T here were so many good sessions at the CoSN Conference , along with lots of noteworthy connections that I made, that I could write many more entries about it, probably too many. Instead, I want to tell you why CoSN is so valuable to school technology administrators (Technology Directors, CTOs, CIOs, etc).

CoSN provides professional development, advocacy, representation in Washington, webcasts webinars, research papers, and regular briefings on key issues.   (CoSN Member Benefits )

I belong to numerous professional organizations, all of which provide worthwhile benefits that I value and make the most of in my work. Some examples are:

• Massachusetts Computer Using Educators ~ MassCUE
• International Society for Technology in Education ~ ISTE
• New England ISTE ~ NEISTE
• National Staff Development Council ~ NSDC
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ~ ASCD

But by far, the professional development that is most relevant to me in my role of Director of Technology is through my membership in CoSN (Massachusetts chapter: METAA ).
CoSN provides PD designed for K-12 technology leaders; it is where I can stay up to date on best practices and solutions that are specific to my role in the school district.

CoSN is working on certification criteria for school CTOs, it provides CTO clinics around the country, it provides voice and leadership for educational CTOs, and, since it is the professional home organization for CTOs nationally, the peer connections I have made and continue to make provide a network of expertise that is phenomenal.

I encourage you to look into CoSN membership for yourself.

Last, here are a few more snippets from the conference.

From Gartner and CoSN Session
Technesia is when stakeholders fail to remember the value of technology in their environment. It is not uncommon for the other department leaders to push to cut technology budgets to then expect the same level of service, systems, and efficiency post-cuts. Stakeholders really have to understand the value of IT.

When thinking about TCO, most people have little difficulty understanding direct costs, but it is harder to get your arms around indirect costs. For example, if you reduce tech support positions to reduce direct costs, think about how much it costs to have users support themselves. Are we really happy to pay teachers to do their own tech support? Are we sacrificing PD, planning, curriculum development, and time with students so that teachers can support technology? Teachers are not trained to do this – they do not have the expertise or practice. It would be ineffective and more costly even if they made the same hourly wage as a break-fix technician. This is a HIGH indirect cost. Establish and communicate the value of direct costs.

From Thinkfinity Session
Thinkfinity is a totally free, online resource. All content is aligned to ISTE NETS and state standards and is a partner with Partnership for 21st Century Skills. They offer free professional development.

From closing keynote – Clay Christensen and Michael Horn
We need to move beyond layering technology on top of what we already do. We need to use technology to transform teaching and learning.

Technological progress always outpaces what our typical customers can absorb.

Looming budget cuts and teacher shortages are an opportunity, not a threat.

C oSN Conference 2009 Session name: CTO Leadership Forum: CoSN’s Framework of Essential Skills: A Certification Pathway for the Future Technology Leaders CoSN has been working for several years creating and disseminating the Framework for Essential Skills for CTOs. In this session, we presented a work in progress – a pathway for a nationally recognized program for CTO certification. I was one of three presenters, along with Bailey Mitchell (Chief Technology and Information Officer, Forsyth County) and Ed Zaiontz (Executive Director Information Services, Round Rock ISD). I have been volunteering on this committee for several months, but Bailey and Ed have been working on this framework since the inception of this work at CoSN. The discussions have been really rich and full of great ideas and the product of some critical and thoughtful reflection. I’ve been privileged to work on the committee and was quite happy to join in presenting at this session. After introducing the framework of the key functional areas and the essential skills within each, participants read through the competencies and provided valuable input into the framework. There were five tables of participants (about fifty people total) and everybody rolled up their sleeves and worked. The input will be incorporated into the next draft. As usual, even though we have worked for many (many) months on this, I heard many really good suggestions for modifying and improving the framework. Another case of all of us being better than any one of us, and the power of crowds. It was gratifying to witness the level of engagement and the high level of thinking about this project.

I attended a breakout session, Building a Visionary IT Organization: Best Practices.
The presenters were Fran McTigrit (Katy, TX) and Curtis Cearley (Fayette County, NC). They addressed competing priorities, and how to balance their time, efforts, and resources. This was a good session.

Ms. McTigrit shared her foundation goals:

• Technology must be cost effective
• Technology must be sustainable
• Technology must be a “value add” in the education of today’s digital learner

In Katy, they believe that engaged end users help guide IT decisions. It enables them to prioritize based on user needs. One thing that helped them to better meet user needs is standardization of processes, changes and releases.

Mr. Cearley said that when he came to work in Fayette County he found the technology department was more reactive than proactive, often responding to the crisis du jour . Their strategy was to tightly couple the work of the IT department to the district strategic plan. This provided an impetus for the technology staff to think more long-term and strategically. They also felt more integral to the strategic plan, which improved morale and increased collaboration. They moved from 30 different islands (30 schools) to an integrated whole. The funniest thing he said was this: “I open my network up to 22,000 hackers every day,” a light-hearted way to open the discussion of network security issues.

CoSN 2009 Conference

G ary Utecht of Lakeville, MN won the CoSN Withrow CTO award. The award is based on five criteria: Leadership, Building Community, Innovation, Impact, and Public and Private Partnerships. In Gary’s brief thank you, he said several things worth noting, a few of which I was fast enough to write down.

OHIO: O nly H andle I nformation O nce

“I believe in the power of consortia.”

“Nobody on the school district has more impact every day on the experience of every student and every teacher than the staff in the technology department.”

CoSN 2009 Conference

Attending the CoSN conference in Austin, I will post a few blog entries about the conference. This is the first of the series.
T he CoSN 2009 conference is titled, leadership, policy & innovation in a collaborative world . The first event of the morning, after the welcome and presentation of awards, was keynote speaker Don Tapscott . The session was called: Plenary Session I: Grown up Digital in a Collaborative World. It was a really good keynote and the audience reacted positively. Dan Tapscott referred to his book, Grown up Digital – How the Net Generation is Changing the World .

Here are a few things I jotted down while he spoke –

He said that it is common to read that the Net Gen are lazy and self-centered and expect immediate gratification, but that this “negative and cynical view is not supported by data.”
“We need a lot more than a generation that can perform well on tests – we need a generation that can learn.”

“A lecture is when the notes of the teacher go to the notes of the student without going through the brains of either.”

The eight Net Gen norms, characteristics of a generation are:  Freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed and innovation. Given these norms we have to move from the teacher as “broadcaster.” The broadcast model is a “one-size-fits-all, one-way broadcast learning” where the teacher has the knowledge and delivers it to the students who don’t, and the “grateful students” write down the knowledge and prepare to deliver it back for exams. He gave a new definition of a teacher as one “who customizes the learning experience.” The model of broadcast pedagogy is wrong. It is teacher-focused (rather than student) one-way (rather than multi-way), one-size-fits-all (rather than customized) and student isolated (rather than collaborative).

When there is a new paradigm it is usually the leaders of the old paradigm who have the greatest difficulty embracing the new.

He suggests students learn best through collaboration and discovery and that we should be orchestrating that kind of learning in our schools. He closed with the statement that today’s students “have a right to the technology of their time.”

I attended a small talk after the keynote, where Don spoke of his plans for his next book and of other institutions to which his theories apply. He signed books, and I was happy to get my book signed (see photo) – now I can’t wait to get home to read it!

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