About Kari
Dr. Kari Stubbs is the Director of Professional Development for ePals, Inc. In November, 2006 she was recognized by the National School Boards Association as one of “20 to Watch” rising leaders in the field of educational technology. She is also a recipient of the Making it Happen Award, and was the National Teacher Training Institute Teacher of the Year in 1997.
Dr. Kari Stubbs earned her PhD in Curriculum from the University of Kansas, where she received a graduate fellowship. She was also recognized as a P.E.O. Scholar.
Dr. Stubbs has worked with the University of Kansas, ePals, ALTEC, Baker University, Blue Valley School District, and Kansas City Public Television. Her career highlights include presentations at national and regional conferences, such as NECC, NSBA T+L, NSDC, National Association of Elementary School Principals, Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, Kansas Annual Conference, and Mid America Computers in Education. She was the senior project coordinator of the Title IID initiative in Kansas.
Dr. Stubbs is headed to China where she'll get a first hand glimpse of the use of technology in education a world away from Kansas!
She will spend time in Beijing to see the Great Wall and gain a general overview of education in China. She will then travel to Guiyang for the remainder of her forum sessions, site visits, and cultural activities.
The inclusion of Guiyang, a much more rural area of China, will allow for hands-on school visits, meetings with teachers from even more remote areas of Guizhou Province, and a true feel for what life in “real China” is like.
While the internet and World Wide Web have helped all facets of society reach out to our global neighbors efficiently and instantaneously, no sector of our society has more potential for fundamental transformation than education, particularly our K-12 schools. The rapid adoption of Web 2.0 technologies has created a truly global community. To paraphrase the acclaimed author Thomas L. Friedman, “the world really is flat.”
Over the past several years the education technology community has worked hard to build a network of organizations and individuals that believe in the potential of transforming schools through uses of technology and innovative instructional practices. If we wish this to be a truly global, inclusive community, we must extend our work to other countries, particularly those that have cultures and education systems very different from ours.
The goal of this delegation is to explore the uses of educational technology in the classrooms of China. Not only is China the world’s most populous country, it is one of the most innovative and hard-working cultures in the world. With a deep cultural history as a backdrop, China is poised to become a leading country on many fronts in a world in which innovation and rapid pace of change are essential for success. Chinese educators are eager to share their practices and it is expected that acquaintances made during this delegation could begin professional relationships that will have a lasting impact.