Staff Development = Education Advocates
What are Education Advocates? Education Advocates (called Education Directors in the Southwest) are experts at incorporating technology into learning environments. Education Advocates are former classroom teachers and librarians. The Advocates are employed by the AT&T family of companies to support our education customers use of Internet and videoconferencing by providing customized training, hands-on workshops, and instructional materials. They can provide inservice training, staff development, conference presentations, technology planning assistance, or "in-kind" donations for grant proposals. They work closely with their local sales account managers to put you in touch with someone who can help you make informed decisions about telecommunications and technology. Education Advocates are available in California and in the southwest states of Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas.

Why do we do it?
What happens once the computers are out of boxes, the wiring's pulled through conduit, and you're fully networked? Often you're left on your own with no training or strategic support! We realized a long time ago that simply providing access in the form of high speed digital lines was not enough to assure the successful integration of technology into the classroom and library. Teachers and librarians had enough to do just getting the technology in place. Few had time to consider what to do with it once it was working. In response, we hired a small team of Application Designers to create compelling and easy to use online lessons and activities so that teachers and librarians would not have to create their own. While these applications were an immediate success; we felt we could do a better job of supporting teachers and librarians. In 1996, we hired technology-savvy teachers to demonstrate how these lessons and activities can be incorporated into the classroom and library.

As of early 2002, the Education Advocates had provided training and support to almost 80,000 teachers and librarians within the state of California. Visiting that many facilities and talking with that many people gives the Advocates invaluable insight. We no longer maintain a count of the number of participants attending our training; but why not join the tens of thousands of your colleagues who have already received a free helping hand?

Take a look at our regional map to see which Education Advocate is near you!