The fanfare at the top of this article may seem like a bit much, but I am enthused by several recent events. On the preceding page, Tech4Learning announces our Innovative Educators for 2008. Their stories are a reflection of the fantastic teaching that is happening in our schools everyday, and I encourage you to read more online. I have also been receiving more and more emails, URLs, and samples of projects the rest of you are doing to make content learning relevant, enjoyable, and successful.
This energy seems to be returning at the educational technology and curriculum conferences I have attended recently. While we still have to cope with the testing required by NCLB, many teachers seemed comfortable and calm, having appropriated their state standards into their regular routines and are reaching out for new technologies to engage students in the curriculum.

While I would love to see more uses of technology that focused on student learning and not teacher instruction, experience with the ACOT Five Stages of Technology Integration and the LoTi levels lets me see that this is a necessary step toward technology integration. To get to the open-ended, student-centered use at the high end of the scale, we have to pass through a more teacher-centric stage.

To foster this progression, this issue includes some ideas for using interactive whiteboards and document cameras. We have also combined this with lesson plans and ideas at a range of integration abilities and shared a few ideas for fostering successful professional development to support improved integration.

Whatever your level, celebrate your success, and I hope this issue will inspire you with some new ideas as well.

Cheers!

Melinda Kolk,
Editor