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January 21, 2009, 04:14 PM ET
Hope for Technology Is Belle of an Inaugural Ball
At the Bytes and Books Inaugural Ball yesterday, I missed George Lucas. The crowds streaming from Barack Obama’s parade slowed travel time a lot. But really, the Star Wars creator was not the star of this show, or belle of this ball, which was thrown by the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training.
The headliner was the feeling that people pushing technology in education were no longer “voices in the wilderness,” as Trina J. Davis, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University at College Station, said. “I don’t think we are lone wolves anymore,” said Ms. Davis, looking at the throng filling the ball site, the Folger Shakespeare Library. Elegant bound volumes filled shelves that climbed towards curved ceilings; red, white, and blue lights colored the black-tie party-goers. Tickets cost various sponsoring organizations about $1,200 each. Those groups could hand them out to individuals for less.
Ms. Davis, director of eEducation at Texas A&M’s Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture, said faculty members at her institution were “much more interested in teaching with technology now, because they can see how it adds to learning.” She added: “Moves towards greater access, like the broadband initiatives that Obama has mentioned, can only help.” Ms. Davis came with a group from the International Society for Technology in Education, of which she is board president.
K. David Weidner, president of Capital City Technical Consulting, was also excited about possibilities. He is working with faculty members at the University of Hawaii, he said, to develop curriculum modules for marine science in a project paid for by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Kids in Hawaii are surrounded by the ocean but they don’t know a lot about it,” he said, noting that his team is working on teaching modules about the ocean’s role in climate change and environment.
Mr. Lucas was on hand to get an award for community building in technology. The people building uses for technology, however, did not appear to be from Hollywood on this night. College campuses and non-profit tech organizations seemed to be a more common hailing point. —Josh Fischman
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