Technology Headlines
STI Helps Educators Transform Classroom Practice
STI — Tuesday, September 27, 2011
New Offering from STI Achievement Services, i21 Zone, Helps Schools More Effectively Utilize the Technology They Already Have To Improve Student Learning While Maximizing Investments
Mobile, Ala. (Sept. 27, 2011) – Facing one of the toughest education funding crises in decades, schools and districts are looking to streamline operations and maximize their return on investments without sacrificing student learning. STI, a leading provider of education data management solutions, is offering i21 Zone, a new professional development service designed to help schools more effectively integrate their existing technologies into daily instructional practices to improve student engagement and achievement.
STI’s i21 Zone offering provides schools and districts with a customized technology integration plan that helps teachers transform their classrooms into dynamic interactive learning environments, personalized to student’s individual learning needs, using the technologies that are already available to them. Schools capitalize on their investments while improving student outcomes. Using research-based instructional strategies as a framework, STI's i21 Zone trainers help teachers integrate existing technologies in ways that deepen students’ understanding of the content and enable learners to hone 21st century skills. i21 Zone trainers model instructional practices and collaborate with school leaders to ensure effective technology integration. Technology use is viewed a tool to facilitate learning rather than an add-on or replacement.
“In our digitally driven world, students expect an engaging learning environment in which they use technology to communicate, collaborate, and create,” said Ruby McCullough, CEO of STI. “Our i21 Zone professional development services enable schools to build capacity and share knowledge around best practices for technology use to meet students’ needs.”
Research shows technology integration can increase the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction when teachers are provided with job-embedded professional development and modeling of teaching methods. i21 Zone trainers work closely with teachers and school administrators to customize the professional development program based on their needs. The trainers identify instructional strengths and weaknesses and develop lessons that align technology use with curriculum goals. To provide ongoing, collaborative support to teachers, i21 trainers observe and model classroom practices, and guide teachers in reflection and lesson planning.
STI Achievement Services, the company’s professional development division, offers assistance in planning and executing instructional change to improve student achievement. The company provides customized programs of face-to-face and online professional development and coaching for educators, using best practices, research-based strategies, and data-driven decision-making. STI Achievement Services is led by a team of skilled school improvement specialists who are veteran educators with extensive experience in education data analysis, instructional design, and the school improvement field.
For more information on STI products and services, go to www.sti-k12.com.
About STI
STI is a leading provider of Education Data Management solutions to the K-12 public and private school market. STI’s fully integrated suite of Web-based products addresses attendance, scheduling, discipline, grade reporting, state reporting, financial management, student health, parent/teacher communications, special education, formative assessment, and data mining. Additionally, STI offers a comprehensive program of professional development services to help administrators and teachers with school improvement initiatives such as developing data-driven response-to-intervention and formative assessment programs. More than 6,000 schools in 50 states and several countries use STI solutions. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Mobile, Ala. For more information, phone 800-844-0884 or visit www.sti-k12.com.
