Keynote
Warning! All Technology Uses are Not Equal
“Technology use magnifies and makes visible all that is working about schools and all that needs to work better for students.” ~ Bernajean Porter, 1997
Technology accelerates something beyond access. What is the SOMETHING being targeted in your schools? Even knowing that the future aches for a new kind of learner, thinker, problem-solver, all the money and time spent on techno gadgets have changed little more than pockets of classrooms. After personally leading more than 2,300 district technology impact studies, the message is clear: It’s not about having the hardware!
Planning approaches and accountability instruments definitely define the difference between optional and pervasive impact. Purposefully create higher Return-on-Learning (ROL) using technology resources actively planned for pervasively added value for ALL students’ learning.
ABOUT BERNAJEAN PORTER
Bernajean Porter is a featured speaker and facilitator at national and international events, sharing impact strategies for using technology to rediscover and accelerate joyful learning. She is the author of: Grappling with Accountability; Evaluating Digital Products: Training and Resource Tools for Using Student Scoring Guides; DigiTales: The Art of Telling Digital Stories; and I-imagine: Taking My Place in the World. She is presently working with a publisher on her new book, Students as Meaning-Makers and Media-Makers—Learning, Thinking and Communicating in a Digital Age.
Porter’s work reflects a belief that technology can accelerate all students in the rediscovery of their joy, spirit, and personal success as learners. When it comes to performing the difficult or impossible situations necessary to ensure students having out-of-this-world possibilities, Bernajean’s personal motto of “Da Um Jeitinho” (there is ALWAYS a way, let’s make IT happen together) sets the tone for her dedicated long-term work with educators.
