Exciting changes have come to Iowa’s AEA system this summer.
On July 1, Green Valley AEA and Loess Hills AEA officially merged to become Green Hills AEA. Go to the Green Hills AEA website at www.ghaea.org to learn more about the newly formed agency. This merger brings the number of AEAs to nine from the 15 that were originally founded in 1975. Click here to download the updated AEA map broken out by counties, and click here to download a general AEA map.
Four AEAs also have new chief administrators. Three began their tenures with their agencies on July 1, while Jeff Herzberg was hired at Prairie Lakes on July 1. These new chief administrators bring leadership skills and a depth of knowledge of education that will positively impact their AEAs and the AEA system for years to come.
Roark Horn
AEA 267
Roark Horn comes to AEA 267 after being the superintendent of the Hudson Community School District near Waterloo, a position he held for three years. He was previously the superintendent of the Northeast Hamilton Community Schools and a principal, teacher and coach for the Jesup Community Schools. He is currently studying for his doctoral degree at the University of Northern Iowa.
Lane Plugge
Green Hills AEA
Dr. Lane Plugge comes to Green Hills AEA after being the superintendent of the Iowa City Public School District, a position he held from 1999-2010. His prior experience includes seven years as the superintendent of the Grand Island (Nebr.) Public Schools as well as five years as the assistant superintendent in the same district. He was also the superintendent of the Fairbury (Nebr.) Public Schools for two years. Dr. Plugge earned his bachelor’s degree at Dana College, his master’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and his doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
Paula Vincent
Heartland AEA
Dr. Paula Vincent comes to Heartland AEA after being the superintendent of the Clear Creek Amana Community School District near Iowa City. She was previously the associate superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District, director of special education at Grant Wood AEA and a classroom teacher in suburban Kansas City and rural Iowa. Dr. Vincent received her bachelor’s degree from McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, and her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Iowa.
Jeff Herzberg
Prairie Lakes AEA
Jeff Herzberg comes to Prairie Lakes AEA after being the superintendent of the Sibley-Ocheyedan Community School District in far northwest Iowa. He has previously held positions as high school principal at Iowa Falls-Alden High School, junior/senior high principal at Anita High School and associate high school principal at Webster City High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern College in Orange City and a master’s degree from Iowa State University. He is in the process of completing his doctorate from Iowa State.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Iowa’s AEAs to Provide K-12 Schools With Google’s Online Tools
The AEAs are entering into an exciting agreement with Google to provide all K-12 schools in Iowa with free access to Google Apps for Education. Our state’s 550,000 students and educators will have the opportunity to be connected to a common e-mail, chat and calendar system (Gmail), cloud collaboration tools (Google Docs & Groups) and multimedia tools (Google Sites & Video) that will enable them to work together and learn more effectively. AEAs are also eligible to use these tools. Google announced its agreement with Iowa at the International Society for Technology in Education Conference on June 28 in Denver.
Iowa will be only the third state in the nation (Oregon was the first, Colorado was the second) to provide these innovative tools to its schools. Iowa, however, will be the first to provide the tools to both public and non-public schools and to provide trained consultants to work with each school.
AEA consultants will receive formal certification in Google Apps and participate in hands-on training. Consultants will then apply this training to help teachers in their local schools learn how to use Google Apps effectively in the classroom. In addition, the consultants will be just an e-mail or a phone call away to answer questions or to follow-up with implementation advice. Students and educators will be able to begin using their new tools as the 2010-2011 school year gets underway.
Schools are able to choose whether they want to opt-in to the initiative. Those that do will see a savings in their IT budgets, and most importantly, will be teaching students the skills they’ll need to use these types of digital tools in the workplace.
“We know this will be a great partnership between the AEAs and our local schools,” Brent Siegrist, Director of AEA Services, said. “Our schools already have established relationships with our consultants and trust their expertise with technology. There may be many schools that are already using Google Apps, but they can now be formally trained to use them and have consistency across their districts.”
If you receive questions about Google Apps from school personnel, let them know the information above, and that each AEA will have two or three consultants who will be assigned to be Google Apps trainers/contacts. Those consultants’ names will be announced when they are confirmed.
In the meantime, if you have any major questions about the AEA/Google agreement, contact Andy Crozier, Coordinator of Digital Learning Technology at Grant Wood AEA, at acrozier@aea10.k12.ia.us.
Iowa will be only the third state in the nation (Oregon was the first, Colorado was the second) to provide these innovative tools to its schools. Iowa, however, will be the first to provide the tools to both public and non-public schools and to provide trained consultants to work with each school.
AEA consultants will receive formal certification in Google Apps and participate in hands-on training. Consultants will then apply this training to help teachers in their local schools learn how to use Google Apps effectively in the classroom. In addition, the consultants will be just an e-mail or a phone call away to answer questions or to follow-up with implementation advice. Students and educators will be able to begin using their new tools as the 2010-2011 school year gets underway.
Schools are able to choose whether they want to opt-in to the initiative. Those that do will see a savings in their IT budgets, and most importantly, will be teaching students the skills they’ll need to use these types of digital tools in the workplace.
“We know this will be a great partnership between the AEAs and our local schools,” Brent Siegrist, Director of AEA Services, said. “Our schools already have established relationships with our consultants and trust their expertise with technology. There may be many schools that are already using Google Apps, but they can now be formally trained to use them and have consistency across their districts.”
If you receive questions about Google Apps from school personnel, let them know the information above, and that each AEA will have two or three consultants who will be assigned to be Google Apps trainers/contacts. Those consultants’ names will be announced when they are confirmed.
In the meantime, if you have any major questions about the AEA/Google agreement, contact Andy Crozier, Coordinator of Digital Learning Technology at Grant Wood AEA, at acrozier@aea10.k12.ia.us.
Correction to Sheila King’s Title
In last week’s Connection, Sheila King’s title was listed as Executive Director of District Services; it should be Executive Director of District Partnerships.
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