Dr. Rita Oates's Page

Student collaboration and authentic voices have been part of my educational strategies since I started teaching, using whatever appropriate technology I could find.

Along the way I have have wonderful experiences at the cutting edge of development in the online world. Before there was an Internet, I was education editor at VIEWTRON, the first online service in the U.S. with color and graphics. Earlier, I helped develop online content for students through PLATO at Indiana University, where I also learned a great deal about instructional systems design. I was at the first NECC as a young grad student.

For about 8 years I led the ed tech office at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the nation's fourth largest district. There we pioneered use of interactive technologies with ELL students through a co-development project with Jostens Learning Corp., who matched the $5 million provided by the Florida Dept. of Education. We had computer take-home programs in Title I with fabulous results. After Hurricane Andrew, I co-authored a FIPSE grant for professional development that had tremendous impact on teachers, Project Infusion.

Today, as a VP at ePals, the social learning network, I get to help teachers and students discover powerful ways to collaborate on global project-based learning and simple pen pal exchanges. With almost 16 million users in 200 countries and territories, we provide many opportunities for teachers to join existing projects or create their own powerful connections. It's great to tell teachers and school districts about something free too...everything we offer, thanks to our 21st c. funding model.

As an ed tech consultant for many years, I worked with schools and school districts in designing visionary ed tech plans, professional development programs, and parent outreach through technology. This included many schools and districts in Florida and the southeast and even working with the Ministry of Education in the United Arab Emirates in fall 2006. I also was editor of the Heller Report, Internet Strategies for Education Markets, as the Internet first came into education in the 1990s.

I've written 10 books and more than 100 articles about technology in education, including one on professional development in technology published by NSBA and several that survey the state of ed tech in education for MDR.

My first job was a high school language arts and journalism teacher a rural district in Kansas, where my students produced a page in the local newspaper each week, along with their own newspaper in the school. I also taught in an experimental high school in Kansas City, Kansas, and in Shawnee Mission. And for a year, I worked at Phi Delta Kappa, the education society, a terrific think tank of the leaders in educational thought.

I have two degrees from the University of Kansas, was editor of the award-winning college newspaper, and two graduate degrees from Indiana University. My doctoral majors were Educational applications of print, broadcast and computer-based media and Public policy.