About+the+Author

Patricia Roberts Educational Technology Consultant Email: p1roberts@mac.com
 * [[image:Pat_copy.jpg width="126" height="94"]]Who I am...**

I am a retired educator who plans to continue to make a difference in the way teachers and students interact. I have many years in education and enjoyed most of those years working with students, teachers and technology. After retiring, I decided I wanted to continue to share my knowledge and experience with teachers and technology. In this way, I believe I can make a difference.

Retirement usually indicates one is getting older, but to me, it is a time that allows exploration of new experiences that will continue to strengthen and enrich my knowledge of educational technology, shaping what I know and what I can do to help others. After all those wonderful years in education, I find that there is still much to learn. My love of learning and working with students and teachers in the educational technology world is what drives me to seek more opportunities to share my knowledge with others.

As a classroom teacher, I learned that I, too, was a student who needed to listen, learn, collaborate with and lead students in the pursuit of their education. As a teacher of gifted and special education students, I learned that all students can learn, but do so in different ways. As a technology director, I learned that every day brings exciting new ways for us as leaders to help all students, be they young or old, learn to use their strengths for learning, and to increase their knowledge and skills in ways that make sense to them.

Therefore, through professional development opportunities, I specialize in bringing the excitement of learning to each new experience. Meaningful learning is paramount in helping teachers understand the importance of engaging students in the learning process. Within the bounds of today’s available technology, teachers must be prepared to include various technologies in their instructional strategies. Helping teachers gain familiarity and comfort with tools for learning are essential to building a successful relationship between students, teachers, home and the global world in which we live and work. To that end, professional development offered through my services aim to bring technology proficiency to new levels as well as to combine that knowledge with effective instructional strategies. Teachers who are technologically proficient will make a difference in their schools and with their students .