Hotel Booking Links

The booking links for the Marriott City Center and the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel are now live.

Use this link to book your stay at the Marriott: http://cwp.marriott.com/rdumc/ncties2014

Use this link to book your stay at the Sheraton: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/booking/reservation?id=1309205301&key=E9C07

Marriott City Center

Connected to the new convention center, our downtown Raleigh hotel features guest rooms and suites with luxurious bedding, wireless Internet, and 37-inch flat-panel plasma TV.

Valet parking is available free to Marriott guests attending NCTIES for one vehicle per room each day in the city parking lot. Be sure to remind hotel staff at check in that parking (for one car) and Internet access are included as part of the agreement with NCTIES. A hotel staff member must park your car for you in the valet lot. We highly recommend car pooling to minimize parking expenses. Parking in the area runs $10 to $15 per day for any additional vehicle.

Please be aware: Once all the rooms in our block have been reserved, there may still be rooms at the Marriott‘s regular, higher price, but parking and Internet will not be included in that price.

500 Fayetteville Street

Raleigh, North Carolina 27601

Phone: 919-833-1120

Fax: 919-833-8912

www.marriottraleigh.com

Use this link to book your stay at the Marriott: http://cwp.marriott.com/rdumc/ncties2014

Sheraton Raleigh Hotel

Warm, maple-trimmed walls and a sun-filled atrium greet you at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel. When you arrive, you will not only see but feel the comfort all around the hotel. 

Parking is available free to Sheraton guests attending NCTIES. The parking deck is located directly across Salisbury Street from the hotel. Standard passenger vehicles only are allowed in the parking garage. Be sure to remind hotel staff at check in that parking and Internet access are included as part of the agreement with NCTIES.

421 South Salisbury Street

Raleigh, North Carolina 27601

Phone 919-834-9900

Fax 919-833-1217

www.sheraton.com

Use this link to book your stay at the Sheraton: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/booking/reservation?id=1309205301&key=E9C07

Meet the Region 5 Candidates

Donna Martin, Program Specialist in the Guilford County School System

My current role in the Guilford County School System is that of Program Specialist serving five elementary schools participating in the Mission Possible TIF III Grant.  I was specifically selected by two schools due to the recognitions I received during the multiple leadership roles in the district that directly pertain to the integration of instructional technology.  Basically, the core component of my job is to serve as an instructional coach.  I coach teachers in two elementary magnet schools; Montileu Academy of Technology and Bluford STEM Academy.  As Montlieu is the first one-to-one school in our district, my skills have come in handy while coaching best practices.  Although my first responsibility is to address pedagogy, my understanding and creative ideas of how technology can enhance learning is recognized and appreciated by the teachers and administration.

My skills were first recognized as a classroom teacher with a passion for student learning utilizing technology.  I was quickly invited to serve as a technology specialist in a Science and Technology school where I served for seven years.  During that time I presented many times at the state technology conference and led an October computer learning month initiative across the state.  I was also an active member of the Region 5 technology educator group. 

Afterwards, I moved to the district level as a technology specialist and continued to serve elementary schools and one middle school.  I conducted many workshops in our district during that time as well as at state conferences, including NCTies.  My colleagues and I were honored as we were selected as the top presenters at the conference for two consecutive years.  During those years, I was also awarded the North Carolina Technology Educator Award by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.  I also served as technology liaison for new schools opening in Guilford County.  Pilot Elementary, a new school, was named as an Apple Distinguished school.  Montlieu Academy of Technology, a school that I currently serve, was named this year as an Apple Distinguished school.

I was later promoted to serve as Instructional Technology Integration Specialist assigned to work with the district’s K-12 curriculum specialists in the district’s curriculum department in efforts to assist them with the integration of technology.  I designed a laboratory equipped with cutting edge technology for these specialists and trained them accordingly.  I continued to participate in NCTies events as well as other state conferences such as FETC, NECC and ISTE.  As a matter of fact, I am headed to ISTE this June! 

I have participated on interview teams for technology specialists and have even created district-level digital report cards that required the understanding of advanced functions.  I have also enjoyed participating on technology educator award panels and reviewing technology grant submissions.  Two summers ago, I was named as an Apple Distinguished Educator and attended the Apple Academy in Cupertino CA just before Steve Jobs passed away.  If I remember correctly, only about 75 people across the nation were selected to attend that year.  I was so honored!!

Although my current role does not have “technology” in its title, I am still actively involved in seeking the best instructional practices to benefit student learning.  In this case, technology is always on the forefront.  I have attended NCTies for many years and would love to be a part of the executive board in order to serve such a dedicated organization that benefits our teachers and students.

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Sam Walker, Technology Facilitator in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System

Here's a snapshot of my education, work history, and involvement with NCTIES.

• Named North Carolina Technology in Education Society Instructional Technology Specialist/Educator of the Year – March 2010. NCTIES Award Winners 2010

• NCTIES concurrent session presenter 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

• Invited and scheduled to co-present with Kelly Mendoza of Common Sense Media at ISTE 2013 in San Antonio, Texas about the importance of teaching digital citizenship at the elementary level 

• NCTIES Preconference co-presenter ActivInspire with former Winston-Salem/Forsyth Couty School Director of Instructional Technology Marlo Gaddis and Matt Barfield of Promethean 2009

• Headed the creation of a Social Media Best Practices and Education Goal in Kimmel Farm’s current and ongoing School Improvement Plans.

• Featured co-presenter at 2012 ASCD Conference (March, 2012, Philadelphia, PA) “Creating Social Media Policies for Schools” with Steven Anderson, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Director of Instructional Technology

• I serve as a consultant to CERTL (Center for Excellence in Research, Teaching and Learning - Wake Forest University Medical School) and led several digital projects to upgrade their database of Problem-Based Learning Library to a Moodle platform.

•  Member Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools District Media-Technology Advisory Committee

•  Guest Panelist/Co-Presenter at the 2012 North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research (NCABR) Annual STEM Conference, Raleigh, NC October 24, 2012

• Partnered with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School’s Director of Instructional Technology to implement a new technology initiative (Teach21 -2007-2008) that called for ongoing professional development in appropriate use of technology, and significant classroom technology hardware upgrades.

• I have a BA from Elon University in Communications (1990)

• I have a MAT from Salem College in Elementary Education K-6 (1997)

• Presently enrolled in Appalachian State's Master of Arts Program - Instructional Technolgy/Computers (Degree Completion set for December 2013)

• Since 2005 I have served as a Technology Facilitator in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System and helped open newly constructed Kimmel Farm Elementary in 2009.

Two Important Issues Worth Supporting

http://www.edtechactionnetwork.org/action/write-elected-officials
On February 5th, House Education & the Workforce Ranking Member George Miller (D-CA) introduced the Transforming Education Through Technology Act (H.R. 521). Endorsed strongly by CoSN and ISTE, this bill would establish a $500 million block grant program to support school technology infrastructure and professional learning needs and a $250 million competitive grant program to promote innovative technology programs in schools nationwide. With no dedicated federal funding for education technology and education technology professional learning since 2010, this legislation will help jump start the conversations we need to have to ensure that our students and educators are equipped with 21st Century skills. Ultimately, this legislation will take significant steps to make sure that our teachers are prepared to personalize student learning and schools have the infrastructure to deliver online assessments in 2014.


http://wh.gov/LVL7
Education, like every sector in America, is undergoing a digital transformation. As students and educators embrace personalized instruction, online and mobile learning, adaptive assessments and data-driven decision making, and develop critical thinking, collaboration, communication and digital citizenship skills, demands on school networks will continue to skyrocket. Unfortunately, unlike the business and healthcare sectors, K–12 investment in school broadband infrastructure has lagged. Even the successful E-Rate program cannot meet rapidly escalating school needs for increased bandwidth. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) recognizes that we as a nation must invest in school broadband connectivity to ensure our students graduate equipped for success. Act now!

Another Hotel Is Available

We now have another hotel available with group rates.

Hampton Inn & Suites

Raleigh Downtown

600 Glenwood Ave

Raleigh, NC 27603

The Hampton Inn & Suites Raleigh Downtown hotel is conveniently located in downtown Raleigh, NC, in the well-known Glenwood South District, full of fabulous restaurants & nightlife. Whether you’re here on business in the area or on a family vacation, you can count on our great value Raleigh, NC hotel to offer a full package of thoughtful amenities included with your stay.

Make yourself comfortable in a warm and inviting guest room with features to help you relax and stay productive. Get to work at the desk with ergonomic chair or work in comfort with the lap desk as you watch the 32-inch HDTV. It’s easy to stay in touch with the office and home with free high-speed internet access in every room.

  

A brand new (12/9/12) hotel located on the R line, the free downtown bus loop. 

$149/night PLUS $6/day parking includes free wifi, breakfast, and secured parking lot

A web page reservation link should be ready by January 14

Meanwhile, reservations may be made by telephone

919-825-4770

Group Name: NC TIES 2013

Group Code: NCT

Updated 

We have and a fourth hotel.

Clarion Raleigh Hotel State Capital  
320 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, NC 27603

Rate: $99 per night. Free parking. Free high speed Wi-Fi is scheduled to be installed prior to arrival . (On the R line, the free downtown bus loop)  The hotel is under new management and undergoing an estimated $2.5 million renovation scheduled to be completed by July 2013. NCTIES has been assured that guests will be in renovated rooms and not inconvenienced by work elsewhere in the hotel.

RESERVATIONS:            
Method:  Individual Call In.  Guests may call 919-833-0501 to make reservations within the Group block until 30 days prior to arrival date (February 20, 2013). After this date, reservations will be taken based on availability.
Clarion Raleigh State Capital does not guarantee specific room type availability.

Student Showcase

We are excited this year to invite students and teachers to share some of the amazing learning that is occurring in schools throughout North Carolina! If you are interested in sharing a project that your students have participated in this year, we encourage you to submit a proposal for the Student Showcase Session.

The format for the Student Showcase Session is as follows:
Each group will have an exhibit table that is approximately 3' X 6' but will not have a backboard or something to project onto.
You may bring a backboard if you like, but it is not required. Many exhibitors just pull up their web sites or examples of student projects on computers that they bring. (Wireless access is available.)
On Thursday conference participants will visit each exhibit & have an opportunity to network one-on-one to learn about the various projects and talk with students.
Each group may bring 1 teacher per 5 students or up to two teachers and no more than 10 students.  Before and after the showcase, we encourage students and teachers to attend other sessions to take full advantage of this learning experience!

The deadline for submitting a showcase proposal is Friday, December 14. Notification of acceptance will be sent out to the primary contact by Friday, January 11.   If selected to present at the showcase, two teachers and the students they bring will receive complimentary registration for the conference.

http://center.uoregon.edu/conferences/NCTIES/FORMS/CFP/cfp_login.php?formid=359555

Important Links

The NCTIES board is getting very excited about NCTIES13: Game On Play to Learn.

The call for presentations is still open.  Learn more about the different types of presentations and pitch us your best ideas here: http://go.ncties.org/presenters

Registration is also live.  You can learn about the various types of registration and register for the conference here: https://center.uoregon.edu/conferences/NCTIES/2013/registration/

Once you have registered for NCTIES, head over to our hotels page and book your room.  http://go.ncties.org/hotels

Digital Transformation of Education

September 19, 3:00 - 4:00 pm EDT

Karen Cator is Director of the Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Dept. of Education and coordinated the development of the National Educational Technology Plan. Mark Edwards is Superintendent of the Moorseville North Carolina School District, where he has led a successful and nationally recognized reform effort, including a 1:1 technology initiative that has increased student achievement.

Karen and Mark will discuss the interplay of national goals and local actions, and how they see our schools moving forward with technology-enabled teaching and learning in the next few years.  Glenn Kleiman, Executive Director of the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC State University will facilitate the discussion.

Participants are invited to submit questions for Karen and Mark before and during the session. Before the session, please send emails to Lisa Hervey at lisa_hervey@ncsu.edu or Jaclyn Bell at jbell@ncsu.edu

To participate in this event held in Blackboard Collaborate:

Prepare yourself and your computer at least one hour in advance: beta.epiced.org/webconference

Use the following link to access the event no later than 15 minutes prior to the event: https://collaborate.wolfware.ncsu.edu:443/join_meeting.html?meetingId=1336767363906

Epic-ed is a part of the national Connected Educators Project, funded by the United States Department of Education.

connectededucators.org