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NC Business Committee for Education:
The business and education summit

Raleigh, N.C. (June 15, 2006) - State and national education officials and policy makers gathered at th Friday Institute in June for the North Carolina Center for 21st Century Skills Education Summit, hosted by the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE).

“This event offered education policy-makers and business leaders an important opportunity to learn about how we are reforming our schools in North Carolina,” Governor Mike Easley said. “A growing partnership between education, government and business leaders has fostered these innovative strategies to engage students, train educators, improve teacher recruitment and retention, and expand school funding. Sharing our experiences and knowledge will help us prepare all of our students for success in the 21st century.”

As a hub of educational transformation initiatives and collaboration, it was only fitting to have the meeting at the Friday Institute. Bill McAulay, chairman of the NCBCE and director of Legislative and Regulatory Relations at PSNC Energy, said the day-long meeting and workshops showcased North Carolina’s efforts to merge technology and education for the 21st century.

“At the Friday Institute, you can see first hand how N.C. State University faculty members are collaborating to provide a technology-rich environment for students,” said North Carolina’s First Lady Mary Easley. “Work at the Institute is not limited to schools in our capital city. This project is reaching far beyond Raleigh to benefit students in rural northeastern North Carolina as well.”

N.C. State University Chancellor James Oblinger said the Friday Institute is focused on enhancing learning throughout the state and providing a model for education transformation for the nation and the world. Fostering entrepreneurial skills through “real-world” relevance in education is a cornerstone of N.C. State University’s commitment to innovation in action, as evidenced by its partnerships with business, industry, academia and government, Oblinger said.

Demonstrations and workshops held throughout the day included:

• Hands-on, inquiry-based student science lessons by the Traveling Science Learning Program from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – a mobile laboratory that teaches students science through the use of advanced equipment to diagnose genetic disease or analyze DNA from a crime scene.

• Professional development training for teachers through the Friday Institute’s Discovery Classroom. Education researchers, teachers and undergraduates pursuing teaching degrees collaborate, both onsite and through videoconferencing, to develop and test new teaching and learning methods in a classroom used by the Centennial Campus Middle School, a public school co-located with the Friday Institute. The classroom provides a “clinical trial” environment where new methods to teach 21st century skills can be evaluated and fine-tuned before being rolled out to other schools throughout the state and nation.

• Innovative application of 21st century tools in a “Learn and Earn” new high school design. High school students and teachers participating in the Collaborative College for Technology and Leadership, an early college high school on the campus of Mitchell Community College in Statesville, N.C., demonstrated how they utilize technology-based tools, including computers, cameras, sound mixers and microphones to learn and collaborate.

• Technology Literacy Coaches who help teachers learn about new technology that students use “fluently” in their lives. The coaches work with classroom teachers to develop skills that encourage self-directed learning, independent thinking, digital age literacy and high productivity.

At the end of the day, Dr. Sam Houston, president of the N.C. Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center, lead discussion and a workshop about the policies and actions required to develop and deliver an education supporting 21st century skills in classrooms today.

“Some people say that the problem with our schools today is not that they aren’t what they used to be,” he said. “Indeed, the problem is that they are what they used to be.”

Changing the traditional methods of education requires a commitment that includes passion from education and policy leaders, data-driven decision making, people in positions of leadership who embrace change and are willing to make a difference, and full support of teachers bringing changes into classrooms, Houston said.

He cited the need to maintain a driven and focused commitment to enhance the lives of students by helping them develop critical thinking and problem solving skills that lead to creativity and innovation.

“It has been said that when kids don’t know what to think, they don’t know what to do. We need to inspire kids to think in the classroom. Let’s not make a nation of learners, but a nation of thinkers.”

Through classroom innovation, the Friday Institute is working toward that goal.

To view the video podcast from this event,
please click here.