Attend
Exhibit
Trust Black Women in EdTech |
Listen and learn : Ed talk
Alicia Sewell Victoria Thompson
When you have employees of color--especially Black women--it’s important to take their expertise and dialogue into account to ensure that educational technology is inclusive and equitable. In this session, we’ll share our expertise on the importance of including Black women as part of crucial leadership conversations.
| Audience: | Curriculum/district specialists, Principals/head teachers, Teachers |
| Skill level: | Beginner |
| Attendee devices: | Devices useful |
| Attendee device specification: | Laptop: PC, Chromebook, Mac Tablet: Android, iOS, Windows |
| Topic: | Equity and inclusion |
| Grade level: | PK-12 |
| ISTE Standards: | For Education Leaders: Systems Designer
Analyst
|
The specific challenge that we have encountered is that leadership from Black women is severely lacking in educational technology. The purpose of this session is to review pathways for including Black women in conversations about educational technology, tactical strategies for recruitment and retention of Black women edtech, and how this directly relates to teachers working with students. There has been study after study on the positive impacts of not only a diverse workforce, but how educational technology can (and should) be diversified to reflect school populations. This has a direct impact on educators because oftentimes they are tasked with using curriculum, materials, and platforms that do not reflect diverse populations or their own students. Additionally, Black teachers are leaving the profession at staggering rates. By reimagining representation within educational technology, we can use this as a catalyst for change in schools.
The model employed in this session is an "Edtalk" lecture format, where we will be speaking to participants about the importance of this topic, strategies to address this topic, and different instructional tools/resources that can address this topic in schools.
Technology intervention included in this presentation are Pear Deck (student engagement media platform), Book Creator (multimedia creation platform), Buncee (multimedia creation platform), and Learning for Justice (anti-racist and equity teaching resource bank). The presenters will highlight these tools and resources as companies that embody trusting Black women in their work, and how having Black women at the technology leadership level helps to create positive learning experiences for students.
Instructional activities and strategies employed include an lecture session and a question and answer portion at the end of the session.
Evidence of success will be measured during the session through the following ways:
-Application of conceptual understanding
-Application of strategies
-"Follow-through" with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives
When you have employees of color--especially Black women--it’s important to take their expertise and dialogue into account to ensure that educational technology is inclusive and equitable. In this session, we’ll begin by doing a welcome and introduction of the presenters. That will take 5 minutes of time. Then, we will share our expertise on how we have (and have not been) included in crucial leadership conversations around educational technology. This will take around 10 minutes. After that, we will talk about the importance of including Black women as part of crucial technology leadership conversations for 10 minutes. We will share strategies for including Black women in leadership conversations as well as how this directly relates to education as a whole, and how leaders can help use these conversations to help educators design and implement a variety of activities and assessments for students that highlight multiple communities and identities for 20 minutes. The last 10 minutes of the session will be Q&A.
The audience will be engaged through Q&A and frequent chances to interact with the presenters by asking questions and giving input from their own experiences.
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1136&context=msit_diss - The Lived Experiences of Black Women Faculty in the
Instructional Technology Professoriate
https://www.techlearning.com/news/racism-in-technology-leadership-a-black-womans-experience - https://www.techlearning.com/news/racism-in-technology-leadership-a-black-womans-experience
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED533550.pdf - The Underrepresentation of African American Female Students
in STEM Fields: Implications for Classroom Teachers
https://news.elearninginside.com/racial-diversity-edtech-explore-just-companies-black-latinx-founders/ - Racial Diversity in EdTech: Starting With Founders
https://www.edutopia.org/article/why-black-teachers-walk-away - Why Black Teachers Walk Away
Alicia Sewell is a Professional Development Specialist for Five Star Technology Solutions. Before Five Star, Alicia was an Instructional Technology Specialist and Instructional Technology Coach for Tuscaloosa City Schools where she also taught grades PreK-1st. Alicia has a BS and MEd in Elementary Education with a certification in Early Childhood Education. She also has an EdS in Educational Technology. She is earning a Social-Emotional Learning & Character Education in Leadership certification and is a doctoral student. She enjoys kickboxing, traveling, reading, and spending time in places where she doesn’t have to fake a smile.Alicia Sewell is a Professional Development Specialist for Five Star Technology Solutions. Before joining Five Star, Alicia was an Instructional Technology Specialist and Instructional Technology Coach for Tuscaloosa City Schools. Alicia has also taught grades Kindergarten, first, and PreKindergarten within five years for Tuscaloosa City Schools. Alicia has an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Technology from Boise State University where she will begin her doctoral journey in August. Currently, Alicia is earning her Social-Emotional Learning and Character Education in Leadership certification from St. Elizabeth and Rutgers University. She has a Bachelor's and Master’s in Elementary Education with a certification in Early Childhood Education.
Victoria Thompson is a Education Industry Executive, K-12 at Microsoft and education technology consultant from Tacoma, WA. She is passionate about empowering teachers and students to use technology purposefully and leads professional development for technology integration in math education, decolonizing STEM curriculum, using technology to create inclusive classrooms, and project-based learning as a vehicle for equity. During her free time you can find her at Walt Disney World with her wife, Kourtney, or taking her dog, Ren, on a walk.
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