JoAnn Salvisberg, doctoral candidate, teaching a TEFL class in Switzerland Introductory Message Program Audience Programs of Study Degree Requirements by Concentration Course Offerings Learning Resources Faculty PROGRAMS OF STUDY Master of Education in Educational Leadership Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Master of Science in TESOL Master of Arts in Genealogical Studies Welcome to the Center for Education and Literacy People of all nations are interested in education and the quality of their schools and in many ways, a nation's progress is often equated with the success of its educational system. People expect their schools to assist their young to become well educated citizens and the future leaders of their society and they rely upon their schools to guide their young people through life's chances in a way that will mold their lifelong attitudes and skills in effective preparation for their life's work. Because of its vital importance to the survival of any culture, most nations expect their young to continue in their education from the age of 6 through 18, and encourage the capability to complete a college degree. Indeed, the opening of the schools in Afghanistan signaled to the world that this is a nation in progress. In fact, education is so important to these nations that huge amounts are spent each year to support and maintain the educational enterprise. Financially, in the United States alone, more than $400 billion is spent on education each year, an amount approximating seven percent of the total gross domestic product (OECD: 1995:66 in Brint, 1998, 4). Over the past two decades new technologies and the internet have brought access to education to millions of people around the world whose countries previously faced illiteracy issues. In the United States higher education online, currently an acceptable mode of learning, is the engine driving the current massive explosion of higher education enrollments. According to a recent report of the National Center for Education Statistics, released in 2006, in the period between 1993 and 2003, the increase of post secondary staff which included administrators, faculty, and support personnel had grown faster than the civilian labor force over the same period. The civilian labor force grew by 13 percent over the period while the postsecondary institutional employees grew by 22 percent. Student enrollments grew by 16 percent. (Audrey Williams, Chronicle of Higher Education, 8/3/06). The Center for Education and Literacy is designed and intended to serve the needs of professionals wishing to enter, benefit from, and excel within the field of Education and its many exciting and rewarding personal and professional experiences. The principal areas of study within the Center cover educational leadership and human resource studies, educational policy and social studies, curriculum and instruction, adult and continuing education, and worldwide literacy. A primary goal of the center is the advancement of learning worldwide through educational technology transfer, improvement of leadership, and expansion of effective educational policies, curriculum and instructional techniques. Studies in Educational Leadership and Human Resource Studies include but are not limited to, educational leadership, public school administration, postsecondary administration, human resource development and management, pupil personnel and staff personnel, educational planning and advancement, and educational law. Worldwide Literacy includes offerings in literacy in the developing world, English as a Second Language, TESOL/TOEFL, foreign language acquisition, technology in literacy, international literacy campaigns, and literacy and human rights. Reference: Steven Brint, Schools and Societies, Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press, 1998. LaWanna L. Blount, Ph.D. Director of Center for Education and Literacy LaWanna L. Blount, Ph.D. Dr. Blount has had a long career in education, and sociology. She was the founder and chair of the Master's and Ph.D.Programs in Educational Administration and the Master's Degree Program in Sociology at Greenwich University, a distance learning university ,of Norfolk Island , Australia. Previously she taught sociology at Connors State College, Muskogee, Oklahoma, and taught in the graduate program of Human Resource Management at Chapman University, Carlsbad, California. She taught at the Western Australian College of Advanced Education (Edith Cowan University), in Perth, Western Australia where she was also the founder and chair of the Master's Degree Program in Educational Administration. She was a Research Officer and an Education Officer with the Technical Education Division in Perth, Western Australia, and an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. Her early career was spent teaching in Venezuela and Libya for Exxon Corporation. Dr. Blount is interested in genealogical research. She has compiled and published two family history/genealogy books, is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and served as editor of the Muskogee County Genealogical Society Quarterly. She has presented papers and written many articles in education, educational administration, and genealogy. In 2006 she compiled Notable Women of Polk County, Texas, a book sponsored by the Polk County American Association of University Women,(AAUW). She was Vice President, Research, for the Professional Résumé Writing and Research Association. Dr. Blount's BS in Education is from the University of Wisconsin, Platteville. Her M.S. in Educational Administration and her Ph.D. in Higher Educational Administration and Sociology are from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Return to Top PROGRAM AUDIENCE At Akamai University we believe the study of education and literacy to be the foundation of all other disciplines. The programs offered through the Center are intended to prepare professional for high level achievement in essential educational fields including: Educational Administration and Governance Curriculum Planning and Instructional Development Education of Special Needs Students Adult and Family Literacy Educational Development Teaching (at all levels of education) Instructional Technology Distance Education It is assumed that students applying to this program will be familiar with standard theories and practices associated with teaching and other important aspects of education. It is also assumed that students seeking admissions to this program will have demonstrated professional experience and expertise in the field of education and literacy with either formal or non-formal education and training activities. Return to Top LITERACY and TESOL Program Majors and Degree Requirements Course Offerings Lead Faculty Literacy is the capstone upon which the balance of advanced culture is built. Countries with low levels of literacy are easily overtaken by political and economic powers beyond their borders. Citizens with low levels of literacy are likely to play an ineffective role within the leadership of their home country and are not likely to have a substantial voice in the growth of their culture. The poorest countries have the lowest levels of overall literacy and have the greatest degree of major problems: disease, malnutrition, homelessness, underemployment, and underdeveloped economic bases. In fact, poor literacy is related to high infant mortality rates, and a generally low standard of living overall. Improved literacy is essential to the betterment of the human condition. Primary Faculty Margaret Morabito, Ph.D. Program Director, TESL/TEFL/TESOL Dr. Morabito is the founder and director of the Computer Assisted Learning Center (CALC), an international online learning center. CALC opened in 1986 and now provides secondary and postsecondary programs through the Internet at CalCampus.Com. Dr. Morabito received her BA in English from University of Miami, her M.Ed. in Secondary English and English as a Second Language from Keene State College, and her Ph.D. in Distance Education and Technology from American Coastline University. Dr. Morabito is a certified and experienced English educator in New Hampshire and has taught off-line and online for many years, including for the Naval Academy Preparatory School, Fitchburg State College, The Army, and CALCampus. She is the author of numerous articles dealing with the use of computers in education and online learning and is working on a book about the history of online education. Dr. Morabito has helped to train dozens of classroom teachers to become effective online educators. Merton Bland, Ed.D. Language Dr. Bland is an Advisor to the National Teachers College in Conakry, Guinea, West Africa. He holds a BFA in Art History from University of Illinois at Urban, Master s degrees in French from Middlebury College (Vermont) and Linguistics from George Mason University (Virginia), a Graduate Certificate in TESOL from George Mason, and a Doctor of Education degree with emphasis in foreign language testing from UCLA (1966). His professional career has included elementary and secondary school teaching (California), foreign service, USIA (Ghana, Zaire, Madagascar, Guinea, Pakistan, Australia, and Washington, DC), and ESL/EFL teaching and teacher training (Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, China, former East Germany, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam, and Morocco. Dr. Bland has been active in numerous professional (WATESOL, KOTESOL, Phi Delta Kappa, NEA, NAFSA), service (Rotary, Rotaract), and religious organizations, and has especially focused on international exchange of persons programs. Dr. Bland is a dedicated author with several books and articles to his credit. He is married with four children and nine grandchildren. Sean Keenan, Ph.D. Literary and Cultural Studies Dr. Keenan has taught in Peru, Northern Ireland, the Basque Region of Spain and in his native Ireland. His research interests include the effects of colonialism, politics, linguistic hegemony, and religious dogma on literature written in English. Dr. Keenan has researched and taught at Queen's University of Belfast, The University of Ulster and the Universidade de Beizama. His teaching experience includes Irish Literature, The Novel, Literary Theory, Anglo-Irish Literature and Society and the Life and Works of James Joyce. He has also compiled a comprehensive course on Irish Literature and has taught English as a Second Language. Dr. Keenan hold a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature and received his doctorate in 1999 from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. He has held research positions in both the industrial and academic arena. Dr. Keenan uses a good deal of his free time in creative writing, climbing and surfing. Stephen Schackne, MS Mr. Schackne has been involved in international education for more than 20 years. He received his Master of Science degree in Applied Linguistics (TESOL) from the State University of New York and has taught content and skills courses at the tertiary and secondary level, both in the United States and abroad. Mr. Schackne has directed two ESL programs, one for a university and another for an educational foundation. He has published and presented worldwide and is best known for his website Schackne Online. Anthony Payne, N.M.D., Ph.D., M.D. (honorary) Dr. Payne holds earned degrees in physical anthropology (B.S., M.A. with honors, Columbia Pacific University), and doctorates in nutritional medicine (N.M.D., Aksem Oriental Medical School) and pastoral psychology (Ph.D., Romano Byzantine Catholic College). He served as editor-publisher of Biological Medicine Newsletter and co-hosted two radio talk shows during the 1980s. Dr. Payne was on staff at one of the largest integrative medical diagnostic and treatment clinics on the west coast, Steenblock Medical Center now dba as Brain Therapeutics Clinic (www.strokedoctor.com). During the 1990s, he wrote two books, plus numerous popular and technical articles. Dr. Payne also served as an AOL Community Leader and was appointed Texas state chancellor of the International Association of Educators for World Peace (United Nations NGO). He carried out laboratory research for Inter-Cal, Inc. and BioProducts, Inc., pursued product development work for the PCT Company, Inc. and Pacific BioLogic, and served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Earthrise Corporation. He also served on the Board of Directors of Barotech, Inc. and spent 5 years as Superintendent of Academic Affairs of the Orthodox Catholic Education System. Dr. Payne made pioneering inroads in the metabolic pathway treatment and eradication of solid tumors, a body of work published in the Townsend Letter for Doctors (1995) and the British Naturopathic Journal (2000). These endeavors culminated in the award of an honorary MD degree and two international medals in science and medicine by the Faculty Senate of Open International University during the mid-1990s. In addition, Dr. Payne has done commercially subsidized product development research (R & D) aimed at producing a viable skin rejuvenation treatment system. Dr. Payne has published many scholarly papers, some of which have appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Medical Hypotheses and the Mensa Bulletin (2002). In 1997, the National Institutes of Health brought Dr. Payne to Washington to participate in a major conference covering parameters for testing of nonstandard novel, but promising cancer treatment regimens and therapeutic agents. From 1999-2003 Dr. Payne taught courses at Asia University (Tokyo), Teikyo University of Science & Technology (Uenohara, Japan), numerous major Tokyo-area corporations, as well as the Toshiba College Institute of Education and Culture (Shin-Yokohama, Japan). During March 2003, Payne and his Japanese wife, Sachi, relocated to the USA where he took a staff research position with the Steenblock Research Institute located in San Clemente, California USA. Dr. Payne is a member of the international high IQ society, MENSA, and is a tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He is a member of numerous professional societies, and is listed in Who's Who in American Universities & Colleges (1987), Marquis? Who's Who in Science & Engineering, Who?s Who in American Healthcare, Who's Who in American Education, and Who's Who in the World. Return to Top