Linda Roberts

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I would describe my love affair with technology as dating back to 1968, when I was a classroom teacher in Oakridge, Tennessee, and I had the chance to come to New York City to help design a new television program that would be both entertaining and educational, and, as history shows, that was Sesame Street. I helped work on the cognitive underpinnings, the curriculum underpinnings, for Sesame Street and then The Electric Company, and that was my first foray into technology. (Linda Roberts)


New information, not yet integrated into the document. Email received 7/8/09.

Dear SIGTE Members,

The big news at NECC this year is that a National Educational Technology Plan is being developed by the U.S. Department of Education with support from the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International, a nonprofit research organization (spearheaded by Linda Roberts, past Director of Technology for the USDoE). The ISTE Leadership Symposium was attended by over 300 leading administrators, teachers, technology coordinators, policymakers, and researchers in our field. Together they contributed to the beginning content of this plan.

VERY IMPORTANT! Between now and July 12 your input is being solicited. Please follow these steps: go to https://edtechfuture.org Click on Register to create an account. You will receive a confirmation email. Click on the link in the email to continue. Log in with your username and password. Click on Participate > NECC Brainstorming There are 5 areas you can review. Once you are in one of the areas click on the comment link to review comments or leave a comment.

Your perspective is critical. Please take some time to contribute to this most important, far-reaching plan.

Sincerely, Teresa Foulger SIGTE Communications Officer http://sigte.iste.wikispaces.net/


Introduction

See a 3 1/2 minute video (Meeting the Challenge; June 11, 2008) of Linda Roberts.

Linda Roberts.jpeg
Linda Roberts is best known for her outstanding achievements while working for the U.S. Federal Government.
  • Roberts was a Project Director and Senior Associate with the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), where she headed up three major assessments on educational technology: Power on! New Tools for Teaching and Learning, Linking for Learning: A New Course for Education, and Adult Literacy and New Technologies: Learning for a Lifetime.
  • She was the Director of the Office of Educational Technology from September 1993 to January 2001. While in the Department of Education, she developed the first National Technology Plan, launched five new technology programs for the Clinton Administration, and increased the Federal technology budget from $30 million to over $900 million annually. She played a key role in the development of the E-RATE, a $2.25 billion program to bring the Internet and advanced telecommunications to the Nation’s schools and libraries.
  • While Director of the Office of Educational Technology. she also served a Senior Adviser on Technology to the Secretary of Education. As Senior Adviser on Technology, Dr. Roberts represented the Secretary on interagency committees and was also a member of the White House educational technology working group.

Early History

  • Bachelors of Science from Cornell University (1962)
  • Master of Education from Harvard University (1963)
  • Doctor of Education from the University of Tennessee (1963)

Roberts' career started in 1962 when she was an elementary classroom teacher and reading specialist in Ithaca, NY and Brookline, MA. She later taught elementary, secondary and adult reading programs in Oak Ridge, TN and then joined the faculties of the University of Tennessee and Lincoln Memorial University.

Here is a repeat of the quote given at the beginning of this document.

I would describe my love affair with technology as dating back to 1968, when I was a classroom teacher in Oakridge, Tennessee, and I had the chance to come to New York City to help design a new television program that would be both entertaining and educational, and, as history shows, that was Sesame Street. I helped work on the cognitive underpinnings, the curriculum underpinnings, for Sesame Street and then The Electric Company, and that was my first foray into technology. (Linda Roberts) [Bold added for emphasis.]

She went to the US Department of Education in 1981 as a policy fellow, where her first assignment was to explore how schools were beginning to use computers in the classroom.

From 1981 to 1984, Roberts tracked the growing use of computers in schools across the country, and helped design programs to develop innovative uses of television, computer, and interactive video in the Office of Libraries and Learning Technologies and the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education.

Office of Technology Assessment

Linda Roberts was a Senior Associate at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment beginning in 1984. While there, she directed three landmark studies:

Office of Educational Technology 1993–2001

Linda G. Roberts directed the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology from its inception in September 1993 to January 2001.

Quoting from http://www.netday.org/heroes_roberts.htm:

Linda G. Roberts directed the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology from its inception in September 1993 to January 2001. She served as the Secretary of Education's Special Adviser on Technology during the Clinton Administration. …
As the Clinton Administration's spokesperson for educational technology, Roberts championed effective use of computer and telecommunications technology for teaching and learning and played a key role in the development of the E-RATE, an annual $2.25 billion program to bring the Internet and advanced telecommunications to the Nation's schools and libraries. Roberts' Office coordinated programs and policy throughout the Department, forged partnerships among state, local, federal, and private sector efforts, and supported national and international cooperation through annual conferences and special projects.

It is difficult to appreciate the immensity of Robert's accomplishments during the Clinton Administration. Just think about the E-RATE, which has continued year after year. More than $2 billion a year going to support computer technology in education!

Note also that the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to use Technology began in 1999 and continued after she left her position with the Clinton Administration. Quoting from a 2006 U.S Department of Education document:

The Department of Education's Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant program addresses a growing challenge in modern education: nearly all elementary and secondary schools are now "wired" to the Internet, but most teachers still feel uncomfortable using technology in their teaching.
Since 1999, PT3 has awarded over 400 grants to education consortia to help address this challenge. These grants include projects designed to transform teaching and learning through:
  • Faculty development
  • Course restructuring
  • Certification policy changes
  • Online teacher preparation
  • Enriched-Networked-Virtual
  • Video case studies
  • Electronic portfolios
  • Mentoring triads
  • Embedded assessments

The grants through this program helped a large number of preservice teacher education programs substantially increase their emphasis on appropriate uses of computer technology in educatoin.

More Recent Activities

After leaving her position in the U.S. Department of Education, Linda Roberts has served and/or is serving on the Board of Directors and in other advisory positions for several organizations.

  • Apple. National Distinguished Educator.
  • Carnegie Learning. Board of Directors anbd Senior Adviser. Here is an 8/20/2002 announcement:
Dr. Linda Roberts, former director of the Office of Educational Technology for the federal Department of Education, was appointed today to the Board of Directors of Classroom Connect, Inc., a leading provider of Internet-based curriculum and professional development for K-12 education. Roberts will use the unique expertise she gained as the point person for education technology under the Clinton administration to further Classroom Connect's mission -- developing innovative uses of technology designed to improve the quality of American education.
Carnegie Learning, Inc. announced today its shareholders have elected Dr. Linda G. Roberts to its Board of Directors. Dr. Roberts, who has had a significant career in educational technology, will serve as Senior Adviser and join the Carnegie Learning Board of Directors.
Dr. Roberts is widely recognized for her work to improve the quality of education nationwide. As the special adviser on technology to the Secretary of the Department of Education, Dr. Roberts led the Office of Educational Technology from its inception in September 1993 to January 2001. She was responsible for coordinating the department's technology programs, growing the technology budget to more than $900 million annually.
Linda G. Roberts, named "America's advocate for educational technology at the highest levels of government" by Smithsonian Magazine, has devoted her career to crusading for issues most important to America's schools. As a member of Curriki's Board of Directors, Roberts plans to help support the organization's mission of building a global community that provides the best Open Source Curricula.
  • Educational Development Center. Trustee.
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the culmination of experience from many respected brands, including CSA™, UMI®, Chadwyck-Healey™, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, and Dialog® brands now in the ProQuest family, the company continues to build on its legacy of responsive people in partnership with librarians.
ProQuest consistently seeks new ways to support researchers and quality research. More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered technology, ProQuest offers a depth and breadth of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.
  • Sesame Workshop. Board.
  • Voyager Expanded Learning. Board.
Roberts, the former special advisor on technology to the U.S. Secretary of Education, has joined the board of directors of Wireless Generation. The new company produces handheld technology for the K-12 market. Other board members include Elliot Solloway, a professor and technology advocate in the University of Michigan's school of education.

Quoting from a 4/19/2004 Wireless Generation news release:

Wireless Generation, the leading provider of handheld software for K-12 observational assessments, today named Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. as the Chair of its Advisory Board.
…
Wireless Generation offers handheld computer versions of the most commonly used reading assessments for grades K-3, known as mCLASS (for mobile classroom assessment) solutions. By putting paper-based assessments on a handheld used by the teacher, mCLASS software makes administration easier and faster, eliminates time-consuming paperwork, and makes assessment data valuable by delivering results instantly so the teacher can adjust instruction. When the handheld is “synced” to a computer, educators can access Web-based tools for reporting and classroom planning.

Awards and Honors

Roberts is the recipient of many awards, including:

  • Electronic Learning Magazine's, Technology Educator of the Decade
  • Smithsonian Computer World Award for Leadership in Education
  • ISTE Pioneer Award
  • Federal 100 Award
  • NetDay Heros 2001
  • U.S. Distance Learning Association's Eagle Award.

References

Clopton, Heather (n.d.). Interview of Linda Roberts. Retrieved 1/29/2009: http://www.4teachers.org/keynotes/roberts/.

Miscellaneous Other Information

McVey, Mary; Lehtomaa, Linda Roberts (1983). 004192 Ket Enterprise Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.A. Dust Jacket No Jacket Soft Cover Very Good Spine NOT Creased, Corners/Edges Shelf Worn, Interior Clean/Unmarked, Binding Tight, Overall Very Good Copy ISBN: 0910475229 $2.02USD.

mysites: http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/jsample/mysites.htm Children's Television Workshop. Audience: Teachers/Parents ... This site provides transcripts of a very interesting interview with Linda Roberts, ... coe.west.asu.edu/students/jsample/mysites.htm - 17k - Cached - Similar pages

Comment by David Moursund 1/29/2009

I have had the opportunity to listen to a number of presentations by Linda Roberts and to meet her several times. Each time I was impressed by her graciousness and very high people-to-people skills. She has the ability to make each person feel good about the insights they have and the contributions that they are making.

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