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The primary focus of MPICT’s efforts to coordinate, improve
and promote the quality of ICT education is for community
colleges. However, it is also important to recognize that
students’ pathways into ICT programs at community colleges
begin much earlier. If we are going to successfully attract
students into Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
fields, an imperative for continued functionality and
prosperity in our society, we have to do a better job of
enticing students into these areas early in their educations.
June 10-11, 2009, MPICT collaborated to create an ICT track at
a Math, Science and CTE Conference for K-14 Teachers hosted by
City College of San Francisco.
 The
4th annual Math, Science and CTE (Career and Technical
Education) Conference for K-14 teachers was designed to
further the math, science and CTE content knowledge of
teachers in San Francisco.
“By providing a venue for CCSF (City College of San
Francisco), SFUSD (San Francisco Unified School District) and
SFSU (San Francisco State University) faculty and future
teachers to interact, explore new developments in science,
develop a deeper understanding of the future directions of
technology and share strategies for instruction, a community
of teaching and learning is created in San Francisco.”
MPICT was a co-sponsor, along with The Wells Fargo Foundation
Math & Science Teachers Project; The California Community
College Chancellor’s Office – CTE Teacher Prep Grant; SFUSD,
School to Career Office and WISE Project; California Post
Secondary Education Commission; San Francisco Center for
Applied Competitive Technologies; Bay Area Community College
Consortium; SFUSD Teacher Academy Program; and Apple Computer.
MPICT’s ICT track began with an inspiring keynote by Apple
Computer’s Jay Matheson, a wonderful blend of acknowledgement
of the tough and disheartening environment teachers are
operating in now, stimulating exposure to generational
diversity, exciting technology developments and how
(especially young people) engage with them, and inspiration to
embrace change. It was general, personal, relevant, fun,
educational and motivational. It appealed to idealism and
hope.
An ICT focused breakout session was then offered in every
available time slot throughout the event:
• Apple’s Don Zundel presented Teaching and Learning in a
Digital Learning Environment, which shared free and low
cost math and science resources available today.
• MPICT PI Pierre Thiry taught Wi-Fi Networking and
Security, a hands-on introduction to wireless
communications.
• CNIT’s Abigail Bornstein presented Student Response
Technologies, a hands-on demonstration of classroom tools
like i>clicker and polleverywhere.com.
• CNIT’s Maura Devlin-Clancy taught Why Web Browsers Matter
More Than Ever, how the latest browsers provide
information access via the web
In the final session, the San Francisco Giants demonstrated
Expanding Your Classroom with Videoconferencing. A live
videoconferencing session to an executive box at AT&T Park
introduced geometry curriculum based on the baseball diamond
and how excited students get about that experience. A
videoconference with Doug Meyer at the Center for Interactive
Learning and Collaboration (CILC.org) showed how easy it is to
connect with hundreds of content providers worldwide via
videoconferencing.
Back to Q2 2009
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