East Irondequoit Schools, Warner School announce partnership

Local K-12 school district, university form partnership to promote adoption of digital conversion model in K-12 schools

In 2012, the East Irondequoit Central School District (CSD) began exploring new ways to provide the best teaching and learning environment possible for their students. Susan Allen, superintendent of schools, states “We understand that the technology available today has the power to profoundly change the way we teach, interact, and learn. This is why we firmly believe that we must integrate appropriate technology into every aspect of our work, and leverage it in every way possible.”

The superintendent and a small team began researching the best approaches for embedding this philosophy into instruction. They visited a number of schools hand-picked by the National School Boards Association for Education Technology Site Visits, and soon learned about research done by a group called ProjectRed (www.projectred.org) around effective implementations of 1:1 computing devices in schools. They also discovered the phenomenal work around digital conversion taking place in the Mooresville Graded School District in Mooresville, N.C.
 
The district, through an existing relationship with Monroe #1 BOCES, was able to engage a professor from the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester, Dave Miller, EdD, to monitor the progress of the 1:1 pilot program in East Irondequoit and collect data to help validate possible expansion of the pilot.

Fast forward two years. This professor has become a regular contributing member of the district digital conversion team. Raffaella Borasi, dean at the Warner School, states “This new approach to instruction can be transformational, and it would be very valuable for current and aspiring K-12 teachers and administrators to learn about it.”
 
The Warner School is engaging in research and course design to address the principles and implications of digital conversion and online learning. Warner is excited about the opportunity to partner with East Irondequoit as a demonstration site where future educators can see the power of digital conversion in action and work alongside teachers in the classrooms to personally experience these innovative instructional practices.

The East Irondequoit CSD will host a 2-day Digital Conversion Symposium on February 24-25, 2016, co-sponsored by the Warner School and Monroe #1 BOCES. Districts from around western New York will be invited to attend this Symposium.

The keynote address for this Symposium will be delivered by Mark Edwards, superintendent of the Mooresville Graded School District in North Carolina and chief architect of the digital conversion that has transformed their district.