Driving the 'road ahead' through Seattle

NEA Today, May 1997

In Oregon's Bethel School District, teachers with a question about technology always turn to NEA member Tim Goss.

His colleagues, laughs Goss, "probably think of me as a propeller head."

This summer, that "propeller head" reputation figures to take off. Goss will be serving as one of 22 mentors to teams of educators brought to Seattle by NEA's National Foundation for the Improvement of Education.

The teams will be convening for the final summer seminar of NFIE's Road Ahead program, an initiative funded by Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.

This eight-day seminar will cover topics like using the Internet and authoring a Web site. Goss, the district's technology coordinator, will be emphasizing that technology is a tool, not a destination.

"The real question," he says, "is what do students need to know and be able to do when you're finished?"

Technology, Goss is always quick to admit, is not the only tool that educators need.

"Sometimes 3x5 flash cards will do the trick," he says. "But in a lot of cases, technology can enhance student outcomes, and that's the focus we want teachers to be able to have."

The Road Ahead program is one of the many professional development initiatives NFIE sponsors. For more information on these programs, contact NFIE at 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036, or E-mail jhodgson@nea.org.

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