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The three most salient issues I see in educational technology:

Training - When teachers worldwide made a rapid pivot to emergency remote teaching what needed to happen next, in anticipation of COVID spikes, was the development of intentional online learning strategies. I recently made that very case in an ISTE book (Championing Technology Infusion in Teacher Preparation) regarding training pre-service teachers to teach online.

Access - After hearing one of the Commissioners on the FCC (Jessica Rosenworcel) I have embraced her description of the Digital Divide as a Homework Gap that impacts students who have home broadband access as opposed to those who do not. It is an indicator of whether or not a student will be able to engage in learning outside the school alongside their internet-connected peers.

Equity - I have grown more aware of the importance of information equity across underserved communities. This is an area where ISTE could clearly become a national leader.

 

The opportunities and challenges I envision for the future of ISTE:

We have before us a brilliant set of opportunities and challenges through ISTE's acquisition of EdSurge. I believe we have yet to figure out how best to put to use the skills of their remarkable staff.

With an ever-shifting landscape of technical changes (online teaching) and financial challenges (shrinking school budgets), we need to take very seriously the value of membership in ISTE beyond the annual conference.

We need to ensure that ISTE maintains its reputation in the community of teachers and administrators by closely focusing on consistency of program delivery by ISTE Certification CAPs and by ensuring that our publications remain at the highest quality.

We must also not take our eyes off the financial health of ISTE and ensure that controllable expenses and properly maintained.

Michael McVey

Category

Member at large 2021

Description

Michael McVey

Professor of Educational Technology 
Eastern Michigan University   

 

Saline, Michigan 

 

About Michael

Michael McVey was a K-12 teacher (Special Education and English) at high schools in Canada, Japan, and the US before writing "Meeting the Internet Challenge" and moving to higher education and teacher preparation. His long and interesting career in education has led him to the role of tenured professor of educational technology at Eastern Michigan University. He is known across campus as the Drone guy, the Technology guy, and the Online Education guy. He is also an elected school board member (Saline Area Schools) and serves on the ISTE Board of Directors. Presently, he is the ISTE Board Secretary, an ISTE author, and was recently appointed to ISTE's International Advisory Group. He is married and Dad to three grown and mostly-grown daughters.