Languages and Literacy

Intellectus Education has unique expertise in developing language courses. More recently, it has been developing fully interactive online educational language programs that address the individual needs of learners from early years to professional education.

Besides developing basic, secondary and tertiary interactive language and literacy programs and courses, Intellectus Education develops interactive courses for:

In addition to English Language Teaching and literacy, Intellectus Education also applies its model to Arabic, French and Spanish.

Mathematics

Intellectus Education collaborates with local and international experts to deliver benchmarked interactive educational programs for Mathematics.

Our lead consultants include

Kevin Simpson

Kevin Simpson founded KDSL Global educational consultancy in 2016 in the USA and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Simpson and his team have served thousands of schools, organisations, educators, and leaders worldwide in over 20 countries. The majority of this work in education has centered on American curriculum schools. Since 2008, Simpson has been focused on education in the MENA region, assisted numerous schools with accreditation, training, development, and served as a thought partner to investors on school start-up projects. Simpson has substantial experience in education with K-16 roles ranging from teacher, specialist, lead teacher, mentor, coach, coordinator, adjunct professor, and consultant. He has also focused on mathematics and recently served on math reform projects in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the USA. He leads the Common Core training at American schools in the MENA region and is co-founder of the MENA Common Core Conference based in Dubai. Simpson is also the co-founder of the UAE Learning Network (one of the largest online networks of educators in the UAE) and leads the GCC ASCD Connected Community. In addition, he has co-authored papers on American curriculum in the MENA region with a focus on Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, social studies, the arts, and the history of American Education in the UAE. He also owns KDSL USA which was set up in 2007. Most recently Simpson is the founder of the Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education, a Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Michigan State University (USA), and is studying in the AAIE Institute for International School Leadership.

STEAM

The introduction of Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics into school models requires cross-curricular approaches in delivering successful learning experiences. This can be achieved by demonstrating the link and applications of disciplines to deliver solutions in our daily lives. Intellectus Education brings unique expertise in STEAM curricula and development while working with leading education practitioners in the field.

Michael Anthony DiSpezio

Michael DiSpezio is one of the most recognized, entertaining and sought-after presenters at educator conferences throughout the world. From hosting National Geographic broadcasts to shepherding the Discovery Channel to their first Emmy Award nomination, Michael is a globally respected renaissance educator, speaker, TV host and science education author. A former marine biologist, Michael completed his graduate studies at the Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole and worked as a research assistant to a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry. Leaving the laboratory, Michael celebrated his passion in education as a K-12 classroom teacher for nearly ten years.

Author to television host, Michael infuses his high-energy style of engagement into the development and production of STEM centric material. He’s a renaissance lecturer and educator who presents globally to a diverse audience on topics that range from “Becoming a Better Thinker” to “Re-engineering the 21st Century Science Classroom” to his National Geographic stage experience GeoMania! In addition to offering his unique style of dynamic, theatrical, and often interactive presentations, he is a prolific author and has written over 25 trade books and co-authored over 60 textbooks. He has trained Arab educators in the Middle East as part of the Peace Accord, and developed materials for the Discovery Channel, Disney, PBS, Children’s Television Workshop, MTV, The Weather Channel, Discover magazine and “Scientific American Frontiers”. He’s also a frequent “edutainer” on cruise ships.

For decades, Michael has been a STEM and educational advisor to several countries and dozens of school systems around the world. These days, his interests go beyond classroom walls into the synthetic world, where he is at the forefront of developing Virtual Reality field trips and augmented reality objects.

Medicine and Health

Intellectus Education collaborates with leading health and medicine practitioners to deliver medical education programs that support Continuing Medical Education programs.

Humanities and Social Sciences

In appreciation towards the need for interactive humanities and social sciences programs Intellectus Education works closely with leading educators to provide unique interactive, state of art programs, resources and interventions. Please contact us for further details. Each program is specifically crafted and instructionally designed to address specific educational requirements. Intellectus Education used creative tools to redeliver knowledge-based disciplines using formal learning pathways that are rich with attractive videos, animations, simulations and audiovisual resources. Please contact us for further details: info@intellectuseducation.com

21st Century Skills

Preparing individuals for the future has never been more challenging. The importance of competencies and skills in demonstrating applications for learning are now being highlighted in skill-specific programs that target key 21st century skills. Besides applying a 21st century approach in developing education programs, Intellectus Education also develops skill-specific programs including academic and life skill programs for foundation-level university students. These include:

Learning, Assessment and Knowledge

The importance of assessment and evaluation tools is crucial in identifying how much learning has taken place. Assessing learning versus knowledge is what indicates effectiveness of learning tools and strategies. Intellectus Education closely collaborates with Dr Norman Webb, the developer of the Depth of Knowledge system, which is applied in numerous education systems world-wide.

Norman Webb PhD

Norman Webb, PhD, is a senior research scientist emeritus for the Wisconsin Center for Education Research of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where his principle area of research was evaluation, assessment, and alignment. He is most active now with the nonprofit organization, the Wisconsin Center for Education Products and Services.

WCEPS commercializes and disseminates educational products and services for university innovators. He oversees the design and operations of WebbAlign alignment studies. Since 2000, Dr. Webb has conducted alignment studies for states or commonwealths (Puerto Rico) as well as for other entities including the National Assessment Governing Board. In his position at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the UW-Madison, he developed alignment study procedures and criteria through the National Institute for Science Education in 1997, funded by the National Science Foundation, and in cooperation with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). His work on alignment led to the development of the Depth-of-Knowledge (DOK) language system that has been widely used by schools, school districts and states. Continued work on his alignment methodology, over the curse of 20 years, has resulted in the refinement and addition of processes, including new methodology components for computer adaptive test (CAT) alignment as well as new methodology components for Next Generation Science Standards alignment considerations.

Dr Webb’s academic training was in mathematics and mathematics education. He chaired the evaluation working group in writing the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics and served on the validation committee for the Common Core State Standards. He served as the principal investigator on a number of projects on evaluations of curriculum and professional development. In 2010 and 2011, he served as a program officer for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Currently he provides professional development on the DOK language system and conducts alignment studies of curriculum standards and assessments.

Education Policy, Quality Assurance, Capacity and Performance

Intellectus Education appreciates the importance of policy and quality assurance in education reform. Both which reflect on school capacity and performance of educational institutes. Our comprehensive solutions include revising, reforming or creating educational policies and quality assurance models that reflect effective change management and involve sustainable capacity development.

Intellectus Education works with education providers to improve education policy, performance, quality assurance and capacity. This involves the delivery of comprehensive education models and interventions which improve educational learning environments and impact.

Nancy I Updegraff, Ph.D.

Nancy I Updegraff Ph.D. has a career in education that spans over 30 years. Beginning a teaching career in the city of Detroit, Nancy taught both high school and elementary grades. After winning a Ford Foundation Grant, Dr Updegraff completed degrees in reading, special education, urban education and teacher training at the University of Chicago. After completing her doctorate, she worked in administration and curriculum in Chicago and Oak Lawn, Illinois. She completed additional graduate work in teaching English as a second language and special education. While working for a major publishing company, Nancy authored over 30 children’s books; co-authored three books on teaching reading and writing and was an author editor on elementary reading programs for Harcourt Publishers. Dr Updegraff did correlations for major school districts for Common Core. Leading curriculum development workshops and writing curriculum, helped Nancy design lessons and develop lesson plans with teachers in 12 school districts in the past three years. Most recently, Nancy has developed new workshops on critical thinking, college and career reading standards, principal leadership and mentoring, assessment, oral language development, teaching English as a second language and reading and writing in the content areas. She is also an adjunct professor and teaches online classes in special education and language arts. Nancy has been a frequent keynote speaker at major educational conferences, nationally and internationally.

Working as a coach and mentor with teachers and principals in cities like New York, Boston, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Flint, Racine, Des Moines, San Diego, New Orleans, Birmingham, Gallup, New Mexico, Phoenix, Arizona, Sarasota, and Chicago to name just a few has helped Dr Updegraff develop new techniques for working with students and teachers in urban and rural settings. In addition to workshops, mentoring and coaching, Dr Updegraff has worked as a grant writer and curriculum specialist. While working for a major publisher she wrote and helped implement grants totaling over $100,000,000. Internationally, she has worked with schools in South and Central America as well as China. In the Middle East, she has presented at major conferences; worked with schools and met with the Ministries of Education in six countries in the Arab World. Dr Updegraff counts as her proudest moment being named a finalist for Illinois Teacher of the Year.

Special Needs and Interests

Intellectus Education exerts its capacity to deliver unique learning experiences and education models that are accessible to learners with challenges, gifts and talents delivering equal education learning experiences to a wider range of learners.