University of Wisconsin - Extension

Two exciting speakers will highlight the 10th Annual Governor¿s Wisconsin Educational Technology Conference (GWETC) this year, an event co-sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Extension. They are David Warlick, owner and principal consultant of the Landmark Project, a professional development and web design firm located in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Bernajean Porter, an educator, speaker, and education technology consultant from Sedalia, Colorado,

David Warlick will open the conference with an energetic and entertaining luncheon keynote on Wednesday, October 9. He will offer conference participants a ¿Blueprint for Teaching in the Twenty-First Century.¿

¿It is clear that the K-12 schools and higher ed classrooms that best prepare our students for the 21st century will be dramatically different from the schools we attended. However, too many of our schools today are still based on the Industrial Age design, preparing students for workplaces characterized by sitting in straight rows and performing repetitive tasks -- under close supervision,¿ according to David Warlick.

His enlightening presentation will reaffirm that the difference between our good teachers and our best teachers is a thin one. He¿ll offer three elements to turn classrooms into dynamic, exciting, and highly effective learning environments.

Bernajean Porter will begin the second day of the conference with a dynamic presentation on Thursday morning. Her presentation will provide the ¿Answer to How is¿¿Yes.¿ She¿ll provide insights to help ready educators to provide new opportunities for students in the classrooms of the future.

¿Educators are being bombarded with messages of the changing needs of learners, along with expectations to increase student results and accountability. We have only one chance with each student to prepare him or her for a world none of us can possibly predict, and it is time to think of these forces as possibilities, NOT compliance. For anything that matters, the timing is never quite right, the resources always a little short, and the people less ready than needed to shift gears,¿ states Ms. Porter.

She continues, ¿Starting with YES affirms commitment and participation in something worthy even when we do not have the mastery or methodology to know HOW to get to where we want to go. It is time for collective invention towards what works, using data to guide our way, NOT searching for recipe cards.¿

The conference will begin on Wednesday, October 9, 2002, at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. More than 1,200 educators from across the state are expected at the 2-day conference. Half-day, pre-conference workshops will take place on Tuesday, October 8.

GWETC, co-sponsored by UWEX, the University of Wisconsin System, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, TEACH Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Technical College System Board, focuses on practical applications of technology for the benefit of learners of all ages.

Full conference details, including on-line registration and hotel information, are available on the GWETC Web site at http://www.gwetc.org . For more information about the conference or to receive a print copy of the registration brochure, contact the GWETC office at 608-261-7437 or gwetc@teach.state.wi.us"> gwetc@teach.state.wi.us .