Whitt named secondary instructional technology specialist

Daniel Whitt has been named Secondary Instructional Technology Specialist for Madison City Schools. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Using his experience at James Clemens High School, Daniel Whitt now will work as the district’s Secondary Instructional Technology Specialist.

Working with lead educators, Whitt will bridge the gap between technology needs for students and teachers and the technology department’s capabilities.

He will interact with all teachers in grades 7-12 and “become a true partner. As … new ideas bubble out of our awesome faculties, I intend to make sure their obstacles are overcome. We’ll take the guesswork out of innovation.”

“Every day at James Clemens has been solid practice for taking on this new role,” Whitt said about work with digital communications and as media specialist. James Clemens faculty’s willingness led to learning many lessons quickly. Whitt will “translate amazing secrets we’ve uncovered at James Clemens across all four schools.”

“I’ll be a constant force to help push education further into the 21st Century by promoting technology integration in more meaningful ways,” Whitt said. He especially intends to focus more on empowering students to use new technology while downplaying an emphasis on devices.

Technology can produce “global citizens who communicate and learn with a global audience,” Whitt said. He will foster strategies for youth “to learn in a way more congruent to who they are at their root: global citizens connected to the world as pioneering digital natives.”

His workload will include placing certain courses online “to free up face-to-face class time for courses that need it more.” Also, Whitt will pilot “an online student portfolio initiative” that showcases accomplishments throughout high school.

Whitt believes Madison can “lead the way for the state and country by being more willing to try new things … essentially doing the research ourselves on brand new projects. We have faculties strong enough to do this meaningful work (’emotional labor’) of discovering new strategies.”

His wife Jennifer teaches seventh-grade English at Athens Middle School. Daughter Stella, 7, attends Julian Newman Elementary School in Athens, and son Silas, 4, is enrolled at Madison City Schools Pre-Kindergarten Center.