Barbour (PhD '07) is an assistant professor at Wayne State University.

UGA instructional technology graduate Michael K. Barbour (PhD ’07) of Wayne State University is quoted on the value of online education by Atlanta Journal Constitution columnist Maureen Downey as she examines the possibilities offered by computer-based or virtual learning in the March 26 op/ed page of the AJC.  Barbour said that “there’s very little empirical research out there” on the effectiveness of computer-based learning.

UGA heat study guides new Georgia High School Association rules aiming to prevent exertional heat illness and death among Georgia high school athletes.  Reports in the Associated Press, Athens Banner-Herald, Athletic Business,  Atlanta Journal Constitution, Carrollton Times-Georgian, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Gainesville Times,  Gwinnett Daily Post, Mom’s Team, USA Today, WALB-TV, WSB-TV, WRDW-TV, among many others.

A week later, WCTV-TV reported on UGA and the GHSA would be giving a presentation about the new heat policy guidelines for football at an annual high school coaches clinic.

Press release

Atlanta Journal Constitution editor Maureen Downey (C) talks with COE professors JoBeth Allen (L) and Gayle Andrews during a March 2 Op-Ed Writing Workshop. Photo by Julie Sartor.

The Office of Outreach and Engagement and the Office of College Advancement hosted the Op-Ed Writing Workshop with Maureen Downey, a longtime reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,  on March 2.

Topics and strategies discussed included how to write, in a lay reader-friendly style, a 500–600 word op-ed essay; how to understand and write within the op-ed genre; how to write so that your ideas and arguments are compelling, contribute to the conversation, and are helpful to your audience;  how to know which venues are available and how to work with editors to place your work; and how to understand the op-ed readership and how to craft pieces in relation to broad lay audiences.

 Faculty members JoBeth Allen, Stephanie Jones, Peter Smagorinsky led break-out sessions to initiate and facilitate the process of creating an op-ed piece. About 20 faculty members attended.         

Three recent University of Georgia College of Education graduates were named top counselors during Gwinnett County School District’s National School Counselors Week last month.

The school district recognized the year’s best counselors in Elementary, Middle and Secondary schools, and Counseling Advocate and Counselor Writer at a ceremony at the Instructional Support Center in Suwanee on Feb. 10.

Appling

Brandee Appling (EdS’11) received the 2012 Gwinnett County Middle School Counselor of the Year award. Described by her colleagues at Bay Creek Middle School as a “counseling warrior,” Appling developed a middle school transition program to support rising students from the feeder elementary schools. As part of this program, peer leaders and 6^th grade team leaders from Bay Creek visit a few elementary schools and participate in a presentation to 5^th graders. In addition, the 5^th graders and their parents visit the middle school and learn about the supportive process available to assist them in creating a successful transition for their children. Appling received her education specialist’s degree in school counseling from UGA-Gwinnett. She was recently accepted into a doctoral program in UGA’s department of counseling and human development services.

Parker

Tinisha Parker (EdS ’07, BSEd ‘00), a counselor with Gwinnett County Online Campus was named 2012 Secondary Counselor of the Year.  Gwinnett County Online Campus became a diploma-granting high school when it opened to full-time students in 2011. With the innovative way of learning for students came challenges for new ways of thinking about counseling online students. Parker created a virtual counseling site, designed online tutorials identifying skills necessary to be successful in virtual coursework, created opportunities for online tutorials, and even created an avatar of herself for online students to ask questions and access information. She also has changed how she communicates with students, adding texting and email in addition to face-to-face sessions. Parker received her bachelor’s degree in social science education and her education specialist’s degree in guidance and counseling from UGA.

Johnson

Paul Johnson (PhD’11) received the 2012 Gwinnett County School District’s Mary Joe Hannaford Counseling Advocate of the Year award. Johnson is currently the assistant principal of Peachtree Ridge High School. Before becoming an administrator, he was a school counselor and taught French and mathematics. Over the years, he has aligned the school’s counseling program with the American School Counselor Association’s National Model, which illustrates the best comprehensive counseling program for all counselors. Johnson received his doctorate in counseling and student personnel services from UGA-Gwinnett.

Dousay, of Livingston, Texas, is a second-year doctoral student in the learning, design and technology program

University of Georgia College of Education student Tonia Dousay has been chosen as president-elect of the Graduate Student Assembly of the Association for Education Communication and Technology.

Dousay, of Livingston, Texas, a second-year doctoral student in the learning, design and technology program competed for the GSA position with four other doctoral students from Purdue, Penn State and Georgia Southern universities.

As president-elect, Dousay will assist the current president with planning webinars and student-focused events for the annual convention in Louisville, Ky., in October 2012. At the convention, Dousay will be installed as president and take over the planning process for the following year. She will serve as past-president in her third year.

Dousay is currently serving as past-president of Graduate Researchers of Educational Psychology & Instructional Technology. She is also the president of Kappa Delta Pi at UGA. In 2010-11, she served as vice president of the Instructional Technology Students Association as UGA. Dousay’s research focuses on how multimedia design can trigger or maintain learners’ interests. She traveled to Cape Town, South Africa in September 2011 to present a research paper at the Inaugural Conference on Design, Development & Research.

Before pursing her doctorate, Dousay had 10 years of instructional design and eLearning project management experience. She helped draft an agency-wide eLearning initiative for the Texas Engineering Extension Service and spent more than seven years working to advance the agency’s capacities to offer online training. She has also worked with the e-Learning Council and Texas Distance Learning Association to present conference sessions and webinars on instructional design and creating engaging eLearning courses.

Dousay expects to graduate in May 2013.

Pate, a professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina, is an internationally recognized exercise physiologist .

Russell R. Pate, a nationally recognized expert and scholar on physical activity, will speak about obesity prevention in youth in the Ramsey Lecture Series on Wednesday, March 28 at the University of Georgia Hotel and Conference Center.

Pate, a professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina, is an internationally recognized exercise physiologist with interests in the health implications of physical activity and physical fitness in children. He will deliver a lecture titled, “Policies for Promotion of Physical Activity and Obesity Prevention in Youth,” at 4 p.m. in Mahler Auditorium. A reception will be held at 3:30 p.m. in Hill Atrium.

Pate has published more than 230 scholarly papers and has authored or edited three books. He heads a research team that currently is supported by three grants from the National Institutes of Health. He led the development of the recommendation on Physical Activity and Public Health of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine (1995) and served on the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (2003-04), the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee (2007-08), and an Institute of Medicine panel that developed guidelines on prevention of childhood obesity. He currently chairs the coordinating committee for the National Physical Activity Plan.

One of 20 members of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Pate advises the President on the United States through the Secretary of Health and Human Services about physical activity, fitness and sports in America.

He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Fitness and has served as an appointed member of the South Carolina Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness since 1988.

High school student-athletes need about 10-14 days to acclimate their bodies to the heat stress in preseason practices in late July and August each year and gradual acclimatization to these conditions can help minimize the risk of exertional heat illnesses, according to a three-year study by University of Georgia  researchers.

Ferrara

Cooper

Heat-related deaths among football players across the country tripled to nearly three per year between 1994 and 2009 after averaging about one per year the previous 15 years, according to a related UGA study by climatologist Andrew Grundstein, an associate professor of geography. Overall, Georgia led the nation in deaths with seven fatalities. Tragically, two more Georgia high school athletes died last August.

“Our previous research shows heat illness rates are highest in the Southeast,” said Michael Ferrara, professor of kinesiology and associate dean for research in UGA’s College of Education who co-directed the study with Bud Cooper, associate head of the department of kinesiology.

“Heat stoke is a preventable death with proper acclimatization of the athlete, recognition of the condition, and immediate and rapid cooling when a heat stroke is suspected,” said Ferrara.

On Monday, Georgia became the latest state to adopt preseason heat acclimatization guidelines for secondary school athletics. In just the past year, Connecticut, New Jersey, Texas and North Carolina have followed this trend.

Three years ago, the Georgia High School Association decided to develop guidelines to protect the health and safety of their athletes but they wanted the facts first. They partnered with the Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association, the National Federation of State High School Associations Foundation and the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Research & Education Foundation to fund the UGA study that looked at the rate of EHI in 25 high schools throughout the state.

The UGA researchers used the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature which is a measure of air temperature, humidity and radiant temperature.

“The NFL and NCAA already have instituted preseason guidelines for acclimatization and the policy changes have been well accepted by coaches and athletes alike,” said Ferrara.

UGA head athletic trainer Ron Courson said after the Bulldogs started using preseason guidelines for acclimatization that “the overall injury rate went down because the athletes were not as tired and worn down during the preseason period. We actually had improved performance of our athletes.”

The results of the UGA study were presented at the NATA Annual Meeting in June 2011 and to the GHSA football subcommittee in January 2012. The 50-member executive committee of the GHSA voted Monday to adopt the recommendations of the NATA-led Inter-Association Task Force on Preseason Heat-Acclimatization Guidelines for Secondary School Athletics.

The new guidelines require that the first week of practice consist of single-practice days with sessions no longer than two hours with helmets. During the second week, teams can start two-a-day practices but they cannot have consecutive double-session days: a double-practice day must now be followed by a single-practice day. There has to be at least three hours of rest between sessions on a double-practice day and double-day sessions cannot exceed five hours of practice time.

The GHSA previously had a policy that every school was required to monitor the environment, but there was no guideline as to the type of device used to measure weather conditions, the length of practice duration or the number of practice sessions. In addition there were no guidelines dictating these items as they relate to acclimatization or heat stress.

“We wanted to develop a policy that would be practical and allow student athletes exposure to the environmental conditions but be as safe as possible,” said Ralph Swearngin, Executive Director of the GHSA.  “We are confident that we are taking the right steps and passing the right measures to provide the best care for our young athletes.”

The UGA researchers used the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) which is a measure of air temperature, humidity and radiant temperature. The scale is broken into categories on how to modify activity. Results showed that there is an increase in the number of exertional heat injuries when the WBGT reaches about 82 degrees. The researchers modified the scale to include an increase in rest breaks, hydration periods and duration of practice.

The radiant temperature is the major difference between WBGT and the National Weather Service measurement known as the heat index. The radiant heat has a direct effect on “heat load” on the athlete. The heat index does not take this variable into account, said Cooper..

“We wanted to provide flexibility to schools and coaches in designing their practice but be as safe as possible,” said Ferrara. “No injury is 100 percent preventable, but using our evidence, we feel we have developed reasonable guidelines for the student-athlete.”

Media reports

UGA researchers found that there was an increase in the number of exertional heat injuries when the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature reaches about 82 degrees.

High school student-athletes need about 10-14 days to acclimate their bodies to the heat stress in preseason practices in late July and August each year and gradual acclimatization to these conditions can help minimize the risk of exertional heat illnesses, according to a three-year study by University of Georgia  researchers.

Heat-related deaths among football players across the country tripled to nearly three per year between 1994 and 2009 after averaging about one per year the previous 15 years, according to a related UGA study by climatologist Andrew Grundstein, an associate professor of geography. Overall, Georgia led the nation in deaths with seven fatalities. Tragically, two more Georgia high school athletes died last August.

“Our previous research shows heat illness rates are highest in the Southeast,” said Michael Ferrara, professor of kinesiology and associate dean for research in UGA’s College of Education who co-directed the study with Bud Cooper, associate department head for the department of kinesiology.

Ferrara

Cooper

“Heat stroke is a preventable death with proper acclimatization of the athlete, recognition of the condition, and immediate and rapid cooling when a heat stroke is suspected,” said Ferrara.

On Monday, Georgia became the latest state to adopt preseason heat acclimatization guidelines for secondary school athletics. In just the past year, Connecticut, New Jersey, Texas and North Carolina have followed this trend.

Three years ago, the Georgia High School Association decided to develop guidelines to protect the health and safety of their athletes but they wanted the facts first. They partnered with the Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association, the National Federation of State High School Associations Foundation and the National Athletic Trainers Association Research & Educational Foundation to fund the UGA study that looked at the rate of EHI in 25 high schools throughout the state.

“The NFL and NCAA already have instituted preseason guidelines for acclimatization and the policy changes have been well accepted by coaches and athletes alike,” said Ferrara.

UGA’s Director of Sports Medicine Ron Courson said after the Bulldogs started using preseason guidelines for acclimatization that “the overall injury rate went down because the athletes were not as tired and worn down during the preseason period. We actually had improved performance of our athletes and less injuries.”

The results of the UGA study were presented at the NATA Annual Meeting in June 2011 and to the GHSA football subcommittee in January 2012. The 50-member executive committee of the GHSA voted Monday to adopt the recommendations of the NATA-led Inter-Association Task Force on Preseason Heat-Acclimatization Guidelines for Secondary School Athletics.

The new guidelines require that the first week of practice consist of single-practice days with sessions no longer than two hours with helmets only. During the second week, teams can start two-a-day practices with full equipment, but they cannot have consecutive double-session days: a double-practice day must now be followed by a single-practice day. There has to be at least three hours of rest between sessions on a double-practice day and double-day sessions cannot exceed five hours of practice time.

The GHSA previously had a policy that every school was required to monitor the environment, but there was no guideline as to the type of device used to measure weather conditions, the length of practice duration, the number of practice sessions, or the amount/type of equipment worn. In addition there were no guidelines dictating these items as they relate to acclimatization or heat stress.

“We wanted to develop a policy that would be practical and allow student athletes exposure to the environmental conditions but be as safe as possible,” said Ralph Swearngin, Executive Director of the GHSA.  “We are confident that we are taking the right steps and passing the right measures to provide the best care for our young athletes.”

“The current standard for measuring environmental heat stress is with the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) Index.  This is a measure of air temperature, humidity and radiant temperature. The scale is broken into categories on how to modify activity. Results of the UGA study showed that there is an increase in the number of exertional heat injuries when the WBGT reaches a level of 82 degrees. The modifications to the scale will include an increase in rest breaks, hydration periods, equipment modifications and duration of practice as heat stress rises. This provides schools, medical staff and coaches with flexibility in designing their practice to be as safe as possible,” said Cooper.

“The radiant temperature is the major difference between WBGT and the National Weather Service measurement known as the heat index. The radiant heat has a direct effect on ’heat load’ on the athlete. The heat index does not take this variable into account,” said Cooper.

“We wanted to provide flexibility to schools and coaches in designing their practice  be as safe as possible,” said Ferrara. “No injury is 100 percent preventable, but using our evidence, we feel we have developed reasonable guidelines for the student-athlete.”

 Media reports