A Utica Community Schools media specialist has been honored statewide for her leadership to give all students the tools and support to effectively use technology in their classrooms and lives.
Holly Schomaker, of Schwarzkoff Elementary, received the Frank Miracola 21Things Educational Excellence award from The Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL).
“It is an honor to receive this award for technology integration as I have worked for years to leverage technology to enhance my students' learning,” Schomaker said. “If technology is merely used to substitute pencil & paper, it is just a device. When students create a digital holiday greeting and post it to a global Padlet, they are experiencing unique learning opportunities. Connecting globally is important for using digital citizenship skills for online interaction and cultural awareness.”
The award is given annually to a Michigan educator who espouses the values of a global 21st Century education, integrating the international technology standards at the classroom level as modeled through implementing the 21Things for Educators program in the classroom.
Furthermore, the award honors an exemplary educator who integrates the principles of "Free is Good", and highlights the importance of finding a variety of resources to reach all learning styles in a challenging educational environment.
Schomaker has served as an elementary media specialist in UCS for the past 21 years. She is also a facilitator for the Macomb Academy for Digital Educators (MADE) and a member of the 21 Things 4 Educators revision team. Holly is a DEN Ambassador and an ISTE Certified Educator.
She is a leader in instructional technology as evidenced by her participation in 2014 Technology Readiness Infrastructure Grant (TRIG), 2018-2020 Macomb2020/Macomb Academy for Digital Educators (MADE), DEN Ambassador, pilot teacher in UCS for the use of Schoology, the UCS Gang of Geeks, and a certified International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) educator.
Frank Miracola was an educator who spent his 30+ year teaching career advocating for the integration of technology in the classroom. Known nationally as the "Free is Good" guy, Miracola presented at local, state, and national conferences on the free web tools available to educators.
An elementary teacher for 23 years, he became an Interactive Learning and Instructional Technology Consultant for the last 10 years of his life. Known far and wide for his prowess as a digital storyteller, Frank did numerous workshops on creating, editing, and posting digital stories. He was also a pioneer in promoting educator use of personal learning networks such as Twitter, FaceBook and Plurk.
The 21Things4Educators is a network of teachers created to provide a single site of free resources and tutorials.
