Hilton Hotel & Conference Center, Columbia, SC

2012 Conference- Agenda The Seventh Annual Conference: March 8 – 9, 2012

THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

Muller Road opens year by closing books- Middle school issues iPads to all its students: At Muller Road Middle School, everything was brand-new as the school year opened Monday, including the Apple iPad tablets that each 6th-, 7th- and 8th-grade student carried from class to class. The State Newspaper August 16, 2011 http://www.thestate.com/2011/08/16/1935506/muller-road-opens-year-by-closing.html

A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute: LOS ALTOS, Calif. — The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard. But the school’s chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home. The New York Times October 22, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html? pagewanted=all

Conference Synopsis:

These two recent articles- one announcing the opening of a new South Carolina middle school where every student is given an iPad in lieu of textbooks; the other, a New York Times article profiling the chief technology officer from Google who sent his children to private school because of a concern about an overreliance on technology in the classroom- frames an interesting debate about the role of technology in K-12 education. Our conference this year will seek to develop a richer understanding of these issues, and how the design of school facilities should evolve as a response.

Agenda Thursday, March 8, 2012

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Leadership set-up

2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Design Awards Board Displays Due at Hotel

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm Trade Show - Vendor Set-up

2:00 pm – 6:00 pm Conference Registration

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm Tour transportation leaves from the Hilton

3:00 pm – 4:45 pm Tour: Muller Road Middle School 1.0 LU Principal Lori Marrero & students to speak

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Reception with Vendors Cocktails and heavy Hors D’oeuvres Trade Show

Friday, March 9, 2012

7:30 am – 8:00 am One-day conference registrations

8:00 am – 9:00 am Breakfast with the Vendors Buffet breakfast

9:00 am to 9:30 am Welcome and Opening Remarks (Doug Q) Welcome Presentation of the Colors Pledge of Allegiance National Anthem

9:30 am – 10:30 am Speaker #1: Dr. Thomas CAUTION!: Technology

Technology is inseparable from contemporary life and learning in twenty-first century America, but educators would benefit from increasing our skepticism of the pursuit of technology instead of increasing the acquisition of state-of-the-art technology to enhance teaching and learning. This talk examines several cautions we should implement before continuing our quest of high- tech educational settings.

10:30 am – 10:45 am Break

10:45 am – 11:45 am Speaker #2: Dr. Brochu Speech Title: TBA

Dr. Brochu will give an overview on the technology initiatives at Richland Two, including the curriculum and philosophy behind the technology approach at Muller Road Middle School. 11:45 am to 1:00 pm Lunch and Presentations 11:45 am – 12:15 pm Lunch with the Vendors Plated Lunch

12:15 pm – 12:45 pm Design Awards Presentations Scott Powell, AIA

Guest Juror: Barbara Coleman AIA

12:45 am – 1:00 pm Leadership/Committee Recognitions Doug Quackenbush AIA

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm Speaker #3: Scott Walker Finishing the Thought: Why It Takes More than Technology Alone to Improve Learning

Technology can help transform a classroom from the traditional one-size-fits-all, agrarian model of learning into a dynamic, student-centered environment where learners and educators can integrate a world of information into a collaborative learning experience. This talk will explore these thoughts by looking at the evolution of the classroom past, present, and future and will connect the worker of tomorrow with the types of learning environments today that can prepare them to compete in an increasingly globalized and technology-infused future.

2:00 pm – 2:15 pm Break

2:15 pm – 3:15 pm Speaker #4: Dr. Brazell: Charter Schools: The Potential for the Schools of the Future

The role of charter schools in public education should be as an incubator for innovation and creativity. That role is finally being realized in South Carolina with some very creative and forward thinking charter schools on the horizon. This session will stress some of the charter school concepts that have the potential of changing public education as we know it. The unbelievably rapid rise in virtual public school education in South Carolina will be discussed, and there will be a special emphasis on the role of technology in public education in the future.

3:15 pm – 4:00 pm Panel Discussion: The Role of Technology in Public Education

Speakers: Dr. Thomas, Mr. Walker, Dr. Brazell. Moderated by Barbara Coleman

4:00 pm – 4:15 pm Closing Remarks (PDQ)

Speaker Bio: Dr. Paul Thomas- Furman University P. L. Thomas, Associate Professor of Education (Furman University, Greenville SC), taught high school English in rural South Carolina before moving to teacher education. He is currently a column editor for English Journal (National Council of Teachers of English) and series editor for Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres (Sense Publishers), in which he authored the first volume— Challenging Genres: Comics and Graphic Novels (2010). Additional recent books include Parental Choice?: A Critical Reconsideration of Choice and the Debate about Choice (Information Age Publishing, 2010) and 21st Century Literacy: If We Are Scripted, Are We Literate? (Springer, 2009) co-authored with Renita Schmidt. He maintains a blog addressing the role of poverty in education: http://livinglearninginpoverty.blogspot.com/. His teaching and scholarship focus on literacy and the impact of poverty on education, as well as confronting the political dynamics influencing public education in the U.S.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Katie Brochu- Richland School District Two

Beginning her career as a teacher, Dr. Brochu has served for the past 18 years as Superintendent for multiple districts including Sumter and Whitfield County Schools in Georgia and York School District One in South Carolina. She joined Richland School District Two in July 2010. Dr. Brochu has a reputation for being an innovative leader with a passion for student engagement. She has received numerous awards and been named both the Georgia Superintendent of the Year and a finalist for the National Superintendent of the Year. She is actively involved in many civic organizations and is a member of several local, state, and national educational organizations including the Midlands Superintendents Group, Midlands Education and Business Alliance, the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, the American Association of School Administrators, and the Schlechty Center for Leadership in School Reform Superintendents Network, a non-profit organization focused on increasing student engagement in schools.

Speaker Bio: Scott Walker- President of Waveguide

Scott Walker is president and CEO of Waveguide Consulting, a leading technology consulting firm providing AV, IT, and acoustical consulting services to leading corporations, educational institutions, and government entities. Over his 23 year career Scott has worked on more than 300 education projects in 22 states for leading universities such as MIT, Notre Dame, and Emory University, as well as K-12 projects for both public and private schools. Scott’s passion has been the deployment of user-friendly technology for teachers and students alike and the transformation of the classroom to a student-centered learning model.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Wayne Brazell- SC Charter Schools

Dr. Brazell is currently the Superintendent of the South Carolina Public Charter School District, a position he has held since October of 2009. During his 34 years of educational experience, Dr. Brazell has served as both Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent in several districts over the past 18 years. He has also served as a teacher and principal in K-12 schools as well as a professor in a higher education environment. He has made numerous national, regional, and state presentations on topics ranging from drop-out prevention to the use of mobile technology in schools. He has written a variety of grants for new programs and in 2005 received an $860,000 Tech Prep Demonstration Grant to establish a Middle College Program with nine districts in the midlands area of South Carolina. Dr. Brazell is an active member of several professional organizations and has served as President of the South Carolina Reading Association and the South Carolina Chapter of ASCD. He has been named the Educator of the Year by the Pee Dee Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, the Kiwanian of the Year by the Lexington Chapter of Kiwanis, and was recognized as the 2007 District Level Administrator of the Year by the South Carolina Association of School Administrators.