Summary of NECC Conference (San Antonio Texas June 17-19^th, 2002)

1. ETO-COE/QACPS presentation regarding our partnership. Additionally, it talks about the QACPS teacher assessment piece (http://ccenter.uoregon.edu/conferences/necc2002/program/presenter_pdfs/brown_david_nettec.pdf ) — Over 70 participants attended this presentation and were especially interested in the assessment piece and how we “start and end” within the university scheduling calendar

• QACPS requires all teachers to reach “Level III” competency with technology (integration of technology within curriculum) before they are tenured. The assessment is broken into 5 parts given face to face —matching, essay (utilizing a word processor), graphing/spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation and internet search. They are given 60-90 minutes to complete the exercise, and rubrics are established to determine the teacher’s level of competency. One on one consultations with the teachers result in an individualized program of staff development for each. Courses matching their needs are delivered through ETO-UMCP where the school system pays for their courses.

2. QACPS/ETO-COE-UMCP Poster session with Dave Rose from Queen Anne’s County regarding assistive technology for the regular classroom teacher and the ETO/UMCP Assistive Technology - Outreach training/course. (http://ccenter.uoregon.edu/conferences/necc2002/program/presenter_pdfs/rose_dave_AT_Lessons.pdf )
3. Xybernaut Corporation (wireless wearable computers)/ETO-COE-UMCP exhibit. Through the Xybernaut/ ETO partnership, ETO-COE is exploring the application of wearable computers in the classroom setting (http://www.xybernaut.com/newxybernaut/Solutions/product/XyberKids_product.htm )

4. Davina Pruitt-Mentle’s presentation Closing the Digital Divide: Central American Perspectives on Technology Use. (http://www.edtechpolicy.org/Presentations/NECC2002/fullpaper.pdf and http://www.edtechpolicy.org/Presentations/NECC2002/necc_2002.ppt) . and Margaret Reil’s (Pepperdine) presentation The Digital Divide and the Learning Needs of Hispanic Students (http://cartera.uoregon.edu/program2002/FMPro?-db=NECC2002_Master.fmp5&-lay=SES_webscreen_all&-format=ses_sumb.html&ID3=1879Riel&-SortField=last%20name&-SortOrder=descend&-Find) addressed the growing emphasis on technology access and instruction to an increasing US Hispanic population.

5. Attended David Dwyer’s presentation Kids, Technology, and the Need to Reshape Education http://cartera.uoregon.edu/program2002/FMPro?-db=NECC2002_Master.fmp5&-lay=SES_webscreen_all&-format=ses_sumc.html&ID3=2174Dwye&-SortField=title&-SortOrder=descend&-Find
• Summary:
• History of Schools: church-government-future corporate control
• Books he recommends to read: RE: Future of Education:
• The Monster Under the Bed: How Business is Mastering the Opportunity of Knowledge for Profit (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=15HBCSMXYO&isbn=0684804387) by Stan Davis and Jim Botkin
• Growing up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation by Don Tapscott (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=15HBCSMXYO&isbn=0684804387 )
• Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools by Jonathan Kozol (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=15HBCSMXYO&isbn=0060974990)
• Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms by Diane Ravitch (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=15HBCSMXYO&isbn=0743203267)
• Miners Canary by Lani Guinier, Gerald Torres (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=15HBCSMXYO&isbn=0674004698)
• Each of these books looks at the history of education- why we are where we are now and foresees the future of education as “children as customer based design”
• Secretary Paige Launches “No Child Left Behind Act”-how does this impact or play within the future of education?
• Study done with Generation Y-(kids born between 1982 and 2000)
• Their study focused on “Tweens” -10-12 years old today-what did the study find?
• 10-12 years old today (2001-2002) exhibited 15-16 year old behavior
• they do not like the term Generation Y, prefer to be called the “millennials”
• make up 10% of the US population
• Most diverse group-34% minority-multiethic
• Do not get “hungup on” “multi---whatever—multiethic or multidiversity—can not see why adults are so into defining it—the group is just American
• Grew up in the longest US history of peace time and economic expansion BUT also have experienced the September 11 disaster
• From a sampling of students across the US (ACOT centers) found (ALL UPPER MIDDLE CLASS FROM THIS GROUP)
• 96% report they get along with parents
• 75% say they share the same values as their parents
• 80% share that they feel it is “cool” to be smart
• 78% report spiritual but with their “own” religion- a mix of religions tied together-a little of each religion that they like
• 60% feel that participating in community activities is important
• Overall the top concerns were: bad politicians, bad parents and parenting skills, had it with criminals-feel society and the law system should be tougher on criminals
• Group = Hyper-communicator
• 89% use online as a form of communication
• 20% use cell phones
• most use it for peer communication
• Group members= Multitaskers
• 34% use online while watching TV etc…
• 50% think they want to “do something” while they prepare to start their own business
• Top career choices: (in order) Medicine, Education (#2), Business, Engineering, Law/politics and last Computer science
• What do they do with the Internet?
• 68% use it to get or listen to music
• 54% to watch film/video or to get information about films
• 51% use it for relationship (find a partner, horoscopes, reading about relationships etc…)
• 49% use it to get advice
• 43% use it to find information about current trends in Fashion
• All above was from a sample of Upper middle class—what about “all” kids? (http://nces.ed.gov/edstats/) report found
• Students today read equivalent to students in 1992 (even with the focus on literacy in our schools)
• Girls read better
• MAJOR gaps in reading between whites and blacks –although some narrowing
• Low SES schools read less well than HSES schools
• Math increase since 1992 with slight dip in 1996
• Less than 25% performed proficient in math
• Male and female are about equal in science scores at the secondary level
• Urban Divide-Not just Digital Divide but Urban Education Divide
• Only 50% graduation rate in 32 urban “center” locations
• 1-2 dropout—this = ~2000 students per day drop out of urban schools
• drop out has been associated with crime- criminal behavior- sex etc….
• greater than ½ entering high school read at the 6^th grade level
• His summary:
• Millennials want to Learn
• With technology
• With one another
• On-line
• In their own time and their own place and pace
• Want to do things that matter
• Where to From Here?
• Raison d’etre: social policy vs. learning
• Mission-Past vs. Future
• Curriculum – Academic vs. Job Readiness
• Pedagogy- Instructivist vs. Constructivist
• Organization- Public vs. Alternative

6. Attended Stan Bennett’s PT3 presentation (http://ccenter.uoregon.edu/conferences/necc2002/program/presenter_pdfs/bennett_stan_technology.pdf)

7. Contacts made with Open Book and Wireless Generation.http://www.openbooklearning.com/ and http://wgen.net.nxlkhost.com/ Set up time to meet and see how ETO might incorporate materials and software into our PD activities.
8. Spoke with numerous other universities and corporations. One of interest which I will share with Dr. Wiseman is Emporia State University’s Folio Rubric example-Standards and Indicators integrating technology NCATE standards