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Friday Institute outreach in focus at Legislative School Technology Day
Raleigh, N.C. (February 12, 2007)
-- The William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation - part of
North Carolina State University's College of Education - will showcase its outreach and
connectivity efforts at a North Carolina General Assembly event in Raleigh on Feb. 13.
Legislative School Technology Day will take place at the General Assembly Building from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will demonstrate the exciting ways that technology is being
used to support the teaching and learning of 21st century skills in the classrooms across
the state.
As a part of its 21st Century Teaching and Learning Initiative (21CTL), the Friday Institute
is collaborating with educators from northeastern North Carolina school districts to create
innovative classroom practices - and a technology infrastructure to support them - in rural
public schools.
Dr. Eric Wiebe, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics, Science
and Technology Education, and Director of Learning Technologies Dr. Lisa Grable, are
principal investigators for the project.
"This is an exciting opportunity to show the progress these schools have made to integrate
technology and learning," Wiebe said. "They are setting an example for what can be
accomplished when schools, universities and other partners work together."
The Friday Institute is collaborating with educators from school districts
including Franklin, Roanoke, Granville, Weldon City, Northampton and the Roanoke River Valley
Educational Consortium, forming the cornerstone of the 21CTL. For the technology day event,
teacher Terri Harris and students from Gaston Middle School in Northampton County will be on
hand to demonstrate the collaboration taking place as part of the 21CTL.
"The aim is to have technology-based learning tools that enable interactive, collaborative
and engaging learning experiences that boost communication and self-directed learning skills,"
Grable said. "The 21st Century Teaching and Learning Initiative is a primary example of how
this can be done."
The Friday Institute is leading other outreach efforts as well.
Earlier this year, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and N.C. Rep. Joe Tolson
helped garner approval of legislation that provided $6 million in state funding for the first
phase deployment of a network infrastructure to support K-12 education. The work is being led
by Phil Emer, director of technology at the Friday Institute, in collaboration with the
Business Education Technology Alliance (BETA), Chaired by Perdue, and the State Board of
Education.
The Friday Institute is dedicated to
transforming education through innovation in teaching, learning and leadership to meet the
demands of the 21st century. The Institute is a unique public-private partnership to
integrate research, technology and cross-sector collaboration to enhance education and
support economic development.
Media Contact
Lee Kennedy
Director of External Relations and Communications
NC State College of Education
(919) 513-0920
lee_kennedy@ncsu.edu
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© 2007 The Friday Institute. All Rights Reserved.