Articles in the Conferences and Events category

Education technology leadership honored in this year’s “20 to Watch” list

From a school librarian who’s blog of book selections is read around the country to a kindergarten teacher turned top executive at a major digital education resources company who’s extolled the value of educational social networking along the way, this year’s “20 to Watch” list are movers and shakers in the education area who are as cutting edge as the technologies they utilize.

Check out these remarkable individuals and their impressive biographies.  They will be recognized at next week’s T+L Conference in Phoenix.

In the meantime, view Paul Andersen’s collection of instructional videos he posts on YouTube, called Bozeman Biology. No wonder he was also named the 2011 Montana Teacher of the Year.

Below is one of Anderson’s videos that has received 7,969 views. Clearly Anderson doesn’t have that many students, so it is great to know that so many other are watching!

Naomi Dillon|October 14th, 2010|Categories: Conferences and Events, Educational Technology, Multimedia and Webinars, NSBA Opinions and Analysis, Student Achievement, Teachers|Tags: , , , |

Technology is helping rural schools says Duncan

Yesterday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said during a visit to a rural high school in North Dakota, “I think technology can be a huge vehicle, a huge strategy to leveling the playing field and giving children access to higher level classes and college level classes that I think are so important.”

BoardBuzz agrees and issues concerning how technology is advancing rural education will be discussed at this year’s T+L Conference that will be held in Phoenix from October 19-22.

Alexis Rice|October 13th, 2010|Categories: Conferences and Events, Educational Technology, NSBA Opinions and Analysis, Rural Schools|

The benefits of professional school board development

BoardBuzz was pleased to hear that at least one school board has decided to lift the restriction on members attending their state conference. The School Board for Thornton Fractional Township High Schools voted to give their members the option to attend the Illinois Association of School Boards Annual Conference in November. 

In a recent article in Times of Northwest Indiana, Board Member Donald Swibes said that “the benefits that board members derive from meeting with educational colleagues make it worth the cost,” adding “We all need to hear what is going on.”

It seems that when budgets are tight, professional development is one of the first items to be cut, which BoardBuzz thinks is unfortunate and short-sighted.  Getting ideas and strategies from your colleagues – both within your own state and from across the country – can often reap huge benefits for your district — benefits that in many cases will offset the cost of attendance.

The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has put together a list of tips for getting real value out of the conference experience, as well as a sample editorial article that you can customize to educate your community on this subject.  And, we hope you will make plans to attend the NSBA Annual Conference in San Francisco, April 9-11, 2011.

Barbara Moody|October 6th, 2010|Categories: Conferences and Events, NSBA Opinions and Analysis, School Boards|

When a charter isn’t working, school boards need to speak up

Think all urban school board members hate charter schools because they sap off their best students and take money away from traditional public schools? Think again.

A sometimes-spirited discussion at NSBA’s Council of Urban Boards of Education annual conference yesterday showed that board members have quite an array of experiences and opinions with charters in their cities. (School Board News is reporting on the major events and panels at the CUBE conference in Baltimore Sept. 30-Oct. 2, read more at http://schoolboardnews.nsba.org)

Some board members from Maryland noted that they were proud of some of their charters for offering quality, focused programs, such as health and fitness or a Montessori curricula. Perhaps their positive experience has a lot to do with the fact that local school boards are the primary charter authorizers under the state’s law.

Others reported less positive experiences, noting that they had no control to shut down charters that were clearly underperforming  (only 17 percent of charters have significantly increased student achievement compared to traditional public schools, according to this report.)

Board Buzz liked the advice given by Ursula Wright, chief operating officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, who said school boards have every right to insist on that accountability, even where the school board is not responsible for the school’s charter.

Go to the authorizer body with the appropriate information, she said. “If a school is not serving its students, not living up to its charter . . . it needs to be shut down.”

Joetta Sack-Min|October 1st, 2010|Categories: Charter Schools, Conferences and Events, NSBA Opinions and Analysis|

STEM in the spotlight as education gets a major media focus

From a pair of segments on Oprah to a multi-day media blitz on NBC to a televised address from the president himself, the state of education in the U.S. has, arguably, never enjoyed as much publicity as it has over the last week and a half.

And the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math have been a prominent part of the coverage.

President Barack Obama, for instance, launched a national initiative on Monday to recruit 10,000 teachers in the STEM fields.

“Strengthening STEM education is vital to preparing our students to compete in the 21st century economy and we need to recruit and train math and science teachers to support our nation’s students,” Obama said in a prepared statement.

Teachers, no doubt, like Dos Pueblos High School physics and engineering teacher Amir Abo-Shaeer, who learned last Monday that he was one of the 23 recipients— and the only public school teacher— named as the 2010 MacArthur Fellow, a prestige that also carries with it $500,000 in unfettered funds.

Perhaps with a national recruitment project and local champions like Abo-Shaeer, more states can be like New Jersey, whose college students earn more Bachelor degrees in science and engineering than any other field.

Want to learn how to engage students and the community in STEM subjects? Prepare teachers for these dynamic and challenging fields? Or create career paths to enhance STEM in your district and beyond? Then you should attend this year’s T+L conference, held in Phoenix from October 19-22. Register here.

Naomi Dillon|September 29th, 2010|Categories: Conferences and Events, Educational Technology, NSBA Opinions and Analysis, Teachers|Tags: , , |

E-Rate gets an upgrade

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today approved upgrades that would allow schools and libraries the ability to access faster and more affordable Internet access through E-rate.

The FCC’s upgrades to E-rate include:

  • Super-Fast Fiber: The FCC’s E-rate Order will help bring affordable, super-fast fiber connections to America’s schools and libraries. It allows participants to use E-rate funds to connect to the Internet in the most cost-effective way possible, including via unused fiber optic lines already in place across the country and through existing state, regional and local networks. With these fiber networks, schools and libraries can provide students and communities with cutting-edge connectivity, while at the same time saving millions of dollars by bypassing more expensive options.

  • School Spots: The FCC is also opening the door to “School Spots” — where schools have the option to provide Internet access to the local community after students go home. With affordable fiber, these School Spots are a major step toward the National Broadband Plan’s goal of connecting an anchor institution in every community to affordable 1 gigabit per second broadband. School Spots will help ensure that people who otherwise lack access can use broadband.

  • Learning On-the-Go: The FCC is launching a pilot program that supports off-campus wireless Internet connectivity for mobile learning devices. Education doesn’t stop at the schoolyard gate or the library door. Digital textbooks and other innovative wireless devices allow students to learn in a real-world context, inside the classroom and beyond. Because of their low cost and accessibility, these mobile devices can also help advance digital equality, particularly for children from economically disadvantaged communities.

  • 21st Century E-rate Program: The Order brings E-rate into the 21st Century by making the program more effective and efficient.

Issues concerning E-rate are one of many topics that will be addressed at this year’s T+L Conference, held in Phoenix from October 19-22. In addition, Karen Cator, director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Education Technology will be a featured speaker at the conference and is incidentally the subject of the American School Board Journal’s monthly newsmaker profile.

Don’t miss either opportunity to keep your system and staff informed and ready to meet the future of education.

Naomi Dillon|September 23rd, 2010|Categories: Conferences and Events, Educational Technology, NSBA Opinions and Analysis, Rural Schools, Student Achievement, Teachers, Urban Schools|

Understanding how grant-funders think

In this age of declining resources and rising expectations, some district leaders are turning to foundations to provide seed money for their initiatives – large and small.

The Harvard Family Research Project just released a new report designed for grant-makers in the foundation community, but which can help districts think through the issues that might impact their own ability to be funded. Grantmaking to School Districts: Lessons for Foundations addresses the way grants to schools are commonly structured; the contextual variables that can impact the success or failure of reform efforts proposed by the grant; and advice and questions to consider when planning district investments. This quick read can help district leaders gain a valuable insight into the funders’ world and potentially think through areas that might raise red flags before they become an issue in their own submissions.

Grants are one way to find additional dollars, but looking internally at how technology can help you do more with less is another option. “Going green” though new IT solutions and physical plant improvements, using online learning to deliver professional development, replacing print texts with digital content, and using more sophisticated software for tasks like bus routing are among the alternatives that will be addressed at this year’s T+L Conference in Phoenix, October 19-21. To register visit www.nsba.org/TL.

Ann Flynn|September 14th, 2010|Categories: Conferences and Events, Educational Finance, Educational Research, Educational Technology, NSBA Opinions and Analysis|Tags: |

A trailblazer amongst technology leaders

As one of the three TLN Salute Districts named in 2000, Township High School District 214 in suburban Chicago, had already proven its committment to integrating technology throughout its schools and through its staff.

In the decade since, amidst new federal and state policies, new administrations and economic upheaval, District 214 has kept its focus on technology, even expanding its role in their system.

Technology, for instance, is infused in three of the district’s strategic goals, ensuring that technology integration is a visible and active part of what the district provides and provides for its students.

In more practical terms, it’s meant a continued presence in the curriuclum and classroom — from a revolutionary robotics program featuring no less than Motorola as a partner to a digital learning lab that enables students to learn new languages — as well as forays into the foundations and infrastructure of teaching and learning whether it be the standardized Learning Management System, instructional technology staff dedicated to each building or an accessible and forward-thinking technology department which developed an automated system to let parents know if their child is falling behind that week.

It’s for these reasons and more that NSBA’s Educational Technology Programs bestowed District 214 with this year’s Trailblazer Award, a distinction that can only be earned by former TLN Salute Districts, a distinction that hasn’t been conferred since 2006, when Calcasieu Parish Public Schools’s impressive technology planning in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita caught the attention of NSBA staff.

So a sincere congratulations to District 214 who will receive much deserved recognition at this year’s T+L Conference, which will be held from October 19-21 in Phoenix.

Naomi Dillon|September 9th, 2010|Categories: Conferences and Events, Educational Technology, NSBA Opinions and Analysis|Tags: , , , , |

Intellectual property increasingly being privatized, though for educators ideas are best when shared

This week, NPR featured an interesting interview with author, Lewis Hyde, who argues in his book, “Common Air” that the rapid expansion and notion of intellectual property rights threatens to stifle creativity and runs contrary to the ideals of America’s founding fathers like Benjamin Franklin, who created bifocals, the lightning rod, and the furnace stove, among other things, but never sought to patent his inventions because he wanted everyone to benefit from them.

Though it sounds abstract, it’s an intriguing piece that has implications for all aspects of society, including education and educational technology, which is driven and advanced through the collaborative process of sharing ideas and best practices.

Wikis and other forms of open source content are a perfect example, which you’ll have an opportunity to learn more about at NSBA’s T+L Conference, held in Phoenix from October 19-21.

If your district hasn’t dabbled in open source formats, October 19′s pre-conference session, “The Cloud, Open Source and Web 2.0: Financial and Instructional Implications for District Leaders,” is a good start for you.

While the October 20 workshop, “Beyond Textbooks: Sharing Teacher Success and Creativity,” features the culmination of years of hard work from the Vail School District, who developed a digital instructional calendar containing lesson plans and instructional resources aligned with state standards— then shared it with other districts across Arizona.

If that’s not an example of the power and importance of keeping ideas and dialogue open, we don’t know what is.

Naomi Dillon|August 27th, 2010|Categories: Conferences and Events, Educational Technology, Governance, NSBA Opinions and Analysis|Tags: , |

Nuturing STEM interest for a lifetime

How do kids lose their natural curiosity about science? When do they stop asking how things work or why a bird can fly? The answer, unfortunately, has been the way science content is presented in our classrooms. Lots of reports and media coverage suggest there is a growing shortage of individuals pursuing careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) while other experts think the facts have been overstated.

A recent report by professors at Rutgers and Georgetown universities, Steady as She Goes? Three Generations of Students through the Science and Engineering Pipeline concludes the number of college graduates in these fields have remained relatively steady over the past decade, but now, those top graduates are finding careers in finance and consulting to be more attractive. 

So back to the first question. How can K-12 education nurture a child’s curiosity into a passion for science that will not only lead to a college major in the field but a lifelong commitment? Part of the answer lies with how the district delivers science education; part rests with how aggressive district leaders are in creating collaborations with local businesses or university partners to enrich their programs; and part rests with the priority that STEM initiatives have within the board’s vision and how they convey that to parents and community members. From free NASA resources for teachers to workshops that showcase the SMarT Project, an NSBA-AAAS toolkit to help boards  engage their communities in a dialogue around STEM, sessions at T+L will help school leadership teams tackle the many parts of this complex issue. More importantly, there will be firsthand examples presented by educators  whose schools have seen great gains in both since and math achievement and are recent winners of Intel’s Schools of Distinction program.

Ann Flynn|August 23rd, 2010|Categories: Conferences and Events, Educational Technology, NSBA Opinions and Analysis, STEM Education, Student Achievement, Teachers|
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