Virginia Society for Technology in Education
The 33rd Annual Technology in Education Conference will be held December 2 - 4, 2018, at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. We are already busy planning another amazing event but...we need your help. The conference committee has created four themes and can't decide which one they like the best. So, we want to hear from you!
Vote for your favorite theme here.
Voting closes March 11, 2018, at 9 PM.
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is pleased to announce plans for informational meetings regarding the GoOpenVA Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative. The first informational meeting was held in Superintendent’s Region II at WHRO on November 13, 2017, with additional meetings held in Superintendent’s Region VI in Botetourt County and in Superintendent’s Region VII in Radford. Meetings are being planned in all eight Virginia Superintendent’s Regions and are open to anyone interested in learning more about OER and GoOpenVA. Meetings will include an overview of the GoOpenVA initiative and provide attendees the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.
Bobby Keener, VDOE Chief Technology Innovations Officer, and Ernest Longworth, Coordinator of Instructional Technology at Chesterfield County Schools, will provide an overview of the GoOpenVa initiative and attendees will be encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback. The meeting schedules are listed below:
March 12, 2018 – 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m,
Luther P. Jackson Adult Education Center
15 School Road
Cumberland, Virginia 23040
March 15 – 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Harrisonburg City Public Schools Central Office
Multipurpose Room
One Court Square
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801
March 22 – 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Frederick County Middle School
Community Room
4661 N. Frederick Pike
Winchester, Virginia 22601
This is a great opportunity for the Department of Education and the GoOpenVA team to gain valuable feedback, and we encourage participation from a variety of division-level stakeholders to ensure this initiative is aligned with student and division needs.
You can learn more about the GoOpenVA initiative here.
Join VSTE and its special guests throughout the day on Thursday, February 22, 2018, to celebrate Digital Learning Day 2018.
11 AM: Mark Saunders, Technology and Virtual Learning Coordinator from the Virginia Department of Education will provide updates from VDOE
1 PM: Bobby Keener, Chief Technology Innovations Officer from the Virginia Department of Education will provide updates from his department related to eRate and OER
7:30 PM VSTE Award Winners
In the evening, we will host our annual chat with the VSTE 2017 Award Winners. Join us to hear from Josh Ajima, Nichole Thomas, and Tim Taylor about the innovative work being done in their school divisions. We'll be streaming live starting at 7:30 PM.
VSTE is also celebrating all month with our Digital Learning flipgrid. This week's topic focuses on the impact of digital learning.
Board nominations for 2018 are now closed.
VSTE members may nominate themselves or a colleague to be considered for election to the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE) Board of Directors for a three-year term. This is an opportunity to become involved in the key decision-making group for the Virginia Society for Technology in Education.
Learn More About the VSTE Board of Directors
You can preview the nomination form but must submit the final form online.
Remember, you must be a VSTE member to nominate, to be nominated, and to participate in the online election. Details for a complimentary membership can always be found at VSTE’s website. Please let us know, via email to boardelections@vste.org, if you have any questions or need further information about the election process.
In order to vote, you must be a member for at least ten days prior to the opening of the Board elections in April.
Member Login Information
It will be necessary for you to login to the system to participate in the nomination and election process. You can find the login page here. Unless you have changed it, you should use your email address at which you receive VSTE mailings for your login. If you do not remember your password, you may click the link on the login screen for those forgetting their password. Your password will be emailed to you. Once you login, you can update your membership information, change your login and/or password (as necessary) and submit a nomination. Please write to karen_richardson@vste.org if you have problems accessing the member only section of our website.
Thank you for your interest,
VSTE Election Committee, 2018
Janet Copenhaver
Josh Long
Tim Taylor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt4eO5wuMlc&feature=youtu.be
At the annual conference, VSTE Board Chair Keith Reeves voiced VSTE's strong support for Net Neutrality, the concept behind what is often called the open Internet. This concept means that all lawful content and providers should be afforded the same level of access. Governments, internet service providers and others would not be allowed to discriminate by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, and modes of communication by providing more robust access to particular companies or applications. Many people consider net neutrality to be a fundamental piece of the Internet architecture.
On Thursday, December 14, 2017, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) will vote to roll back rules related to Net Neutrality. In 2014, VSTE issued a statement related to these rules when they were under consideration. You can read that statement here.
Now, Net Neutrality is back in the news, and the vote on Thursday will likely undermine those rules, allowing Internet Service Providers to provide preferential treatment to content providers. VSTE is adding its voice to organizations from the American Library Association to CoSN asking the FCC to vote no on these rules. There is no public comment available but VSTE members and friends are encouraged to contact their federal legislators to ask them to pressure the FCC to delay or cancel the vote. Use the Who's My Legislator site to determine your Congressional representatives.
Your Voice Matters!
