Laptops Top Middle Level Education Conference Agenda

Contact: Contact: Kay Hyatt at 207-581-2761

ORONO– Making learning meaningful in the era of standards and laptops is the theme of the 19th annual Middle Level Education Institute taking place July 6-11 at the University of Maine. More than 200 educators from middle schools throughout Maine will spend the week learning about the latest educational research and strategies and working on team projects to implement at their individual schools. Participants will also include several teams of teachers from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

State and national learning standards and the second year of the Maine Technology Initiative, which will provide laptops for eighth as well as seventh graders, are very much on the minds of middle school teachers, according to Institute co-directors and faculty members Ed Brazee and Gert Nisen.

As they work to integrate technology and meet standards, middle school administrators and teachers need to keep the broader educational picture and developmental needs of young adolescents in sight, Brazee and Nisen say. They need to continue helping students look at future goals and learn about themselves and their lives, as well as meeting standards.

While the Institute includes laptop training for educators, workshops are designed to show how the standards and technology can be used to create meaningful, relevant learning, instead of becoming separate agendas.

Two areas of interests  — students with special needs and middle school leadership — will be more focused and explicit at this year’s Institute.  For example, the July 7 keynote address will feature Pam Flood of the UMaine Center for Community Inclusion discussing “Is This Reform for all Kids?” Workshops such as using adaptive technology for individuals with disabilities and other targeted topics will be offered throughout the week. Wednesday is Leadership theme day when a number of Maine middle school principals will speak and/or lead workshops.