Notes from the Volunteer Front
New SIGMS Award Focuses on Collaboration
The SIGMS Media Specialist Technology Innovation Award, sponsored by Linworth Publishing, Inc. and Follett Software Company, will be presented to two teams of a school librarian and collaborating teacher who have conducted an exemplary technology program extending beyond the library to meet the needs of classroom students and teachers. The purpose of this award is to identify, promote, and sustain excellence in collaborative and innovative technology-based projects driven by the school library media center in support of curricular and instructional needs in elementary and secondary schools. For more information, please visit the SIGMS Media Specialist Technology Innovation Award page.
SIG Board Advisory Committee Celebrates its First Birthday
Many ISTE members likely do not realize that ISTE recently created a dedicated board committee to advise and recommend changes and improvements to the SIG Program. But the SIG Board Advisory Committee celebrates its first year in existence in January, so it's only fitting that we recognize the hard work of the committee members, and pause to review this year's accomplishments.
One particular initiative implemented by the committee has proven especially popular: approval of a proposal to make all Special Interest Groups available to general members at no additional cost. "We're really pleased with the opportunity this change brings to ISTE membership," says Jennifer Ragan-Fore, ISTE's director for general membership. "Removing the borders among the various SIGs allows members to explore all of the subject areas ISTE offers, and promotes collaboration among SIGs and SIG members. It's an acknowledgement of the diverse interests of our membership, and we're already getting positive feedback."
The committee's development of a proposal to introduce a new structure for the SIG program, making it easier for new SIGs to form and develop is another key accomplishment. The new model, which offers three types of SIGs, is both nimble enough to support new ideas and cutting edge technologies, and robust enough to acknowledge the leadership capacity needed to operate as a fully formed group. "It's long been a goal of the SIG Program to redefine the SIG model to allow for a more flexible model for the growth of special interest groups within ISTE. We’re so pleased that we have been able to accomplish this goal," says Camilla Gagliolo, chair of the committee.
Currently on the committee's docket is the development of a SIG officer leadership event at NECC this year. "This is the first time we've offered a professional development event specifically focused on helping SIG officers be more effective leaders," comments Ragan-Fore. "By bringing together content that focuses on principles of association management, and of course tapping the wealth of knowledge already residing within ISTE's SIG leadership, we hope to jumpstart new ideas and opportunities for collaborating."
A round of thanks for our hard-working SIG Board Committee leadership! Members include Camilla Gagliolo (chair), Susan Cherup, Ann Cunningham, Gordon Dahlby, Dave Edyburn, Doug Johnson, Joseph Kmoch, and Mark van 't Hooft.
An ISTE Special Focus: Encouraging Girls in IT
Leslie Conery
Deputy CEO, ISTE
With a mission that says ISTE is about "improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in education" where does one begin to bring about change? In addition to setting large, association-wide strategic goals, one approach ISTE uses is to leverage the special interests of members, partners, affiliated groups, and staff to focus on many fronts at the same time. Those focus areas might be anything from safe schools to authentic assessment, digital equity, teacher education, ubiquitous access, or increasing funding streams. Encouraging girls to explore computing as a career option is one such "special focus" I support and that might be of interest to some of the SIGs. The purpose of this little news brief is to fill you in on ISTE's involvement so far, describe projects in the pipeline, and let you know about opportunities for participation if you, or your SIG, would be interested in working on this issue.
ISTE's Involvement in NCWIT
For the past 18 months, ISTE has been actively involved in establishing a K-12 Alliance within the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) and supporting the new Alliance's first major project, Gotta Have IT. The K12 Alliance consists of organizations that share such goals as inspiring all girls to be more confident, aware, and interested in computing; promoting computing as a critical knowledge skill of the 21st century; and understanding and removing barriers to girls' full participation in engaging and studying information technology, computing, and computer science. The NCWIT K-12 Alliance (http://www.ncwit.org/connect.blog.php?source=calendar&action=display&editorial_id=215) deployed its first project during NECC 2007, giving away 4,000 Gotta Have IT resource kits to interested educators who stopped by our booth. Gotta Have IT is a collection of educational resources, hand-picked by K-12 Alliance members as those deemed most effective at making computing more attractive to all students and especially to girls. The kit includes brochures, career information, educational booklets, video clips, and online references to a wealth of information. You can view descriptions of all the resources, download many of them, and link to their home websites by visiting http://www.ncwit.org/ghit.
In addition to helping with the Gotta Have IT project, I've had the opportunity to speak on three panels over the last year about why the issue of under-representation of women in computing is a concern and ideas for what we, as educators, can do to help rectify the problem. Currently I serve as Co-Chair of the Alliance along with Marcia Kropf of Girls, Inc.
Future Projects and Opportunities for Involvement
As the next-big-project, the group will focus on outreach, intended for parents of girls ages 11-16. We'll be developing a brochure and looking for other creative ways to reach parents. In addition, the group recognizes young women studying computing with Aspirations Awards—given to young women in the geographic regions of the NCWIT meetings. If you know of middle school or high school girls who might be interested in applying from either Illinois or Southern California, please let me know. The meetings where the girls receive the awards will be in Champaign-Urbana (Spring, '08) and Irvine (Fall, '09) respectively. For more information about NCWIT, the K12 Alliance, or ways to get involved, please check out the NCWIT Web site (www.ncwit.org) or send me an e-mail (lconery@iste.org).
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