Running for ISTE Board Position - School Administrator Seat

Fellow Educator,

My name is Bryan O’Black and I currently serve as the Director of Technology for the Shaler Area School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The reason for my email is regarding the ISTE Board of Directors Election. Several months back I submitted an application to be considered for the final slate of candidates for a two year term on the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Board of Directors. Over one month ago I recieved a call from Dr. Helen Padgett, ISTE’s President notifying me that I have been selected as one of two candidates for the School Administrator position on the Board.

I would like to ask for you support as a fellow Young Educator in my quest to serve on ISTE’s Board as I think that this would be a great opportunity to not only represent the ISTE organization but it would also be a true testament to the hard work that the United States and our fellow International members have been doing on incorporating the overall goals of the ISTE and National Educational Technology Standards. Working with you and the other members of the ISTE Board would be not only a tremendous professional development opportunity but also a way to be certain that school in the United States and Internationally are informed of trends occurring in other states.

I currently serve the ISTE organization as Communications Director for the ISTE SIGTC (Special Interest Group for Technology Coordinators) also served as a National Program Review Chair for the ISTE 2010 Conference in Denver, CO.

If I were to be chosen to serve on the ISTE Board of Directors, I would activity represent fellow educators, Technology Directors, Instructional Technology Specialists and school personal who work with technology on a daily basis. These individuals have an enormous task ahead of them as we continue to utilize technology as a means for creating effective and efficient classrooms and as the leading organization for educational technology we must continue to provide research based materials, quality professional development opportunities and a wide range of resources for our active members.

A primary goal of mine as a fellow member of ISTE will be to keep the organization as transparent as possible to the greater membership and solicit input into the operation, activities and initiatives that are being considered by the Board of Directors. Through an effective communication and collaboration model the Board of Directors will have the opportunity to better the organization and provide a strategic direction that meets the needs of the greater educational community.

ISTE elections will take place from March 14 – April 12, 2010 via the ISTE Website (www.iste.org). You must have an active membership with ISTE to vote.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Again, I appreciate your support in my quest to serve the ISTE organization!

Take care,

Bryan O'Black

ISTE Board of Directors Candidate (School Administrator)

ISTE SIGTC Communications Director