With these funds I will attend ISTE  2015 Conference (International Society for Technology in Education) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for June 28th through July1st. I am asking for help with $770 of the cost for attendance. Round trip air-fare is currently $450 from central Texas. I know that I can cut expenses for this trip by staying off the conference hotel circuit (saving approximately over $100 a day), so I estimate housing will cost around $320 for that week. I have set aside some savings to cover other incidentals and conference registration, so I am only seeking help with travel and housing .

     I consider myself apart of the “legacy teacher” community, educators that come from families of educators. My own mother started teaching in 1969 Mississippi and retired after a 40 years career. She cited her reason as “not wanting to learn anything else about computers”. This changed the course of my career. I went back to school to earn my Masters of Educational Technology Leadership degree, and in the near future, I hope to begin my doctoral studies. I want to empower and encourage great teachers to embrace & integrate available technology so that all students have an opportunity to grow into positive digital world citizen.

    I love learning and connecting with other educators on how to improve learning experiences for our students. My greatest challenge was in connecting. As a student, I attended public school campuses with high poverty student population. As an educator, I taught at the same type of campus. I had a hard time finding other women of color in educational technology. Over the past year, I stopped relying on finding others to be my role models and focused on sharing my story and becoming an educator leader creating a sense of community for people who didn't see themselves reflected in the landscape of educational technology.

     I enjoy meeting people and am highly active on social media, and I as travel around the state delivering PD and sharing learning at conferences (99% personally funded). I offer my ed-tech consultation and training services Pro Bono to rural and Title 1 schools (high poverty populations) who need assistance but cannot afford staff who are technology specialist. I’ve also help establish a Twitter educator’s chat for my area of Texas (#Reg5chat ), and worked with my PLN to host an EdCamp. I was recently elected an officer in the largest special interest group of my state’s professional association—the Texas Computer Education Association.  My passionate mission is  to create a diverse presence in educational technology integration for all. Educators and students should be empowered to succeed in this changing and connected world by seeing themselves as capable leaders.

     A year ago I moved to the Austin area so that I could be closer to the pulse of education in my state. I currently serve 5 schools with a combines total of about 2265 students. My goal at ISTE is to investigate new assistive technologies, tools for young learners who need accommodations and find tools & supportive techniques for English Language learners. I will curate this information and create videos to share on social media and my website/blog, as well as create professional learning opportunities for other teachers in my district who would benefit from this information. My new school district is making some great changes, and I want to be prepared to assist  my students in taking initiatives roles in obtain a world-class education.

     It is my hope that you can support my cause. I am always excited to connect with other educator, students & parents with interest in educational technology, so please feel free to reach out on the following platforms.

G+: +CoriCoburn

Twitter: @CoburnCori

My new website/blog: TnTtower.com

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