Educational Technology Skills
and Careers WebQuest
Area 4
- Professional Organizations
Which professional organizations are
important for individuals active in educational technology?
From
researching numerous sites it is obvious that if one is interested in belonging
to a professional organization related to educational technology you have
several to choose from. There are
numerous web sites dealing with educational technology. One good site to use for looking at all the
sites is
http://www.educational-software-directory.net/organizations.html
Below, we have listed five sites that look to be
very beneficial for individuals active in educational technology.
1. The Association for Educational Communications
and Technology (AECT)
http://www.aect.org/default.asp.
A summary of the organization's mission is to provide leadership in creating,
using, and managing technologies for effective teaching and learning in a wide
range of settings. They have a publications center as well as a job center and
conferences posted on their web site.
One of their goals is to support professional growth. Membership in the AECT allows one to receive
discounts on various commercial items as well as association publications and
resources. They are based in
Bloomington, Indiana.
2. The Society for Information Technology and
Teacher Education (SITE)
Similar to the above listed organization in
that they provide conferences, publications and an abundance of resources to
member. The web site gives information
about how they provide opportunities to share ideas and expertise on various
topics related to technology in teacher education. SITE is based in Chesapeake, Virginia and
will be holding their 19th Annual International Conference in March
of 2008 with the location being in Las Vegas, Nevada.
3. International Technology Education Association
(ITEA)
Membership in the ITEA, an organization based in Reston, Virginia, provides
one with many resources aimed at your particular level of instruction. There are resources and information for the
following groups:
High School
Teachers
Middle
School Teachers
Elementary
Teachers
Student Members
Advocate Members
Institutional
Members
Museum Members
International
Members
Corporate
Members
If you can’t find yourself fitting into one of these categories, I would
be surprised. I don’t know where else
they could put you (maybe an “other” category).
The best thing I found was a publication put out by the ITEA called The Technology Teacher. It is published eight times per year and
looks to be a very valuable resource to anyone trying to utilize technology in
the classroom or specifically teaching educational technology.
4.
Texas Computer Educators Association
This is a great source for Texas computer literacy teachers,
technologists, as well as technology coordinators. They provide training as well as hold
conferences to enhance technology education.
They are based in Austin, Texas.
They also provide technology, robotics, as well as programming contests
for students to enter with prizes available.
http://www.tceacontests.org/ This looks like a great motivational tool
for students to come up with new, creative, and unique ideas.
TCEA also has awards given to educators that have shown excellence in
educational technology. I see this as a
great incentive to give those teachers doing a great job a pat on the back.
5.
National Educational Computing Conference (NECC)
http://web.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2007/program/NECC2008.php
This looked like a great site for teachers in that
they have publications geared for K-12 technology educators and the resources
for teachers are numerous and outstanding.
They have a conference coming up in San Antonio and some of the sessions
will discuss topics like Ethics and Equity, Virtual Schooling/E-Learning, 21st
Century Teaching and Learning, and Technology Infrastructure and I am just
listing a few of the sessions. This
would be a great opportunity to follow the conferences motto and
convene---connect----transform.
Describe the benefits of belonging
to a professional organization dedicated to educational technology.
I believe
that belonging to a professional organization allows you opportunities to
attend conferences, read publications, and have access to resources that you
otherwise wouldn't.
In addition, you can stay on top of latest news and information
in the field of educational technology.
Anytime you have a chance to build connections with others in
your field, you open yourself up to new learning and you never know how much
you will learn or how much positive you are providing another in your
profession. Just feeling like you are a
part of something is very beneficial.
When you feel a part of something you will tend to buy into what is
going on around you. When you buy into
your career, you tend to want to know as much as possible and be the best you
can in that field.
Which conferences
focus on educational technology?
1.
International Technology Education Association: There conference focuses on
educational technology.
2. The Society for Information Technology and Teacher
Education International Conference is also another great conference for an
educational technologist to attend.
3. The NECC’s San Antonio Conference 2008 has an
educational technology focus as well.
Should K-12 classroom teachers belong to professional organizations
focused on educational technology? (Why
or why not?)
Yes, I believe that K-12 teachers should belong to professional
organizations. My
reasoning is that it will be a great benefit to
both the teacher and the students. It
allows
you to learn and grow in your field. You will learn
what to do and you may learn what not
to do, and both of those will help you to get
better at teaching with various technologies.
Anytime you can associate yourself with others to
learn new ideas, techniques, and obtain
a large pool of valuable resources it is a big
advantage to you on a professional level.
We all know that there are certain teachers who
love to utilize technology in the
classroom and other teachers who shy away from
technology and treat it as though it were
the plague.
I am not saying that K-12 teachers should be mandated to belong to a
professional organization focused on educational
technology, but I think that if someone
really wants to use technology in their classroom
(and we all are using technology in one
form or another) it would behoove them to learn
about the latest research and techniques
in the field.