Synergy ‘06: National Thought Leaders Focus on IT Education Reform in Grades K-12 and Higher Education
Synergy ’06 has brought together some of the nation’s leading thinkers in areas of workforce development and teaching innovation to work with teams of educators from across the country seeking to achieve productive education reform through the use of information technologies.
The dynamic speakers leading the four-day discussion at Synergy ’06 include Jeff Taylor, the founder and former CEO of Monster.com and founder of the newly launched Eons venture, Chris Dede, the Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard's Graduate School of Education; and John D. Bransford, the University of Washington’s James W. Mifflin University Professor and Professor of Education.
Part of the National Science Foundation’s push to prepare the next generation of innovators in the technical arena, Synergy '06 brings together teams of educators from across the USA seeking to use information technology tools and processes to reform and refine all levels of education – K-12 and higher education. Participants will experience new tools and approaches to help students develop and practice the skills and attributes required for success in the 21st Century workplace.
The conference, held at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, is sponsored by Boston Area Advanced Technology Education Collaborative, or BATEC, which is based at UMass Boston, as well as The Center for IT Education, Nashville, Tenn., IT @ Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OH., Convergence Technology Center, Texas, and National Center for Telecommunications Technology in Springfield, MA, and the National Science Foundation.
Synergy '06 gives educators the opportunity to collaborate, develop and prepare to implement 21st Century teaching and learning practices that will:
- Develop and reinforce 21st Century workplace skills
- Add relevance to curriculum while retaining rigor
- Connect education and business through meaningful partnerships
- Transform student/teacher interaction and effectiveness
Attendees will learn how to put these tools and approaches into immediate practice; explore new models for IT-embedded programs and curriculum; discover how to sustain long-term program improvement; improve relevancy of curriculum content and activities; and learn how to develop more productive relationships with business.
Industry tells educators that problem definition is every bit as important as problem solving. Synergy ’06 will highlight how to give students activities that build not only their technical skills, but also their problem-solving capabilities and skill sets relevant to tomorrow’s workplace. The overall structure of Synergy '06 models an approach to teaching and learning that addresses this challenge and is unique among conferences and professional development seminars.
About BATEC:
The BATEC partnership is comprised of: University of Massachusetts Boston; Bunker Hill, Middlesex, and Roxbury Community Colleges with Quinsigamond, Northern Essex and Bristol Community Colleges as an adaptation partners; K-12 Districts of Boston, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Everett, Lowell, Malden, Medford, Newton, Northeast Metropolitan, Revere, Somerville, Watertown, and Winthrop; business and industry Leaders; government and community partners.
BATEC is engaging the region’s secondary school teachers, and community college and four-year faculty in professional development for new and emerging information technologies and curriculum development focused on the design and delivery of a new IT education and workforce continuum. BATEC is also providing students with the academic, technical, and professional skills necessary to design, develop, support and manage the hardware, software, multimedia, and integrated systems used in our workplaces.