My name is Ed Dickenson and I currently serve as the district instructional technologist. I have been with White Pigeon for 15 years and prior to my assignment this year, I was a classroom teacher in the 5th and 6th grades and also taught English at the Middle School. I am a graduate of White Pigeon High School myself and completed my undergraduate degree at Adrian College in 1995.
I began integrating technology into my classroom my first year with the district. We started with one computer in the building that was connected to the Internet through dial-up service. We've made many strides since then! As an annual attendee of the state technology conference, I have been able to share knowledge with our district staff as we were able to increase our available technology to the students. In 2010, I was asked to help with the planning of the elementary technology lab and was able to have a large impact on technology for our K-5 students. Central Elementary now has a 30 station Dell desktop lab, an iPod lab, digital cameras, document cameras, Wii gaming devices, and many other tools.
In my current role, I assist teachers with using the various digital tools we have available to enhance the learning already taking place in the classrooms. Students are now able to express themselves with much more variety than ever before. Teachers at Central are using technology in new ways each and every day. We are proud to be among the technology leaders in St. Joe County.
While I continue to take part in workshops and conferences focusing on technology, I am also a student at Grand Valley State University. I am earning my M. Ed. in Educational Leadership and plan to be complete by March 2012.
