COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 173

August 26, 2005

INFORMATIONAL

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Jo Lynne DeMary Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	Educational Technology Leadership Conference

The Division of Technology, in co-sponsorship with the Virginia Society for Technology in Education, will conduct an educational technology leadership conference December 5-7, 2005, at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center in Roanoke, Virginia. The conference will bring together educational technology leaders from all sections of the commonwealth. The Educational Technology Leadership Conference has gained a reputation for provoking discussion, both practical and theoretical, and for unveiling new products and services. The target audience for this conference includes division-level administrators, key technology instructional leaders, and directors for library media, educational technology, distance learning, administrative data processing, instructional television, and building-level educational technology leaders and resource teachers.

The theme of this years conference is Technology: Unlocking the Potential, which will address the capability of technological resources to address numerous challenges to teaching and learning in the 21^st century. Ms. Cheryl Lemke, CEO of the Metiri Group who is a specialist in assessing the impact of technology on learning, will give the keynote speech.

This years conference presents two forums. The first is The Intel Teach to the Future Leadership Forum, a hands-on, interactive symposium focusing on the importance of leadership for effective technology integration for improved teaching and learning. Additional information about the forum may be found at www.intel.com/education/teach

Participation in the forum is limited to registered conference participants. The forum is limited to 15 participants and is available to K-12 division superintendents, school principals, and curriculum and technology instructors. To attend the forum, participants must pre-register at the Intel online registration site:

http://www.inteleducation.com/courseSpecific.asp?pam=1821

The second forum focuses on the implementation and role of the instructional technology resource teacher. The conference also features hands-on workshops and more than 100 concurrent sessions on the effective use of educational technology resources in teaching, learning, and management. Special conference tracts will be presented by the educational services staff at Virginias public television stations, the Virginia Educational Media Association, and the Training and Technical Assistance Centers. The Virginia Society for Technology in Education will coordinate

presentations directed toward technology leaders who also have teaching responsibilities. More than 70 exhibitors will display the latest technology hardware and software applications for teaching, learning, and management.

Special recognition will be given to eight technology leaders who were nominated by superintendents in each of the regional superintendents study groups. These individuals have made outstanding contributions to technology in the schools.

Information concerning the conference sessions and registration is posted at the DOE website, http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Technology/OET/conf.shtml The site also has links to the online conference registration site at Virginia Tech and to hotel reservations and information. The preliminary conference program also will be posted at this site.

This conference is an opportunity for your divisions technology leaders to share in an experience designed to motivate thinking and discussions about how we can explore and take advantage of the potential of technology to help teachers teach, students learn, and administrators manage educational environments. We hope that you will attend and that you will encourage your divisions technology leaders to attend. We believe this will be another exciting and rewarding conference experience.

Questions regarding the conference may be directed to Ms. Linda Holt, conference chair at (804) 786-5149 or mailto:Linda.Holt@doe.virginia.gov\

JLD/lh