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2 Degree Shift

Forging a path for all learners to enter high-wage, high-growth market sectors.

K-12 Career Technical Education Pathways

April 15, 2022 by KellyCooper

Illustration of a student looking up and working with a life-sized robot.
Career Technical Education Pathways

We are contributing, leading, and collaborating with Downey Unified School District to build:

  • Game Development and Computer Science Pathway
  • Advanced Manufacturing Pathway
  • Welding Pathway
  • Alternative Fuels and Advanced Transportation Pathway
  • Construction Technologies HVAC improved Pathway
  • Audiovisual Technologies – new Pathway with 2CPR Group
  • Robotics and Mechatronics Pathway
  • Plastics Engineering and Sustainability Pathway

And projects:

  • AP4CTE
  • OER4CTE
  • CTE Mathematics
  • OER Books Mathematics for Game Developers and Downey Platformer (C# and Unity)

With Downey and Bayha Group, we co-wrote and were awarded over $18m in Strong Workforce and CTEIG funding to partner with industry, build open education resource content, and support teacher training. Additional tasks include developing courses for DUSD and articulating courses with Cerritos College. 

Kelly contributes to WorkWonder, a paid high school internship program created by the Bayha Group. We were awarded as Finalist for the 2021 Fast Company Innovation Award, as one of over 4,000 education entries.

 

Grant Getting – Resourcing, Collaborating, Applying, Implementing, and Reporting

April 13, 2022 by KellyCooper

Illustration of three caricatures of people sending email from illustrated strings.
Education and Industry – Grant Collaboration

Current awards we wrote or co-wrote with the Bayha Group and DUSD College and Career Readiness:

2023 Downey Unified School District K12 Strong Workforce Round 5 Downey Plastics Engineering & Sustainability ($1.29m), Reimagining Biotech: Downey’s Roadmap to
High-Growth Jobs ($1.46m)

2022/2023 Downey Unified School District Career Technical Education Innovation Grant-CTEIG ($1.36m)

2021/2022 Downey Unified School District Career Technical Education Innovation Grant-CTEIG ($1.48m)

2022 Downey Unified School District K12 Strong Workforce Round 4 Computer Science Work-based Learning ($1.66m), Expanding Advanced Manufacturing and Welding ($1.84m), Technologies with Things ($1.82m)

2021 Downey Unified School District K12 Strong Workforce Round 3 Career Ecosystems (middle schools $1.73m), Business and Entrepreneurship ($1.73m), Open Source Downey ($1.76m).

Current applications in cycle:

Education Innovation and Research (EIR) ($1.84m)

UK Innovate – v-ESG with Come to the Edge, cheqd, Pavilion, and University of Warwick

Curriculum Development

April 8, 2022 by KellyCooper

Illustration of three people at a small conference table, with laptops, in discussion.
Collaborative Curriculum Development

Curriculum and course development projects

Downey Unified School District curriculum and complete or in approval process articulation and UC area a-g:

  • Advanced Mathematics for Career Technical Education
  • Alternative Fuels and Advanced Transportation – Concentrator and Capstone courses
  • Games and Simulation Intermediate and Advanced – Game Programming I and II (UC area d approval)
  • Machining and Forming Technologies (Advanced Manufacturing) – Concentrator and Capstone courses
  • Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Level I Concentrator and Level II Capstone
  • Welding and Materials Joining, Intermediate (Concentrator) and Advanced (Capstone)

Community College curriculum:

  • Approximately 20 courses in Computer Information Systems at West Hills College Coalinga
  • 50+ courses and several degrees at West Valley College in Digital Media/Internet Services

Contribute and Present

April 6, 2022 by KellyCooper

Illustration of a woman at a small desk working on her laptop.
Collaborate, Present, and Contribute
  • 2023 Project Manager: Spanish Translation of Mathematics for Game Programmers – Open Education Resource
  • 2023 Producer: Future Groove Podcast – John M. Harris, Director College and Career Readiness DUSD
  • 2022 Creator: AP4CTE.org, OER4CTE.org, and Math4CTE.org
  • 2022 Project Manager: Mathematics for Game Programmers – Open Education Resource
  • Will Work 4 Podcast guest discussing careers in the trades: https://willwork4podcast.podbean.com/e/where-do-you-go-from-here/
  • 2021 Presenter: LinkedIn Closing the Equity Gap: It’s Really a Network Gap.
  • Publisher CA Community College Careers Professional Development website
  • 2021 Co-Presenter: Educating for Careers – CTE Pathways and Open Education Resources.
  • 2021 Volunteer: Lead grant writer USAID Development Innovation Ventures.
  • 2021 Volunteer Mentor: WorkWonder high school interns from Downey USD and Davis USD.
  • 2021 Council Member: Sovrin Foundation Identity for All.
  • 2020 Contributor: Fast Company Innovation Award finalist WorkWonder – Downey USD Student Interns.
  • 2020 Higher Ed Advisor and Grant Contributor: Downey USD $5.2m award Strong Workforce.
  • 2020 Data Analyst: Downey USD CTE Career Pathways Roadmap, labor market analysis, and validation.
  • 2020 Site Team Member: ACCJC Accreditation Fall 20.
  • 2020 Experience Lead: Downey USD High School Intern Inventors.
  • 2020 Facilitator: Sovrin Foundation Guardianship Working Group.
  • 2019 Contributor: On Guardianship in Self-Sovereign Identity.
  • 2019 Co-Author: Blockchain 3.0 Smart Contracts in E-Government 3.0 Applications.
  • 2018 Panelist: Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning Summit.
  • 2017 Grant Writer: CCCCO Zero-Textbook-Cost-Degree Implementation.
  • 2017 Panelist: ASCCC SLO Symposium: SLO Issues and Answers.
  • 2016 Co-Presenter: ASCCC and RPGroup Strengthening Student Success Conference: Are SLOs Really Working? Validating Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Research.
  • 2016 Co-Presenter Validating Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Research.
  • 2016 Presenter: CCCAOE: Learningbytes: CTE Professional Development vignettes in a Canvas Faculty Community.
  • 2016 Co-Author: ASCCC and RP Group bibliography: Disaggregated Outcomes Data.
  • 2016 Co-Author: May ACCJC Rostrum article The QFE: What Does It mean for Faculty and Colleges Preparing an Accreditation Self-Evaluation? 
  • 2016 Co-Presenter: Student Success Conference: Quick Connect: Short Animations Address Common Student Questions.
  • 2016 Co-Presenter: ASCCC Accreditation Institute: Data Visualization: Making Sense of the Numbers; Designing Data Metrics in Program Review: What Are the Questions to Ask?
  • 2015- present Member: National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) 2016 Organizing Committee.
  • 2015 Co-Writer and Project Director: Title III Strengthening Institutions define, develop and implement “comparable” online student support services for distance education students.
  • 2012 Writer and Manager VTEA: Curriculum development and implementation for computer information students and area engineers; emphasis on current training in iOS, Mac application development.
  • 2011 Presenter: Digital Image and Translation. Society for Ricoeur Studies Conference. Philadelphia, PA. October.
  • 2011-2012 Write and Mentor Project Director: CTE Transitions: Technology bridge curriculum for underrepresented students, women returning to the workforce and high school students transitioning to college; emphasis on web and mobile development and working in small companies, start-ups and as entrepreneurs.
  • 2011 Presenter: Self and Other in Public Space Disclosed Through Technology. Strangers, Aliens, and Foreigners. Mansfield College, Oxford University, U.K. September.
  • 2011 Presenter: Refiguring Identity in Conversations with Avatars. International Conference on Ricoeur Studies: New Perspectives on Hermeneutics in the Social Sciences and Practical Philosophy. Higher School of Economics, National Research University. Moscow, Russia. September.
  • 2010 Author: A Loving Conflict. Sufism: An Inquiry. Volume XV: Number 1. Summer 10.
  • 2009 Presenter: Critical Hermeneutic Field Inquiry in International Development: Research Narratives from Southeastern Europe. Nashville, Tennessee, September.
  • 2007 Author: Emerging from Isolationism: Slovenia in Conversation. High Plains Applied Anthropologist. Spring.
  • 2007 Presenter: New Borders, New Boundaries: Reconfiguring Space and Identities Online. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • 2006-2008 Writer and Project Director: Community College State Chancellor’s Office-Career Technical Education/Economic and Workforce Development Pathways Strengthening Career Programs. AME (Arts, Media, Entertainment) Apprentice, $249,985; emphasis on preparing students for education and career paths in digital gaming, arts, media and entertainment.
  • 2005-2007 Writer and Project Director: Community College State Chancellor’s Office-Career Technical Education/Economic and Workforce Development Pathways (SB70 Quick-Start). Learningbytes in the Multimedia/Entertainment Industry, $479,951; emphasis on curriculum development and developing outreach projects for underrepresented college and high school students.
  • 2005 Co-Author: eLearning and Economic Development. Co-Author. The Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education (TODJE), Volume 6: Number 1. January.
  • 2005-2007 Writer and Project Director: Community College State Chancellor’s Office-Career Technical Education/ Economic and Workforce Development Pathways. Career Exploration and Development for 7th and 8th Graders. Cool2Explore, $149,994; emphasis on preparing middle school students for technology and engineering education opportunities in college.
  • 2004 Co-Author: Monitoring Air Pollution in Real Time Using XML. Co-Author. XML Journal, Volume 5: Issue 1, January.
  • 2003 Co-Author: Design Concepts with Code: A Developer Approach. Co-Author. APress! Publishers.
  • 2002 Pre-Conference Presenter: Moving Away from Purchased Portals: Developing E-Learning. Online Educa. Berlin, Germany.
  • 2002 Co-Presenter: Creating Interactive Digital Case Studies. Online Educa. Berlin, November.
  • 2002 Co-Presenter: Innovation and Enterprise. Moray Science Festival. Elgin, Scotland.
  • 2002 Co-Author: XML: Content and Data. Co-Author. Prentice Hall.
  • 2002 Presenter: West Valley College/Southeastern Europe Online Learning Program at NCWE (National Council for Workforce Education). Portland, Oregon, October.
  • 2001 Co-Presenter: Creating an On-Campus Start-Up Company. EDEN Conference. Stockholm, Sweden.
  • 2001-2002 Co-Writer and Co-Project and Budget Director: PHARE, two grants, Slovenian job centres, 275,000€ (Euro) and new curriculum for process control and e-commerce 75,000€; emphasis on job training and career counseling for unemployed citizens with emphasis on 40+ who are deemed unemployable.
  • 2001-2002 Co-Writer and Co-Project and Budget Director: European Union Leonardo Program, Learning Portals (partner) 70,000€; emphasis on developing and delivering entrepreneurship and technology seminars and courses.
  • 2001-2002 Co-Writer and Co-Project and Budget Director: European Union Minerva Program, Online Case Studies in Science and Engineering, 200,000€: emphasis on creating case studies to be used for entrepreneurship learning models.
  • 2001 Presenter: Transitioning to XHTML. User Analysis, Interface Design, and Documentation. Commercial Website Development. Institute for Symbolic Analysis. Velenje, Slovenia, April.
  • 2000-2003 Co-Writer and Co-Project and Budget Director: Dynamic Learning Centres, Slovene government, $200,000: emphasis on creating and delivering summer in-person transnational learning programs.
  • 2000 Presenter: Linguistic and Descriptive Domains in Slovenia and Bosnia: Transforming Through Narrative Online. The Society for Applied Anthropology, San Francisco, California, March.
  • 1999-2000 Writer and Project Director: Industry Driven Regional Collaborative for Internet Internships (funded West Valley Design Group students and studio), $500,000; emphasis on building industry partnerships and freelance opportunities for students studying digital design, production and development.

Fun Activities – Baking and Writing

April 5, 2022 by KellyCooper

Cookbook published by Red Rock Press

Cookies for Grown-ups is a fun cookbook Kelly wrote that offers great tasting recipes for savory and less sweet cookies that are designed for the adult palate.

As author, Kelly had the opportunity to add a few innovative solutions such as QR Codes that link to a grocery list and a different approach to indexing a cookbook based on flavor preferences. In addition, each recipe includes a drink pairing.

The cookbook led to several opportunities to present and teach at cooking shops and on local radio and television shows. The recipes received excellent reviews from influencers.

A few things I learned and would do differently include adding weight measurements and chapter organization. A few things that I’m pleased with include baking the recipes carefully and baking them as though I was in a rush, after work, with distractions. This led to the cookies tasting great for any baker context.

Working with photographer Frank Anzalone and publishers Ilene and Richard Barth was a project highlight. As was the many attendees for cookie classes and tastings.

Digital Identity – Linux Foundation (Hyperledger and Sovrin)

April 1, 2022 by KellyCooper

Trust over IP Foundation

I contribute primarily to documentation and research considerations related to identity with the Trust over IP foundation. Additional volunteer contributions include(d):

  • Co-chair the Rules/Governance CCI Group 
  • Identity 4 All Council member
  • Sovrin Governance Framework Working Group
  • Facilitator Guardianship Working Group

Hyperledger

I started volunteering in the Hyperledger community in March 2018.

For the first year I chaired the Learning and Materials working group. My current contributions include writing, editing, and copyediting white papers.

In parallel and beyond the first year I contributed to:

  • Special Interest Groups (SIG)
    • Capital Markets
  • WorkingGroups
    • Identity
    • Smart Contracts
    • Identity Implementers
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