June 2004 — Editorial
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Redefining Professional Development
As the leading education technology magazine, we have made it our responsibility over the years to share with our readers some of the best practices of technology being used in schools throughout the world. This is why it is with great pleasure that I announce the first recipient of the Sylvia Charp Award for District Innovation in Technology: Texas' Irving Independent School District. This award, co-sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), is in honor of Dr. Sylvia Charp and her groundbreaking contributions and extended service to the education technology community. Sylvia was T.H.E. Journal 's first and only editor-in-chief until her passing last August. It is especially appropriate that we co-sponsor this award with ISTE as Sylvia was a longtime member of ISTE and a strong believer in the tenets behind the organization. A huge thanks to our ISTE partners for helping to organize and support this award spotlighting district innovation.
Irving ISD is a most deserving winner from a highly competitive field. While many districts nationwide and in other countries (we had an outstanding international entry) are doing some innovative and interesting things with technology and education, fewer are able to do innovative things on a districtwide basis, and fewer still are able to match individual campus's needs with districtwide innovation. But Irving ISD has been able to do just that. Since we will be publishing an article this fall from Alice Owen, Irving ISD's executive director of technology, detailing the district's work, as well as posting their entire application on our Web site (www.thejournal.com), below are only a few highlights of their work:
- A 1-to-1 initiative for all high school students, with a 1-to-1 vision for grades 3-12.
- The Academy, a school designed around the concept of technology.
- A full-time instructional resource person and a full-time technical support person on each campus, with two at each high school.
- Annual technology professional development required for all teachers and administrators.
It is very appropriate that the Charp Award will be presented at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) this month in New Orleans, and that the theme of this issue is "Teacher Quality and Professional Development." Technology conferences such as NECC are a staple of professional development plans for districts and colleges of education. But we all know that a conference is not enough to prepare educators to use technology effectively and to increase student learning - no matter at what level. The fact is that educators need sustained, contextual support.
Often in a time of tight budgets, support for people in the form of professional development is the first to go. However, the obnoxiously optimistic side of me sees some beacons of hope out there. First, our feature article, "When the Cows Come Home" by Gary Kidney of the University of Houston System (Page 12), describes what many members of our editorial board consider a rare occurrence: a college of education taking the lead in a universitywide "teaching with technology" initiative. It is a powerful model that can be used not only in higher education, but also in K-12 with any focused topic.
