School Districts in Montvale, N.J., Newport News, Va., and Louisville, Ky. to be Featured for their Outstanding Technologies Initiatives
Alexandria, Va. (December 6, 2010) – The National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) Technology Leadership Network (TLN) will visit school districts in New Jersey, Virginia, and Kentucky in spring 2011 to showcase outstanding use of educational technology.
“The technology site visits are excellent opportunities for school leaders to learn how a comprehensive technology vision can transform education and support learning,” said Ann Flynn, NSBA's Director of Education Technology. “Through classroom observations, conversations with teachers and students, mini-briefings on professional development strategies, and discussions with school board members and business partners; these site visits assist school leaders to develop their own successful technology initiatives.”
School districts selected to host this year’s events are located in Montvale, N.J., Newport News, Va., and Louisville, Ky.
Changing the High School Experience – A 1:1 Learning Case Study
Pascack Valley Regional High School District, Montvale, N.J., March 23-25, 2011
A New York City suburb that is home to numerous high-tech company headquarters, Montvale’s two high schools provide each of their 2,000 students and teachers with laptops. The visit will focus on how the schools have integrated technology into the curriculum with an emphasis on web 2.0 collaborative tools. School officials will explain how they included various community leaders in developing the initiative and describe pitfalls to avoid when providing all students with laptops. Other topics to be covered include the district’s methods for evaluating the program, how technology can be used to support learning outside school, and ongoing professional development for teachers.
Graduating College, Career, and Citizen-Ready Students
Newport News Public Schools, Newport News, Va., April 27-29, 2011
This urban, 30,000-student school district, awarded TLN’s 2009 Salute District recognition, employs innovative tools and techniques to ensure students are well prepared, including the implementation of a forward-thinking curriculum, effective technology integration in classrooms, and the Career Pathways student internship and work exploration program. Students engage in numerous projects with mobile learning devices, gaming and simulation environments, video-conferencing and virtual courses, online credit recovery, and more. Technology is infused throughout the district with online employee development, electronic transportation and facilities management, and digital security tools that ensure student and staff safety.
In the Winners Circle with 21st Century Teaching and Learning
Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, Ky., May 11-13, 2011
Kentucky’s largest school district, Jefferson County received the 2010 Salute District Award from TLN. The 106,000-student school district offers teachers a variety of opportunities to participate in professional development to help integrate technology into a standards-based curriculum. Some training highlights include: technology integration specialists working side-by-side with classroom teachers; Tablet PCs with unlimited access to a learning management system to access instructional resources; a 21st Century Lesson Study that allows teachers to observe and learn effective technology use in a real classroom setting; and online professional development. The district’s students have access to: unique magnet programs, including an elementary S.T.E.M. program and high schools designed on professional career themes; “The 180 Degree Classroom” project, which uses an iPod Touch and Tablet PC to restructure the traditional high school math classroom into a student-centered, inquiry-based learning environment; and The Digitally Enhanced Literacy Initiative, which integrates technology into the writing curriculum.
More details on the Technology Site Visits are available at http://www.nsba.org/tlnsitevisits/.
Since 1987, NSBA's TLN has served local district leadership teams that establish policy and implement technology decisions to enhance teaching and learning, administrative operations, and community outreach.
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Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) is a not-for-profit organization representing state associations of school boards and their more than 90,000 local school board members throughout the U.S. Working with and through our state associations, NSBA advocates for equity and excellence in public education through school board leadership. www.nsba.org