from DSSResources.comOracle Academy Institute offers teachers professional development and technology trainingLOS ANGELES, July 10, 2006 -- Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) today welcomed more than 220 educators from around the globe to the seventh annual Oracle Academy Institute, held at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus from July 10-21, 2006. The Institute is an intensive professional development forum for teachers, preparing them to teach the Oracle Academy curriculum. In addition to the UCLA Institute, the Oracle Academy also offers training events in Estonia, India, the Philippines and Romania to help quickly train future Oracle Academy teachers to meet growing demand for the program. The Oracle Academy is a partnership between Oracle and secondary schools, designed to equip students with database, SQL, Java programming, and general business skills. Oracle works directly with participating schools to provide extensive teacher training, ongoing professional development and support, a state-of-the-art curriculum, and an online learning and development environment. "Quality teacher training is critical to help educators incorporate technology into their broader curriculum," said Clare Dolan, Vice President of Oracle's Education Initiatives. "We deliver the Oracle Academy Institute using a high-touch, personalized approach that includes some of our very best Oracle instructors, a student-friendly curriculum, and cutting edge technology." To fully prepare for the Institute's rigorous program, participating teachers attend virtual training sessions consisting of online classes, quizzes, weekly conference calls, as well as ongoing email dialogues with Oracle Academy mentors. Once onsite, the attending teachers spend a complete week with Oracle staff, and are trained by a team of Oracle University instructors and seasoned teachers who have previously taught the Oracle Academy curriculum in their high schools. The teachers ultimately demonstrate their readiness to teach the curriculum by completing a project that challenges them to apply their new technical skills, as well as passing an exit exam. "The Oracle Academy's approach to training instructors is geared towards instructor and student success," said Barbie Quintero, Oracle Academy instructor, mentor and adjunct instructor from Miami High School. "For nine weeks, the instructors attend weekly web conferences and conference calls with adjunct instructors covering the Institute curriculum. When they arrive at UCLA, they have a solid foundation to build upon during their intensive face- to-face training. They will complete the same assignments that their students will, using the same materials. This method provides a level of familiarity with both the curriculum and materials that teachers rarely ever have when teaching a course for the first time." The teachers attending this year's Institute represent over 190 schools from 24 U.S. states, and 12 countries and territories. For more information, visit http://academy.oracle.com. About Oracle Academy The Oracle Academy educates 10,000 students in 15 countries. The program helps participating students to develop database design, programming, project management, presentation, and problem-solving skills. At the same time, participating teachers are supported with world-class training and professional development, and the latest database and online learning technologies. The Academy is one of four education initiatives that Oracle sponsors in support of technology education. To learn more about the program and Oracle's Education Initiatives, visit http://academy.oracle.com. About Oracle Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our website at http://www.oracle.com Trademark Oracle, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, and Siebel are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. |