Awards And Certifications From October 22

Online Teacher of the Year Selected: Tara Becker-Utess of Dimondale, following the path of pioneers in the field of online education, was named Michigan Virtual University's 2012 Online Teacher of the Year in an awards presentation dinner at the University Club at MSU on Monday, Oct. 12. Becker-Utess has been an online instructor for Michigan Virtual School® since 2008, where she teaches in a virtual classroom for students in schools across the state. In addition to teaching math and social studies courses online for MVS, Becker-Utess has served as a course content specialist to redesign the Advanced Placement U.S. Government course. Becker-Utess also works as the high school intervention coordinator at Charlotte High School. In online learning, course content and instruction is delivered over the web, with students following lessons, completing assignments and interacting with instructors through email and discussion rooms. Online learning is expanding dramatically in Michigan and nationwide. Michigan Virtual School has seen its course enrollments climb from 100 during the 1999-2000 academic year to more than 20,000 during 2011-12. National estimates for online enrollments have jumped from 40,000 to 50,000 in 2000 to more than 1 million last year, according to the International Association for Online Learning.MVU is a private, nonprofit Michigan corporation established by the State of Michigan in 1998 to serve as a champion for online learning. It is the parent organization of the Michigan Virtual School and Michigan LearnPort, an online learning portal that delivers professional development opportunities and more to the Michigan education community. To learn more, visit http://www.mivu.org.