VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

Board of Directors

Featured Resources from #GoOpenVA

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SSwirl with word Go Open VAince its debut in January 2020, #GoOpenVA has been building its collections with the help of Virginia educators. This collaborative initiative enables educators and others throughout Virginia to create, share, and access openly-licensed educational resources (OER, also known as open education resources). OER are free digital materials that can be used or modified to adjust to student needs; they are openly-licensed unhampered by many traditional copyright limitations.

Jean Weller, VSTE Board Member and VDOE Technology Integration Specialist, leads this effort. We asked her to periodically curate a few of the resources to give a sense of what is available. Start with these but stay for so much more! And be sure to follow Jean on Twitter.

Featured Resources:

Decimal Rounding Podcast Episode (Mic Drop Maths Podcast): Two teachers (Lindsey Paulson and Whitney Wells-Corfield) in Hanover County collaborate to bring you their cool ideas on Mathematics SOL for 5th graders.  Broken into segments for easy “digestion,” it’s a way to get your own creative juices flowing. https://goopenva.org/courseware/lesson/496/overview

 

Blended Content Studio: This resource, created by Mike Caulfield of WSU Vancouver is full of great tips and videos to help teachers new to online learning.  Just one of the resources outside of Virginia that can be useful to Virginia educators trying to stay current during this crazy time.

https://goopenva.org/courses/blended-content-studio-emergency-online-teaching-at-wsu-vancouver/view

 

I Can Forecast the Weather Remix: Adrienne Sawyer of Chesapeake created a remix of a pretty simple lesson about recognizing clouds and made it much more robust for students, adding a great downloadable “Weather Journal” for students to use.

https://goopenva.org/courseware/lesson/1283/overview

From the VSTE Board of Directors

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The Virginia Society for Technology in Education is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment in all of our endeavors for all members, participants, volunteers, partners, staff, contractors, and Board members. VSTE will continue to stand for and promote diversity and inclusion. We are committed to working with disenfranchised communities to support digital equity and access.

VSTE Welcomes New & Returning Board Members

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Five board members--three new and two returning--were elected to the VSTE Board of Directors for the 2020 - 2023 term. Join us in welcoming them to the leadership of VSTE.

Click on the links below to learn more about each member. And, click here to learn more about the board.

 

 

Chanel Alford-Campbell

Technology Integration Specialist
Alexandria City Public Schools

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Heather Hurley

Smiling WomanSupervisor of Personalized Learning
Arlington County Public Schools

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Scott Kiser

Smiling Man with plaid tie

Director of Technology
Wise County Public Schools

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Timothy Mays

Photo of manDivision Instructional Technologist
Sussex County Public Schools

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Heather O'Brien

smiling woman

Instructional Technology Resource Teacher
Culpeper County Public Schools

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Tim Tillman

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Thinking ManTim Tillman
Chief Information Security Officer
Virginia Department of Education

Educational Leadership

Before my current position, I was a Technology Director for Colonial Heights Public Schools for six years. I have spent half of my career in EdTech and enjoy every new challenge that comes along. In my current position, I'm able to affect change on a state level.

Vision for VSTE

We have seen a tremendous shift in technology usage due to COVID-19. We've seen in action what we thought might be possible, but may have been too scare to implement. The reliance on technology in K-12 has increased to levels we never imagine and its only the beginning. After this event, we won't go back to the old normal. One-to-one programs, curriculum maps, and effective teaching strategies have forever been changed. VSTE, over the course of the next few years, can help teachers and technology leaders continue to answer the needs of our students in a forever changing environment. It's an exciting time to see solutions in action. We don't know what is next, but NOW we know we can be ready for anything.

Biographical Sketch

I hold a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Averett University. From VCU, I hold two master's degrees in Business Administration and Information Systems. I am in my last year of a doctoral program in Educational Leadership. I am certified as a Educational Technology Leader (CETL) from CoSN. I also hold various technology industry certifications.

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Diane DeMott Painter

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Smiling wommanDiane DeMott Painter
Associate Professor (adjunct)
Shenandoah University

Educational Leadership

When teaching in K-12 schools fulltime, I served as a VSTE Journal editor and as a member of the VSTE Board. As a member of both VSTE and ISTE, I presented at the annual conferences for both organizations and at mini-conferences for VSTE. While teaching fulltime as a teacher-educator, I served as chairperson of the Curriculum and Instruction Department and Program Head of the Master of Science in Education, Special Education at Shenandoah University. Presently, I serve as the Education Liaison for Makersmiths, Inc., a non-profit community maker space organization, working to form partnerships with schools and libraries in Loudoun County, VA.

Vision for VSTE

Not long ago, many school systems eliminated hands-on learning skills such as those found in home economics, woodworking and metalworking shops and introduced classes that use computer technology such as desktop publishing, coding and other programming skills. Now we find schools establishing maker spaces, many going into school library areas where access to computers running the maker technologies can be used. VSTE can be instrumental in helping to inform and train those working in K-12 and higher educational institutions about the technologies used in these maker spaces, but most important, help them understand how maker space technologies can be employed to support and enrich curriculum initiatives and vocational skills.

Biographical Sketch

As a public school teacher, I spent thirty years in Maryland and Virginia as a K-12 special education and technology resource teacher. From 2005-2017, I served as a fulltime teacher-educator at Hood College and Shenandoah University. Currently I work part-time teaching the Projects in Curriculum and Instruction course for Shenandoah University. I earned a BSE in Elementary Education (GMU-1974); a M.Ed. in Special Education (University of Maryland-1978); and a Ph.D. in Special Education Technology (GMU-1994).

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