MEDT 8462

Discussion 2 / Professional Organizations

Jeremy Trimmer

Throughout my 16 years as a middle & high school band director, I regularly attended
and presented at two professional conferences for music education - The Georgia Music
Educator’s Association State Conference in Savannah, Georgia and The Midwest International
Band & Orchestra Convention in Chicago, Illinois. Both conferences are annually attended by
thousands of music educators ranging from elementary music teachers to collegiate &
professional musical directors who are leading some of the most prestigious musical ensembles
in the United States and Europe. Not only were these conferences an opportunity to attend
seminars and presentations examining new teaching strategies, methodologies in the classroom,
and materials & resources for our students, they were also an amazing catalyst to “rub elbows”
and chat over a drink or dinner with some of the leading performers and educators in our field!
Many of these chance meetings would evolve over time into strong professional relationships or
even mentor/mentee relationships. In several cases, they led to opportunities to travel to various
school districts in the US to work with students and present teaching strategies / philosophies to
other educators.

Moving to the organizations we’ve been given for the assignment, the International
Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is an organization of educators who support the
platform of technology to transform teaching and learning. ISTE’s vision is “that all educators
are empowered to harness technology to accelerate innovation in teaching and learning, and
inspire learners to reach their greatest potential” (ISTE, n.d.). In addition to joining together
with other professional educational organizations to have a voice with national policymakers
regarding educational technology, the ISTE supports several annual conferences. The annual
ISTE Conference & Expo is their largest event and is where educators and vendors/experts in
educational technology come together to share new breakthroughs and platforms in educational
technology. ISTE also supports the Digital Leadership Summit, where district leaders from

 across the country will participate in learning how to use leading-edge design models and lessons
to “create a visionary path for using technology to support learning and to best prepare their
students for technology”. Lastly, ISTE puts on a two day interactive learning experience for
educators called The Creative Constructor Lab where educators learn how to create vibrant,
media-rich learning environments for their students. While providing many events for its
membership to thrive and collaborate, there are no grants awarded by this organization.

The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is a

international professional association made up of professionals from various fields (including
education) who are actively involved in instructional design and the advisement of policy makers
regarding such. AECT is the oldest professional home for instructional designers and “values
diversity of thought, culture, and people whose activities are directed toward improving
learning” (AECT, n.d.). The AECT International Convention is geared towards culturally-
situated learning design & research and brings together participants from around the world,
offering practical applications, cutting-edge research, workshops, and demonstrations of new
technologies in teaching and learning.** In addition, they also have a research symposium
bringing together researchers and editors who will collaborate to create a book published by
Springer as well also recruiting future reviewers and solicit articles for possible future
publication. According to their online materials, the AECT offers no grants at this time.

The Georgia Educational Technology Consortium (GaTEC) is a non-profit corporation

whose mission specifically offers technology innovation grants to teachers, media specialists,
counselors, and/or any combination of persons within a school setting. Funding is given to
“innovative technology projects that enhance the teaching and learning to improve student
outcomes” (GaTEC, n.d.). In addition to supporting Innovation Grants, the Consortium sponsors
both the annual Georgia Educational Technology Conference and the Georgia Student
Technology Competition - an annual state-wide competition for students.

 The Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) is an

international organization dedicated to the advancement of the knowledge, theory and quality of
learning and teaching at all levels with information technology (AACE, n.d.). AACE has an
immense Digital Library and Career Center for it’s members to utilize for research, resources,
and professional development. Among the several annual conferences that the AACE supports is
the annual EdMedia + Innovate Learning, a premier international conference that has been
ongoing since 1987 and offers a forum for the discussion and exchange of research,
development, and applications on all topics related to Innovation and Education. While providing
immense opportunities and resources, the AACE doesn’t offer any grants.

Lastly, my additional professional organization is actually a “spin off” society within the
AACE. The Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) is a society of
AACE and is an international association of educators who are solely interested in the use of
information technology for teacher education and faculty/staff development. They seek to
“promote research, scholarship, collaboration, exchange, and support among its membership, and
to actively foster the development of new national organizations where a need emerges” (SITE,
n.d.). Their annual conference meets this upcoming year and is SITE2021, the 32nd annual
conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. Like the AACE,
no grants are awarded from this organization.

References:

International Society for Technology in Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/

Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://
www.aect.org/

Georgia Educational Technology Consortium. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://gaetc.org/

Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://
www.aace.org/

The Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://
www.site.aace.org/