Bonnie Bracey is a teacher-agent of change, a mentor teacher who works with technology integration projects emphasing the use of technology as media , nationally and internationally.
A highlight of her career was to be the only classroom teacher appointed to the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council by President Clinton to work with Vice President Al Gore and the Commerce Dept. She served in this position for the duration of the council. She helped to author the two products of the council.
She was an instructor of the White House Initiative CyberED, which was a project that travelled the country working in empowerment and enterprise zones to teach the use of technology. She pioneered listserv projects with teachers, List Serv, NII Teach (University of Idaho) with a lot of help from friends.
She was one of two teachers who assisted in creating Technology and the New Professional Teacher: Preparing for the 21st Century Classroom (1997) http://www.ncate.org/accred/projects/tech/tech-21.htm
A former Fulbright Exchange Teacher in India and an elementary school teacher in Virginia, Ms. Bracey was selected as a Christa McAuliffe Educator by the National Education Association. In this position she created workshops and outreach for the use of technology , sharing educational technology integration ideas through the National Foundation for Education. www.nfie.org
She is also a Challenge Center Fellow and an Earthwatch Fellow. She serves on the faculty of the Challenger Center and is a NEWEST Graduate, Langley, and NEW graduate of Goddard Space Center. She has a special interest in science, math and technology use and creating learning landscapes. Her work in inquiry and innovation is reflected in the use of hands on projects, She has worked with NASA projects and outreach with NASA youth projects including the Young Astronaut program.
She collaborates with the NCSA, learning in workshops and outreach the new uses of Next Generation Internet. She is collaborating and studying in the areas of visualization and modeling, ubiquitous computing, and e-learning. She has a special interest in wireless initiatives, and immersive projects. Some of the work is shown at (www.eot.org, projects and resources.) She served on the advisory board for the George Lucas Educational Foundation for ten years, served as a fellow, and now does some outreach for the foundation. www.glef.org.
She is a specialist on the digital divide. She was one of 23 nationally known educators who discuss educational technology and diversity, provide historical and philosophical insights into digital divide issues and offer practical suggestions for teachers, administrators, and policy makers in the book, "Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Divide in Education."
Toward Digital Equity helps educators understand the current state of technology in education and the Digital Divide&Mac226; what it is, how it emerged, current trends, and potential solutions. It discusses how schools acquire hardware, software, and connectivity, and why some schools experience such success in these endeavors while others are left heartbreakingly behind. Most importantly, it examines the most current research in the effectiveness of technology and pedagogy in diverse settings to make suggestions on how teachers can create powerful learning environments for all students. She participates with the NICI group in support of the Digital Equity portal. http://digitalequity.edreform.net.
She has worked with MIT in the Games to Teach project, and has streaming video lectures on the digital divide from MIT.
She also works internationally with Global Information Infrastructure initiatives as a consultant. In Athens, she worked with the ECTC to create the World Summit for Education, This was a three year project involving many kinds of media, which result in a conference with talent, and resources drawn from all over the world. There was an Agora project each summer. There were collaborations and attendance with the premiere film festivals for children such as Prix Jeunesse.
- Producer, with Thanassis Rikaki, High Technology Section of the Summit
- Producer, Project for the Indigenous
- Technology Resource Collaborator (media as a tool).
She has worked internationally in New Zealand, South Africa, Namibia, Tunisia, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.
She participates in the Agora project yearly for the ECTC.
