In Conversation With … features an interview between a leader or figure involved in public education and a representative of the Kentucky School Advocate.
As the Student Technology Leadership Program prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, STLP State Coordinator Jeff Sebulsky talks about how the program has grown and changed and how it has successfully showcased the use of technology in Kentucky schools through annual competitions that involve thousands of students.
The 2019 STLP state championship is from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., April 18, at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The event is open to the public.
STLP coordinator Jeff Sebulsky takes a selfie with Hardin County Schools Early College and Career Center team,
which won the STLP high school division state championship in 2018. The state champions go on to complete
at the International Society for Technology in Education.
Q: Could you briefly describe the Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP)?
A. STLP is a program through the Kentucky Department of Education that grew out of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) era. In the ’90s, Kentucky decided to get technology and computers into schools. One question was how to show that students are using this technology. STLP was born as a showcase for how education technology is used for learning.
Q. STLP has been around for 25 years, and you’ve seen big increases in participation in recent years. Why?
A. Early on, many thought of STLP as an after-school club, but in the last half decade, we’ve seen it being used throughout the school. The explosive growth has come from technology and STLP being part of the curriculum and a natural fit for how kids learn, how teachers teach. Teachers can pick something they’re already doing in class and use it for an STLP competition.
Q. Students gain more than technology skills through STLP. They also become better leaders and communicators. Talk about those soft skills.
A. In STLP, there’s always been an emphasis on the T. But the L, the leadership portion, is always there. The P has traditionally stood for program, but it is also for project-based learning, which requires participation and presentations. (In November) we had the first of our nine regional events. Students presented their plans and ideas about how they will use technology they created or learned to solve a problem in their school or community. Soft skills come into play as they have conversations and talk about what they’ve learned. They come to these events excited to share what they’re doing and are experts ready to share what they know.
Q. What resources help teachers and others prepare students for competitions?
A. Everything STLP does is backed by a rubric. Through all levels of competition teachers have resources to help students have a great presentation or be prepared. By the time they come to regional events, they’ve practiced, worked with teachers and built their presentation, conversational and professional skills.
Q. What are the two biggest changes in the program?
A. One is the shift from students talking about how they’ve learned to use a technology to students creating new technology. The other is the recognition that STLP is more than a club and fits into everyday learning.
Q. How many students are involved in STLP?
A. About 55,000 statewide. We had 139 districts participate last year. Participation has grown each of the last four years, and it’s growing again this year.
Q. What resources are available for educators who are starting an STLP program?
A. We come at it from multiple angles and there is a lot of support, which might explain the growth. For one, there’s a section on our website called STLP Launch that explains how to get started and includes suggestions from veteran coordinators. There’s also the STLP Level Up badge system. STLP coordinators go through processes that build an STLP as they do activities to earn badges.
Q. What about interaction with peer educators?
A. We’ve taken great advantage of social media platforms. For example, there are conversations all the time through Twitter that help coordinators share what they’re doing. Also, the University of Kentucky hosts an email listserv with conversation threads, and teachers can post questions on the KYSTLP listserv. We also partner with the Kentucky Society for Technology and Education, which has two conferences annually. And we’re on the road a lot.
Q. You encourage students who aren’t competing to attend STLP events. Why?
A. There’s enough going on educationally that students are going to learn, try new things, see different communities. All regional events are on college campuses, and we love bringing students there, not only so the universities can connect with them, but so students can be on a campus. When they are exposed to higher ed, it often opens doors for them.
Q. STLP has three levels of competition. Could you talk about each?
A. First are regional events, which involve hundreds of students and are like science fairs for technology. Second is digital product online judging, DPOJ, which is all online. Students who compete never leave the building. This is where we add arts to STEM with categories like digital art, photography and music. It is becoming one of our bigger events.
Q. Why is it growing?
A. There are about 24 categories, from book trailers to digital art, public service announcements, documentary. Our Minecraft competition is one of our largest. Think about the student who doesn’t think they have a place in STLP but is a great digital photographer. In many instances, it’s an opportunity to take what they’re already doing and put it in the STLP spotlight.
Q. Your final event is the state competition in Lexington. Students qualify through regional competitions but there are other ways students can participate, correct?
A. Yes, there also are 25 to 30 live events where students can walk on to compete, individually or as teams, in categories like website design, game design and coding challenges.
Q. What’s that state competition like?
A. You’ve got to see it to believe it. Last year, we had about 13,000 people at Rupp Arena and Heritage Hall celebrating education and technology. We filled everything but the UK locker room. There’s an awards show on the arena floor, the Jumbotron is going and kids are being celebrated. KET broadcasts it live; last year there were 50,000 viewers. It might be the first time some students have been to Lexington. And what better way to show them how much we value them than to put them on stage, and show them how important they are and that what they’re doing is valuable? It’s a life-changing event for many.
Q. Do parents or school board members work with STLP?
A. That is absolutely vital. If we look at our state champions, we see they are not just a teacher and some students. Those teams have the support of and are engaged with principals, school board members and superintendents.
Q. What are some other ways administrators and school board members can get involved?
A. For competitions, we use volunteer judges and many principals, superintendents, district administrators and board members volunteer. There’s no better way to see what STLP is all about than to be a judge. When they head back home, they understand what it’s about.
Q. What is the value of having these people so engaged with STLP?
A. I always tell new STLP coordinators to invite superintendents, principals and board members to events, because once they see a stadium full of students sharing how technology is helping them learn and how they’re using what they’ve learned to help their school and community, they can’t go back without saying, “We have to get involved.” When I was the CIO in Clark County I saw STLP as an opportunity to share how we were using our school board’s investment in technology. I brought those students to board meetings and let board members see the return on investment. They could say, ‘Now I know why we needed to do that Chromebook initiative,’ because they see how students are using it and know it’s paying off.
Q. Do other chief technology officers do the same?
A. Yes. In fact, they can earn one of our badges by doing a presentation for the school board. Another badge is earned by taking a selfie with board members.