Hi!

I live in Fort Valley, GA with my sweetheart, Carla. We have one son who is married so we also have a delightful daughter-in-law and have been blessed with three granddaughters and one grandson. We are very happy we all live within a few miles of each other. I can't imagine not being close enough to see them all frequently

After spending twenty years and twenty-seven days in the US Army, I retired and we returned to our home town of Fort Valley. I went to work for the Georgia Department of Education. 

I ran the Educational Technology Training Center (ET²) in Fort Valley from its inception (April 1987) until it was closed and its functions transferred to the Macon Educational Technology Center.  The Macon center was originally located in the Cigna building on Arkwright Road hosted by Georgia College and State University.  Later it was moved to Building C (the old Lecture Complex) on the Macon State College campus.  That building was destroyed to make room for the new School of Education Building.

The ETC's primary role had been to provide professional learning, consulting, and service for Georgia educators to promote the appropriate use of technology in support of teaching, learning, and leadership.  The Governor's 2011 budget recommendation removed funding for the Educational Technology Centers and RESAs (Regional Educational Support Agency).  He did this the previous year but funding was restored by the legislature.  The legislature put some funding back in for the RESAs in 2011 and a tiny bit of money for the ETC but they directed the money to the RESAs so everything essentially fell apart.  The ETC at Macon State College folded into the Georgia Educator Support Alliance and disappeared.  Many of the other ETCs have either folded or been so reduced in size and ability as to make them largely irrelevant.  The ETC at KSU seems to be doing well but is now know as the iTeach Center.  The legislature seems to have decided that technology competency and professional development in the schools is not very important so they removed the requirement that teachers demonstrate technical competency and continuing professional development.  Personally, I think this is a huge mistake.  As a result of all these issues, I decided to retire on July 1st, 2010.

You can contact me at:
     ed@egowen.net
Yes, I have a slew of other email addresses but this is the one I check on a regular basis.  J