Last winter, Producer Marc Hunt and I had the great opportunity to travel to the lovely village of Springville, NY. Here in a cozy Coffee Shop called The Beans To Brew Cafe, I caught up with an amazing team of ed-tech visionaries, Ben Higgins and JoAnn Depue. Ben is the district's Technology Integrator and keeping up with all of his new and innovative ideas is quite impossible. No technology can go without being tried and tested by Ben, his imagination, and the students at Springville. One of Ben's most publicized endeavors was the Stratosphere Balloon Project which got the attention of several news outlets including nationally with CNN. The recipient of the prestigious, Making IT Happen Award from ISTE, Ben never stops exploring the powerful uses of technology to enhance learning. Paving the way for Ben's initiative and vision is Director of Technology, JoAnn Depue. JoAnn is a powerful advocate for technology integration and works tirelessly to promote edtech learning opportunities for the students of Springville Griffith Institute. As a team, Ben and JoAnn promote a culture of growth and innovation that is helping push the boundaries of learning and technology. To emphasize this spirit of innovation, JoAnn brought along Springville Griffith student and daughter Morgan Depue. Morgan provides clear evidence of the far reaching effects of technology integration as they relate to student academic growth and learning. There is a magical feel to these interviews. One reason for this is the dreamy elegance of this gem of a cafe in the heart of this lovely village. The other reason is the subtle intensity of Ben and JoAnn's vision for educational technology. They have high expectations and big ideas that keep getting bigger! They are inspiring leaders, and I was honored to meet up with them and catch a little bit of their inner flame. Also, it was great to have Morgan provide the student perspective, which is the ultimate bell-weather of a successful technology integration plan.
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the Geek
My name is Andrew Wheelock- I am a technology integrator who's fascinated with my fellow educators and their powerful uses of tech for learning. Archives
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