ISTE Honors Technology Innovators
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Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 05/12/2008
Two librarians, a second grade teacher, and a Spanish instructor grabbed first place honors in the first annual SIG Media Specialist (SIGMS) Technology Innovation Awards.
Sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Linworth Publishing, Inc., and Follett Software Company, the awards were announced last week and went to a librarian and teacher team from two schools that created technology projects which integrated resources from the classroom and the media center.
Kathy Sanders and Gwen Pavelski, from Taylor Prairie Elementary School in Cottage Grove, WI, won for their project Weather Watch: Making History, while Terri Vest and Cawood Cornelius earned their award for a Spanish project in which students used wikis, PowerPoint slides, and email to immerse themselves in the language at Sonoraville High School in Calhoun, GA.
Both teams received a one-year ISTE membership, $1,000 for their school’s media center, and other prizes, including a $500 travel stipend to attend the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) from June 29 to July 2, where the winners will be formally announced in San Antonio, TX.
ISTE, a nonprofit group that helps support the use of technology by educators who work with PreK–12 students, has been focusing more on engaging media specialists and how they use new technologies to attract students. ISTE launched the new innovation award at the end of January, giving educators two months to create and present their projects.
Six honorable mentions were awarded as well to the following schools: Stony Creek Elementary in Noblesville, IN; John Glenn Elementary in San Antonio, TX.; Westmont Junior High School in Westmont, IL; Getty Middle School in Easley, SC; Portage Central High School in Portage, MI; and T.R. Robinson High School in Tampa, FL.
