Special to WRAL Tech Wire
(Editor’s note: Now in its fourth year, the 12 Days of Broadband runs Dec. 4 through Dec. 19 highlighting a dozen innovations and stories directly impacted by the expanding reach of high-speed connectivity this year in North Carolina and throughout the country.)
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – A lot has changed since 2010 – especially in education technology and networking.
In August, 14 new candidates decided to examine those changes together and embrace the opportunity to kick-off the fifth cohort of the Certified Educational Chief Technology Officer (CeCTO) program at UNC Chapel Hill.
Offered through a partnership between the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, UNC School of Government’s Center for Public Technology and MCNC, the CeCTO program is one of the nation’s first technology-centered certification programs specifically for educational technology leaders.
The program features two components – one designed for superintendents and the other for technology directors. Superintendents participate in the “Leaders for the 21st Century” track – a 20-hour instructional course supplemented with required collaborative sessions with CeCTO candidates. Technology directors participate in 240 hours of instruction.
Approximately 104 CeCTOs and Leaders for the 21st Century have been added in North Carolina schools since 2010.
This is the first year CeCTO has started in August – all previous courses ran February through November. The scheduling change was made so participants could share common content and build more collaboration between CeCTO and the candidates in the CGCIO program.
This level of integration between K-12 and local government is paramount to success for communities and was a natural evolution to the program, according to Maurice Ferrell, instructor at the UNC Center for Public Technology.
“Over the years we discovered many commonalities in K-12 and local government, and we thought this was an opportunity to bring folks together in a collaborative environment and have those conversations,” said Ferrell. “We have reduced the number of students this time for more hands-on and close training so we can really focus on leadership and how to best leverage tax payer dollars when it comes to technology.”
As expected, the course already has had some healthy discussions on purchasing and contract law, hardware vs. strategy, partnership opportunities and economic development, broadband connectivity and Wi-Fi, and how to bridge the divide between curriculum and technology.
Instruction for CeCTO provides invaluable education and training for superintendents and technology directors to effectively use and manage technology in schools today. The 10-month program helps establish the core competencies IT leaders need in today’s education environment.
Today’s superintendents and educational technology directors face increasing challenges to manage the constantly expanding role of IT in schools. This program was designed to help educators turn those challenges into opportunities.
Graduation for this fifth CeCTO class is scheduled for June 2015.
