Bobby Goodson





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1. General demographic types of information such as birth date and place, education, employment, and so on.

2. Setting the scene. This might go all the way back to the pioneer's childhood. Try to capture the essence of how the world was before the pioneer began to do his or her pioneering work. Pay particular attention to the levels of Information and Communication Technology, and their use in education, at the time.

3. Major pioneering efforts and contributions. Try to capture the essence of the pioneer's legacy contributions to the field of ICT in education. Be factual. Provide references if possible.

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5. Autobiographic materials written by the pioneer in the past and/or written especially for this IAE-pedia document.

6. Interview. If the pioneer is not deceased, try to gather interview information via face to face meeting, phone, or email. Here are three sample interview questions:


 * Q. Looking back over your pioneering activities, which do you feel best about? What is your legacy?
 * Q. Drawing upon your years of experience and accumulated wisdom, what do you think are some of the very best ways to improve our current informal and formal educational systems?
 * Q. What else do you want to say to today's students, teachers, parents, and other people?

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Up Close and Personal
The material given below is copied from a Heller Report Newsletter article written by Vicki Smith Bigham.


 * And I know many of you will want to help me honor and congratulate a very special person, Bobby Goodson, who is going to be celebrating her 80th birthday on May 15th. I realize many of you reading this column are too young to have known and worked with Bobby, and for that, I am sorry - you missed knowing someone very special indeed! But for those of us older folks, we fondly remember that lovely and amazing white-haired wonder as the Mother of Computer Education. She and a handful of others in California interested in computers in education in the very early 80's or probably the late 70's got together and called themselves Computer Using Educators….and, of course, the vibrant CUE association lives on today. California was where everything was really happening in those early days of technology in schools. Bobby was teaching in the Cupertino schools at the time - you know, that city where those boys who developed the Apple computer grew up. When she saw the prototype of the first Apple II, she was hooked. Her junior high school purchased three 16K Apples and found some old black-and-white TV monitors, and Bobby worked to develop a curriculum and train others. She learned as we all learned in those days, by talking to one another and getting together to share ideas. It was the early 80's when I was working with a small group in Texas - we were hooked on computers and learning as well. As we founded the Texas Computer Education Association, we looked with respect and amazement at these California pioneers. Bobby and her colleagues, Ann Lathrop and LeRoy Finkel, ran an annual meeting of people managing software evaluation projects in their respective states or regions. Since I was managing the Texas-funded one through the education service center in Houston, I was privileged to be a part of these incredible get-togethers. As one of our colleagues, Eric Anderson, who was then known as the Wired Librarian (a whole other column needed there!) wrote in a 1985 posting, “Bobby Goodson runs the group meetings better than Ronnie runs the government.” I mentioned above that ISTE was formed in 1989 when the International Council for Computers in Education (ICCE) merged with IACE the International Association for Computing in Education (IACE). Bobby took over the ICCE presidency from Dave Moursund in 1984. I had the honor of working with her on that board and of following her as president the following year. George and I have stayed in touch with Bobby and her wonderful husband Chet over the years. They have a marvelous home in northern Idaho, which Bobby designed with one of her daughters who is an architect. All those many years ago in that Cupertino junior high, Bobby was a math teacher, and her love of and interest in math contributed to the design of her home which has not one right angle in it. Well, you readers have indeed gotten a history lesson this week. I could write on and on about this wonderful woman who contributed so much and touched so many of us in this industry, both professionally and personally. I so respect, honor and love her.

A Tidbit
The following is quoted from David Moursund's 1985 book titled Collected Editorials, published by ICCE.


 * The International Council for Computers in Education grew very rapidly from 1979 through 1983. Then it entered a period of much slower growth—and then a period of consolidation. Over all of this time period my goals have been to make ICCE and The Computing Teacher into a successful, self-sufficient operation. That is gradually occurring. ICCE has a high quality professional staff that is responsible for day-to-day operations and for its publications. Bobby Goodson took over the ICCE presidency from me during the summer of 1984. (I was president 1979-1984.) The ICCE Board of Directors is now elected through the Council of Representatives and is broadly representative of computer educators throughout the United States and Canada.[Bold added for emphasis.]