Mano has worked in the fields of teacher education, social studies,
math and science education.
Her training workshops always assure that
technology tools and
concepts, particularly, "thinking with computers (Papert)" are
integrated in instruction.
Her current educational technology initiatives in Virginia
include: Motivating children to be game creators to introduce
the children to research, design, communication, and programming;
Developing computational thinking skills in student through
professional development in computational sciences, and facilitating
global collaboration projects.
Mano is the director of the Institute for Teaching through
Technology and Innovative Practices (ITTIP) of Longwood University.
In her capacity, she works
closely with 25 school divisions in Southside Virginia, particularly
in expanding the interactive videoconferencing projects. She is
working with 85 middle school students in rural and inner city
school divisions in developing computational thinking and 21st
century skills through game design.
Mano organized a two-day STEM summit titled Virginia
Competes:
Envisioning the future of STEM in K-12 environment.
Mano assists with community technology and literacy centers
and serves on the board of Lake County Distance Education Center.
Because of her passion for global collaboration, she
tirelessly motivates teachers to participate in teaching and
learning experiences with teachers and students around the world.
Her current project will connect teachers and students in
Virginia with those in Ghana and India.
The participants of this Freedom project will use web 2.0
applications to discuss, create, and share digital artifacts on
social, economic and political freedom as they understand it.
With the assistance of ITTIP faculty, Mano is hoping to reach
the school divisions in Petersburg, Hopewell, and Dinwiddie in this
global project.
Until June 2005, Mano was the Director of Learning Technologies and
was implementing technology programs at the Science Museum to
develop technology skills in children. She implemented the Community
Technology Centers and 21st Century Community Learning Center
programs to serve the children and adults in low-income communities.
Her vision, dedication and determination to bring technology
educational opportunities to all Virginians has had and will have
impact beyond our capacity to measure. Mano is also coordinating the
professional development programs as the project director of the
Central Virginia Consortium for Transforming teaching and Learning
experiences with Technology in collaboration with 15 school
divisions in Central Virginia. Before joining the museum, Mano
served Chesterfield Public Schools and the Mathematics & Science
Center as Technology Specialist. Mano has taught in private
Christian and public schools in the United States. Before joining
the doctoral program in the University of Georgia, Mano worked in
one of the prestigious autonomous colleges in India as the professor
of mathematical economics.
Mano received her bachelor's degree in mathematics from Madras
University, Master's degree in Mathematical Economics and a diploma
in French from Madurai University, Masters in Agricultural economics
from Manchester University , U.K, and her doctorate in education
from the University of Georgia. Dr. Talaiver (Mano) has devoted her
career to technology education, most specifically to teacher
education. Her research into gender effects on technology
integration, her modeling of best practices with students, her
written curriculum guides, and her tireless production of teacher
workshops are unparalleled. Teacher training and support is both a
personal and professional mission for Mano.
About Me
Mano and Manuel are blessed with two sons. Joseph follows Mano's foot steps and is a technology trainer. (www.digitalruck.us). Joe married Anna on 06-07-08. David Talaiver is a senior in aerospace engineering in Old Dominion University.