Since 1886, National Louis University has stood for high-quality education in Chicagoland and beyond. Follow our blog to get useful information, meet our students and faculty, and learn about NLU.
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As the new reality of the pandemic continues to sink in, colleges and universities are beginning to rethink some basic assumptions about how they conduct classes and deliver instruction. Particularly, administrators and faculty are reflecting on how they might optimize their technology and resources to best accommodate a virtual learning environment – the new norm in an educational sector whose traditional modus operandi has been shaken to its foundations.
Continue readingJoseph Levy, Executive Director of Assessment and Accreditation and Tracy Costello, Assistant Director of Prior Learning Assessment of NLU believe that adult students need to feel validated and know their experience and knowledge has value and worth. Consequently, they are taking the proper steps to ensure these students are acknowledged. In The EvoLLLution online newspaper, Levy and Costello’s discuss considerations for ensuring student success through PLA programs, while also highlighting example practices at NLU. Prior Learning Assessments (PLA) allow a student’s experiential learning to be evaluated for potential credit award while recognizing and validating the non-traditional learning they bring with them to college.
Through trial and error and finding the right balance of support, Levy and Costello have developed effective PLA options for undergraduate and graduate students such as credit by exam, credit by portfolio, credit by licensure and certifications, and course by arrangement to support students’ whose experience surpasses the coursework needed for completion of certain courses within some programs. These assessments are described in detail in the article and more information can be found on NLU’s PLA website.
With student support in place, Levy and Costello also created outreach initiatives that support and encourage adult learners including a PLA video showcasing students of PLA, redesigning the NLU website to provide testimonials, and program specific information fact sheets to demonstrate the PLA process (e.g., undergraduate examples here). By doing so, these efforts educate and reinforce PLA programs to students, faculty and staff, and are excellent examples for other institutions to consider. “At NLU, our institutional legacy is defined by its mindfulness in ensuring access to a diverse student body. With this in mind, we have made it our mission to provide equitable PLA opportunities for all students, supporting their unique individual backgrounds” state the innovative creators Levy and Costello. Read the article in The EvoLLLution online newspaper and learn more about NLU’s PLA services at https://www.nl.edu/pla/.
These results, as well as other workshops from various adult education groups will be discussed at the CAEL (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) Conference “Plug in: Energize Adults Pathways to Success” at the Palmer House on Wednesday, November 6 to help support and promote the continuing efforts for PLA options for adults in and around the Chicagoland area. NLU is sponsoring the event, and the conference is opened to anyone would like to attend. More information can be found here.
Earn a master’s or Ed.D. degree by attending class one Saturday per month at the Weekend Center at NLU. The monthly Saturday classes are supplemented by online learning between sessions.
You’re busy. You have to go to work, take care of your family and keep your household running. Still, you want to earn an advanced degree to boost your career, advance to a fulfilling position and improve your family’s situation for the long haul.
National Louis University has created a solution: the Weekend Center at NLU. By devoting just one Saturday a month to attending a class and completing the balance of coursework online, students can earn one of the following master’s or doctoral degrees: Continue reading
Ayn Keneman, Ed.D., Doug Van Dyke, Tori Alland, Mia Gutsell and Angela Elkordy, Ph.D., made a presentation at the ICE conference.
Faculty, students and staff of National Louis University spent weeks preparing for the Illinois Computing Educators conference last week, and it paid off in a successful presentation by three students, an informal faculty meetup with prospective students and a welcome table crowded with both interested prospective students and alums who wanted to talk about their wonderful NLU faculty.
“What made the conference stand out for NLU was that we did a lot of coordination before we went,” said Angela Elkordy, Ph.D., chair of the newly formed Learning Sciences program, which offers M.Ed. and Ed.S. Degrees in Learning Sciences with a concentration in Learning Technologies. Continue reading
Knowing the latest education technology (edtech) can help future teachers better manage their classrooms when they start student teaching. It also makes their resumes stand out to potential employers.
That’s why National Louis University’s National College of Education is offering a Google Certified Educator professional development course this winter and spring. Pre-service teacher prep candidates are flocking to sign up for the course, which will prepare them to incorporate the “G Suite,” a range of Google apps formerly called Google Apps for Education, into their student teaching field placements. Continue reading
If you’re an educator or technology coach eager to become highly proficient in using up-to-the- minute technologies to help your students learn, this is for you.
This summer, National Louis University is offering the Learning Technologies Credential, which is designed for educators and technology coaches who want to build their capacity, teaching strategies, and teaching resources through hands-on experiences with cutting-edge learning technologies. Continue reading
Arlene Borthwick, Ph.D., associate dean of NLU’s National College of Education, poses with the other invitees to the White House Summit on technology in teacher preparation. She is in the back row in front of the second pillar on the left side.
National Louis University’s Arlene Borthwick, Ph.D., visited Washington D.C. in December for the White House Summit on Advancing Educational Technology in Teacher Preparation. Borthwick, associate dean of NLU’s National College of Education, represented NLU as it plays a key role in preparing tomorrow’s teachers to use educational technology to help their students learn.
NLU is one of three Illinois universities that have accepted the U.S. Department of Education’s Educational Technology in Teacher Preparation Challenge, which has a goal of “ensuring every new teacher is prepared to meaningfully use technology to support student learning.” Borthwick, co-chair of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education‘s Committee on Innovation & Technology, was one of 58 invited attendees from across the nation. Continue reading
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded National Louis a $3.6 million Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Grant and a $1.2 million TRIO Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) Grant.
The HSI Grant is a Department of Education grant which assists schools in expanding educational opportunities for Hispanic students. NLU received it in conjunction with Morton College in west suburban Cicero, Illinois, for Project CREST (CoenRollmEnt for Stem), a partnership project with the goal of increasing Hispanic enrollment and graduation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) related programs. Continue reading
In an employer’s ideal world, universities would prepare students for their careers with the right mix of foundational knowledge, skills and practical experience that hiring companies seek. Instead, however, many potential employers, at least in the tech industry, are finding that hiring and training newly-minted graduates can be a bumpy process.
In an effort to stem the disconnect and communicate about how universities can give students the preparation employers seek, the Illinois Technology Association convened a “Forecast Roundtable” event on Nov. 29. America’s Urban Campus, a consortium of 22 Chicago universities (including National Louis University), and World Business Chicago acted as co-conveners. Continue reading
2016 School Library Journal School Librarian of the Year Todd Burleson, Hubbard Woods School, Winnetka, IL (School Library Journal, September 2016) (PRNewsFoto/Scholastic Inc.)
If lightbulbs actually went on over people’s heads like they do in cartoons, the one over the head of Todd Burleson ’98 would be blindingly bright. Burleson has created not only a new concept, but a new word to go with it: Libratory, a library that blends into a laboratory, maker space, place to encourage creativity and hub of design thinking.
For his creation, School Library Journal and Scholastic Library Publishing have recognized Burleson with their School Librarian of the Year award. Continue reading