70822 50 Year Arizona Transformations
Submitted by Ted on Wed, 2007/10/31 - 2:56pm.
Ursula Schwarz of Tucson director@nmm.net of Tucson is running the 29th National Media Market in the Mesa Hilton on October 7 to 11th 2007. The universe of media enterprises for your eLearningi needs will be on our doorstep. Check it out www.nmm.net.
Update:
eSATSi has made excellent progress this summer in preparing for our next advocacy push. We official launched our new advocacy focused website in June and it will have itsi new skin in a few weeks. Two five minute animated videos are being made, one that focuses on how K-12 eLearning works and why Arizona should take the plunge, and the other how eSATS systems design will accomplish the transformationi in three years. We are have daily meetingsi with supporting organizations and legislators to garner support, which will continue through November. Our redesign of eSATS that is based on the 2003 initial design has completed the strategic planning and econometric modeling phase. The 10 page redesign report will be out by mid September. The past four years has been a rich learning experience with significant changes that support eSATS such as the 21st Century school design by the School Facilities Board. Don’t forget to invest 15 minutes to critique John Aldrich and Ron Passarelli draft of the 21st Century Schools Recommendations www.tinyurl.com/2rcbr7.
Arizona is growing, but this is not news to anyone. Yesterday it really hit home. Over the past 20 years I have had numerous meetings at the Salt River Project’s modest, single story administration building in a desert setting on Project Drive. Yesterday I could hardly find it within the massive complex of hi-rise buildings. Sitting I the familiar lobby I thought about Arizona’s real transformations.
In the first half of the 1990’s it was hydraulic innovations that delivered water from the massive dams through SRP canals that created our agricultural economy.
The second half of the 1990’s was driven by a company about one mile west of SRP on Washington Street: Goettl Air Conditioning. They introduced evaporative coolers and then air conditioners that transformed Arizona’s economy once again.
So here we sit in the early 21st century, wondering where we go next. What innovation in infrastructure will transform Arizona once again? We are a unique state in that we are one of the few that is fresh and young, and has a history of astounding growth and transformation. Incrementalism will not serve Arizona well in the next couple of decades. Our governance, education and business communities have a sense of this need to build a third great infrastructure. We have good success with broad band telecommunications which started its surge ten years ago. With a successful Broadbandi Authority strategy Arizona will complete its rural rollout in a few years.
But we need an innovation much more powerful and unique, to match the Arizona pioneers of the past century. And to no surprise to prior readers of this blog --- that transformation will be the eLearning system adoption within all Arizona K-12 classrooms statewide.
