Dr. Mano Talaiver commended by Virginia Senate
January 27, 2010

Dr. Manorama (Mano) Talaiver, director of Longwood University's Institute for Teaching through Technology and Innovative Practices (ITTIP), was recently presented Senate Resolution 34 from the Senate of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The resolution, approved by the Virginia Senate during the 2009 General Assembly Session, was presented by Senator Frank Ruff on January 22 and commends Dr. Talaiver on receiving the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Promotion of Elementary Education at the 2009 STEM Global Competitiveness Conference and applauds her work with low income and minority students and rural school divisions. View the resolution

The ITTIP, founded in 1999 and based in South Boston, is an outreach of Longwood that helps teachers integrate technology and disseminates research-based best practices in schools. It serves 35 school divisions in Central and Southside Virginia and works closely with the Southside Virginia Regional Technology Consortium. Talaiver is the project director for the Central Virginia Technology Consortium, which includes 15 school divisions, in which she works with teachers and administrators in technology integration in classrooms.

The ITTIP has received math and science partnership grants from the Virginia Department of Education for the past three years and recently earned a second grant from the National Science Foundation for $1,049,777 to fund "Digispired ii: Workforce Investigation Inspiration for STEM (WiiSTEM)." The grant allows for the continuation of the Digispired project that began in June 2007 and was funded by an $891,000 grant from the NSF. The project serves students and teachers in rural communities of Southside Virginia.

Talaiver, a native of Sivakasi, India, came to the United States in 1981. In addition to her previous position at the Science Museum of Virginia, she was a technology specialist with the Chesterfield County schools (1996-2000) and at the Mathematics & Science Center in Richmond (1988-96), and she was a math, sciences and computer teacher at Richmond Christian School (1986-88). In India, she was a faculty member at Lady Doak College in Madurai from 1970 to 1981, becoming professor of mathematical economics, and also held several administrative positions, including dean of students her last two years.

Talaiver is president of the telelearning special interest group of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). She has been involved with ISTE's annual conference and was on the program committee for the 2009 NECC Conference. Currently she is co-chair of the workforce education special interest group of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. She is a board member of the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition. Talaiver earned an Ed.D. from the University of Georgia, an M.A. from the Victoria University of Manchester, an M.S. from Madurai University, and a B.S. from Madras University.

Dr. Talaiver Ministers in India

 Dr. Manorama Talaiver recently traveled to India to meet with educational leaders, local teachers, and students. During her visit she discussed many of the current topics related to education and the impact it has on our global society. While traveling to Chennai, Hyderabad, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Kismatpur, and Madurai, Dr. Talaiver introduced students and teachers to a variety of pedagogies and technologies currently in use at the Longwood Institute. This included workshops on software development products, like Scratch, and project based learning in K12 class rooms. While at Lady Doak College, Dr. Talaiver met with the Electronic Outreach to Slums and Villages for Social Work staff.

In this picture, Dr. Talaiver is impressed by the reading skills of these young students.

The Institute is an Outreach of Longwood University. The Institute's faculty and staff report to the Dean of the College of Education & Human Resources.

The ITTIP researches and develops effective technology-integrated instructional strategies and models that are proven to be successful. Current research on instructional strategies include the use of asynchronous learning, videoconferencing, digital video, and personal digital assistants. Headquartered in South Boston, the Institute serves primarily 25 public school divisions extending from Patrick County eastward to the city of Franklin and as far north as Buckingham County and Colonial Heights. It works closely with, and is the fiscal and administrative agent for, the Southside Virginia Regional Technology Consortium (SVRTC).

We are here to assist the school divisions with their needs for:

• Professional development in content areas
• Integration of technology applications in instruction
• Implementation of video conferencing
• Demonstration of research based instructional practices
• Special career and technical education projects for students

Contact Phone number: 434-517-0717

Email the Director mano@ittip.us

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