2008 Hawaii State Department of Education E-School Conference

Now in its 11th year, the 2008 E-School Conference will be held at the Hawaii Convention Center on March 11 & 12, 2008 from 7:30AM to 4:00PM. The annual conference is hosted by the Hawaii Department of Education (HDOE) E-School and its purpose is to share innovative ideas and projects that integrate technology into instruction and to build a global community of learners.

E-School students and teachers, as well as schools and educators from the HDOE global learning community, will showcase student work, curriculum integration and technology in education. With over 1,500 participants yearly from Hawaii, California, Washington, Japan, and the Pacific Islands, this year’s conference is sure not to disappoint.

Exhibitor presentations and workshops as well as keynote speakers will provide the education community information on the latest hardware, software, services and trends in the world of education technology.

In preparation for this year’s conference, Hawaii State Department of Education staff and educators have composed several short articles, centered on this year’s conference theme: “Building a Community of Learners.” These articles, which can be found in this special section of Pacific News Bytes, include the following: 

• Reflections of E-School Conference 2007
• Teaching the Millennial Student
• Project Inspire: Inspiring Educators to Meet Technology Standards
• School Libraries Fulfill Their Destiny
• Online Educations Resources
• Hawaii Networked Learning Communities
• E-Portfolios
• Computer Application Training Workshops
• E-School: Bigger Bytes Ahead in Digital Communication

We here at Pacific News Bytes place great importance on the role that technology plays in education. It is paramount to nurture the state’s young minds on the notion that they will one day be the future of technological innovation in Hawaii. It is on this belief that we continue our relationship with the HDOE as they present “Building a Community of Learners 2008” and we hope to see you at the conference!

Reflections: “Building a Community of Learners 2007”

Student emcees for E-School Conference 2007

Each year, E-School students are selected as the emcees for the Annual E-School Conference.  The students are chosen by their site facilitator and with the approval of the E-School Registrar.  For the last two years, the students have both come from Kohala High School on the Big Island.  Ron Nakahara and Dean Snelling have emceed the E-School Conference together for the past two years   and have taken advantage of E-School courses offered online. 

Ron Nakahara graduated from Kohala High School this past June.  He is currently a freshman at Washington State University, where he is planning to major in computer science and has been very active with the Hawaii Club.