Each year The Center for Digital Education recognizes the top 30 technology trailblazers and
trendsetters. Here are three trailblazing technology trends shared at #CDELive
by a #CDETop30 teacher, school leader, and district leader.
Teacher
- Tonya Tivis: Education Goes on the Road with a Food Truck!
- Background:
- Tonya
Tivis is a forward thinking high school culinary arts instructor always
looking to prepare her students for real-world success. This is what she
had devoted her career to as she provided hands on, real-world learning
experience that exposes students to what it means to work in a
real-world, professional kitchen. But she didn’t stop there. Tonya wanted to
change the educational route for children and brainstormed with school
leader Marcus Bourland about ways to serve more students with her popular
program that was running out of space. It didn't take long before they
came up with the idea for a food truck and when they ran it by the staff
it took on a life of its own becoming a campus wide collaborative project.
- Idea:
Tonya, her students, and fellow staff are involved in repurposing a school
bus into a food truck. The truck will be equipped to bake, barbeque and
will roll up to events throughout the community, featuring the cuisine
students are studying.
- A little more:
The bus will feature monitors that tell the story of the bus and will also
serve as s traveling wifi hub. Read all about it here.
- Connect with Tonya at @ATCCulinaryArts. She will be
Tweeting adventures of the bus at #TheBusStopATC
School
Leader - Megan Power: Bye bye teachers. Hello Lead Experience Designers
- Background:
Megan was recognized for her leadership in redesigning schools using
design thinking. It is a brilliant way to design a school and an
impressive achievement.
- Idea:
The one innovative idea that can make a big difference is this: They don’t
have teachers. Instead they have “Lead Experience Designers” (LEDs).
- A little more:
This is a powerful and important shift in what they call those in charge
of supporting student success. She shares the decision in her Top 30 profile, “because that’s what they do every
day: design learning experiences with each student that are tailored to
his or her interests and skills.” Ben Johnson, a career educator, puts it this way: “Great teachers do not teach. They
stack the deck so that students have a reason to learn and in the process
can’t help but learn mainly by teaching themselves. This knowledge then
becomes permanent and cherished rather than illusory and irrelevant.” When
we shift our thinking from teaching to designing learning experiences for
children, we have a powerful shift in focus and direction in the work we
need to engage in for student success. For more information visit http://design39campus.com
- Connect with Megan at @MPOWERingEDU
District
Leader - Luvelle Brown: All You Need Is Love
- Background:
Luvelle Brown took on a challenge when he became superintendent of Ithaca,
NY schools. It was a community where there were tensions and difficulties
with violence and discipline, the school was identified as one in need of
improvement and about a quarter of students were not graduating high
school. Under Brown’s tenure graduation rates have improved by by
more than 15%, they are no longer in need of improvement but rather named
by Newsweek as being one of the best. Perhaps the greatest of these achievements
is that incidents of violence decrease dramatically.
- Idea:
The one innovative idea that transformed his district is this: Create a
culture of love.
- A little more:
As Luvelle shares in his Top 30 profile,“
It’s not test scores or a curriculum. Love of students is the key to
educating them effectively.” Sounds good, right? But how? Luvelle
explained captures his secret in this Tweet.
- Connect with Luvelle at @luvelleb
What do you think of
these ideas? Have you done anything like any of them where you work? Are there
any you would bring back to your practice? What do you like or find most
interesting?
