If by chance you aren’t familiar with the Planet Green (Discovery) series Living with Ed,  Ed Begley, Jr. is that guy famous for arriving at Hollywood red carpet events on his bicycle (really putting those limos into perspective.)

Ed works for more nonprofits and corporate change-makers in the world of sustainability than any Hollywood figure I know of, so it’s not surprising that the award-winning actor/environmentalist is slated to speak at the FETC 2010’s opening session.  Ed follows a string of high profile, environmental advocate keynotes including Jeff Corwin (2008) and Philippe Cousteau (2009).

We’ve hosted Ed in the past for West Coast Green, so the idea of him speaking at an educational technology conference in our own backyard is exciting.

FETC’s decision to continuously headline their education technology event with passionate advocates for the environment says something big: K-12 interactive education is stepping up. FETC is leading the shift.

But, what about the individual education technology companies?  What about our national e-waste crisis?  How does “reduce, reuse, recycle” apply in K-12 interactive technology?  Is there actually such a thing as “green edutech”?

Addressing environmental sustainability goals within a technology plan usually comes down to the use of the technology – not the material components of the technology itself.  I might help to consider the following:

1. Energy:  Most of the energy in your classroom, school office or district building probably comes from coal. Consider following the lead of Sharon Campbell from Napa, CA. Sharon connected her classroom technology to a bicycle powered generator so that middle-school kids could put that high energy to use. Read about it at edutopia.org. Or, for a more institutional perspective, check out what this Missouri school system is doing from a system-wide perspective to address energy efficiency via technology.
2. Infrastructure: Sustainable materials sourcing gets tricky, but a visit to PolyVision’s Booth 1101 is a must for anyone working on an integrated technology plan that includes Interactive Whiteboards. Why? Because in addition to its unique features and lifetime guarantee, the ēno Interactive Whiteboard product family is the only line in ed-tech that meets LEED for Schools standards (as a fixture) and that has been awarded the coveted Silver Cradle-to-Cradle Certification offered by MBDC.
3. Materials: Districts and classrooms using less paper and shipping have more money for other things (like more training, curriculum resources, field trips, etc). Shifting from the heavy paper requirements of daily tests and quizzing, student response systems from Qwizdom or lesser competitors can reduce the amount of paper being used for testing by thousands of pages per classroom (not to mention that the technology itself is transformative on student achievement and classroom culture). Find Qwizdom in two spots at FETC: booths 515 and 438. But the real impact on paper-reduction comes with a solid, integrated online apparatus that serves the web needs of every classroom, school and district office within a K12 community. We suggest eChalk. Their latest release, eChalk 10.0, facilitates hoards of communication which used to rely on paper (like permission slips, parent notifications, gradebooks, teacher/parent communications, interoffice communications, etc). Check them out at booth 1335.

Sensible City is a carbon-neutral communications firm with the unusual position of toggling Education and Sustainability. Since we entered the education market five years ago, we’ve been pushing for more disclosure and dialogue across the ed-tech spectrum as it relates to the materials and practices behind today’s interactive classroom and facility technology.

Congratulations, FETC. You are effectively leading a shift in the market that will impact student learning and achievement for decades to come.

P.S. Did we mention that the Orange County Convention Center has one of the largest government-owned PV solar arrays in the country?

eChalk Helps Students with Deployed Parents Stay Connected at Fort Sam Houston ISD: