The focus of An Adventure of the American Mind nationally is to raise the comfort level of in-service and pre-service classroom teachers, faculty such as librarians, media specialists and educational support personnel and college faculty to access, use and produce curriculum using the Internet and digitized primary source materials.

Currently ten Illinois partners are actively sharing information with Illinois educators and students. They are Southern Illinois University (Carbondale and Edwardsville); Loyola University-Chicago; DePaul University, Chicago; Governors State University, University Park; Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities, Springfield; Barat Education Foundation, Lake Forest; Eastern Illinois University, Charleston; Illinois State University, Normal; and Quincy University, Quincy. These institutions are providing professional development through in-school, campus based and on-line workshop series, stand alone workshops, presentations at local, state and national conferences, collaborative projects, graduate courses and continuing education course work. The educational approach of each institution varies with the need of the area they serve. Additional information regarding programs may be found at individual partner websites.

The AAM Illinois program is available at no cost to Illinois educators, pre-service teachers, students and school personnel. There are numerous reasons to participate in this curriculum enhancement program. As an AAM Illinois participant, participants will be part of a national program that will help them and colleagues learn to access and use Library of Congress online materials and other digital primary sources. Educators may become influential mentors in their schools and help others learn to best access, use and create digital media resources in the classroom. Some AAM Illinois partners offer Continuing Professional Development Units and/or Graduate Credits to attendees for workshop attendance and participation.

For more information about this program, contact Dr. Sandi Estep or Ms. Luci Sweder at GSU.