The Formation of VETA - As a result of the reports recommendations and the legislative appropriation committee Dr Glen Bull at the University of Virginia, Dr. Jerry Niles at Virginia Tech, and Peter Blake at SCHEV worked on a plan that would bring seven of Virginia's leading universities together to form a partnership that would meet the recommendations and share the appropriation. On February 26, 1998, the deans of education from Virginia Tech, Old Dominion University, George Mason University, The College of William and Mary, Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University, and the University of Virginia met at the annual AACTE conference to formally establish the Virginia Educational Technology Alliance (VETA), with the following mission:

• To design, implement and disseminate model technology initiatives that help teachers integrate educational technologies into their content areas;
• To share resources, expertise, and research with postsecondary and K-12 educational institutions in Virginia and Nation
• To be an advocate for member institutions and facilitate collaborative efforts to secure resources for future initiatives; and
• To help Virginia become a national leader in the use of educational technologies to effectively enhance teaching and learning.

The First Biennium VETA's first year was an eventful one as the seven institutions proceeded with technology training programs in partnership with local school divisions. During the year VETA established working partnerships with the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE), the Virginia Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (VACTE), and the Virginia Staff Development Improvement Network (VSDIN). Regional and national partner affiliations include SRI International, International Society Technology for Educators (ISTE), and the Southern Regional Education Board. The goal of these partnerships was to improve the instructional use of educational technologies, thereby enhancing teaching and learning in the Commonwealth. The next nine months proved to be pivotal. Second, in the fall of 1999, SCHEV directed VETA to expand to include all threeteen Virginia public institutions maintaining a teacher education program.

Because teacher preparation is a key to effective use of educational technologies, the 1996 Appropriations Act directed the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to identify one or more institutions with special expertise in training to provide training for elementary and secondary teachers on the use of technology in the classroom. At the conclusion of the pilot training program, the Council was directed to report to the General Assembly on recommendations for further development of such programs.

The Technology Transfer Testbed initiative assumes technological innovations must be connected to the school curriculum and teacher preparation. The business world has long had a process for moving emerging technologies from the research laboratory to commercially viable uses. This reduction to (or elaboration in) practice is an important component of the research and development cycle. The Technology Transfer Testbed initiative will offer an educational model for the reduction process. A Technology Transfer Testbed shares characteristics with laboratory schools, professional development schools (PDS), and magnet schools. Using new collaborative technologies like IP based video conferencing will facilitate close collaboration between a K-12 school and a university, as well as local business, industry, and nonprofit organizations. Unlike a magnet school or some laboratory schools, the Technology Transfer Testbed school will have a diverse and representative student population being served by exemplary technology using teachers (Bull, et. al, 2000).

The focus of such a school would be adaptation of technological innovations to the K-12 curriculum. Beverly Hunter has summarized the potential opportunity in the following manner: By organizing themselves in new kinds of configurations with practicing K-12 teachers as well as teachers in preparation, teacher education faculty members have the opportunity to invent new roles for themselves. Through these new interactions, faculty members within teacher education programs, their students, and practicing K-12 teachers might test diverse approaches, relationships, and ways of learning together. [Beverly Hunter, ISTE Research Committee meeting, October 27, 2000.

Statewide Partners
SCHEV

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE)

The Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE)

The Virginia Educational Advisory Technology Committee

The Virginia Community of Learning: A Global Resource

VETA are partners on the PREPTECH grant

The Virginia Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (VACTE)

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

Bill and Melinde Gates Foundation

SRI, International

National Science Foundation

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)

Edvantia Regional Laboratory

Merlot