Why: The creation of this graduate-level professional development course has been funded by the Center for Civic Education and developed by the Idaho Human Rights Education Center as a new tool for conducting RDA training utilizing RDA materials.

Who: All educators who are interested in exploring RDA materials online, allowing for flexibility and convenience in time and place, in addition to earning graduate credit.

What: The RDA Online Professional Development course takes six weeks to complete. Each of the first four lessons includes a scholarly lecture, exploration of RDA web and hard-copy materials, a weekly quiz, independent study, and reflection on the online forum. The fifth lesson requires the creation of a lesson plan based on the effective use of RDA materials in the classroom. Lesson 6 includes the completion of an online survey and the submission of the Lesson 5 classroom assignment. The creation of the classroom lesson plan using RDA materials accounts for the majority of the independent study hours.  Weekly lessons are posted on Mondays and must be completed by the following Sunday evening. In order to qualify for one graduate credit, the course includes a minimum of 15 online contact hours and an additional 30 hours of independent study.

This course is offered for one graduate credit from Northwest Nazarene University located in Nampa, ID (www.nnu.edu/); the credit cost is $85. Professional development course credits normally do not count towards a program degree.

When: The next course session begins on Oct. 17, 2011; the final lesson is due no later than Monday, Nov. 28, 2011.

How: To register for the course, visit the IHREC website at www.idaho-humanrights.org.  Scroll down the left side to the RDA logo and "click" http://www.nnu.edu/pdcourses to register.  

Email dan@idaho-humanrights.org if you have additional questions.