COE professor Hodges brings White House leadership to campus

January 11, 2017

COE Associate Professor Charles Hodges, Ph.D., is pictured standing in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House in Washington, D.C.

Georgia Southern’s College of Education faculty member Charles Hodges, Ph.D., was invited to the White House on Dec. 14 to participate in the Advancing Educational Technology in Teacher Preparation Innovators’ Summit hosted by the Office of Educational Technology (OET) at the U.S. Department of Education. The Summit provided an opportunity for schools with education and teacher preparation programs to discuss and plan technology implementations at their institutions. The event also highlighted the forward-thinking work of innovators across the field and provided a forum to share ideas, progress and success stories. Hodges and attendees of the Summit heard remarks from the Senior Policy Advisor for Education at the White House, Mario Cardona, Under Secretary for Education at the U.S. Department of Education, Ted Mitchell, Ph.D., and Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, Joseph South, Ph.D. As a result of the Summit, Hodges has committed to future work with a group on the topic of building sustainable program-wide systems of professional learning for higher education instructors to strengthen and continually refresh their capacity to use technological tools to enable transformative learning and teaching. “I am looking forward to seeing how I can bring information from this experience and the continued work from it into our work in the College of Education, my classes and with teachers in Georgia and beyond,” said Hodges. Hodges, an associate professor in the University’s Department of Leadership, Technology and Human Development, is actively engaged in educational technology research and service at both the national and international levels through organizations such as the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) where he serves as the editor-in-chief of the association’s journal TechTrends. He serves on the Committee on Innovation and Technology of American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) and is involved with the National Technology Leadership Coalition. Hodges is also in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education’s OET to implement rapid cycle evaluation into one of his upcoming graduate-level courses, FRIT 7237: Evaluation of Education Needs and Programs. “I am thankful that I work in a College and University that support my participation in these various professional activities,” said Hodges. “Even though we live in a digitally connected society with easy video conferencing, travel to attend face-to-face meetings and the working groups that accompany them is essential to meet and work with people on important practice and policy initiatives. “It felt good to be able represent our College of Education and Georgia Southern University at the White House,” he added. Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 125 degree programs serving 20,674 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. Visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu.