Executive Director's Report: Innovation, creativity, teamwork featured at T+L
By Anne L. Bryant
11/25/03 -- Those who attended our Technology + Learning2: Leading Learning to a High Level Conference in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 22-24 have sent us their evaluation forms, and some of the words they have used to describe it are "excellent," "outstanding," "awesome," and "the best ever."
As one conference attendee wrote: "The preconference sessions that I attended were outstanding. I am already implementing ideas that were generated from these sessions. And the keynote speakers were equally impressive."
My initial impressions were satisfaction and excitement as I wandered the exhibit floor and talked with attendees after the general sessions and workshops at what is known as the T+L2 (or T+L "squared") Conference.
This is not NSBA's biggest conference. Our annual conference draws many more school board members and superintendents. But T+L2 is one of the highlights in the series of services we provide to school districts and school board members throughout the year.
What's different about this conference? It's uniqueness lies not just in the content -- the focus on technology to help advance student learning -- but because of who comes.
School district teams -- including technology coordinators, principals, teachers, superintendents, and, yes, a few school board members -- come to T+L2 to learn as much as possible from other school districts, from the general session speakers, and most important, from the innovative laboratory we call the T+L2 Exhibit Hall.
These district teams come to this conference because they understand that technology well integrated into teaching, learning, and administrative practice, can, in fact, leverage a district's resources and promote student learning, not just in reading and math, but in the broadest sense of educational achievement.
These districts understand that the skills and abilities of students who graduate from our schools today and tomorrow must be far more rigorous and, as we say in "education land," must be 21st century skills.
These are the skills that business leaders have been telling educators they need to see in their employees. Businesses want employees who are creative, are problem solvers, can write well, have leadership abilities, and know how to research and investigate information. All of these skills are enhanced by technology.
School district leaders tell us that technology has allowed them to do just-in-time evaluations to pinpoint students' strengths and weaknesses.
This concept goes well beyond a once-a-year test from the state -- it allows for weekly or monthly quizzes that let students know where they stand on a particular subject or at a particular school. Technology enables school districts to move toward individual education plans for every child -- not just children in special education.
These are the kinds of learning tools that are making the district teams that come to T+L2 so successful.
What these teams also get is inspiration. At the opening session, Juan Enriquez, a scientist/educator at Harvard, talked about the importance of mapping, from the journeys of Christopher Columbus to the mapping of the human genome.
His message was insightful, complex, and clear: We need to make sure that we have heavy-duty math and science throughout the curriculum. To compete globally in the 21st century, the human brainpower of America must be unleashed. We must lead the world in science and engineering, because that is the currency by which countries rise and fall. It was a compelling argument.
General session speaker Lorraine Monroe, a former teacher in New York City who now runs a leadership academy serving four schools, told the audience that, yes, technology is important, but so is the human spirit and the role of the teacher to inspire young people.
Gary Knell, president and CEO of the Sesame Street Workshop, closed the conference with a wonderful speech about the power of new technologies to enhance children's learning. His presentation included a call from Elmo, who was back on Sesame Street getting ready for another show.
One of the truly unique experiences at T+L2 is what happens on the exhibit floor.
High-tech companies not only display their latest products and services, they hold learning lab sessions on an hourly basis so conference attendees can actually see how the products work and can begin to understand how they can incorporate a particular program into their own classrooms or schools. The individualized learning that occurs at these sessions is what really matters.
As interesting to me are the animated discussions I see among team members from the same district gathered in hallways, clustered around lunch tables, or in one of the special meeting rooms created just for this purpose.
The conversations go something like this: "I went to this workshop and I learned we might not be taking advantage of our students' use of Palms the way we could." Another person says, "You know that's interesting because, in my session, we looked at how students can use the Apple computers we've purchased in new and innovative ways." And the dialogue continues in that vein.
The outcome is that the team goes back to the district with clear insights on how to improve student learning, how to enhance professional development for teachers, and how to make better buying decisions to leverage the district's resources.
One of the most enlightening presentations at T+L2 was education technology expert Alan November's talk on "Preparing Fearless Learners." He described High Tech High, a charter school outside San Diego developed in partnership with the business community. The school was designed like a workplace, with students working in cubicles around a central conference room.
Students spend half the day working on projects in a business setting and the other half in a traditional classroom setting. The school is architecturally extraordinary, as well as a high-level learning environment. The students who graduate from High Tech High are ready to take on high-paid jobs at Microsoft, Disney, and other high-tech firms.
Innovation. Creativity. Leveraging resources. Getting smarter about increasing student learning: That's what the T+L2 conference is all about.
Although it was a little smaller this year than we had hoped, many people told me they will be bringing more people from their district next year and plan to talk about the conference to people from neighboring districts.
The slumping economy has hit many school districts hard, causing them to curtail spending. And that means districts must make the most of the resources they have.
As one T+L2 attendee told me: "This is the best investment our district can make, because we will make smarter and better decisions about our purchasing and about our professional development over this next year than we ever would have before coming to this conference."
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| Reproduced with permission from the 2003 issue of School Board News. Copyright © 2003, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789. |