Conversation with Dr. Grundner and Dr. Gomez
Live via satellite we have C. Michael Crawford, president of GTE California, and Dr. Robert Detweiler, president of California State University in Domingo Hills, and Dr. Beverly Rohrer, who is superintendent of the Redondo Beach Unified School District. Welcome.
Now, we understand that a key element of this partnership is support for teachers. Now, how is this collaboration helping teachers to learn more about on-line technology? Can you tell us about that? Please go ahead.
Ms. Rohrer: Undersecretary, I would like to tell you first that the consortium now represents some 11 school districts. We are growing actually by the week, and we are very proud of this commitment to Goals 2000, to technology, and to our advancement for educational reform.
A very important component of this consortium is where business and schools, universities, and our community partners are joining together to advance what we believe to be a very important component--and I have heard your audience mention this--to bring technology to the classroom and give the tool to the teacher and to the learner so that on-line communications is not just a buzzword but actually becomes a part of the curriculum. That is an important goal for us, along with many other important goals that we support as an ad-tech consortium.
Deputy Secretary Kunin: Thank you.
Would other members of the trio there like to add their words? Please go ahead. We would like to hear from you.
Mr. Detweiler: Well, let me speak for the university. We are a public university serving about 12,000 students, and at least one-third of them are planning to be school teachers and administrators. So it is absolutely fundamental that we have a working relationship with our colleagues in the public schools in our area.
So we have concentrated in two essentials: One is preservice for training school teachers; and equally important is inservice training for the many individuals who are out in the field practicing. And it is our intent, particularly through our Institute for Distance Education Applications, to help practicing teachers to demystify technology, apply it intelligently in the classroom, and, frankly, to learn from them what works best in using all of this amazing technology that is now available to us, not just in the universities but in the K-12 schools.
Deputy Secretary Kunin: Terrific.
Mr. Crawford, you are with GTE, the president. Can you tell us what GTE is doing and maybe answer this teacher's question, you know, how do you get that important mile right to the classroom?
Mr. Crawford: Well, thank you, Deputy Secretary. This is a real treat for us to be part of this forum today.
There are many different issues that would drive a company such as GTE Corporation to be involved with education technology. We have been supportive for a number of years, but this year we put a very special thrust to it by offering a technology initiative.
And the example that the teacher used is very common throughout California. We have many, many schools; for example, my daughter, who just started teaching recently, has very little or nothing in her grade school. And I really believe the partnerships that we are forming in the State of California through a lot of very good businesses and both our K through 12, our community colleges and the higher education, are absolutely required. The institutions, the private institutions, like big companies, cannot do this by themselves. They cannot just throw technology to an institution. We have to work with the institutions and certainly the teachers and the administrative personnel to be sure we support the very important staff development that was mentioned previously, and also to learn what is actually required at particular institutions.
The last-mile question that was raised is a very difficult one. What we have done earlier this year is offer a jump start to help with educational institutions to get the schools and the community colleges, the libraries, for example, wired for the capability for technology transmission.
So with this jump start, with these credits that we have offered, I think has been a valuable learning experience for us, and we hope to learn as we grow with the technology applications.
Deputy Secretary Kunin: Well, I think you are a wonderful example of this sort of three-legged stool of the educator and the university and the corporation.
Just quickly, do you have any advice to people in other communities? I mean should they try to establish this kind of partnership, and how do you do it--in 25 words or less?
Mr. Crawford: I would offer something that we have learned that we didn't do right before, and that is to make sure we include a partnership, a true partnership of the educational institutions and especially good input from our teachers as to what they need as far as staff development and what technology will work. We just didn't do as much of that in the past as we should have.
Deputy Secretary Kunin: So you have to listen.
Yes, go ahead.
Mr. Detweiler: I would like to add to Mike's point. I believe the emphasis on partnership is critical, that the private industry can develop the technology, the university can offer some expertise, but ultimately, if you are not in a true partnership with the participating teachers and school districts, then none of us will be successful.
The three elements, each respecting the other, is critical to a partnership.
Deputy Secretary Kunin: So we are really talking about equal partners here and doing as much listening as talking, which I think is what is vital because it's the teacher who ends up in the classroom.
Does our educator there want to have a last word on that note?
Ms. Rohrer: Well, I think we have left out one important component that we haven't done deliberately, but an important part of our consortium is also our community involvement, particularly with our parents. As we have designed this, we have put together important components so that our parents can interact right along with students and our partners in business through our academy and through our association and university. This makes for the strength of the consortium that we feel is very important.
Deputy Secretary Kunin: That's terrific, Beverly.
Thank you so much to the three of you for giving us such a great example of how a community can work together.
Questions from Callers and Studio Audience
Conversation with Dr. Grundner and Dr. Gomez
kstubbs and gsolomon, 10/22/94