Mesa Showcases Tech, Supports Innovation Teams

Mesa Public Schools is hosting a two day Tech Expo.  The 65,000 student district east of Phoenix has a talented team of educators led by Superintendent Dr. Michael Cowan.

Everywhere I go I tell people that what has changed the most in the last two years is that many teachers (as well as parents and students) have already flipped and blended and are just waiting for us to catch up.  I tell superintendents that they need to find a way to leverage this huge wave of teacher leadership. Cowan gets it–and the Tech Expo is a great example of his strategy to leverage teacher leadership.

Next month Cowan’s team will award 10-20 grants to Innovation Teams–groups of teachers that have come together to pilot innovative teaching and tools.  The Tech Expo was designed to give those teachers exposure to the best apps and tools out there.

Cowan and I toured the Expo last night.  We stopped and visited with:

• Education Elements, a blended learning platform

• Curriculum Associates, the adaptive instruction platform i-Ready

• MIND Research Institute, visual game-based ST Math

• Edgenuity, the groovy new name for the e2020 platform

• Apex Learning, modular tab content

• Carnegie Learning, secondary math curriculum

• Defined STEM, a new PBL STEM toolkit

• Imagine Learning, language and literacy toolkit

• Pearson, SuccessMaker, GradPoint, and more

• Active Classroom, social studies platform

• Hand2Mind, math manipulatives

• It’s Learning digital learning environment

• Amplify, new tablet bundle

Acknowledging “The pathway to converting our classrooms to 21st century learning environments is not clearly defined,” Mesa is using a small portion of a bond passed last year to bring their “classrooms into the 21st century.”  Here are the ground rules:

• Innovation teams comprise teachers of the same grade level (elementary) or subject area (secondary), who would like to integrate innovative technology into their teaching.

• To prepare for the next school year, innovation team members must commit to paid training and curriculum development time during the upcoming summer.

• The district will provide innovation teams with the technology needed, access to appropriate programs and Internet connectivity, and training/technical assistance during the pilot.

It’s great to see a district that gets it and is moving forward by leveraging teacher talent.  If you’re in the Phoenix area, drop by the Mesa Convention Center and see for yourself!
 
Curriculum Associates, MIND Research Institute, and Pearson are Getting Smart Advocacy Partners