Registration is now open for the MassCUE & M.A.S.S. Annual Technology Conference.

REGISTER
http://2010tgl2-masscue.com/index.html

I hear from so many that they are thinking about deploying Google Apps in their schools. If you want to hear more from people who have already taken the plunge, here are two sessions that will be of interest to you.

Session 1 – WEDNESDAY, October 27 – 10:15 am – 12:25 pm
Room 21
Getting Going with Google Apps for Education
Rob Ford, Director of Technology, Wellesley Public School

Are you interested in using Google Apps for Education in your school or district, but unsure of how to get started? This session will walk you through the process of implementing Google Apps for Education from start to finish. We will also look at how to integrate Google Apps forEducation with LDAP, Moodle, and other tools, before concluding with a discussion of the privacy and policy debates around Google Apps for Education and other online collaboration suites.

This is more demo than hands-on, but you are welcome to bring your own laptop and work along with Rob.

Session 3 – WEDNESDAY, October 27 – 2:00 pm – 4:10 pm

Room 21
Application of GoogleApps: Collaboration in the Wild
Dr. Lee McCanne, Director of Technology and School Libraries

This hands-on session will have two parts:  the first part devoted to learning how to use these tools for collaboration by diving in and doing it, the second half devoted to sharing examples and ideas from teachers and integration specialist.In the first half we will get everyone setup with a public gmail account (if you do not already have one) and begin to explore the collaboration features of GoogleApps.  We will discuss the pragmatic use and some of the decisions to be made with the Enterprise Education Account (that Google offers public schools).  No experience with GoogleApps required, but experienced users are also welcome.  The second half of the session will focus on examples of educational application of GoogleApps and discussions of use in the wild.  Experienced users are encouraged to share their ideas and examples with the group.

Bring your own laptop.

Session reservation: $25.00 per session

Registration is now open for the MassCUE & M.A.S.S. Annual Technology Conference.   I’m looking forward to this.

REGISTER
http://2010tgl2-masscue.com/index.html

As promised, here is another session description.

Adobe Classroom Suite – PreConference

Discover new ways to engage students in learning using Adobe Digital School Collection software across the curriculum Today’s technology provides educators with highly effective ways to address a wide variety of learning styles-and engage all types of students, regardless of academic strengths and interests. Beyond the textbook alone, teachers now can use digital images, graphics, video, audio, and animation to engage students in learning across the curriculum. Students can express what they’ve learned through sights and sounds that go far beyond text-based reports. Beyond the classroom-in higher education and the workplace-proficiency with digital technology has become essential. No longer a novelty, digital media is applied and relied upon everywhere. So, in addition to using new technology to address diverse learning styles, teachers know it’s equally important that their students can use the new technology themselves. Students who don’t acquire substantial 21st century skill levels in the K-12 years will be at a decisive disadvantage when they enter college and the workforce. Join Robert Simpson, Teacher Learning Center Director Ferryway School, Adobe Youth Voices Leader, Adobe Education Leader and Digital School Collection Trainer to learn how to incorporate the Adobe Digital School Collection (Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements, and Acrobat Pro 9) in your classroom and across core subjects through your district. This is a full day hands-on workshop. http://twitter.com/becomingamerica

25 is the maximum, so all others will be wait-listed.

All sessions will be held from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at the Sharon Community Center

As one of many volunteers working on the 2010 MassCUE / M.A.S.S. conference (October 27 & 28), I have been active with the conference committee in organizing breakout sessions. This means reading proposals, recruiting presenters, and helping to make sure we have sessions that cover all the strands and that will appeal to all our audiences. The title for the conference this year is Today’s Global Learners—Tomorrow’s Global Leaders and the breakout session descriptions are really living up to the theme. In anticipation of registration for the conference opening very soon, I will post several breakout session descriptions over the next few days.

The session below, Themes for 21st Century Education, is a panel session, and the moderator and panelists are Massachusetts School Superintendents, members of M.A.S.S. If you are an educator in Massachusetts or New England, quality breakout sessions like this one should provide the impetus for you to come to Gillette Stadium in October for the conference. If you are further away, maybe this description will inspire you to convene something similar for your state conference.

Breakout session description:

Where is public education headed?  We know that technology has exploded the possibilities for teaching and learning. We also know that our students must be prepared for life and work in a global context. And we know that certain competencies will be required in the workforce of the future. So what is the debate about 21st Century Skills all about? Is it about curriculum? Is it, as some say, about lowering the high content standards that have put Massachusetts first in the nation in student achievement? Finally, how does technology power the acquisition and application of skills, and support efforts to globalize the existing curriculum?

A panel of superintendents will discuss their work to deepen their understanding of the trends in technology, global education, and workforce skills as they relate to the mission of schools and districts in the years ahead.  The panelists will share their learning, reflect upon the tension between skills and content, and provide examples of what exemplary schools are doing to prepare students for life and work in the global village.

Moderator:
Anthony Bent, Leominster Public Schools

Panelists:
Maureen LaCroix, Bedford Public Schools
Kristine  Nash,  Hanover Public Schools
Ann Frederick-Koufman, Watertown Public Schools

So, you are starting your first job as an instructional technology specialist (ITS) this year, and you are wondering, “What do I do first? What are the most important things I should do in my first two months on the job?” Here’s my advice, based on my own experience of almost twenty years in educational technology.

OBSERVE and ASK QUESTIONS
Before you can make suggestions for changes and improvements you need to know what is already going on. Get to know what hardware and software is available in your school, who the teacher leaders are, and what technology initiatives are already in place. Learn about the strategic goals of the school so you can partner with people to help achieve them through technology. You can’t support the goals of the school if you don’t know what they are – in addition to the strategic plan get to know the school improvement and technology plans. Get to know all about your budget and the budget process and how you participate in it. Be a sponge – find out as much as you can about the curriculum, which units teachers would like to improve, how your school performs on state standardized tests, and what your principal would like you to accomplish.

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Get to know people and help them know you. Be approachable, dependable, collaborative, friendly, and supportive. You’ve probably heard the John Maxwell quote, “People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Show you care about people’s technology problems and issues by joining them in solving them.

GET OUT IN FRONT
Be fully present and be visible – walk around and meet people; ask teachers if you can meet with them one-on-one, in grade level meetings, and in department meetings. Get yourself invited into classrooms to observe and help. Work with the principal to define expectations and plan ways for you to work with and present to staff.

COMMUNICATE
Talk to people, ask questions, listen, and find existing bright spots of success to celebrate. Start an eNewsLetter. Make sure you work as a partner to the principal. Find out what his or her expectations are and support them. Talk to him/her about your own ideas for technology in the school and see if they are a fit. Find avenues to have teachers share out successes. Communicate what you learned in the ask questions stage – you now know all about the inventory and software available? Make this information available to all. Share resources, information and links on the school web site.

SERVE
Even in your first couple of months, there are many ways you can serve the staff and students in your school. For example, even if your job is strictly non-technical support, if someone has a problem that you can quickly solve, do it. Say yes, and help with enthusiasm. Get into classrooms and use the entry to ask what they are working on, what lessons they are working on so you can suggest ways to be involved to help them further integrate technology, or better yet, to transform their lesson or unit. Offer to collaborate in whatever way helps that teacher the most – offer support, cooperative planning, and consultation on all things technological.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR OWN LEARNING

Remember the last time you were on an airplane and the flight attendant reviewed the emergency procedures? You were told that in the event of a change in air pressure, the oxygen masks would drop from the compartment above your head, and that you should put your own mask on before trying to help others. Well, it’s important to adhere to the same principle here.

In order to effectively help others, you need to address your own learning first. The job of ITS requires continual learning. I suggest you address this in multiple ways: develop your own personal learning network online, read the blogs of other educators, take classes, go to conferences (like MassCUE and CTO Clinic) and attend your local job-alike groups. Finding out what other schools are doing might help you to solve problems without reinventing the wheel. Collaborate with the other ITS people in your district and if the technology department doesn’t already work together on professional development, suggest it. Make sure you stay abreast of the latest research and technology in education issues, subscribe to your state education department newsfeeds, and read the key journals in the field.

HAVE FUN
The role of ITS offers so many opportunities to have fun, that if you aren’t enjoying your work you may be doing something wrong. I find it is joy to help others become more effective technology users. Enjoy your own learning journey and take pleasure in seeing others grow and learn. Good luck in your new job!

Readers: I know you all must have another suggestion or two for the novice ITS, or event the experienced ITS starting a new job. What advice would you offer?

School teachers and administrators, especially those of us in technology, regularly look for grants to supplement local funding and to jumpstart new and pilot initiatives. Here are a few grant opportunities worth investigating. If you have submitted a successful proposal to any of these foundations and have tips or strategies for others, please contribute by comment here. Thanks, and good luck to those submitting proposals this year – let us  know if you are successful!

Ongoing – Digital Wish    DigitalWish.com
Digital Wish has over 40 grants for hardware and software that educators can become eligible for by submitting a lesson plan.

Ongoing – Verizon Foundation Grants
Foundation.verizon.com
Verizon accepts grant applications that focus on education, literacy and technology in education.

Ongoing – Intel Community Grants
www.intel.com/community/grant.htm
Intel has a specific category of grants just for education. They support K-12 and higher education and mention 21st century skills and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) as areas of particular focus.

September 30 – Captain Planet Foundation Grants
Grants must promote understanding of environmental issues, have elements of hands-on involvement, and involve children and young adults.
captainplanetfoundation.org

October 1 – Toshiba Small Grants Program
This is a program for K to 5.
www.toshiba.com/taf/

October 15 – NEA Foundation Grants
The NEA Foundation has introduced a Web-based application process for its $2,000 and $5,000 grants (Learning & Leadership and Student Achievement Grants) to support public school educators’ ideas to improve teaching and learning.
www.nea.org/grants/

October 15 – Shell Science Teaching Award
This award recognizes one outstanding classroom science teacher (K–12) who has had a positive impact on his or her students, school, and community through exemplary classroom science teaching.
www.nsta.org

October 16 – Lowe’s Toolbox for Education
Lowe’s will donate $5 million to public schools and public school parent teacher groups – at more than 1,000 different public schools this school year.
www.toolboxforeducation.com

November 1 – American Honda Foundation Grant
Primary area of focus is on grants that further STEM education.
corporate.honda.com/america

November 1 – International Reading Association Grant
The Ronald W. Mitchell Convention Travel Grant provides funding to allow teachers of children in grades 1–6 to attend an IRA annual convention. Two grants are awarded each year for up to $1,500.
www.reading.org

November 10 – The International Reading Association Routman Grant
The International Reading Association will honor an outstanding classroom teacher dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of reading and writing in grades K–6. $2,500 award
www.reading.org

November 30 – NSTA Awards
NSTA has several awards due on 11/30.
www.nsta.org

December 1 – 3M Professional Development Grant
Grant to attend the annual ALA conference.
www.ala.org

December 1 – National Schools of Character Awards Program
The purpose of the National and State Schools of Character awards program is to identify and honor exemplars in character education.
www.character.org/nsoc

Instapaper

Love this tool that I just started using! I got a Kindle for Christmas and have been loving reading books on the Kindle. I tried reading pdfs using the Kindle but found that I couldn’t easily get it to fit the screen and be a font size I could easily read. But now with Instapaper I can collect content on the web that I want to read and save it for later to read at my leisure on the Kindle.

The process is simple. I created a free account and created a Favorite for Read Later. Then, on a web page that I want to save and read later I click the Read Later on my favorites toolbar and Instapaper saves the page to my account in the cloud. (see below)

I then copy it to my Kindle, but you have several choices for reading. You can read directly in Instapaper, or on your iPhone, your iPad, or in Google Reader. I connect my Kindle to the PC (USB) and copy what I have collected that way, but users could also email content to the Kindle.

Setting this up is also very easy. (see below)

I think this is a great service. It’s very convenient and I especially like it for saving longer blog posts and articles that I want to read, just not in the moment. I am really enjoying my Kindle even more because of it.

Check out Instapaper at http://www.instapaper.com/

Some blog posts are more memorable than others and seem to draw more attention from readers.
To kick off the summer, here are some Summer Reruns. If you did not catch these posts the first time around try them now.

Being Googleable (July 08)

Become Better at Teaching with Technology, Conquering One Tech Challenge a Month for a Year (December 08)

Workshop for Parents (February 09)

Wanted: Disruptive Leadership Advice (July 09)

Ideas and Information (August 09)

The Change Process (September 09)

Hiring a Director of Technology ~ Interview Questions (March 10)

Happy Summer!

In recent weeks I have attended a couple of luncheons in honor of colleagues retiring from other school districts. At one lunch there were three Technology Directors with 40, 41, and 43 years of experience in education, all retiring at the end of this school year. At the next was a Technology Director retiring after 30 years in education. I feel like I’m in a MasterCard advertisement – -

Combined years in education: 154

Number of School days: 27,720

How old they must have been when they started teaching: 14

The accumulated wisdom and experience: PRICELESS

There is nothing “retiring” about any one of them, so I choose to talk about moving to chapter two, rather than retirement. I wish all four of them the very best as they embark on chapter two. They’ve already given so much, it seems almost unfair to ask them to keep giving, but I do hope that their plans include mentoring freshly minted Technology Directors. And, if they decide to offer professional development as a part-time gig I will be the first to enlist their services for my school district. It would be a shame to lose all of that knowledge, insight, humor, generosity, and judgment. I mean you can’t fish or play golf or take photos or travel ALL the time.

We grow as a profession when the best take the time to nurture the novices. My guess is that they will be only an email away to those who take their positions and to the rest of us who will continue to elicit their opinions. Good luck to them all, and to those who have to try to fill their shoes.

Sometimes the right video makes all the difference in a Professional Development moment, a  School Committee Presentation, or a department meeting.
Here are a few videos that I have used recently and that have provided good springboards to dynamic conversations.

2020 Vision – Karl Fisch

Joe’s Non-Netbook

Medieval Help Desk with English Subtitles

Periodic Table of the Elements

In this series of posts I am sharing DRAFT work of the ETAC and asking for your help.

Please help us through your comments here by adding to the description or by supplying us with a vignette. The vignette can be a very brief example or a “day in the life” – whatever you feel you can contribute.

There are 2 more groups that we are including in our white paper on technology leadership, and they are very important to the process. Please contribute whatever you can about the roles of the Superintendent and the Building Principal as relates to technology leadership.