TechStar Award Presented to Tech Center

The Tennessee Technology Center at Elizabethton has received a TechStar Award for use of technology in education. The award was presented on Oct. 15 at the 2009 Technology Symposium sponsored by the Northeast Tennessee Technology Council held at the Meadowview Convention Center in Kingsport.

Accepting the award on behalf of TTC-Elizabethton was Patricia Roark, RN, director of the Tech Foundations Lab. The award saluted several innovative approaches taken by TTC-Elizabethton to educate students via the Internet, including:

Juniors and seniors in high schools in Elizabethton and Carter County will receive dual academic credit in high school and at TTC-Elizabethton when they complete an online "Dosage Calculations for Nurses" course in December 2009. The online Dual Credit Training Program, a pilot project sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee Board of Regents, is the first online, dual credit course in practical nursing training offered in the state of Tennessee.

More than 60 employees of the Tennessee Department of Corrections have completed an online Food Safety course. The course, which requires 24 clock hours to complete, eliminated the need for travel expenses for personnel to attend an in-service training class at a central location.

Eight food handlers in public and private facilities are currently enrolled in the online Food Service training that requires 24 clock hours to complete.

There are 51 students from across the United States currently enrolled in the eight-month Online Dietary Manager training program. Since its inception in 2002, more than 186 students from 28 states have completed the online training program. It prepares graduates for the national credentialing exam to become a Certified Dietary Manager and employment in hospitals, nursing homes, schools and correctional and large day care facilities across the U.S.

In the near future, TTC-Elizabethton plans to offer online courses in OSHA and Communication in the Workplace. Innovation and technology have become the cornerstone of success in education, according to Dean Blevins, director of the Tennessee Technology Center at Elizabethton. "Both have allowed education to serve a wider audience more effectively and efficiently," Blevins said.