MEMBER PROFILE Carla Jefferson is a leader on educator PD and digital equity, with a goal of preparing learners for a technology-rich world.
Carla Jefferson She’s focused on helping educators understand the power of technology By Jerry Fingal
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EMPOWERED LEARNER
W hen Carla Jefferson became the edtech coordinator for Darlington County Schools in South Carolina in 2015, she was posed a challenge: How can the district get teachers where they need to be with technology? It came at a time when Darlington schools were well on their way to providing devices for all their students. It also came on the heels of the nation’s recovery from the Great Recession, when school budgets tightened and professional development funds dried up. “Unless you were paying out of your own pocket for technology (training), you weren’t getting those kinds of experiences,” she says. “The question was how can we bring those experiences to our district?” Jefferson’s answer was to create a professional development event modeled on the ISTE conference. In 2015, the Darlington County Digital Transformation Conference was born. Jefferson likens the conference to smaller events put on by ISTE state affiliates. There are sessions led by teachers, edtech experts and vendor representatives. There’s a playground where participants can try out devices and software, and a blogger’s café where participants can practice new skills with informal help. The conference occurs one day a year before school starts in the fall and attracts more than 600
educators. And it meets the state’s requirement for teacher tech training. Teachers are also asked to submit a portfolio with their best digital lesson that implements the 4C’s – collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. From those portfolios, teachers are encouraged to be presenters at the conference. The conference is the centerpiece of the district’s tech integration efforts. But Jefferson and two colleagues work year-round to bring edtech to classrooms. Darlington County Schools is a rural district with 23 schools, 10,500 students and 1,000 staff members; 87% of students qualify for free and reduced-priced lunches. This year, the district rolled out a 1:1 program, a goal the district has had in its sights since 2012. For Jefferson, it’s not just about the technology. “For me, it’s all about improving the lives of children,” she says. “The way I do that now is through improving the skill sets of teachers and helping them better understand the power of technology.” In addition to the conference, Jefferson started the Digital Transformation Academy where she and her colleagues work with a core of teachers at each school to build capacity for using edtech.
