On May 10, 2012 METAA and CoSN held our third annual jointly-hosted CTO Clinic in Massachusetts. The event was a great success – great conversations that I overheard included:

• people having difficulty choosing between multiple excellent breakout sessions,
• colleagues from New Hampshire discussing starting a CoSN chapter there,
• animated follow-up conversations with presenters,
• powerful demos around all of the sponsor tables, and
• planning to prep for and sit for the CETL exam.

All great stealth feedback that we can use in our planning for 2013.

William Powers, author of Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age, was the opening keynote speaker. He reminded us all that being hyper-connected 24/7 does not leave us the quiet time to listen to our own voices and to coax our own genius out of ourselves. As educators, it’s important for us to remember to help students discover and listen to their inner voices. 

I learned from Bailey Mitchell that as I prepare for BYOT, I should calculate our bandwidth needs and then to triple that! As the afternoon keynote speaker, Bailey shared the story of Forsyth County’s successes in preparing students for college, career, and life. 

Keith Krueger helped us to understand the skills we need as education technology leaders to reimagine learning that prepares our children for today and tomorrow, not the past. 

Bill Rust had a standing-room-only crowd, learning how to provide “consumers” (students and educators) choice by design rather than default, and he did this in a framework of an entire education ecosystem. 

There were sessions about the CoSN CETL certification, Leading a Flipped Classroom initiative, Implementing Google Apps for Education, Leadership for Mobile Learning, Making the Print to Digital Transition, and Policies and Procedures – Balancing Learning Opportunities and Security. Many of these sessions involved multiple presenters, moderators, and facilitators and I want to thank all of my colleagues who stepped up and shared their time and their expertise. It does “take a village.” 

Below are my remarks, as I welcomed attendees.

Welcome to our School Technology Leadership/CTO Clinic. My name is Jean Tower and I am the president of METAA, the Massachusetts Educational Technology Administrators Association. I am a member of the CoSN board and am excited to share the news with you that I am the chair elect of CoSN. I share this with you because it gives me the opportunity to tell you why. It’s a big commitment, but one I willingly take on. It’s because I’m dedicated to the organization that, for school technology leaders, is our professional home. METAA is the state chapter of CoSN, the Consortium for School Networking. Together, we are hosting this CTO Clinic, whose theme is Ubiquitous Computing.

METAA is your organization – METAA represents technology leaders in schools, known by many titles – Technology Coordinator, Technology Director, CIO, and CTO to name a few. Regardless of your official title, the Massachusetts organization that provides resources and professional development and advocacy targeted to YOU is METAA. And a big part of our ability to do that is our close alliance with CoSN, as a state chapter.

I would like to recognize the many people who helped to realize this vibrant event.

First, we have several invited guests and national colleagues here with us today.

Keith Krueger, the Chief Executive Officer of CoSN

Kevin Wesolowski, Director of Membership & Chapters for CoSN

Bill Rust, Research Director for Gartner

Bailey Mitchell, Chief Technology Officer, Forsyth County Schools in Georgia, and chair of the CoSN board

And, William Powers, author of Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age. We’ll be hearing from Bill shortly.

In addition to the invited guests, are the many hard workers who put in countless hours of planning for this conference. Please stand and wave as I mention your name so people can find you during the day to ask you about METAA.

 First, I’d like to thank two METAA board members who served as conference co-chairs with me for the second year in a row – Michael Minihane and Theresa Jay. They are also professional development co-chairs and Mike is the secretary of the board.

Fellow board members who all make contributions to the organization all year long, in many ways, and who all helped to make today possible are:

 Gail Callahan, vice-president

Ted Dubsky, Treasurer

Tom Barnes

Eric Bouvier

Wendy Haskell  

Kathy Martin

Bill Milot

James Panopoulos

Michael Purdy

Annamaria Schrimpf

Kevin Warenda

 Thank you to all of these dedicated colleagues, and to the COSN staff back in Washington who were not able to attend today, but who helped with this event.

Our roles in schools have evolved over the years. I remember the days when we ran every cable, carried the punch-down tool in our pockets, and had to convince people to “try” email. Now, our schools depend on technology and the networks we maintain – to teach and communicate, to schedule our schools, to run the heating and cooling systems, to create our bus routes, to take attendance, and so much more – all systems converge in technology. Technology is the new utility – when people flip the light switch, they don’t wonder if the lights will work today – they depend on them to work.

And in addition to “managing” all that technology – we lead. We lead the way toward change and innovation. As change agents in our schools, one of the things we do is we narrate a story of change – we describe what’s possible.

We are also constantly teaching – providing professional development & just-in-time support, coaching, tutoring, and team-building; cajoling, nudging and advocating. But where do we go to get our professional development? Who do we turn to when we’re getting depleted? We turn to METAA & CoSN, and we turn to each other. We come to events like this to rejuvenate and to build our own skills. Remember the last time you flew somewhere? (Someplace warm and sunny, I hope.) The flight attendant told you that in the event of an emergency you should put your own oxygen mask on before trying to help others, right? Well, today is the professional development equivalent of the oxygen mask. Staying current and informed is a critical aspect of what we do. We need to take care of our own professional development in order to help others and to remain effective. At the end of the day today, we should all leave here a little bit replenished – with some money in the knowledge bank; something stashed away in the leadership bank; and some reserve funds in the strategy bank.

Our banks will be replenished through our keynote speakers who will inspire and motivate; by innovative practitioners who will share their wisdom and expertise; and by sponsors and partners who will update us about the latest products and services. But the CTO Clinic is about more than the presenters. It’s about you – the attendees. I’d like to suggest that you will get the most out of the clinic, if you make sure to take time to network and chat with your colleagues. Sometimes, we remember for years something that a keynote speaker said – but it is often that snippet of conversation in the hall, or the connection you make at lunch, that constitutes that serendipitous take-away that you will use the very next day, back at your office.

Now, I’d like to introduce Keith Krueger, the CEO of CoSN. Keith serves on many Advisory Boards and has a global reputation as a key thought leader. He has organized senior level U.S. delegations to visit Australia, Asia, Europe and South America to examine best practices in technology in education. Please join me in welcoming Keith Krueger to the stage.

CoSN press release:

CoSN, METAA to Host May 10^th Clinic for K-12 District-level Leaders 

on Leveraging Digital Tools to Enhance Teaching and Learning

Washington, DC (May 3, 2012) – On Thursday, May 10, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and the Massachusetts Educational Technology Administrators Association (METAA) will host a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Clinic at The Conference Center at Bentley University in Waltham, MA. The second of six CTO clinics held in conjunction with CoSN state chapters nationwide, the Massachusetts CTO Clinic will include keynote addresses and panel discussions featuring public and private sector education technology leaders. Designed as an in-depth professional development event for K-12 district-level technology decision makers, attendees will learn about emerging technology trends, receive the latest information on using technology to create effective learning environments, and have the opportunity to network with their peers and members of the private sector.

WHEN:            Thursday, May 10

8:30 AM – 4:45 PM EST

WHERE:        The Conference Center at Bentley University

Waltham, MA

WHO:                          Remarks by:

Jean Tower, President, METAA; Chair-elect, CoSN; Director of Technology, Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough, MA

William Powers, Author and Journalist

Bailey Mitchell, Chair, CoSN; Chief Technology and Information Officer, Forsyth County Schools, GA

FORMAT:                   

Click here for the full agenda. Registration will begin at 7:30 AM, followed by an opening plenary session at 8:30 AM, when  Jean Tower and William Powers will deliver remarks. Following the opening plenary session will be sponsored morning and afternoon breakout sessions, including a lunch plenary session at 1:00 PM. Bailey Mitchell will deliver keynote remarks.

REGISTRATION:     Click here to register. The member rate is $99 per registrant. Current institutional and corporate CoSN members receive one free registration to a CTO Clinic per year. All non-member registrants will be charged the $249 non-member fee.

The clinic’s Tier One Sponsors are: Comcast, Intel, itslearning, Lightspeed Systems NComputing, SchoolDude and Whalley Computers. The clinics Tier Two Sponsors are: ADTECHSystems, CDW.G, Collins Electric, Epson, Gartner, HMH, Hub Technical, iPresent Online, Lightspeed Technology, Presidio, Truenorthlogic and Unitrends.

For more complete information on the Massachusetts clinic, please visit

MA CTO Clinic.

The Massachusetts Educational Technology Administrators Association (METAA) together with the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) is offering an exceptional one-day clinic focusing specifically on the School District Technology Leader/CTO.  The agenda is designed for your district’s technology team with sessions on leadership, managing technology and support resources, and understanding the educational environment. These tracks align closely with CoSN’s Framework of Essential Skills for CTOs.
Make sure to take advantage of this PD designed especially for Technology Leaders and Teams.
We need you to attend and to bring your team in order to make this event a success.  We have assembled a great team of presenters for the clinic’s sessions, keynotes and sponsor sessions.
ACTION ITEM: Register yourself and your team.

What: School District Technology Leader/CTO Clinic, produced by CoSN and METAA

Where: Holy Cross – Hogan Center, Worcester, MA

When: Monday, April 26th, 2010

Register: http://www.techdirectors.org/events/

Some highlights you won’t want to miss:

KEYNOTE: Bob Moore, Senior Manager, Business Development, Global Education, Dell, Inc.
The Future of IT Infrastructure (and How it Will Fundamentally Change the Role of the CTO)

KEYNOTE: Jeff Mao, Learning Technology Policy Director, State of Maine, DOE
At the Point of Learning: Maine’s 1:1 laptop program

SESSIONS:

BYOT ~ Is your wireless network ready for Bring Your Own Technology?
Panel Session

Structure Should Liberate, Not Confine
Jeff Mao

The State of Federal Education Technology Policy
Keith R. Krueger & Jeff Mao
Hear the latest developments on federal ed tech funding, ESEA reauthorization, the E-Rate, as well as the Race to the Top and i3 innovation programs

Web 2.0 in Our Schools: Protect? Preserve? Progress?
Keith R. Krueger

Cyberbullying
Ellen Miller

Reaching Out to Our Struggling Students in Reading and Math
Tom Plati

These are just a few of the sessions planned for April 26th.
Join us for a powerful day of professional development and networking with colleagues.

CoSN, in conjunction with METAA, the Massachusetts state CoSN chapter, will host a CTO Clinic on April 26, 2010 at Holy Cross in Worcester. CTO Clinics provide professional development designed specifically for the school Chief Technology Officer (administrator for technology).
See the announcement at:
CoSN Events
and on METAA’s web site:
METAA Events

CoSN members from the New England region will be encouraged to attend. Remember – CoSN Institutional members receive one free registration to a Regional CTO Clinic. Join METAA & CoSN now and save the date for the clinic.