Education Technology

Education Technology Consulting
Judy Stainback, Founder/Owner
4807 S. Gold Road
Battlefield, MO 65619
417-882-2509    phone
417-882-6264 fax

While the name of my business when spelled out sounds rather specific as to what
activities I might perform, in actuality the acronym “etc” really fits much better!   I began
my home based business in 1991 after having worked for IBM Corporation for fifteen
years. My desire to be home with my elementary age children motivated me to take a
leap of faith and try my hand at independent consulting for the public education industry
I had come to know and love while marketing products for IBM.

For several years I was able to keep my technical skills adequate to serve in this
capacity, but as technology quickly changes to stay relevant, I found that services to my
clients also needed to change. Not by conscious planning, I began to work with one of
my clients in developing and preparing competitive grant applications to fund some of
the technology they desired. Through the encouragement of a mentor superintendent
and many referrals from successful grant awards, soon I found myself known as a “grant
writer” for K-12 schools all around the state with millions of dollars awarded through
multiple grant programs offered by the Department of Education.

Through this work I met dozens of superintendents and helped them implement many of
the projects the grants funded. Several of those projects created the opportunity for
districts to share teachers through the technology of two-way live interactive video.
Eventually, I became the coordinator for those districts distance learning networks and
still serve in that capacity for two consortiums, assisting districts create schedules to
share teachers between districts when needed.

As I became more experienced in distance learning environments, it became clear that
there were times when consortium districts could not meet their needs for certain classes
within their own membership. A new not-for-profit called GreaterNET grew out of this
realization with the idea of matching needs of one district to the capabilities of another
regardless of their location in the state. As long as they shared the technology capacity,
they could share teachers.   When unable to locate a match for the requested class,
GreaterNET hires a “contract” teacher. We have served hundreds of students around
the state through the interactive video technology, sometimes originated from the
contract teachers’ home, using computer based camera systems and a high speed
Internet connection!

Other services still relating to the public education industry include processing
applications for Universal Service Fund (e-rate) discounts and offer consult in the area
of technology planning and grant writing training. Over the years as education budgets
at the state level were cut and finally eliminated for discretionary competitive grants, my
grant writing focus evolved to other non-profits in search of grant funding. The majority
of my writing work is now of this nature with local and regional clients.