| With
the help of a generous gift of $75,000 from the AT&T Foundation,
the Burns Telecommunications Center (BTC) continues to
help Montana school administrators and teachers effectively
use technology in K-12 classrooms through the BTC Educational
Technology Leadership Initiative. |
| Charles
Shipp of Shipp & Associates, and longtime
BTC National Advisory Board member, presented
a check from the AT&T Foundation at the center's
annual board meeting in November. AT&T has
been instrumental in the success of the initiative,
which the company helped establish with a
similar foundation grant in 1999. |
|
 |
| Charlie
Shipp and Sen. Conrad Burns celebrate AT&T
Foundation's gift to the Burns Telecommunications
Center. |
|
|
| Through
the leadership initiative, the BTC provides face-to-face
and online workshops to help educators develop an understanding
of the impact of technology on teaching and learning.
Participating administrators work closely with teachers
to create and implement innovative technology-based learning
projects in Montana's schools. |
| On
the heels of the well-received 2002 Leadership Conference
at the BTC, the program will provide customized support
and professional development for educators in six Montana
school districts through the coming year. The BTC also
helps teachers develop knowledge and skills of technology
through seminars, workshops and on-site demonstrations.
More than 2,500 Montana K-12 teachers have received training
from the BTC to learn how to run applications, use the
Internet and integrate technology into their classrooms. |
| The
mission of the BTC is to support the use of information
and communication technologies to increase access to education
and resources. The center fulfills its mission by providing
expertise to educators and organizations of all types
on issues that arise in integrating technology into our
daily lives. The BTC offers customized packages on a wide
range of applications and provides training to dozens
of nonprofits, schools, libraries, businesses and communities
around the state. In addition to these efforts, each of
the educational programs implemented and supported by
the BTC provides teachers and faculty with training specific
to the program. |
|
Shipp presented the gift from the AT&T Foundation at the
annual BTC National Advisory Board meeting in Bozeman.
The advisory board provides extensive expertise to the
center in developing programs that use new and emerging
telecommunications and information technologies. |
| U.S.
Sen. Conrad Burns is the honorary chairman of the National
Advisory Board and was in attendance for the presentation.
Other board members in attendance or who participated
in the meeting were Larry Duncan of Lockheed Martin, Klein
Gilhousen, QUALCOMM, Inc.; Rick Hays, Qwest Communications;
Donald McClellan Jr., Gateway; Warren McConkey, Flathead
Electric Cooperative; Burl Miner, Triangle Telephone;
Robert Okun, NBC; Randall Sechrest, M.D., Medical Mutlimedia
Group, and Cindy Taylor of the Improved Performance Group.
|
| For
more information about the Burns Telecommunications Center
or the Technology Leadership for Learning Initiative,
visit our Web site www.btc.montana.edu
or phone 406-994-6550. |
