Blue Ridge Intermediate Junior High to Participate in Annual TECH 2017 Technology Demonstration at the Illinois State Capitol on May 9, 2017.
The annual “Students for the Information Age” TECH 2017 event will be held on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 from 9:30am-11:30am and from 1pm-3pm at the Illinois State Capitol Building in Springfield where hundreds of students and teachers will represent schools from throughout the state.
At the event, students will show the public and members of the Illinois State Senate and House of Representatives how technology is being used in the classroom to increase student engagement and improve achievement. From elementary to the high school classrooms, TECH 2017 highlights the crucial role that technology plays in education — ranging from increases in collaboration and critical thinking, to promoting learning beyond the limits of the school day — by creating a space for students to share their learning and innovative uses of devices, the internet, and digital curriculum.
Taking part in the demonstrations locally from 9:30am-11:30am are three 8th grade students from Blue Ridge Intermediate Junior High: Steven Kollross, Juniper Geralds, and Hannah Cole. They will showcase their project entitled Digital Bytes.
The purpose of TECH 2017 is to raise awareness of the critical role technology plays in preparing students to succeed in today’s world, and to show the need for increased funding for classroom technology. Students will demonstrate for lawmakers and the public the creative ways technology is being used to enhance and accelerate student achievement in Illinois schools today.
According to TECH 2017 Co-Chair, Tim McIlvain, “Personal devices, the internet, and digital content are the enabling tools of the modern learning environment, expanding the boundaries of the classroom while promising to transform all aspects of learning: teachers, students, and parents are provided access to tools and resources that promote accountability, communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking; digital resources and curriculum offer dynamic, engaging, and affordable content to enhance or even replace traditional print-based resources; and blended and flipped classrooms extend the classroom beyond the limits of the school day, promoting increased student-centered and self-directed learning opportunities that put educational resources directly into the hands of students.”
TECH 2017 is a not-for- profit initiative presented by Illinois Computing Educators (ICE), and is supported by a broad range of education and business organizations. Corporate Platinum Plus partners are CDW-G and Comcast Business.
