Bigchalk.com’s Bobbi Kurshan in the Spotlight on K-12 Panel on LearningWeek Live Webcast

August 20, 2001

LearningWeek Live, the first interactive weekly webcast featuring stories about the people, technology and business of learning today, is Dr. Barbara “Bobbi” Kurshan.

An education industry leader and currently EVP and Chief Education Officer at bigchalk.com, Kurshan will be in the guest spotlight on this week’s show, dedicated exclusively to technology topics in K-12 education.

Dr. Kurshan will be joined by special LearningWeek panelists for an interactive roundtable discussion at 1:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, August 22nd. This K-12 special edition of LearningWeek will last one hour.

The show will feature special guest co-host and elementary school teacher Megan McDonald who will join Jonathan Finkelstein, co-host and Executive Producer of LearningWeek. Joining the roundtable discussion with Dr. Kurshan will also be Michael Preston, Program Officer for Technology at New Visions for Public Schools, New York City’s largest education-reform organization.

Dr. Kurshan has applied her expertise in all areas of lifelong learning including computer literacy, distance education, adult learning, multimedia, and product design and development. Specifically, she has taught at the secondary and university levels, written numerous articles and texts, and designed curriculum, software and networks to meet the needs of learners of all ages.

Bigchalk.com provides a broad spectrum of educational Internet services to teachers, students, parents, librarians and school administrators in the K-12 educational and public library markets. Earlier this year, bigchalk.com closed over $43 million in venture capital funding.

LearningWeek Live (LWL) airs every Wednesday at 1:00 pm EDT at LearningWeek.com. Each show features a dialogue on a learning news story, the LearningWeek Business Report, and a special guest interview.

Guests and show topics are drawn from the worlds of primary, secondary, and higher education, corporate training, publishing, web-based instruction –- anywhere concerted teaching and learning efforts are taking place.

The show concludes with the selection of the “LearningWeek Site of the Week”, recognizing achievement in providing access to quality learning in a connected world. Previously recognized sites have included: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, ExploreLearning.com, Session.edu, Canada’s Digital Collections, the Digital Divide Network, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees e-Centre, and the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance Online, and EducationGuardian.

LWL is co-hosted by Jonathan Finkelstein and John Walber, recognized experts in the learning and technology fields.

“There has been an wonderfully positive response to the program and format,” said Finkelstein. “Live human interaction is a basic ingredient for creating effective learning experiences, and we think it’s important to bring this approach to the discussion of learning issues themselves, live on the Internet.”

The format of the live video-based webcast, which usually runs 30 minutes, allows participants to offer their perspectives, ask questions of the featured guest, and recommend topics for future shows.

Previous guests have included: Richard Katz of EDUCAUSE, Denis Gilhooly of the UN Development Programme, Kristin Hirst of About.com, Bill Evans of Cal-State Chico, Gene Smarte of eLearning Magazine, Denise Easton of ULiveandLearn.com, Deb Bennett of TAFE South Australia, and Donavan Vicha of the American Library Association. Upcoming live episodes of LearningWeek will include visits by Casey Green of the Campus Computing Project, George Cigale of Tutor.com, Matthew Pittinsky of Blackboard, Bernard Percy of Converge Magazine, and Ann Kirschner of Fathom, among others.

Sponsorship of the weekly show is provided by HorizonLive.com, Inc., Distance-Educator.com, and The Employment Channel. Registration for events is free of charge at LearningWeek.com.

For additional information, visit LearningWeek.com or email learningweek@learningweek.com.