Course Descriptions

Our computer-based instruction (CBI) courseware provides expert, flexible instruction to educators and business professionals.

We currently offer the following courses:

Advanced Classroom Management
Children as Change Agents©
Geared primarily for professionals (e.g., regular or special educators, instructional assistants, school psychologist, counselors) serving children and youths presenting behavior problems in the school or community, this course focuses on cognitive and cognitive-behavioral interventions (often lumped together under the rubric “social skills”) with an emphasis on teaching students how to change and manage their own behavior. Since previous knowledge and understanding of traditional behavioral (operant) concepts and strategies is required, it is strongly recommended that you take an introductory behavior management course to learn the basic terms and concepts of behavior management prior to taking this advanced course.

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Attention Deficit Disorder
Information & Interventions for Effective Teaching©
This course will help the learner achieve a better understanding of ADD and intervention strategies to facilitate positive student change. Taught by Mick R. Jackson MS/ED, this course covers the history of the disorder, accepted methods to assess and identify students with the disorder, and various methods, medications, and strategies that are currently used to treat it. For situations in which services beyond what can be provided in the classroom are required, the referral process for getting help for the student will be addressed. Reference materials include a list of resources for both teachers and parents who would like more help or information about ADD or ADHD.

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Autism & Asperger's Disorder
Information & Effective Intervention Strategies
This course describes Autism and Asperger's Disorder to include characteristics of these disorders, associated learning styles, communication weaknesses, and various intervention strategies. The course helps the learner make sense out of why individuals with Autism spectrum disorders behave the way they do, and what you can do to enhance more appropriate behavior. This course also lists resources for educators, related service personnel, and parents who want more help or information on Autism and Asperger's Disorder.

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Behavior Is Language
Strategies for Managing Disruptive Behavior©
This course is designed to give the learner a new perspective on student behavior and effective tools to facilitate positive student change. Taught by Mick R. Jackson MS/ED, this course provides a developmental framework to help the learner understand what students are trying to communicate through the "language" of their behavior. Topics covered include behavioral techniques and intervention strategies that remediate disruptive behaviors, reduce power struggles while increasing classroom control, reduce educator workload, and help prevent burnout. After successfully completing this course, the educator and his/her students will be better equipped to find and implement creative, effective solutions to behavioral problems.

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Child Abuse
Working with Abused and Neglected Children©
Designed to help the learner identify and effectively teach students affected by child abuse and/or neglect, this course covers how to recognize the signs of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and physical and emotional neglect in students. It also discusses the specific factors that exist in families who abuse or neglect their children. A major emphasis in this course is to help the participant understand the special learning needs of abused or neglected children and how to meet those needs in the regular classroom. Working with parents and community agencies is also emphasized.

Note: This course meets the child abuse and neglect educational requirement in most states. It is the responsibility of the student to verify the course content with your specific state professional licensing agency to ensure proper credit.

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Drugs & Alcohol in School
Understanding Substance Use & Abuse©
This course is designed to help the learner gain a more comprehensive understanding of alcohol, drugs, and their influences in the classroom. It provides a contextual framework for understanding what students may be experiencing either through their own substance use or from the substance use of persons close to them and provides a basic historical perspective of substance use along with the biological, psychological, and social factors that comprise the disease of addiction. Upon course completion, the learner will better understand the complex dynamics that contribute to this biological and social phenomenon.

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Early Childhood: Family-Centered Services
This course is designed to give you a new perspective on serving the needs of young children and their families. In this course you will learn what is meant by family-centered services as it applies to diverse systems of care, gain an understanding of family diversity, and explore the major stress factors facing families today. We will discuss the theoretical basis for family-centered services, as well as reflect on current research and best practice. Family-Centered Services will also examine the role of early childhood educators and explore ways to build partnerships with parents and create communities of care—for the benefit of our children, and ultimately society as a whole.

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Early Childhood: Observation & Assessment
This course explores observation and assessment instruments, as well as recommended practices and available resources for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.  Content includes an emphasis on observing young children and assessing their early childhood learning environments.

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Early Childhood: Program Planning
This course is designed to give you a new perspective on planning and implementing developmentally appropriate programs for young children from birth through age eight. In this course you will learn what is meant by curriculum, assessment, evaluation, and program planning as these terms apply to early childhood education. We will discuss several historical perspectives and theories of child development, and examine best practice for early childhood education. We will also examine key concepts and specific activities for teaching various curricular content areas including language and literacy, mathematics and science, and the expressive arts.

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Early Childhood: Typical and Atypical Development
This course explores contemporary best practice and perspectives on early childhood development. Content includes patterns and sequences of typical development for children from birth to six years. Emphasis is on individual differences, cultural influences, and the impact of developmental delay and disability during infancy, toddlerhood, and the preschool years. Discussion will also include instructional technology (IT) and assistive technology (AT) applications for this population.

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Educational Assessment
Assessing Student Learning in the Classroom©
This course is designed to further develop the conceptual and technical skills required by teachers to help them identify their educational goals, and implement meaningful instructional strategies for effective learning by students with special needs. The focus of the course is on assessment for instructional programming and will outline procedures for designing or selecting, administering and interpreting, a variety of informal assessment measures typically used in schools. The presentation of assessment information in an acceptable format to parents and teachers is also be addressed.

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Harassment, Bullying & Cyber-Intimidation in Schools
Harassment, Bullying & Cyber-Intimidation in Schools will discuss definitions and the personal, social, and legal ramifications associated with sexual harassment, bullying, and cyber-intimidation. The course will address what we know about these troubling areas. We will then explore preventative strategies as well as how school staff can address these issues when they occur. A clear understanding of what constitutes harassment and the harmful effects of harassment on people and institutions is essential to providing a safe and inclusive school environment for all.

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Inclusion
Working with Special Needs Students in Mainstream Classrooms©
This course is designed to help special and general educators gain a better understanding of inclusion, one of the current educational reform movements that advocates educating students with disabilities in the general education classrooms. Upon course completion, the learner will be able to define key concepts and terms, identify and describe federal legislature and court cases, and list and describe the federal definition of students entitled to special services. This course will also discuss the roles and responsibilities of educators in providing special services to students educated in inclusive classrooms.

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Infant and Toddler Mental Health
Issues and Information for Educators©
This course is designed to help educators achieve a better understanding of infant and toddler mental health, child development, and strategies that can be used to promote positive relationships with children and their families. This course provides information that will help the learner understand and identify his or her role as a child care provider, educator, and early childhood professional. Infant and Toddler Mental Health provides research-based information on child development, attachment, temperament, and curriculum. This course also lists resources for both teachers and parents who would like more help or information about infant and toddler mental health.

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Learning Disabilities
Practical Information for Classroom Teachers©
This course describes diverse theoretical approaches to handling learning disabilities in the classroom. Taught by Dr. Bob Pillay, it lays the foundation for sensitive, appropriate assessment and evaluation of students. In addition, this course covers program planning and implementation, stresses the importance of a close, positive partnership with parents or alternative caregivers, and explores methods for ensuring that the home-school axis is effective and meaningful. Major trends and unresolved issues in the field of learning disabilities are also discussed.

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Reading Fundamentals #1
An Introduction to Scientifically-Based Research©
The purpose of this course is to improve your knowledge of science and the scientific process. This is the first course in a three-course series.

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Reading Fundamentals #2
Laying the Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction©
Designed to lay the foundation for effective reading instruction, this course will teach you about the elements of effective instruction and the importance of reading instruction.

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Reading Fundamentals #3
The Elements of Effective Reading Instruction and Assessment©
This course will focus on learning to read, reading to learn, and an introduction to reading assessment. As part of these key areas of reading instruction, the five elements of effective reading instruction will be highlighted, including definitions, implications for instruction and future directions.

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Talented and Gifted
Working with High Achievers©
This course provides information on the history of exceptional students in relation to education, current law, and accepted methods for referral, assessment, and identification. It covers major program models and methods of differentiating instruction to meet the rate and level of learning of those students identified. The course gives the learner an understanding of ways to meet the affective needs of the gifted and talented student in the regular classroom and lists resources for teachers and parents who would like more information about the talented and gifted.

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Teaching Diversity
Designed to give the learner the knowledge, tools and dispositions to effectively facilitate a diverse classroom, this course teaches how to understand and identify differences in approaches to learning and performance, including different learning styles and ways in which students demonstrate learning. An emphasis in this course is on understanding how students' learning is influenced by individual experiences, talents, disabilities, gender, language, culture, family and community values. The learner is challenged to apply knowledge of the richness of contributions from our diverse society to the teaching field.

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Traumatized Child
The Effects of Stress, Trauma and Violence on Student Learning©
This course is designed to help classroom teachers, school counselors, and other educational personnel gain strategies to reach and teach students who have been affected by stress, trauma, and/or violence. Participants will learn the signs and symptoms of stress and trauma and explore how stress, violence, and trauma affect a student's learning, cognitive brain development, and social-emotional development. The short and long term consequences of being exposed to stress, trauma, or violence, as well as the social and family causes, will be reviewed. The dynamics of domestic violence and community violence are also discussed as well as the educator's role in the intervention and prevention of violence.

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Understanding Aggression
Coping with Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom©
This course includes topics on violence, aggression in the classroom, youth gangs, aggression in sports and on television, how drugs and alcohol play a role in aggression and violence, and "hot spots" that tend to breed aggression and violence. It is designed to help school personnel become more aware of the causes of aggression and ways to evaluate it and intervene before it turns to violence in the schools. The course also discusses aggression in our communities through driving, dating, sports, television, music and how these issues are dealt with in modern society.

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Violence in Schools
Identification, Prevention, and Intervention Strategies©
This course is designed to give participants an understanding of school violence and increase intervention strategies. Taught by Dr. Michael Sedler, the course provides an overview of violence and the motivational purposes behind aggression. The correlation and impact of the media, community, and family upon violence is investigated. The learner will gain an understanding of identification and intervention approaches to working with out-of-control behaviors. In addition, information about the national resources available for both parents and teachers is covered. Upon successful completion of this course, participants will have a better understanding of violence and the motivations behind its use, as well as specific strategies to minimize the occurrence of violence in the school and community.

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If you have questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us today.

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