July 22, 2008
Technology, Education, and Assessment in a Global Society
Posted by Colleen O'Brien, NSBA Staff, at 4:29 PM | 21st Century Learning | Comments (0)
No child must be left behind! Easier said than done, right?
Well, in a culture so focused on improving our education system how do teachers, administrators, educators, and board members cater to the growing education needs of students while providing individualized assessment? Across the country, school districts are working hard to use their shrinking budgets creatively and implement technology resources for professional development to cut costs but also results in the ability to reach more educators in more individualized ways. They are using technology to create and share lesson plans, enhance their curriculum offerings, and gain fresh perspectives. Teachers are taking education to new heights with student response systems that help teachers track student progress throughout the year and also affords the opportunity to cater more to the learning needs of each particular child.
Teachers and administrators face a flat world where education is no longer just arithmetic, US History, and biology. We’ve become a society filled with expanding horizons, languages, histories, and a world that is becoming more homogenous demands more from the education system that supports an evolving world. So how do schools adapt to their new and expanding role in education? How can our education system prepare student for jobs that don’t yet exist? The answer lies in new approaches to education. This new approach, which is ever evolving to keep up with the demands, is 21st century education. 21st Century learning environments when planned for properly and executed with knowledge have positive impacts on education, school district budgets, and the environment.
Want to learn more? NSBA’s T+L Conference will shed light on 21st Century education and the vital role that education leaders and decision makers play in the inception, planning, and execution of transforming education for tomorrow’s leaders. With a focus on 21st Century education and learning environments T+L will help district leaders plan wisely for changes and additions to their districts!
July 1, 2008
NSBA Supports Arts in Education
Posted by Colleen O'Brien, NSBA Staff, at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
Close your eyes, open your mind, and let the music carry you away. With recent studies on student achievement linking the need for 21st century education to include creativity, imagination, and the arts NSBA continues to encourage and foster the role of the arts in public education.
The National Association for Music Education (MENC) in conjunction with the Technology Leadership Network (TLN) announce the winners of NSBA’s Student Electronic Music Composition Talent Search 2008. Each year students from around the country submit their compositions for review by a national committee. Winners are selected for each of the following categories: elementary (through grade 5), middle level (grades 6-8), high School (grades 9-12). Entries are judged based on their aesthetic quality, effective use of electronic media, the power of the composition and its presentation in communicating to school board members, administrators, and others, the excitement and effectiveness of electronic music composition in the school curriculum. NSBA and MENC work together to emphasize and raise awareness of the important role of arts in 21st Century learning environments and K-12 education to ensure well rounded students and curriculum.
Winning students will be honored at NSBA's T+L Conference in Seattle, Washington, October 28–30, 2008. In addition, each winner will receive a prize package comprised of software and materials from Sibelius USA, MagicScore Music Software and MENC.
Please visit the T+L Website to listen to 2008’s national winner’s compositions! Their music is sure to inspire and impress you as each composition tells a story and reveals the wonderful role that arts play in the education system and the minds of our youth.
Aten Hut! A call to honor for three school districts of distinction.
Posted by Colleen O'Brien, NSBA Staff, at 11:14 AM | Salute Districts | Comments (0)
NSBA has announced the 2008 Salute Districts: Avoca School District 37 in Ill., Genesee Intermediate School District in southeast Mich., and Minnetonka School District in Minn.
These three school districts are being honored for their focus and commitment to the use of technology in education to improve student achievement. The Salute District honor is a recognition program of NSBA’s Technology Leadership Network that showcases school districts that have effectively executed technology resources to make a positive impact on learning. The three Salute Districts will be honored during NSBA’s 2008 T+L Conference in Seattle, October 28-30, 2008.
Avoca School District in Wilmette, Ill., which enrolls nearly 700 students, was selected for its commitment to continuous improvement and its technology literacy initiative. Their program is designed to develop technology literacy skills for kindergarteners through eighth graders with a particular focus of instruction in each grade. Students develop electronic portfolios to show an overall snapshot of their skills that include evidence of projects to highlight creativity and innovation, digital citizenship, and technology operations.
Genesee School District in Flint, Mich., is honored for its technology network “GenNET” which transmits voice, video, and data to more than 234 buildings in the district and its leadership initiatives to ensure that district educators have the professional development opportunities they need to maximize the infrastructure investment. The district is a Regional Educational Service Agency that serves 21 public school districts and 10 public school academies in Genesee County. It is a leader for its online learning, two-way interactive technology, and Interactive Television program used to maximize learning and teaching for students and teachers.
Minnetonka Public Schools in Minn., which serves 7,800 students, is recognized for its successful integration of technology throughout its curriculum and its commitment to professional development. All kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms and seventy-five percent of high school classrooms are enhanced with SMART boards, among other resources, to increase time spent on tasks by students and encourage direct engagement between students and teachers, enabling teachers to easily assess the level of a student’s understanding. Teachers commit to 30 hours of professional development during year one with a SMART Board and ongoing training in subsequent years.
“While the Salute Districts were recognized for their overall accomplishments with technology, each highlights an essential element critical to their successes,” said Ann Flynn, NSBA’s director of education technology. “Visionary leadership with a commitment to continuous improvement, a robust and reliable infrastructure, and technology professional development embedded in content areas are key components that should be replicated if other districts want to create environments that support 21st century learning.”
These districts demonstrate the fruit of hard work, vision, leadership and commitment to excellence. As a nation constantly striving to increase their national and international standing these districts are proof of the positive strides, results, and standards that the US public education system has and will continue to produce as well as their commitment to American children. NSBA is proud to recognize these exemplary districts and showcase the wonderful efforts across the country through the Salute program!
June 16, 2008
Taking Learning to New Heights...
Posted by Colleen O'Brien, NSBA Staff, at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)
From the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, WA you can see a beautiful panorama view of downtown Seattle, Puget Sound, and Mt. Rainer. The clear bird’s eye view allows you a unique peek into the large multi-faceted city.
This year at T+L you will have the same unique opportunity to explore education technology from a new and fresh perspective. NSBA’s Technology Leadership Network brings you smarter connections for 21st century learning at this year’s T+L conference. With a focus on 21st Century education this year, T+L will explore what encompasses and challenges education today as well as tomorrow for our children.
National and state leaders in education gather with school districts, administrators, educators, and school board members from around the country to share their stories, expertise, and vision for education. Setting the tone for the conference are visionaries Paul Saffo and Joe Carusso and industry leader David Warlick. With the though provoking insight and foresight these experts will open the dialogue on education in a changing world. School district and exhibitor workshops will help to elaborate on the best practices around the country and the creative use of technology to enhance and advance learning environments for students.
T+L 2008 will focus on 21st century learning with sessions focused on these hot issues:
- S.T.E.M. Initiatives
- One-to-One Learning
- Open Source Solutions
- Social Networking & Web 2.0 tools
- Educational Games & Simulation
Please join us this fall in Seattle Washington for the only education technology conference in the country designed for the school leadership team. Understanding that it takes a team to envision, motivate, and implement change we provide programming and content across the spectrum to provide an enriching learning opportunity for all attendees.
October 24, 2007
2007 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Shawn Wheeler
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 9:42 AM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
Shawn Wheeler is Director of Technology Services and Training at Peoria Unified School District in Arizona
Shawn Wheeler built a variety of outstanding technology professional development offerings, including the Blackboard e-learning environment; online Small Learning Objects, an impressive collection of single-topic training documentation supported by multi-media materials; and podcasting and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology. Wheeler also coordinated the design of the district portal used for instruction as well as district business operations.
2007 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Karl Fisch
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 9:39 AM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
Karl Fisch is Director of Technology at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado
A king of the technology grants process, Karl Fisch has received many grants over the last couple of years allowing him to pioneer educational technology and theory at Arapahoe High School. The largest of these grant awards funded a 1:1 laptop initiative that has students actively engaged with technology while creating blogs about Macbeth, producing podcasts on personal values, and writing interactive, web-based “textbooks” for their sciences courses. His professional development for his staff makes him stand out. He has taken a leadership role in guiding teachers to reflect on and improve their instructional practices, and continually introduces new instructional and technological tools.
2007 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Erin Reilly
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 9:28 AM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
Erin E. Reilly is co-founder of Platform Shoes Forum.
Platform Shoes Forum (PSF), co-founded by Erin Reilly, designs web-based, interactive educational programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM subjects) for preteens. Zoey's Room (ZR), PSF's model program, stimulates girls' interest in the sciences by providing a web portal where they can learn more about the sciences through learning modules called Tec-Treks™, PSF’s trademarked curriculum modules that present an on-line educational problem that is resolved through off-line application. Zoey, an avatar created to stimulate interest in these challenges, meets with the girls in an after-school chat room where they discuss issues that interest them and are introduced to Fab Femmes, career women scientists. Evaluations in 2006 show that ZR participation increases girls’ self confidence, interest, and proficiency in STEM subjects.
2007 Twenty to Watch: An interview with David Sevier
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 9:22 AM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
David Sevier is Founder of the Open Source Teaching Project (OST).
OST is founded on the belief that the knowledge of award-winning scholars, researchers, and others in the top of their field should be made available to inspire and inform students across the globe. At present, OST has secured interview commitments from nearly 200 Nobel Laureates, Guggenheim Fellows, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellows, and MacArthur Fellows. Each will contribute to what is quickly becoming the world's largest repository of focused knowledge on discrete topics of high interest to learners at all ages and stages. Specifically, this knowledge relates to current research that is ongoing and groundbreaking. OST is not limited to areas of scholarly endeavor. OST conducts outreach to Academic All-Americans, Academy Award winners, Grammy winners and others who can donate time to share their experiences related to their careers and successes. This database of knowledge is interactive, keyword searchable, and has the potential to engage all learners at the highest levels of cognition.
October 17, 2007
A drumroll please . . . announcing this year's 20 to Watch
Posted by Christina Gordon, NSBA Staff, at 10:21 AM | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
At last year's T+L Conference, NSBA announced its list of 20 emerging technology leaders, the 20 to Watch. The tradition is continued with this year's list of leaders.
Christopher Brown, District Technology Coordinator, Avoca School District #37, Illinois
Chris Brown is the visionary, champion and implementer for the district's pioneering 1:1 student laptop initiative. He is also responsible for integrating new technologies into all classrooms/academic content areas; and developing necessary staff development/training opportunities to support and sustain those ground-breaking tech initiatives. Brown has been instrumental in bringing new, creative, and innovative technologies into the district--ones that have truly enhanced efficiency and communication.
Jon Carl, Social Studies Teacher, Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation, Indiana
Throughout Jon Carl’s teaching career, he has used the catch phrase, “Feel the History.” This year, he sought out a way to enable his students to embrace his love of history and feel the history through technology. Carl created an historical documentary class where students research, write, film, edit, and produce historical documentaries based on stories that appear on the local PBS station. Carl’s work in this class has been recognized by the Indiana Department of Education, Superintendent Sue Ellen Reed and the Indiana Historical Society. Carl's work has had an impact beyond the school doors. He is sought out by other teachers and educators for his historical knowledge and his innovative approaches to teaching.
Jana Craig Hare, Associate Director, ALTEC-Center for Research on Learning, University of Kansas, Kansas
Jana Craig Hare works with administrators, teachers, and students to make technology an integral part of the teaching and learning process. She is currently the project leader for the Technology Rich Classroom program, an $8 million initiative supporting the Title IID competitive awards in Kansas. Through this program, Hare is responsible for the management, design, and delivery of professional development, in addition to assisting schools with local- and program-evaluation efforts.
Heather Cruz, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services, Litchfield Elementary School District #79, Arizona
Empowering students to become leaders and better citizens through the use of technology, Heather Cruz has formed a team of students to help teachers in learning and supporting technology in the classroom. These same students also update web pages, blogs, online calendars, and work with digital video production. Cruz has also been instrumental in getting parents and community members to foster the use of technology.
Travis East, Technology Education Teacher, Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson United School Corporation, Indiana
Travis East champions a content area that is not easily understood by many in the educational technology community. As an industrial and engineering technology education teacher, he works to provide his students with growth, experiences, applications, and exciting opportunities in technology that are unique. Examples of his work include setting up a 3D holography lab, learning 3D CAD to train his students for careers related to engineering, beginning to participate in the F1 in Schools program, beginning to incorporate rapid prototyping and machining technology using Pro/Engineer software, mold making to help students learn about injection molding/plastics technologies, and working with the Indiana chapter of the International Electrical and Electronics Engineers to advance his offerings for students.
Matt Federoff, Director of Technology, Vail School District, Arizona
Through Matt Federoff’s leadership, his district was one of the first to connect schools with wireless technology and then provide wireless access at the schools themselves. Federoff led the opening of Empire High School three years ago, a school that encourages students to become self-directed learners. Students at Empire receive a laptop computer in place of textbooks and teachers use technology as a tool in class and for homework. Federoff wanted to educate students for the work world that they will soon be entering, where technology is integrated into most jobs and careers.
Karl Fisch, Director of Technology, Arapahoe High School, Centennial, Colorado
A king of the technology grants process, Karl Fisch has received many grants over the last couple of years allowing him to pioneer educational technology and theory at Arapahoe High School. The largest of these grant awards funded a 1:1 laptop initiative that has students actively engaged with technology while creating blogs about Macbeth, producing podcasts on personal values, and writing interactive, web-based “textbooks” for their sciences courses. His professional development for his staff makes him stand out. He has taken a leadership role in guiding teachers to reflect on and improve their instructional practices, and continually introduces new instructional and technological tools.
Janene K. Gorham, Instructional Technology Coordinator, Virginia Beach City Public Schools, Virginia
Janene Gorham, in her first year serving as a central office administrator, had the foresight to look for a better way to provide training to the district’s school-based technology integration teachers. By staying current with instructional technology trends and, more importantly, student learners, Gorham saw the need to provide training in 21st century technology skills. She built enthusiasm for the upcoming school and showed educators how to foster communication with parents and the school community.
Laurie King, Technology Coordinator, Dysart Unified School District, ArizonaLaurie King’s area of expertise is in forming cadres of teachers to work together to develop their instructional practices, using technology as a tool for teaching and learning. This year, King worked with the staff development and instructional technology departments to build a cohesive professional development plan focused on the instructional strategies identified in Classroom Instruction That Works. King has also provided leadership in the area of podcasting and blogging as tools for teaching and learning, and as professional development models.
Debby Martin, Business Teacher, Hampton City Schools, Virginia
Debby Martin "Builds Bridges to the Community" through her student program by the same name. Her Advanced Web Page Design students enter into projects with community organizations, non-profits or small businesses and either create or enhance a web presence for them. Through her class, students gain a sense of empowerment that they possess skills that are valuable to the community. Martin has also been instrumental in working with her local community college to increase the number of technology courses for which dual enrollment is available. She is currently working on developing a technology curriculum to offer to parents within the community.
Scott McLeod, Director, CASTLE, Iowa State University, Iowa
Scott McLeod has been called the leader in learning at the intersection of school leadership and educational technology. He co-developed an extensive curriculum designed around the National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A) that he and his partners at the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE) (http://www.schooltechleadership.org/) have disseminated and shared with partner universities engaged in the preparation of school leaders. McLeod has been tireless in his efforts to assist the faculties of educational leadership programs around the country as they work with sitting administrators and prepare future administrators for schooling in the 21st century.
Terry Pilitzer, Supervisor of Technology, Keyport Public Schools, New Jersey
Terry Pilitzer wrote and received funding for the Students Using Technology to Achieve Reading and Writing; Math Achievement to Realize Individual Excellence (MATRIX) grants and then conducted workshops for teachers on how to effectively implement these grants. She also co-authored a district curriculum for integrating technology to improve reading/writing in grades 3 and 4, developed partnerships with Rutgers University and Brookdale Community College to provide workshops that encourage creative and independent use of instructional technology in the K-12 classroom , initiated the first partnership with Verizon to fund the installation of ISDN lines to the economically disadvantaged school districts in Monmouth County, NJ, and initiated a distance learning partnership with Keyport Public Schools and four other Monmouth County School Districts for the purpose of promoting cross-curricular use of technology and distance learning.
Erin E. Reilly, Co-founder, Platform Shoes Forum, Maine
Platform Shoes Forum (PSF), co-founded by Erin Reilly, designs web-based, interactive educational programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM subjects) for preteens. Zoey's Room (ZR), PSF's model program, stimulates girls' interest in the sciences by providing a web portal where they can learn more about the sciences through learning modules called Tec-Treks™, PSF’s trademarked curriculum modules that present an on-line educational problem that is resolved through off-line application. Zoey, an avatar created to stimulate interest in these challenges, meets with the girls in an after-school chat room where they discuss issues that interest them and are introduced to Fab Femmes, career women scientists. Evaluations in 2006 show that ZR participation increases girls’ self confidence, interest, and proficiency in STEM subjects.
Derek S. Roh, Director of IT Services, Baldwin County Board of Education, Alabama
When Roh arrived, few Baldwin County schools had web sites, and the ones that did had no consistency among them. Roh created a new district web site (www.bcbe.org) housing valuable information and helped design and implement a web site template provided for all 46 schools, thus greatly improving communication to parents and the public. Roh also used EETT grant funds to initiate a pilot program, now in year two and at two schools, to provide a full-time school technology coach.
John Rose, Instructor, Department Chair, Moreno Valley Unified School District, California
Rose was instrumental in establishing the rigorous Pathways to Learning in the areas of engineering, business, allied health and animation. He also implemented the first eighth grade career exploration day in which approximately 475 students came to his high school over a three-day period to participate in classes in each of the four pathways. Students helped a robot sort marbles using a computer program in the Engineering Pathway. Students viewed a dissected cat and used blood pressure cuffs in the Allied Health Pathway. They viewed and participated in drawing software in the Animation Pathway. Students also had the opportunity to work on their personal finances in Computerized Accounting in the Business Pathway.
David Sevier, Founder, The Open Source Teaching Project (OST), Tennessee
OST is founded on the belief that the knowledge of award-winning scholars, researchers, and others in the top of their field should be made available to inspire and inform students across the globe. At present, OST has secured interview commitments from nearly 200 Nobel Laureates, Guggenheim Fellows, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellows, and MacArthur Fellows. Each will contribute to what is quickly becoming the world's largest repository of focused knowledge on discrete topics of high interest to learners at all ages and stages. Specifically, this knowledge relates to current research that is ongoing and groundbreaking. OST is not limited to areas of scholarly endeavor. OST conducts outreach to Academic All-Americans, Academy Award winners, Grammy winners and others who can donate time to share their experiences related to their careers and successes. This database of knowledge is interactive, keyword searchable, and has the potential to engage all learners at the highest levels of cognition.
Gary Stager, Executive Director, Constructivist Consortium, California
Gary Stager has been a pioneer in classroom robotics, online learning, at-risk education and has been a champion of laptops in education since 1990. He has brought the power of technology-rich project-based learning to public and private schools, plus home-schooling communities all over the world. Countless educators have been inspired to embrace computing and raise their game after attending one of Stager’s provocative conference sessions. His journalism speaks truth to power and holds the ed tech field accountable for its actions. He recently founded the Constructivist Consortium, a collaborative of six leading ed tech publishers, as a way of raising the visibility of companies committed to creativity, children, computing, and constructivism.
Ronald P. Walker, Superintendent, Geary County USD 475, Kansas
Ronald Walker implemented a comprehensive technology plan that included overall bandwidth for network connectivity, a program to train teachers based on a system of differentiated technology-related professional development, hardware and software and technology in classrooms, offices, and for parents. The district uses technology to bring clarity to ideas, efficiency to educators, learning tools that motivate children and adults, and parent access to grades, attendance, behavior records, and teacher comments.
Shawn Wheeler, Director of Technology Services and Training, Peoria Unified School District, Arizona
Shawn Wheeler built a variety of outstanding technology professional development offerings, including the Blackboard e-learning environment; online Small Learning Objects, an impressive collection of single-topic training documentation supported by multi-media materials; and podcasting and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology. Wheeler also coordinated the design of the district portal used for instruction as well as district business operations.
Todd Whitlock, Technology Coordinator, North Daviess Community Schools, Indiana
Todd Whitlock is actively involved in educational technology advocacy at the local, state, and national levels. His 1:1 laptop initiative has brought more than 250 laptops computers to the homes of students. This saturation and use in the community has allowed the students to teach siblings, parents, neighbors, and businesses how technology can be used for presentations and personal productivity. Since 2000, Whitlock has written competitive grants that have earned North Daviess more than $1.3 million for educational technology.
You can learn about last year's group and see where they are now by clicking here.
October 2, 2007
Posted by Christina Gordon, NSBA Staff, at 10:29 AM | Twenty to Watch | Comments (9)
At last year's T+L Conference in Dallas, NSBA recognized 20 emerging leaders, our "Twenty to Watch" for education technology. So what has happened to these leaders in the year since their recognition? We've asked them to comment and tell us where they are now and what they've been up to.
And be sure to stay tuned to the T+L blog for more information on this year's group of "20 to Watch."
November 21, 2006
2006 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Jennifer Ziolko
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 8:44 AM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (2)
Jennifer Ziolko is Assistive Technology Specialist for West Linn/Wilsonville (OR) School District.
Jennifer has worked to implement and support the use of technology throughout the district's special education classrooms, and is on the forefront of bringing technology to students with disabilities. She is relentless in her quest to match educational needs with technological opportunities.
2006 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Brad Gray
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 8:41 AM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
Bradley Gray is Chief Information Officer for Gallatin (KY) County Schools. He has transitioned the district from failing to meet state standards and requirements in technology to an efficient system that provides students, teachers, administrators, and parents a full range of functioning technology. His positive attitude and view that his "ultimate customers" are the students of the district, has helped to raise test scores by drastically increasing the availability of technology.
2006 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Jill Hobson
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 8:37 AM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
Jill Hobson, Director of Educational Technology for Forsyth (GA) County Schools, is responsible for bringing high quality, relevant online instructional material that serves to raise the bar for student engagement to the district. Under her leadership, the district has created a blended appproach to online learning that reaches across all grade levels and has resulted in reducing (and in some cases eliminating) the need for textbooks.
2006 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Kari Stubbs
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 8:31 AM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
As Senior Project Coordinator at ALTEC, Kari Stubbs is the project leader of the Title IID initiative in Kansas, known as Technology Rich Classrooms. The program has impacted teaching and learning in 168 classrooms across the state. Kari is also expected to complete her PhD in Curriculum with a technology emphasis this winter, and teaches the undergraduate course on technology integration at the University of Kansas.
November 17, 2006
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 9:39 AM | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
For the 20th anniversary of its Technology + Learning Conference in Dallas this year, the National School Boards Association created a new program called "20 to Watch" in recognition of emerging leaders in the field. eSchool News talked with three of the winners about their ed-tech programs and the keys to their success.
Credits: eSN TV
Runtime: 10 Minutes 10 Second
2006 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Linda Smith
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 9:25 AM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
To provide a 20/20 perspective on the industry of Education Technology, we need to know where we came from. The below interviews are with some of the leaders who were around at its inception and who were instrumental in transforming educational technology into what it is today.
Linda Smith has been a Technology Director for three large school districts. She has been involved in E-rate since she was on the Board of the Consortium for School Networking. For the past two years she has been working with CSM as an E-rate consultant. She works with over 40 Districts on Technology Planning and E-rate.
November 14, 2006
2006 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Cheryl Williams
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 3:10 PM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
Cheryl Williams is a nationally recognized leader and executive in education reform. She is currently a Vice President of Conferences and Marketing at Teachscape, a San Francisco based company. Teachscape works with local schools and districts to design and deliver professional development services and resources. Before coming to San Francisco with Teachscape, she served as Vice President of Education at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in Washington, DC. And prior to that, as Director of Education Technology Programs at the National School Boards Association (NSBA) in Alexandria, Virginia.
November 13, 2006
2006 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Keith Mann
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 2:52 PM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
Keith Mann is an educational technology consultant. He started his educational career as a teacher of math and computer science, which he did for 17 years. He then became a district Technology Coordinator. Two years later he became the first Director of Technology for the Township High School District 214 in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He held this position for 10 years until he retired in 2004.
2006 Twenty to Watch: An interview with Geoff Fletcher
Posted by Andrew Paulson, NSBA Staff, at 2:46 PM | Podcasts | Twenty to Watch | Comments (0)
Geoff Fletcher is Editor in Chief of T.H.E. Journal and executive vice president of T.H.E. Institute, anytime, anywhere professional development for educators. Geoff served for many years as the head of technology for the Texas Education Agency.
November 3, 2006
The face of things yet to come (2006)
Posted by Christina Gordon, NSBA Staff, at 12:00 PM | Twenty to Watch | Comments (1)
As education technology has changed over the past 20 years, the vision, passion, and human spirit behind the tools have been the critical components in the transformation of teaching and learning. Many of the early pioneers were teachers, superintendents, school board members, librarians, principals, and technology directors who have become the often quoted and well respected voices of today's innovation. Technology continues to evolve and new leaders have emerged to further mine the power of technology to enhance education.
You nominated them and NSBA has identified 20 educators who are the "20 To Watch," a group who are becoming the new generation of technology leaders. Learn more about the 20 To Watch listed below.
Deborah Cline-Eck, Director of Technology, Upper Merion Area (PA) School District
Deborah has been instrumental in leading her school district in the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning, including leading a team that instituted 10 "Classrooms for the Future" which provide laptops for each student, smartboards, data projectors, and other technology to encourage full engagement of every member of the class.
Joseph Crawford, Technology Integration Specialist, Cobb County (GA) School District
Joseph has the personality to convince others of the importance of instuctional technology and maintains a high level of knowledge of emerging technologies through classes, conference attendance, and research. He has become an expert on wireless technologies by attending classes to prepare for wireless certification.
Dorothy Crenshaw, Chief Information Officer, Indianapolis (IN) Public Schools
Dorothy has been appointed by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels to participate in the state's technology committee. She is committed to ensuring that urban students are able to compete in a global society, and demonstrates this through her efforts to get cable companies to install high speed cable modems in the homes of urban students.
Patti Dean, Instructional Technology Director, Cheney (WA) Public Schools
Patti has been instrumental in helping her school district to recieve several grants: one from Intel and Microsoft that lead to a professional development program for teachers; another from Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) which partners teachers-in-training with classroom teachers to integrate teaching and technology; and a Partners in Learning grant which enables teachers to use math and language arts technologies to aid struggling students.
Bruce Dixon, President and Founder, Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation
Bruce, a former school principal, is a tireless champion for school improvement through the use of one-to-one computing. He created the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation in order to make one-to-one computing a reality for every American child.
Heidi Driscoll, School Principal, Taunton (MA) Public Schools
Heidi developed and facilitated an intensive one year course to develop district technology leaders who are trained to use web-based classrooms for professional development and classroom teaching. She is currently training elementary students to be the junior webmasters of their school Web site and training teachers to use data to drive instruction.
Derek Edens, Coordinator of Technology adn Assessment, David Douglas (OR) School District
Derek has designed, developed, and implemented a school district web portal for teachers to map curriculum to the state learning standards. He has ensured that web based mapping makes classroom curriculum a living, breathing document based on the changing realities of the classroom.
Bradley Gray, Chief Information Officer, Gallatin (KY) County Schools
Bradley has transitioned the district from failing to meet state standards and requirements in technology to an efficient system that provides students, teachers, administrators, and parents a full range of functioning technology. His positive attitude and view that his "ultimate customers" are the students of the district, has helped to raise test scores by drastically increasing the availability of technology.
Jeff Gregory, Science Teacher, Spring Valley High School, Richland (SC) School District
Jeff is the co-developer of ITEC, the district's demonstration project for one-to-one computing in high school. Volunteering to start a whole new program is evidence of his curiosity and dedication to improving learning through technology.
Janet Herdman, Director of IT Services, North Kansas City (MO) School District
Janet has been a pioneer in the infusion of computer technology, and was instrumental in the district being selected an NSBA Salute District in 1999. Because of her efforts, the district is expanding to the use of wireless networks in classrooms with wireless labs and other unique forms of instruction.
Jill Hobson, Director of Educational Technology, Forsyth (GA) County Schools
Jill is responsible for bringing high quality, relevant online instructional material that serves to raise the bar for student engagement to the district. Under her leadership, the district has created a blended appproach to online learning that reaches across all grade levels and has resulted in reducing (and in some cases eliminating) the need for textbooks.
Jennette M. Kane, Technology Integration Supervisor, Orange City (OH) Schools
Jennette designed a database and worked to make data available for adminstrators' handheld computers and provided training for use of this tool. She is currently working with a middle school class to help them create podcasts that will help blind students receive further benefit from their classroom experiences.
Quinn Kellis, Director of Accountability and Technology, Deer Valley (AZ) Unified School District
Quinn is bringing technology to the district in all forms, including online professional development opportunities for administrators and teachers, even as he continues to pursue his own education. He is not just providing the technology, he is teaching educators how to access it and use it succesfully.
Scott Kuffel, Superintendent, Geneseo (IL) Community Unit School District #228
Scott has strived to improve access to vital information in his district, specifically through the use of electronic board agenda preparation. His curiousity and understanding of this technology has led to his participation in feedback sessions with the product's creator that have improved the product for all of its users.
Eric Langhorst, Teacher, South Valley (MO) Junior High School/Park University
Eric uses audio podcast technology to host "studycasts" for his students to help them prepare for tests. Additionally, he uses blogging to engage and invigorate learning for students, teachers, and parents in his community. His commitment to technology is evident in the workshops he hosts for teachers in the district on podcasting, blogging, online assessment, e-mail and other applications they can use in their classrooms.
Chris Lehmann, Principal, The Science Leadership Academy (PA)
Chris, a long time leader in educational technology, was tapped to lead the new Science Leadership Academy, a high school in Philadelphia, due to his charisma and seemingly endless energy. His methods have led to student assignments being turned in digitally, including a science research journal and movie trailers for Shakespearean plays.
Marty Park, Director of Technology, Clark County (KY) Board of Education
Marty encouraged the school board in his district hire three technical resource teachers who are assigned to each of the schools in the district and educate both the teachers and students in technology. He consistently ensures that the technology is aligned with the curriculum.
Kari Stubbs, Senior Project Coordinator, ALTEC (KS)
Kari manages the more than $7,000,000 Technology Rich Classrooms project, which has impacted teaching and learning in 168 classrooms. While pursuing her doctorate, Kari evaluated new and emerging technologies and defined what she anticipates to be common educational technologies for K-12 in 2, 5, and 10 years.
Thomas Tan, Coordinator Information Technology & Research, Ontario-Montclair (CA) School District
Thomas is an inspirational leader who looks at the bigger picture, viewing technology from all facets of education -- administrators, teachers, students, and parents. He ensures that the school district invests in practical technology that will make the system more efficient and help school and district personnel work smarter.
Jennifer Ziolko, Assistive Technology Specialist, West Linn/Wilsonville (OR) School District
Jennifer has worked to implement and support the use of technology throughout the district's special education classrooms, and is on the forefront of bringing technology to students with disabilities. She is relentless in her quest to match educational needs with technological opportunities.
Hats off to all the 20 To Watch! We can't wait to see what you're up to next!