technology in practice webinar series presents:

Bernajean Porter provides a spectrum of tools and services to scale and sustain technology’s potential culled from 18 years of national and international experience. She believes that technology empowers learners and teachers alike to engage in a partnership that brings fundamental differences to classrooms today. Bernajean’s philosophy of work uses cutting edge organizational processes for building local capacity to translate the power of technology into actual classroom practices for ALL students. She is author of "Grappling with Accountability 2002: MAPPing Tools for Organizing and Assessing Technology for Student Results"; "Evaluating Student Computer-based Products"; and "Nutz and Boltz of Engaging and Empowering Large Groups." Her work uses the application of systems thinking and chaos theory to deal with the challenges of change and re-culturing efforts in education today.

Bernajean Porter has been designing and facilitating large group, collaborative action meetings with schools and businesses for over 15 years. While much of her work has been in technology planning and assessment, Bernajean finds her training in engaging large groups of stakeholders essential for real success. She is trained in large-scale change, group dynamics, consensus building, large-group dialogue, community-building, conflict resolution, future searches and large group decision-making. Bernajean designed and trained state-wide facilitators in Illinois to hold community townmeetings in every school district. These community meetings were required as part of process for Illinois schools to achieve an approved technology plan. The success of these townmeetings created positive energy and a multitude of successes not experienced before involving their communities. Bernajean has also conducted a leadership course for over ten years called Facilitative Leadership: Engaging and Empowering Groups with Think-Tanks and Decision-Making. Participants find this leadership workshop gives them tools, strategies, and skills useful in a multitude of meetings that help communities build together for the common good.