Panel of Educators, Software Creators to Examine Latest Technologies for K-12 Learning

MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT: Panel on Using Technology to Enhance K-12 Learning
WHEN: 11:30 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2006
WHERE: Omni Hotel, Charlottesville

January 10, 2006 — New teaching tools are building on the familiar format of computer games, using students’ skills to improve decision-making, comprehension and critical thinking. On Thursday, Jan. 12, a panel of innovative educators and software creators will demonstrate and discuss some of the latest learning technologies at this month’s luncheon of the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council, “Beyond the Book: Using Technology to Enhance K-12 Learning.”

Sponsored by the University of Virginia, the event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Omni Hotel. About 100 teachers and information technology specialists from schools around the state have registered.

The panel, moderated by Michael Latsko, director of business development for ProQuest Information & Learning, includes:

  • Terry Levinson, fifth-grade history teacher at Albemarle County’s Broadus Wood Elementary School
  • Bill Ferster, a U.Va. graduate student who directs the primaryAccess Initiative at the Curry School of Education’s Center for Technology and Teacher Education and who creates visual imagery tools for K-12 students
  • Paul Cholmsky, director of product design and analysis for ExploreLearning, a company that develops simulations for math and science teaching.

The nonprofit Virginia Piedmont Technology Council (VPTC) was founded in 1997 to assist the Central Virginia technology-related business community and has more than 1,000 active members representing nearly 200 companies.

Contact: Anne Bromley, News Services, (434) 924-6861
Carolyn Dillard, TV News, (434) 924-0938

(REPORTERS: Here are other contacts who can talk about this program: Pace Lochte, VPTC program committee chair and assistant to U.Va. Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, (434) 924-7566; panelists Bill Ferster, (540) 592-7001, or Michael Latsko, 800-521-0600 or michael.latsko@il.proquest.com.

Media Contact