Centre College's Holden Pederson interns for innovative new company

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Holden Pederson (left) attended the International Society for Technology and Education conference in San Antonio

DANVILLE, KY (08/26/2013)(readMedia)-- Holden Pederson of Lexington, a senior at Centre College, interned this summer with the Edified Center for Connected Campuses (EC3), a company that has forged a unique partnership with the College.

EC3's mission focuses on accelerating deployment of the latest technology, including tablets and mobile devices, to schools across the nation as a way of preparing students for the technological demands of the future.

"Technology is changing in K-12 education at a faster pace than we've ever seen due to the advent of low-cost tablet devices, engaging apps and high-speed mobile wireless connectivity, and that necessitates better preparation and innovation at higher education institutions like Centre," says Brent Legg, vice president for education programs at Connected Nation. "Elite colleges like Centre must be able to adapt to students' needs and expectations, while innovating in ways that enhance-not detract from-the rigorous and personal educational experience for which Centre has become known."

Specifically, Legg says that Edified's role is to keep Centre on the cutting edge of technology in higher education. One way Legg achieved this was in hiring two Centre students, West and Holden Pederson, to work as summer interns.

"They've taken a dive into the deep end of the ed tech pool," says Legg jokingly.

The "deep end" included attending an International Society for Technology and Education (ISTE) conference in San Antonio, Texas, and a lengthy research project on trends in K-12 education technology. Their summer culminated with the submission of a ConocoPhillips mobile learning grant application that they authored from the knowledge and experience they gained over the course of the summer.

"If funded, this grant will put over 1,000 tablets in the hands of fourth through 12th grade students who live in some of the most inaccessible parts of Alaska," Legg explains, "places that are only reached by small aircraft and have only recently been connected to what we would consider to be true high speed internet."

The ConocoPhillips grant is just one of many projects in which Edified engages to improve technological access at schools across the nation. Much of the research Pederson and West have worked on will benefit Centre in the coming academic years as well.

"Mobile devices are going to fundamentally change the way education works in America," Legg explains. "We at Edified want to help Centre College faculty, students and staff to gain a better understanding of what's happening and adequately prepare, but do so in a way that never compromises Centre's core values."

Preparations include an effort to collaborate with the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) to make these discussions of innovative and efficient use of technology in higher education more widespread.

"We're eager to find ways to support faculty members who want to experiment with emerging technology, while we maintain our commitment to helping Centre as an institution adapt and innovate inside and outside the classroom," Legg says. "We've only scratched the surface in terms of what is possible."

Pederson is the son of Steven and Toni Pederson of Lexington, and is a graduate of Henry Clay High School.

Centre College, founded in 1819, offers its students a world of opportunities, highlighted by the nation's premier study abroad program and a faculty ranked #5 in the nation for "Best Undergraduate Teaching" at a liberal arts college by U.S. News & World Report. Centre recently received the largest gift ever made to a liberal arts college, $250 million to establish the Brockman Scholars Program in Leadership and Entrepreneurship. Centre's first premier scholarship, the Brown Fellows Program, was established in 2009. Centre graduates enjoy extraordinary success, with entrance to top graduate and professional schools, prestigious fellowships for further study abroad (Rhodes, Rotary, Fulbright), and rewarding jobs (on average, 97 percent are employed or in advanced study within 10 months of graduation).