Technology is changing the development of children, changing the means by which they interact with their world, and consequently educators are duty-bound to respond to meet the needs of the kids before them.  The iMET program became my path to relevancy.  Despite my own personal commitment to technology use and innovation in my teaching practice, I desired the tools to lead others in technology, meanwhile sharpening my vision for emerging technologies and their applications in education.

While the face-to-screen relationship with technology can be an isolating experience, the iMET cohort model is a demonstration-in-practice of how technology can create community to forge ideas and solve problems while meeting common goals.  The applications and tools change rapidly, but the goal of building knowledge while creating community remains a human constant.  Together with my fellow Nines, we discovered how to convert the solo experience into one of building community on-line.  Significant, the electronic relationship we shared was grounded in a carefully designed face-to-face moderated by our excellent instructors, former iMET grads themselves, along with Director John Cowan.

iMET ceased being an academic exercise when the school in which I taught was unjustly closed. My new-found technology skills found traction in our efforts to establish our school as a K-6 technology magnet school in opposition to the closure.  The Valley Oak Charter School effort was not only supported by the technology, but became the research focus for colleague and fellow iMET Niner Karen Luke and me.  That an academic course of study should so readily articulate and support the immediate demands of a street-level professional and political crisis is testament to the quality of the program and its leadership.  iMET has been a great pleasure, and I am proud to be one of its graduates.