Information Resource Officer DISTANCE EDUCATION SITES TO HELP INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS PREPARE FOR AN AMERICAN STYLE EDUCATION Steve Perry Information Resource Officer AF BUREAU, STATE DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D.C. PerrySX2@state.gov 202-632-2747

MIT COURSES ONLINE: http://ocw.mit.edu OpenCourseWare at http://www.ocwconsortium.org/. OpenCourseWare is a free and open digital publication of high quality educational materials, organized as courses. The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a collaboration of more than 100 higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world, including very prestigious U.S universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California-Berkeley and Tufts University, all creating a broad and deep body of open educational content using a shared model. The mission of the OpenCourseWare Consortium is to advance education and empower people worldwide through opencourseware. You can also look at the distance learning website of Yale University. For Yale, please go to http://open.yale.edu/courses and select political science or another field which interests you. Open Yale Courses provides free and open access to seven introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University. The aim of the project is to expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn.

MIT Courses with an Audio or Video Component

Can do an advanced search in the MIT SITE for courses with lecture notes

MIT Chemistry courses with lecture notes

Detailed Lecture Notes for a Physical Chemistry Class

Course on Sustainable Development at MIT Newcomers New personnel officer: Beryl Bentley Anderson Commendations and Looking Ahead Much work is going on to improve the physical plant. We see the positive difference. But we all need to support this effort by keeping work and common areas tidy and professional. Let’s take pride in the facility. Note: The OBO Team is here this week to address structural challenges. Karen Hughes Visit – PA Elizabeth Thornhill, Control Officer Liz Cheney Visit – ECPO, Roger Kenna, Control Officer End of fiscal year wrap up

MIT Lecture Notes on Sustainability

ACTUAL SYLLABI FOR COURSE

ANOTHER COURSE ON THE U. S ANOTHER COURSE ON THE U.S. CONGRESS IN THE POLITICAL SCIENCE SECTION: LECTURE NOTES FOR THE U.S. CONGRESS

RELATED RESOURCES FOR THE U.S. CONGRESS

Sample Course on Linear Algebra from MIT: ocw.mit.edu

TUFTS: http://ocw.tufts.edu

TUFTS HAS A SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY, MEDICINE AND VETERINARY SCIENCE

TUFTS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: ONLINE COURSES

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health also has a Distance Education component: http://ocw.jhsph.edu/

NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY: OCW.ND.EDU

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (continued listing of free online courses): http://ocw.jhsph.edu/

OTHER OCW PARTNERS MORE UNIVERSITIES JOINING ALL THE TIME: http://ocwconsortium.org

More on the OCW CONSORTIUM

YALE UNIVERSITY: http://oyc.yale.edu

YALE UNIVERSITY: http://open. yale YALE UNIVERSITY: http://open.yale.edu/courses/ (Yale not a member of the OCW concept)

Example of a class at YALE UNIVERSITY

FREE LECTURE NOTES

Actual Class Lecture

U CALIFORNIA BERKELEY courses on VIDEO via YOUTUBE: http://youtube U CALIFORNIA BERKELEY courses on VIDEO via YOUTUBE: http://youtube.com/ucberkeley: 229 courses now offered: videos of actual courses can be played over and over again and show interaction of professors with students

What to expect of an IRC or American Corner or the US EMBASSY? Look to them for advice, networking and partnerships. Share useful print materials While you subscribe to listservs, the IRC also subscribes to different listservs with valuable information – share the information and network! .

International Students need to know how to research so they won’t fail when in US Colleges IRCs have college level research materials and IRC folks can teach them the correct way to research, to cite materials, and the most time-efficient way to use databases. But I know many free materials you can access with just an Internet connection. This are listed on the next few slides: most important is DOAJ: www.doaj.org

There are a number of free, research level databases IROs and IRCs know about: these are in all fields. Here are a few: MEDLINE SSRN DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals covering 3000 journals in all fields. Free Dissertation/Thesis Sites (full text) I can pass out a basic list

SSRN: SOCIAL SCIENCES RESEARCH NETWORK

SSRN: Social Sciences Research Network: http://www.ssrn.com

RESULTS OF SEARCH FOR EGYPT

DOAJ: www.doaj.org

Pharmacy Journals for Research and Reference – these articles are all free: can click on any of these journals to browse the issue and then click on any article to read it.

These are merely a few of the free databases that Embassies use – network to find more. These databases will allow students to practice and refine their research skills that they will truly need at a U.S. College. I will conclude with a few hints for you on what you might advise your students as they look for the college best for them.

CONSIDERATIONS IN APPLYING TO U.S. COLLEGES I’ve taught INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS for many years and this is what we’ve learned together:

HAVE THE STUDENT CHECK THE COLLEGE WEB SITE IS THERE AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SECTION with CLUBS, RESIDENCES? LOOK FOR WHAT ENROLLED STUDENTS ACTUALLY HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THEIR COLLEGE – best are web sites where you can ask questions and get confidential answers

WEB SITE LOOK FOR FAST FACTS or STUDENT PROFILE ON WEB SITE: HOW MANY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARE THERE? THE HIGHER THE PERCENTAGE THE GREATER LIKELIHOOD THAT INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS CAN FIND SOMEONE OF A SIMILAR BACKGROUND

COLLEGE WEB SITES CHECK COURSE OFFERINGS: SUCH AS HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE: DOES THE UNIV CONSISTENTLY TAKE A MULTINATIONAL OR A MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE IN ITS COURSES? If so, a good sign. LOOK FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: A UNIVERSITY THAT HAS IS MORE LIKELY TO TAKE A BROADER WORLD VIEW –SAYS WE VALUE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE. Study Abroad Programs?

WEB SITES KNOW WHAT YOU (AS A STUDENT) WANT AND WHAT YOU VALUE - -DO YOU SEE THAT REFLECTED IN THE COLLEGE WEB SITE? LOOK AT INTERNATIONAL CLUBS (MESA, MSA) AND ASK STUDENTS FOR INFORMATION – the clubs will often have an email address.

ADVICE START THE PROCESS EARLY EMPHASIS IS ON GRADE TRANSCRIPTS, PERSONAL ESSAYS, TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS A WELL-WRITTEN REFLECTIVE PERSONAL ESSAY THAT REALLY TELLS ADMISSIONS OFFICERS WHAT YOU ARE ALL ABOUT WILL MAKE YOU STAND OUT.

BE PREPARED FOR AN AMERICAN STYLE EDUCATION LOOK AT MIT WEB SITE: ocw.mit.edu LOOK AT OTHER SCHOOLS THAT PLACE FREE COURSE CONTENT ONLINE: www.ocwconsortium.org LOOK OTHER DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES. YOUTUBE.COM/UCBEREKELY is one example showing the style of an American Education. Check the free thesis and dissertation sites, such as U Maryland and MIT, for those students who will have to write a dissertation or thesis in the US.

ALL THE BEST! GOOD LUCK!  STEVE PERRY PERRYSX@STATE.GOV 202-632-2747 perrystephen@fastmail.fm – personal email Updated August 2011