South Dakota teachers a generation ago knew Technology and Innovation in Education (TIE) as a new organization that first taught them about using computers in their classrooms.  Today’s educators think of TIE as a longtime presence statewide, offering a wide range of professional learning opportunities, helping educators reach learners in innovative and relevant ways.

But some things never change.  TIE’s staff remains as reliable as ever in keeping up with the latest advances in technology.  For more than 30 years the annual TIE Conference, alternating between Rapid City and Sioux Falls every April, is still South Dakota’s biggest professional learning event for educators.

Teachers and administrators turn to TIE for help with innovative learning practices, progressive assessment strategies, development of future school leaders, and for resources and methods to introduce students to South Dakota’s rich Native American cultures.

In 2015 TIE was awarded Bush Foundation funding for four years to help schools succeed with customized learning, moving instruction away from industrial-age models to structures more appropriate for twenty-first century learners.