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February 17, 2010

Berry faculty member helps develop Web site for Apple

Submitted by Berry College

ROME — Berry College faculty member Dr. Lynnwood Belvin has joined forces with the U.S. Department of Education and Apple Inc. to create a new online resource designed to help students continue their education in the event of a natural disaster or pandemic.

Inspired by the H1N1 breakout, Apple set out to develop an online repository for the public to access K-12 curriculum. The result is “Continuity of Learning,” a new Web site available through iTunes U that brings together a cohesive and diverse set of resources for teachers facing the prospect of working with their students remotely for an extended period of time. Adding to its versatility, the content also has everyday applications for teachers in and out of the classroom.

Dr. Belvin was one of 10 researchers from Apple’s Distinguished Educator program to be chosen for the project. Joining him were K-12 educators from New York, Illinois and California; college faculty from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Maryland; and state department of education personnel from Florida and Louisiana. Working together, Dr. Belvin and his colleagues were able to take existing content available on iTunes U and group it together in curricular collections or “mixes” with guidelines for usage. The resulting Web site may be accessed free of charge by visiting the Apple store on iTunes. It is available at http://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/col.gov.

“The site is absolutely amazing; all content is peer-reviewed and available at no cost to a global audience,” Dr. Belvin commented, adding that this latest innovation is part of a movement that is breaking away from traditional publishing.

A faculty member at Berry since 1999, Dr. Belvin currently serves as associate professor of teacher education and director of educational technology for the Charter School of Education and Human Sciences. Prior to his arrival at Berry, he spent more than 20 years as a K-12 teacher and administrator serving in such diverse roles as CIO (chief information officer), high school band director and middle school computer science teacher. He has been a member of Apple’s Distinguished Educator program since 2004.

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