| | DECEMBER 20198CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONTECHNOLOGY ENABLED LEARNING By Elizabeth Riddle Hoover, Chief Technology Officer, Alexandria City Public SchoolsOver my 25 year career with the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS), much has changed. Our school system has doubled in size to nearly 16,000 students. We now welcome students from 114 different countries, support 119 native languages and provide free and reduced meals to 61 percent of our student population. But, I dare say, nothing has evolved more than technology in the classroom. When I began my career as an elementary school teacher, my school was one of the first four in the Division to be connected to the Internet. Each teacher was provided a desktop computer and a laptop but technology was not yet a part of the conversation and certainly not as holistically from Kindergarten to graduation as it is today. As most teachers know, a classroom is truly a two-way street for learning. As we began to see small-scale technology integration, it was these moments that allowed me to glimpse the possibilities and see the opportunity technology could unlock. My passion for this was ignited when I was a graduate student working with fourth graders to develop autobiographies. I gave my students the opportunity to use multimedia software, MicroWorlds, to publish their work. It was amazing to see how the non-textual tools of multimedia enabled students to incorporate their own cultural, social or personal relevance in their work. This platform had created a level playing field and opened up a creative channel we had not otherwise tapped into. When I moved out of the classroom and into positions that supported teachers' use of technology, I decided to pursue my PhD and ultimately completed my dissertation on teachers' use of technology for their own professional learning. I am so thankful for the support I have received throughout my career but certainly in my early years, when I had many supportive
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