

Welcome to Issue #18 of NACTEL News with news, info and insights from the National Coalition for Telecommunications Education and Learning. _________________ In this issue: o Registration Info o What’s New? o Online Learning Tip o Today’s Chuckle o Techie word of the day o News from the NACTEL Partners o Student Story ________________	It’s fall . . . . . . and it seems as though the whole world is thinking "back to school" – so how about you? We have the bachelor’s degree you’ve always dreamed of, and it is targeted 100% for the telecommunications industry. Registration for the Fall 2006 semester is open now and classes start soon. Check the NACTEL web site today for details!
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	What’s New? New curriculum from Pace University In order to stay current with the telecom industry, the NACTEL telecommunications curriculum offered by Pace University is continually revised by a joint committee of university faculty and subject matter experts from the six NACTEL partners. The project this summer is a revision in both wireless and emerging technology curriculum. Look for the announcements when these new courses are available!
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	Online Learning Tip: Use "anonymity" to your advantage Students in online classes aren’t really anonymous. If you use all the communication channels available, you will certainly know your professor and your peers, often better than you would in a face-to-face classroom. However, there is a certain kind of anonymity to online learning. Many people have a fear of speaking in front of a group, but can flourish in an online setting. Also, if thinking on your feet is hard for you, you'll have time to compose and edit your thoughts in online classes. So, when you’re in your online courses, get to know your classmates; they’re great people too! At the same time, use anonymity to your advantage!
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	Today’s Chuckle – Best Position Three preachers sat discussing the best positions for prayer while a telephone repairman worked nearby. "Kneeling is definitely best," claimed one. "No," another contended. "I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to heaven." "You're both wrong," the third insisted. "The most effective prayer position is lying prostrate, face down on the floor." The repairman could contain himself no longer. "Hey, fellas," he interrupted, "the best prayin' I ever did was hangin' upside down from a telephone pole." Source: todayschuckle.com/archive/
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	Techie word of the day – Hot Swap It may sound like this word came from Desperate Housewives! Actually, Hot Swap is the "process of replacing a failed component (e.g. a RAID drive) while the rest of the system (in this case, the disks) continues working and continues to provide function normally; for example providing data to the network users and providing a place for them to store data." This is covered in the TS351 - Microcomputer Hardware NACTEL course at Pace University. To find out more information about this course, please visit the description from Pace University at: http://support.csis.pace.edu/bsintelecom/IndividualCourseDescription.cfm?c=TS351
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	News from NACTEL Partners – IBEW The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is one of the organizations that founded NACTEL in 1998. Did you know that the IBEW now provides information in Spanish for its members? Take a look at the IBEW website at: http://www.ibew.org/IBEW/index_esp.htm
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	Student Story Bruce Beeles -- Customer Service Technician – at&t – CWA Local 1298 Before joining at&t, Bruce Beeles worked on submarines, dealing with data circuit boards and networking, and spent years "in and out of college." Beeles knew he wanted to complete a college degree in telecommunications as a way to keep himself ‘employable’ so when he heard about NACTEL, he knew it was his answer. “When I started six years ago, I came into the telecommunications industry as an outsider, so the NACTEL program filled in many of the knowledge gaps for me,” says Beeles. In his current job, Bruce assists customers with bandwidth issues, DS3s and data networks, so his Pace courses have helped him understand and communicate better how the physical layers inter-relate. But he finds the best part of the NACTEL program at Pace University is the flexibility. “I just like being able to take my courses on my laptop.” Bruce works the midnight to 8 a.m. shift and has a busy family life, so being able to do his coursework whenever and wherever he can find peace and quiet is a real help. In addition, he’s gotten some valuable support. “Everyone from Pace has been more than helpful in every respect – from the person that helped me with credit transfer to each of my instructors.” Last fall, during a period of heavy rains, there were many trees down and Bruce spent two weeks working overtime to get customers’ service back up. “There was no way I could do my assignments, but my instructors were understanding and I was able to catch up when that was over.” Bruce received his A.S. degree this spring and was honored with the Outstanding Student Achievement Award. He plans to spend time catching up on his hobbies, which include going to NASCAR races and motorcycling, before he continues his education.
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Copyright© 2006 CAEL All Rights Reserved	NACTEL News is brought to you by the National Coalition for Telecommunications Education and Learning. NACTEL is administered by CAEL, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. To unsubscribe or change your email address, please visit the NACTEL web site and use the Contact Us form.