Dr. Pamela Moran Receives International Society’s 2018 Award for Leadership in Enhancing the 21st Century Classroom

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), an organization of more than 16,500 educational leaders from 126 different countries, has selected Dr. Pamela R. Moran as one of two Virginia recipients of its prestigious Making IT Happen achievement award for 2018.

The Society notes that “rapid advances in technology have had a profound impact on the ways in which we work, communicate and live, but education has struggled to keep pace.” The Society’s mission is to support “a framework for rethinking education and adapting it to a constantly changing technological landscape in order to prepare students to enter an increasingly global economy.”

“Pam Moran’s vision and leadership have transformed the learning environment as we know it. She understands how technology can support and enhance the 21st century classroom,” said Karen Richardson, the Executive Director of ISTE’s Virginia affiliate.

In its announcement of the award recipients, the Virginia Society for Technology in Education said that, under Dr. Moran’s leadership, Albemarle County Public Schools “has developed a nationally recognized maker curriculum and opened one of the first CoderDojo Academies where the focus is on teaching computer coding and science skills to students. Albemarle County Public Schools is a member of the League of Innovative Schools, a nonprofit organization authorized by the U.S. Congress to accelerate innovation in education.”

Founded in 1995, the Making IT Happen award highlights the dramatic role that educators are having in the learning process through the use of technology. Previous recipients have included a former U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, and as well as legislators, state governors, school superintendents, principals, and teachers.

Also receiving the Making IT Happen award is Dr. Jan Streich, Executive Director of Learning and Organizational Development for Stafford County Public Schools.

Dr. Moran is a leading advocate of an educational model that prepares students, as she says, “for success in their century, not mine.” She emphasizes the value of student-led research, project-based learning, and contemporary learning environments that promote collaboration, creativity, analytical problem-solving, critical thinking, and communications competencies.

A member of the Maker Ed Educator Advisory Committee, Dr. Moran has delivered several TED Talks on the impact of creating a contemporary learning environment for students. She has appeared on the cover of Education Week’s Digital Directions magazine as a national “mover and shaker” for her advocacy of a curricular digital integration model. She also was selected by eSchool News for its Tech Savvy Superintendent Award, and under her leadership, the school division received the Virginia Governor’s Tech Innovation Award.

A participant on social media since 2009, Dr. Moran’s Twitter account (@pammoran) has more than 18,500 followers. She has tweeted more than 107,000 times on such topics as innovative educational practices and policies in classrooms and school divisions all over the world.

In an October profile that appeared in Charlottesville Tomorrow, Dr. Moran noted, “Our kids have to learn how to be on the playground that we call social media, and how to … use those tools responsibly. If we as educators do not put ourselves in a position to understand those tools by using them ourselves, it puts us at a disadvantage in helping our young people.”

“The spirit of the Making IT Happen award supports our vision of a world in which all learners thrive, achieve and contribute,” Richardson said.