Historical Narrative
Of The ET-LINC Model
Click on a topic to learn more about it.
Preface.
Formation of the Consortium and Planning Grant.
Major Objectives.
TEA Award of One Million Dollars.
Results of Collaborative Process.
Creating Connections Garners State and National Awards.
Goals for Distance Learning Networks.
Issues of Distance Learning Networks.
Lessons from the Planning Component.
Systemic Changes.
Project Directors & Core Team Members.
Acknowledgments
Preface
Many lives are being changed as a result of the broadband network of fiber optic cable. Much like water, gas and electricity changed East Texas, broadband telecommunications has become vital in the lives of citizens. When these utilities first came to this region they fundamentally changed the way we lived. Our lives were made easier. We had more time to pursue our dreams and futures. The increased telecommunications capacity of the area will have impact on many students and community members. From the broadband services a number of benefits will be derived.
As schools and universities link to a distance learning network there will be new opportunities. The implementation of a network will provide opportunities that will increase student achievement by removing the parameters set by the four walls of the traditional classroom, by expanding beyond the seven period school day and the nine month school year, and by moving beyond the twelve years of education. The distance learning telecommunications link can transform the lives of students-ameliorating the constraints of geography, disability, and economic status - giving all students an equal opportunity to go as far as their talents and ambitions will take them.
Formation of the Consortium
and
Planning Grant
Participating School Districts:
Gladewater ISD, fiscal agent for the planning grant
Alba-Golden ISD
Boles ISD
Campbell ISD
Commerce ISD
Cumby ISD
Gilmer ISD
Greenville ISD
Harmony ISD
Mount Vernon ISD
Quitman ISD
Rains ISD
Sulphur Springs ISD
Winnsboro ISD
Wolfe City ISD
Yantis ISD
Need #1:
Due to the large number of small and rural schools, the relative isolation of many of them, and the small staff and enrollments, there was a need to implement a telecommunications distance learning system using fiber optic networks.This network was needed to deliver the best curriculum, courses, and staff training for the 21,575 students (pre-K to 12th) and 1,413 teachers in the 16 school districts, without regard to geography, distance, resources or disability.
Need #2:
To restructure the current education delivery system and to develop a new vision of schooling through a distance telecommunications system utilizing fiber optic cable. Operationalizing a collaborative of 16 districts resulted in a plan to connect the small and/or rural school districts, a major university, (Texas A&M University-Commerce) and business partners through multi-site, two-way, full motion, multi-channel broadcasts that provide instant interaction for learners located in 7 Northeast Texas counties.
Major Objectives
To establish the applicability of fiber optic networks to provide equity and excellence for students in small and rural schools; To impact students in seven counties through a planning process that is both cost effective and/or replicable for individual schools or consortia of school districts;
To enrich the curriculum through the use of cutting edge telecommunications technology for minority and economically disadvantaged students;
To access workplace training, technical preparation, and curriculum improvements in order to provide a more relevant educational program.
All of the above objectives were met. Benefits resulting from the planning grant continue to impact the partners. The planning grant allowed the schools to begin the multi-year process of identifying the uses and applications of the digital broadband fiber to link schools. The 1994 TEA Planning Grant provided the impetus to strengthen the process of building partnerships for distance learning networks and to provide training for educators as well as for community members, students and parents. From this alliance, the participating schools and university members drew up a comprehensive partnership plan.
The planning process included major consultation and sessions with two independent telephone companies, Peoples Communications, Inc. of Quitman, Texas and ETEX Cellular of Gilmer, Texas. It was determined that the order of installation of schools would occur based on the proximity to the fiber optic cable network that was being installed in a multi-point route throughout the East Texas area.
Schools that could be installed during 1995-97 included Cumby, Yantis, Quitman, Alba-Golden, Harmony, Rains, Mt. Vernon, Gladewater, Winnsboro, Greenville, and Gilmer. Schools that would have connectivity in 1998 or later would be Boles, Campbell, Commerce, Sulphur Springs, and Wolfe City.
Comprehensive Plan Results in TEA Award of One Million Dollars:
"We don't buy glasses; we buy vision. We don't buy awnings; we buy shade. We don't buy a newspaper; we buy information. It isn't the product we want. It's what the product will do for us. We buy something or pursue something, not because we want the thing itself, but because we want what that thing will give us or do for us."
Max Anders in THE GOOD LIFE: LIVING WITH MEANING IN A "Never Enough World"
A series of grant awards have allowed the distance learning partner schools to implement innovative programming. The award of each grant can be attributed to the partnership building activities and the training of educators in the distance learning environment. The model used by ET-LINC is generalizable to any group of schools and communities wishing to determine the uses and benefits of distance learning networks. As broadband telecommunications become more available to public schools, an understanding of the build-out process is critical. Additionally the process draws upon a large body of research dealing with change, and becoming a catalyst of change as a member of a distance learning partnership.
Results of the Partnership/Collaborative Building Process:
ET-LINC's work accelerated when the partnership received a 1993-94 Planning Grant from the Texas Education Agency to pursue their vision of solutions that advanced switching technologies could provide for the rural and small communities. Fiscal agent for the consortium, Gladewater County Line Independent School District, received a 1994 Project for Educational Technology planning grant award of $25,000 from The Texas Education Agency. This award allowed the consortium schools to identify the uses and applications of the digital broadband fiber to link schools in numerous northeast Texas counties. The TEA grant provided the impetus to strengthen the process to build partnerships for distance learning networks and to provide training for educators as well as for community members, students and parents.
Success Number 2:
The outcome of the planning grant was the award of a one million dollar Implementation Grant from TEA -- Projects for Educational Technology. East Texas schools partnered in the Implementation Award Grant, known as "Creating Connections". Twelve East Texas school districts received funding for installation of the multi-media, distance learning classrooms. Other schools in the East Texas area participated in the training component. An additional seven school districts from Limestone, Hudspeth, and El Paso counties joined the consortium to participate in the training for teachers. The schools in the Central and Far West Texas schools either had video conferencing systems or were planning for full-motion audio-video networks. Their need focused on training. Limestone County schools planning for distance learning were Coolidge, Groesbeck and Mexia. Also planning for digital networks were schools in Ft. Hancock, Sierra Blanca, Dell City, and Fabens.
The final estimated total of the "Creating Connections Project" including contributions from all partners as well as the two telephone companies was over $6,000,000. Twelve of the East Texas schools now have state of the art technology in the classrooms and access to full broadband services, including audio-video, Internet and data services. Texas A&M University-Commerce built its classroom along with Jarvis Christian College. Universities as members of the partnership have been critical participants in receiving the implementation funds.
The award for training and classroom build-out provided the teams of students, community members and educators the opportunity to actualize the many needs they had that could be addressed through the telecommunications network. They were among the first in Texas to think about the telecommunications technology in non-traditional ways.
Success Number 3:
Another major initiative funded as a means of enriching, expanding, and enhancing educational programs is the "East Texas School-To-Work Partnership". The U.S. Department of Education and National School-To-Work Office reviewed the East Texas School-To-Work Partnership proposal in a national round of competitive applications. ET-LINC's insistence that the telecommunications network could provide access to workplace training, technical preparation and curriculum enhancements resulted in another significant award.
A five-year, $1,650,000 School-To-Work Grant was the first national award to a broadband distance learning network. As of July 1, 1997 nearly $400,000,000 of start-up funds had been awarded to states and local partnerships throughout the United States. The East Texas School-To-Work Partnership is the first and only pilot project to develop electronic linkages to the workplace for students in all grades. Participating teachers in the career curriculum component receive training on-line through the distance learning network. Additionally, students are receiving training in utilizing telecommunications technologies to prepare for living and working in the coming century. The partnership was funded at the national level because the proposal showed intensive planning for the use of technology as a solution to the isolation of small and rural schools from major work sites and employer mentoring of students.
Success Number 4:
The latest grant award allows the distance learning partnership to replicate its model for all educators in the State of Texas. The Texas Education Agency is providing $183,732 for the partnership to produce a multi-media package outlining the development of the technology partnership. The product is titled, "Wired for Learning". A CD-ROM and six videotapes are being provided to Texas public schools, private high schools, regional education service centers, and teacher preparation programs in state universities at no cost. The tapes cover a variety of topics: a description of distance learning networks, teaching on-line, technical and infrastructure considerations, and student/parent overviews.
Success Number 5:
Twelve of the original "Creating Connections" schools received the customized, multi-media rich classrooms. Additionally, some districts have received Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Foundation awards to upgrade their switches and codecs. Other schools that were not original ET-LINC members have also received TIF awards for Internet connectivity with the ability to upgrade to full audio-video capacity. Their goal is to become partners in the distance learning high-speed network. Anticipatory partners are: Fruitvale ISD, New Diana ISD , Ore City ISD, and Harelton ISD. These schools have designed a full audio/video, Internet and data services system.
The successes of the highly visible network and partnership have not gone unnoticed in Texas. There are those, of course, who say such broadband capacity is not needed and is a luxury unnecessary in Texas public schools. Likewise, there are still many in the public who believe that a telephone in every teacher's classroom is frivolous. But for those who understand the evolving nature of schooling brought on by the education reform movement, there is agreement that distance learning technologies can provide a powerful tool for change.
"Creating Connections Project" Garners State and National Awards:
The first award was the 1995 Texas Technology Implementation Award from the Texas Center for Educational Technology. A second came from the Council of Chief State School Officers in July of 1997 for the Technology Innovation Award. The third and most unexpected was presented by the Texas State Comptroller, John Sharp. "Creating Connections" received the First Local Government Technology Award (1998) for the most cost effective public service project meeting citizen needs.
Goals for Distance Learning Networks
1. To create opportunities for students to access curriculum beyond the traditional offerings. To utilize telecommunications technology to expand student's educational experiences by operationalizing a collaborative organization. To create learning communities of all ages that can link to participating schools, universities, and community sites. To develop a comprehensive telecommunications plan to identify ways to enhance academic knowledge, workplace skills and cultural understanding of student in participating schools. To share resources and expertise. To expand their vision of the future for all stakeholders -- for students, parents, educators, and the community.
2. To increase student achievement by removing the parameters set by the four walls of the traditional classroom, by expanding beyond the seven period school day and nine month school year, and by moving beyond the twelve years of education. To establish applicability of distance learning networks to provide equity and excellence for students. To impact students and educators through a planning process that is both cost effective and replicable for individual schools or consortia of school districts.
3. To enrich curriculum through the use of cutting edge telecommunications technology for minority and economically disadvantaged students. To create environments in which students and other community stakeholders can link, expand, and enrich their learning experiences beyond the traditional setting and limitations through a systemic process of planning for change.
4. To serve as a catalyst to promote technological innovation and new applications by creating connections with public schools, private schools, higher education, the private and public sector.
Issues of Distance Learning Networks
1. What is Two-Way Interactive Networking?
* The "People-powered" technology for schools2. Planning the Project: Establishing Major Goals
* Setting parameters for the network
* Ground Rule One: Open communications3. Establishing Management and Supervision
* Ground Rule Two: Cooperation
* Joint Powers and joint board agreements4. Training and Staff Development Needs
Committee structures:
Principals
Teachers
Facilitators
Project Director
Students
Parents
Community Representatives
* What does the training include and who needs it?5. Curriculum and Instruction
* Inservice Guidelines
* Who should attend training sessions?
* What do other schools teach on their networks?6. Impact of the Interactive Network
* Deciding what classes to teach
* Coordination of schedules and calendars
* Classroom Behavior and Disciplinary Procedure
* Higher education7. Designing the Teaching Setting
* Elementary and special populations
* Community
* Integrating "other" technologies
* Travel and paperwork reduction
* Developing interactive classrooms8. Setting the Stage for Effective Integration
* Designing a "better blackboard"
* Using media and materials for the interactive system
* Effectiveness of instruction9. Classroom Design
* Roles of educational personnel
* Technical considerations
* School/business partnerships
* Combined technology10. Relationship of distance learning to district educational improvement efforts
* Security issues and equipment maintenance
* Interactive classroom environment
* Classroom enhancements
* Users' agreements
Lessons from the Planning Component of the Distance Learning Network
The strategic planning process originated from the mission statement of the participating school partners. Objectives were formulated in order to assist the schools in accomplishing their missions. The objectives and goals centered on using an advanced telecommunications network to impact student achievement and assist in designing an educational environment appropriate for the coming century.
Nationally schools will have opportunities for the E-Rate discounts that may range from 20 to 90 percent for the purchase of advanced telecommunications services. This recently legislated opportunity may be a compelling force for schools to look seriously at broadband services for distance learning, Internet connectivity, cabling, etc. The planning for distance learning partnerships is lengthy and often exasperating, as schools have limited experience in the partnership building arena.
In Texas, the public schools are also impacted by the availability of TIF (Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Funds) until 2005. Because Texas and other states are beginning to provide a variety of grant resources and subsidies, schools need to plan strategically in order to maximize the funds that may be available to consortia around the country. The planning model of ET-LINC can assist schools in determining how distance learning systems improve student achievement. The process will help schools identify opportunities to increase student achievement by removing the parameters set by the four walls of the traditional classroom. Distance learning systems, if strategically planned, can ameliorate the constraints of geography, disability, and economic status--giving all students a fair opportunity to go as far as their talents and ambitions will take them.
Leverage Points for Planning: In working with parents it was invaluable to identify key leverage points. The focal concept that captures the imagination of educators, students and parents is the capacity for high school students to take college credit courses while in high school. Parents can easily see the benefits as to cost savings as a child can live at home during the senior year and graduate from high school with 15 to 24 university credits. Students that are scholarship bound see the advantage that the notation of college credits earned in high school have on their scholarship applications. Of all the factors used to capture the educators' imaginations, this has been the key idea to build ET-LINC's distance learning network
1. Core Team--representatives of participating schools who manage the planning process
2. Campus Coordinator--a designated teacher from each of the participating campuses
3. District Leadership Team--a team constituted at each school district that includes local school staff, students, business, parent, and community representatives.
What systemic changes have occurred since 1995 as a result of ET-LINC?
The visitations included training, observations, on-line training, meetings conducted on-line, and on-line classes.
A summary showed the following: of the 579 entries for visitations to ET-LINC distance learning classroom sites there were visitations of 2,298 hours. Of these 212 entries were for observation and 170 for training purposes for a total of 1,551 hours. As of December, 1996, logs showed 9,764 individuals had participated in some form of training provided by the Core Team and Project Directors.
By May of 1997 that number exceeded over 12,000 and continues to grow. These numbers do not include audiences reached through a series of seven TSTAR satellite broadcasts on progress of TEA Technology Initiatives and by two TCET broadcasts that featured "Creating Connections". Audiences that received orientations, training, and overviews included school board members, community and business people, educators, university faculty, education service center staff, students, consultants, vendors, Tech Prep Consortia, School-To-Work Partnerships, Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund staff, etc. Demand for information on building the partnership, the planning process and dealing with change continue to come to ET-LINC members and schools. The numbers of participants involved in training and orientation continues to grow.
- schools provided additional resources for retro-fitting the classroom;
- schools changing schedules as needed for students to take dual credit courses on-line;
- reassignment of teaching staff to participate as instructors;
- university personnel taking training in order to teach on-line;
- scholarship funds being made available to high school seniors for college tuition costs;
- teachers continuing or beginning graduate level programs on-line;
- community members beginning undergraduate level programs and attending with high school seniors;
- flexible scheduling arrangements for students and community members to enroll in courses;
- allocating resources for monthly line fees for the DS3 fiber optic cable costs;
- students taking courses that they would not have had access to prior to distance learning;
- training for the distance learning environment being infused into a number of staff development plans at the campus level;
- business and community members publicly articulating the impact that the system has on economic development;
- community and regional colleges collaborating as to which courses will be delivered on-line;
- study of the network's origin and curriculum developments as the basis of two master's theses for graduate degrees;
- superintendents who have continued to work together to develop additional programs, i.e. School-To-Work, TIF Internet proposals, etc.;
- development of many innovative and creative teaching and learning activities that are beginning to be infused into a variety of content areas.
Embarking on a distance learning partnership may be parallel with the ancient tale of the Greek writer, Homer. The adventures of schools seeking the technologies of tomorrow are much like those of Ulysses. We will not be thrown off course by the winds of indecision and dashed upon the rocks of the unknown if we hold true to our course. We must steer by the stars and hold to our convictions that all students can have access to quality regardless of distance or resources. We must never waver from our belief that American schools are worth saving. As captains, we must demonstrate strength in our stewardship as we sail into a new century.
Acknowledgments
Linda Lloyd of Cathey, Hutton & Associates, Austin Office, helped design the network and provided training materials for development of the consortium.
Kelly Allison of Cathey, Hutton & Associates, Austin Office, provided technical expertise and project management throughout the build-out phase of "Creating Connections."
Dr. Delia Duffey served as program officer to oversee the implementation of both the planning grant and the technology innovation award. She and others in the Division of Instructional Technology at The Texas Education Agency also believed in the dream that telecommunications technologies could provide equity and access to the best educational programs for Texas students.
Dr. Anita Givens, Texas Education Agency, provided support and encouragement when it was most needed.
The Texas Education Agency provided funding for the ET-LINC schools to implement a regional vision of technology that was aligned to the state's Long-Range Plan for Technology.
Texas A & M University, Commerce, for development of teacher materials. These materials were developed and tested at the University through the North East Texas Educational Partnership.
Dan Macy and Associates of Wills Point worked with the Core Team to evaluate the project and its impact on the students and teachers involved in the project. The final evaluation summary validated the expected outcomes that the project had set out to accomplish.
Ed Wood of Media Cottage, Wimberley, Texas worked closely with the schools to design and build-out the customized classrooms at each of the district sites. The design and specifications will ensure that the network is positioned to take advantage of any broadband applications currently available and those future applications that schools will discover.
Linda Porter who will become ET-LINC Director. Her job is only beginning. Much of the future success will depend upon the participating schools' ability to work together to ensure maximum usage of this state of the art network.
Project Directors for Wired for Learning
Peggy Sue Meathenia
Assistant to the Superintendent
800 Denman Ave.
Lufkin Independent School District
Lufkin, Texas 75901
Voice: 409-643-6696 Fax: 409-634-8864
Email: lisdpsm@lcc.net
Prior to implementation of the Project in Educational Technology Award from The Texas Education Agency to replicate a broadband distance learning network, Peggy Meathenia was involved in numerous opportunities to bring advanced telecommunications systems to the attention of both educators and the general public. As early as 1991 she was giving invited testimony to the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology concerning the future and benefits to school children that can be derived from audio/video, data, and Internet systems. She was one of the early presenters to the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Board on the emergence of distance learning networks in the State.
Meathenia became involved with the planning and development of broadband networks when she was Assistant Superintendent for San Marcos Independent School District. In 1990 she formed a team of educators, business and university representatives to pilot the first fiber optic link in the state. It took 18 months to implement a DS-3 link from the 5A high school to Southwest Texas State University.
This pilot then received federal funding through SWTSU in a mathematics program to prove the viability of a broadband link that would provide advanced math training for at-risk Algebra students at ninth and tenth grades. The project proved that the interactive TV system was exciting to students who embraced an expanded curriculum which was technology rich. Parents of participating students also spoke highly of the electronic opportunity to experience an enriched mathematics program.
The success of The San Marcos Experience was the impetus for Meathenia to launch into a second effort to bring broadband interconnectivity to schools in East Texas. When she became Assistant Superintendent of Gladewater ISD in 1992 she immediately joined with a group that had visited the San Marcos site in 1991. Her efforts were united with those of a small group from Peoples Telephone of Quitman, a university dean of East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce), and educators from Greenville and Boles school districts. The group was determined to develop a partnership and implement distance learning via a DS-3 fiber optic network. Peoples Telephone was joined by ETEX Cellular of Gilmer, Texas in determining which schools in the East Texas area could join into the largest network of its kind in the state.
The ET-LINC partnership took another step in reaching its dream when the group received a Planning Grant from the Texas Education Agency in May of 1994. The planning was directed by Meathenia while Gladewater ISD served as fiscal agent. From this effort, a comprehensive plan was developed that cut a swath across the state from East Texas to Central Texas to Far West Texas. The formation of 24 schools into a partnership was again, the first of its kind, and since 1995 has set a benchmark for other technology partnerships. The comprehensive planning resulted in the largest Project in Educational Technology funded by the state prior to the federal funding known as TIE. The vision and planning of "Creating Connections" under the direction of Meathenia and Gladewater ISD has set the technical standards for distance learning networks. The grant award of $1,000,000 drew both accolades and negative comments that such an advanced technical network was beyond the means of public schools.
The Core Team of ET-LINC and Meathenia should have expected the state and national attention that "Creating Connections" would bring to individual partners as well as to students, teachers, and community members. Their only goal was to bring equity and quality to students that are served by small and rural schools of East Texas.
Meathenia and core team members have been called upon to share their vision, planning expertise, and training design with various audiences. In an eight-year period, Meathenia has spoken to more than 60 national and state associations and conferences on the benefits of distance learning technologies for the 21st Century.
These include:
Texas Center For Educational Technology
Texas Association of School Boards
Texas Tech Prep Association
Texas School-To-Work
National Association of School Boards
Tel-Ed International Conferences
Texas Computer Educators Association
National Conference of Texas
Texas Association of Secondary School Principals
Texas Telephone Association
Texas Association of Community Schools
TASA Leadership Seminars
Phi Delta Kappa Regional Meetings
Professional Development Center Institute of SF Austin University
National School-To-Work Program Council for Networked Schools (CoSN)
Regional Education Service Centers
The accomplishments of "Creating Connections" have spotlighted Meathenia in a variety of media and video appearances. She was featured in a 1993 and 1995 series of videos produced by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory to track implementation of distance learning systems in small/rural schools. This study was distributed throughout the country. She has also appeared in numerous TSTAR satellite broadcasts to Texas schools since 1995.
As author of articles on the "Creating Connections" experience, she has recounted various facets of the partnership. The Texas Association of School Principals published an article on use of telecommunications for "Creating School-To-Work Connections: Going the Distance in East Texas."
The "Creating Connections Project" will be featured in an October, 1998 book on Technology Innovations published by the National Association of School Boards. Additionally Meathenia has been featured in Texas Lone Star, publication of The Texas Association of School Boards. The Texas Center for Educational Technology devoted an entire issue of Images of Technology in Texas Schools to "Creating Connections."
Rita Lynn Dobbs
Project Director
East Texas School-to-Careers Partnership
UT Tyler
3900 University Blvd.
Tyler, TX 75799
Voice: 903-566-7260
Email: rdobbs@mail.uttyl.edu
Prior to receiving one of the Project in Educational Technology grant awards from the Texas Education Agency for 1997-98, Rita Dobbs was involved in developing and implementing a Wide-Area Network for a 3A school district in Texas. She also serves as a Core Team Member and officer for ET-LINC, a consortium of 24 school districts, that received a $25,000 planning grant and a $1,000,000 implementation grant to build the infrastructure of a broadband fiber-optic distance learning network in East Texas.
Ms. Dobbs has been involved in education for over 20 years in a variety of positions and currently heads a school-to-careers program in East Texas that utilizes the foundation of the fiber-optic distance learning system that was developed through the TEA grant. She became involved in ET-LINC during 1992 when she heard of this group's intent to form a consortium to implement distance learning. Because of her strong background in technology and a commitment to provide a comprehensive curriculum for students in the rural school in which she worked, she joined this group to write a proposal for a planning grant to implement distance learning.
Once the planning grant was received and various partners were identified, the dream of a fiber-optic distance learning delivery system utilizing a DS-3 signal became more than just a dream. People's Communications, Inc. in Quitman, Texas and ETEX Cellular in Gilmer, Texas became active partners in the effort to provide this infrastructure for the rural East Texas communities. Their combined contributions of over $3 million to the project began to make the dream a reachable goal for the teachers, administrators, higher education, and regional service center personnel who were interested in the project.
Once the implementation grant titled "Creating Connections" was received, the group began to see the fulfillment of their hard work and countless hours of training and dedication. Because of her involvement with ET-LINC and distance learning, Dobbs has become even more involved in ensuring that this system is replicated through the state, and that teachers receive the training necessary to make the system successful for themselves and students. The PET grant for staff development, co-written with Lufkin ISD, provides the training that administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community members need in order to infuse this technology into their local school systems.
As the director of a school-to-work program that utilizes distance learning, she has been called upon to provide workshops and information about building the infastructure for distance learning. She currently serves as a technical assistance provider to Texas and at the national level in school-to-work implementation. She has worked with groups in Tennessee, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and other states who are interested in building a distance learning network to provide school-to-career activities.
In the seven years that Ms. Dobbs has been involved in this project, she has addressed over 50 national and state associations and conferences on the benefits of distance learning technologies for the 21st Century.
These include:
National School-to-Work
National Tech Prep Association
Texas School-to-Work
Texas Tech Prep Association
Region Education Service Centers
Texas Center for Educational Technology
Texas Association of School Boards
Tel-Ed International Conferences Texas
Association of Community Schools
Texas Computer Educators Assocation
Texas Association of School Administrators
Texas Association of Supervision, Curriculum and Development
Ms. Dobbs has appeared in numerous TSTAR satellite broadcasts to Texas schools and was recently in Austin to receive the 1st Local Government Technology Award from Comptroller John Sharp, on behalf of the "Creating Connections" project and ET-LINC. She also provided information about "Creating Connections" for Texas, which received recognition for this project, to present to the Chief Council of State School Officers in Chicago, Illinois in June of 1997. This project was also on display at the Governor's Capitol Schoolhouse Project in Austin in February, 1997.
The Wired for Learning series is the latest effort to date to bring a comprehensive plan for school districts interested in implementing technology. This staff development model includes the "Seeing the Light" video which recounts the "Creating Connections" project. The Texas Center for Educational Technology devoted an issue of Images of Technology in Texas Schools to the "Creating Connections" project to outline the process of building the infrastructure of a distance learning network. Ms. Dobbs efforts to provide equity for rural students is documented in these media formats.
Ms. Mary Fuller East Texas State University
Ms. Lisa Burchfield, Business Manager Yantis ISD
Ms Rita Dobbs, Director of Curriculum/Instruction Rains ISD
Ms. Mary Hendrix, Counselor/Curriculum Coordinator Cumby ISD
Ms. Linda Porter, Technology Coordinator Greenville ISD
Ms. MaryNell Shelton Groesbeck ISD
Ms. Martha Veale Hudspeth & El Paso Counties
Ms. Linda Porter,
Director, ET-LINC
Rt 2, Box 235
Emory. TX. 75440
Voice: 903 473-3195
Fax: 903 473-3384
email:porterl@koyote.com
Ms. Rita Dobbs,
Director
East Texas School-to-Careers Partnership
UT Tyler
3900 University Blvd.
Tyler, TX 75799
903 566-7260
email: rdobbs@mail.uttyl.edu
Ms. Lisa Burchfield,
Business Manager
Yantis ISD
Box 149
Yantis, TX 75497
903 383-2463
email: Burchfld@peoplescom.net
Mr. Bob Davis,
Director of Technology
Harmony ISD
Rt 4, Box 652
Gilmer, TX 75644
903 725-5492
Ms. Mary Hendrix,
Director
Northeast Texas Educational Partnership
Texas A&M University - Commerce
Commerce, TX 75429
903 886-5992
email: Mary_ Hendrix@tamu-commerce.edu
Ms. Helen McClain,
Director of Technology
Gilmer ISD
P.O.Box 40
Gilmer, TX 75644
903 8843-2525
email: hMcClain@tenet.edu
Ms. Peggy Meathenia,
Assistant to the Superintendent
Lufkin ISD
800 East Denman Ave.
Lufkin, TX 75901
409 634-6696
email: lisdpsm@lcc.net
Vice-President - Rita Dobbs, Gladewater ISD
Secretary - Mary Hendrix, TAMU
Treasurer - Dr. Graham Sweeney, Boles ISD
