration with Epsilen LLC, and The New York Times Company, is pleased to announce Project Share, a new initiative to expand the development and delivery of high quality professional development in an interactive and engaging eLearning environment and provide access to online resources, online course content, academic networking, and professional learning communities.
Project Share will utilize a single online environment to leverage existing and new professional development resources for teachers across the state and build professional learning communities where educators can collaborate, share, and tailor professional development to meet individual needs.
Professional learning communities provide opportunities for educators to share ideas, effective classroom strategies and knowledge of current education research. Project Share will also provide opportunities for extensive interactions among teachers and students, showcasing accomplishments through ePortfolios, and new forms of evaluation through online student assessments.
“Project Share is a cutting edge initiative that will allow teachers to share classroom practices that work well with teachers all over Texas and the country in a new and exciting way. It will allow students to do in-depth research in a real time fashion that connects them with experts. It will also allow the state and its partners to deliver training to educators in an interactive and timely manner,” said Robert Scott, commissioner of education.
The Epsilen Environment offers opportunities to enhance the eLearning environment through its comprehensive suite of tools for teaching, interacting, collaborating and assessment. Project Share will also provide more than 150 years of articles, videos, and interactive features from The New York Times Knowledge Network Content Repository (NYTKN Repository), which houses NYT and other digital content and resources dating back to 1851. The Epsilen Environment and NYTKN Repository allow teachers to use existing content and specifically align it with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.
“Epsilen is proud to be the platform for such a forward thinking initiative as Project Share,” said Jim Bowler, Epsilen CEO. “Texas is taking a leadership position in eLearning by providing teachers and students across the state with access to ePortfolios, collaboration tools and high quality digital content.”
Project Share will not only ensure that Texas is leading the way in addressing the 21st century needs of our classrooms, but it will also to lead a cutting edge effort in the recruitment and retention of highly effective teachers, specifically those teachers with a commitment to infusing web 2.0 technology tools in the classroom.
“Education has long been a focus for The Times Company and Project Share is an exciting and innovative initiative,” said Janet L. Robinson, president and chief executive officer, The New York Times Company. “As majority owner of Epsilen, we are very pleased to collaborate with The Texas Education Agency and Epsilen on this innovative approach to statewide education and excellence."
The first phase of Project Share begins with building a community of practitioners dedicated to improving teaching and learning through collaborative professional development and ongoing support. A series of webinars, presentations, and training opportunities will be provided to acquaint educators and other stakeholders with the various components of Project Share. Learn more about Project Share at (www.tea.state.tx.us/projectshare).
About Epsilen
Epsilen Environment combines Web 2.0 social networking with the best practices of eLearning course delivery. Epsilen Environment is a hosted online solution featuring ePortfolios, global networking and learning management that enhance learning across a campus or around the world. In March 2008, The New York Times Company purchased a majority ownership interest in Epsilen, LLC, and provides Epsilen’s clients with a repository of New York Times articles, multimedia and archives dating back to 1851.
About The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company, a leading media company with 2008 revenues of $2.9 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.
About the Texas Education Agency
The Texas Education Agency is the state agency that oversees pre-kindergarten through high school education in Texas, which educates 4.7 million students in its more than 1,200 school districts and charter schools.
Contacts: Diane McNulty, 212-556-5244; diane.mcnulty@nytimes.com
This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com
Debbie Ratcliffe, 512 463-9000; debbie.ratcliffe@tea.state.tx.us
