I had the incredible privilege of keynoting this week for the Trussville Education Technology Conference. If there was ever a school district I would work love to work at in Alabama- Trussville has got to be it.
From the Superintendent, Dr. Suzanne Freeman to central office staff (including the IT director) all the way to the teachers and staff-- they "get it"!!!
Shawn Nutting and April Chamberlain put together the most amazing conference built around the easily accessible K12Online content. Registration was online, bios of K12Online presenters from the K12Online blog were featured. Each session was assigned a moderator who watched the presentation in advanced and developed a set of discussion questions and online resources related to the content to deepen the learning. All the teachers/administrators from the Trussville district chose from a menu of live (members of the ABPC 21st Century learning teams) and K12Online presentations.
A Sharepoint blog space was created to keep the discussion going for each presentation. It was the perfect mix of real time, virtual, and Web 2.0. Alabama educators were exposed to a global perspective of Web 2.0, as well as keeping discussions aligned to their local context and district mission and goals. The synergy of being together gave it the feel of a huge "LAN party" and everyone had their laptops and participated online like at NECC.
During my keynote presentation I Skyped in Jeff Utecht and Chris Craft. Their spontaneous comments were incredible and helped to reinforce my key points. It was awesome.
Superintendent Weighs In
Check out this excerpt from an email the Superintendent sent out after the conference to all the employees:
After this morning at TETC, I am totally re-energized and was
chomping at the bit to get back to work for our students.
Administration Responds Immediately It seems using a blended conference format with an empowering superintendent, an enlightened distict IT director and a motivated administrative staff on hand to help and support - just might be the right mix for educational reform.
Sincerely,
Suzanne
I have heard nothing but positive comments and requests for more small group and individual training to begin using Web 2.0 tools. We chose the blended format for our technology conference because we wanted everyone to see what tool are available to connect, collaborate, and education but were concerned with who would present when only a handfull of teachers were already utilizing these tools. I had participated in the K12 Online Conference and liked Jeff Utecht's LAN party idea. All of our schools have wireless connectivity and every teacher has a laptop so every session was able to be hands on. We are very fortunate in Trussville that our Superintendent is committed to supporting technology integration.
Posted by: April Chamberlain | January 08, 2007 at 02:16 AM
TETC was a high point in my learning curve. The skype with Jeff Utecht was eye opening and showed the possibilities available to our teachers. Hearing his conversation reminded me that access to a vast array of expertise is just a click away from us.
Posted by: Pat Hodge | January 08, 2007 at 10:25 AM
WOW! We were honored that you (Sheryl) blogged about our technology conference in Trussville (thanks for the kind words). I think it was such an eye opening experience for our teachers. Thanks for reiterating how the world is flat and I think that was clearly illustrated when you were talking to another teacher in Shanghai via the Internet. After the conference, I reflected on what you shared about how we were leaving the information age and now entering the age of conceptualization and creativity; I had never thought about this before, but this makes sense to me. We really need to get busy (work harder and faster) to redesign our schools to better prepare our students for the 21st Century. Our students deserve no less.
In Trussville, we talk a lot about our mission which is designing engaging and intellectually rich school work that results in students learning content at high levels. This technology conference increased our repertoire of ways to make learning more engaging for students. It also showed us how we can use technology to further our professional learning by having access to a pod cast of each session and blogging with others about our learning. I just love living in the 21st Century!
Posted by: Suzanne Freeman | January 09, 2007 at 12:47 AM
Thanks for weighing in Suzanne and Pat! Be sure and check out Daniel Pink's book.
We will all be looking to Trussville for helping to lead the way into the 21st Century. Your student's will have a distinct advantage.
Posted by: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach | January 09, 2007 at 02:54 PM
Sheryl,
Thank you so much for participating in our conference. As an administrator at the school level, I was inspired to look for ways to model using Web 2.0. In the short time since the conference, I have had more conversations with teachers about ways to incorporate these tools in their classrooms. Having teachers realize that we can't prepare students for the future by doing things the way we have always done them is the first step in truly revolutionizing our schools. The things you shared really started them down the road to that realization.
Posted by: Sunny Williams | January 14, 2007 at 07:35 AM
Thanks Sunny!
Trussville has the potential to really lead the way in Alabama. So many districts just do not understand the power and potential that 21st Century teaching and learning concepts hold for your students.
Rather than unleashing and empowering teachers and students with these tools, they feel they must shut them down. Change is always hard. But we have to realize that in this flat world tomorrow's adults will need these skills.
But is it is obvious that Trussville has vision. Your district is truly capable of preparing students to be successful in the future.
Thank you for all you and your team does on behalf of Alabama's children.
Posted by: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach | January 14, 2007 at 09:05 AM
These comments have been invaluable to me as is this whole site. I thank you for your comment.
Posted by: Rosie | June 05, 2007 at 09:52 AM