Tech Directions - March 2009 - (Page 24) ITEA Conference Preview Delivering the T & E in STEM A DDRESSING the theme of “Delivering the T & E in STEM,” this year’s International Technology Education Association (ITEA) conference will offer a wealth of inspiring speakers, professional development opportunities, and networking with other technology educators. It will take place March 26–28 in Louisville, KY. The lineup includes specialized workshops, learning sessions, supplier exhibits, and tours of local highlights. Featured Speakers Conference organizers note that reformers who demand “higher standards” and “accountability” in American education often fail to notice the harmful effects of that approach to school reform. Students who don’t session, “Many Children (and Much Learning) Left Behind: Rethinking How We Teach and What We Value,” Alfie Kohn will question all of this conventional wisdom. He will not just ask whether technology education offers an alternative way to teach basic skills, for example, but will challenge common beliefs about what is regarded as “basic” in the first place. Kohn is the author of 11 books about education and human behavior and has been described by Time magazine as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.” At an international luncheon on Thursday, Lung-Sheng Steven Lee will discuss his perception of technology education in the Pacific Rim countries based on his travel and interaction with leaders in this part Churchill Downs is the most famous racetrack in America and the home of the Kentucky Derby. Lewis will speak on the topic of excellence in technology education. Lewis is a leader in the technology education field and a faculty member at the University of Minnesota. Friday’s general session will feature Nate Ball, speaking on the topic of “Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Engineers.” Trained as an engineer, Ball is the host of PBS’s engineering reality-competition program Design Squad, which was recently awarded the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award. Ball will speak to the experiences that shaped him as a young engineer and how the technology teachers of today are inspiring tomorrow’s inventors. In addition to his hosting duties on Design Squad, Ball is a mechanical engineer, an entrepreneur, a pole-vaulter, a jazz pianist, and a grandmaster beatboxer. As the chief technical officer and cofounder of Atlas Devices, he designed the Atlas Powered Rope Ascender, which enables military personnel and rescue workers to reverse-rappel up buildings at high speeds. This lifesaving invention helped him earn the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize. Workshops and Professional Development Opportunities Conference attendees who arrive early can choose from several preconference workshops on Wednesday, including Learning through Electronic Portfolios: Tools, Concepts and Logistics; Teaching Robotics in a STEM Setting; Engineering Concepts; Teaching Sustainable Manufacturing in a STEM Lab; Best Practices for Systemic Approaches to Gender do well on standardized tests suffer, and courses outside the core are marginalized. Whatever is “rigorous” is simply assumed to be valuable, and intellectual inquiry is confined to traditional academic subjects. In his speech at the opening general of the world. Lee received a doctorate from the Technology Education Program at the Ohio State University and serves as president of the Association of Curriculum and Instruction, Taiwan. At Friday’s FTE Spirit of Excellence breakfast, Theodore 24 techdirections ◆ MARCH 2009
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