Tarleton State University was one of two universities that were given a $100,000 grant to host the Collaborative Regional Education (CORE) Academy.

The grant that Tarleton received will be used to fund a two-and-a-half-day professional development conference. Unlike other conferences, this one will not be made up of vendors attempting to sell their product, but rather educators, from Pre-K through higher education and student presentations. People, who understand educators and are on their level, helping them discover different ways to include technology in the classrooms.

The Tarleton CORE program has 10 teachers total, six treatment and four control teachers, with the total numbers of iPads received around 120 along with MacBooks and a teacher iPad in the classrooms. The teachers receive professional development every two week as part of the national grant placed in rural school districts.

“It started in Jacksonville State University in Alabama. They wrote a ten million-dollar federal grant to fund putting technology in the hands of students in rural school districts,” stated Julie Ward, assistant professor of Curriculum and Instruction,

After Jacksonville received a grant, studies were formed, which lead to the development of the academy. “It’s just a big professional development conference,” Ward explained.

Because Tarleton participated in this national grant, they were able to apply to facilitate their own CORE academy.

“We’re going to canvas for proposals all around the area and from afar, so we’re hoping for four to six hundred attendees,” Ward said.

The City of Stephenville is surrounded by both large and small school districts; Ward believes a good combination of the two will be attending.

“We don’t just want to put technology in the hands of kids, we want to also integrate technology to the teachers, professional development, so that they are able to integrate that technology effectively,” Ward stated.

Tarleton is partnering with Stephenville ISD for the conference and taking their own approach with it. They are excited to collaborate and bring together great ideas to effectively help teachers integrate technology into their classrooms.

The conference will be held in August 2017 and is open to majors who are a part of the College of Education and those who teach and integrate technology in their lessons. Not only are they invited to attend, but also to propose a presentation if they have any ideas on how to engage students through technology.

Preparations for the conference in August are already being made, with a surprise national guest speaker. Visit here more information about the CORE program.