I am so looking forward to the MassCUE fall technology conference this year.

Title of conference and dates:
Tackling 21st-Century Learning
Be sure to save the dates: October 28 and October 29 with the pre-conference on October 27!
Registration is open now.

There are four big reasons that have me so pumped!

1) NEW LOCATION
The conference has moved from its location of the past several years to GILLETTE STADIUM. The location is awesome. We’ll be using the clubhouse level for keynotes, exhibitors, and food, while the breakout sessions will be in the corporate boxes. The space has made it possible for us to have hands-on sessions, a cyber-cafe, and more room to just sit together and chat between sessions.
An extra bonus of this location is that it is close to Rhode Island. I have heard from some of my friends from other New England ISTE affiliates that people will be coming from all over New England, but that we should especially expect an influx of attendees from our neighbors from Rhode Island. Nice for networking, getting fresh ideas, and meeting new friends.

2) NEW PARTNERSHIP
The Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (M.A.S.S.) and MassCUE (Massachusetts Computer Using Educators) are co-sponsoring the event this year. Each organization has, in the past, each had a fall technology conference. Bringing them together, the resulting conference will be MORE than the sum of their parts. Technology using teachers will be at the same conference with superintendents…hearing the same messages, talking to vendors together, and talking over lunch about how they can move forward back in their school district. It’s a great opportunity to kick off new initiatives with a unified vision.

3) GREAT KEYNOTE SPEAKERS, SPOTLIGHT SPEAKERS, AND BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Tony Wagner, author of The Global Achievement Gap, will present a provocative talk about the skills that students need in order to get—and keep—a good job in the new global economy and to be an active and informed citizen.

Donald J. Leu, with J. Gregory McVerry, W. Ian O’Byrne, Lisa Zawilinski, all of the University of Connecticut and the New Literacies Research Lab, will talk about The New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension. Very timely and important topic!

In addition, there are so many really exciting and cutting edge breakout sessions that it is hard to select just a few to tell you about here. You can see the complete list at:
http://masscue.org/Conference2009/pdf/Complete-Workshop-Schedule.pdf

From Information Literacy to Information Leadership
In this interactive workshop, participants will have an opportunity to: 1) consider some implications of a focus on teaching and assessing 21st century skills; 2) look at a model for assessing 21st century skills; and 3) consider next steps for their classroom, school, or district.
Tony Wagner, Co-director, Change Leadership Group, Harvard Graduate School of Education

GoogleDocs/Netbooks/Moodle
Lee McCanne, Director of Technology and School Libraries, Weston Public Schools

SCORE: Winning Strategies to Conquer Information Overload
Kathy Schrock, Director of Technology, Nauset Public Schools, 1996 Pathfinder

Cyber-Bullying in Massachusetts: Current Trends & Compliance with the Broadband Data Act
Elizabeth Englander, Professor of Psychology and the founder and Director of the Massachusetts
Aggression Reduction Center (MARC), Bridgewater State
Sharon Grover-Renda, Director of Sales and Marketing, MECnet

The Educational Administrator’s Role in Advancing Technology: Issues, Considerations, and Challenges Inherent in Moving an Educational Organization Forward
Nicholas D. Young, Superintendent, Hadley Public Schools
Patrice Dardenne, Superintendent of Schools, Monson Public Schools
Suzanne Marotta, Superintendent, West Springfield Public Schools

The iPod Touch and Mobility Considerations for the School Leader
Paul Facteau, Marketing Development Executive, Apple Inc

There are sessions on using Moodle, Maximizing Collaboration using Technology, Creating Sustainable Professional Development Programs, Cloud Computing, and Using Data. I see sessions about the arts, science, math, writing, and more. Dr. Chris Moersch, the Executive Director of LoTi Connection will be presenting HEAT, and Beth Knittle, Massacusetts’ own second life expert is presenting a session. Do you use (or want to use) SCRATCH in your classroom? Want to meet Mitch Resnick, one of the primary developers? He will be presenting at the conference. Michael Purdy’s breakout on Classroom Twittering sounds really cutting edge and Isa Zimmerman’s session on STEM in pre-school should not be missed. You can learn about voicethread, robotics, universal design, smartboards, Eno boards, wikis, social bookmaking . . . . OK, you really have to check out the program yourself!

4) HANDS-ON!
Apple is back at our conference and will be running hands-on sessions all day both days.
At the pre-conference hands-on sessions attendees will take away software and all the tips and tricks about using the software.
During the main conference days there will be some hands-on (make it and take it) sessions. These will require a separate registration fee, but those who sign up for it will have a hands-on session learning to use something in the classroom (like a flip camera) and will take away the flip-camera at the end of the session – price included in the price of the session.

See you at GILLETTE in OCTOBER!!

I attended a LoTi training session recently. LoTi (http://loticonnection.com/) stands for Levels of Innovative Teaching. LoTi has developed a classroom walkthrough protocol with a simple acronym: HEAT. This stands for
H igher Order Thinking Skills
E ngaged learners
A uthentic learning
T echnology Use
and lends itself to shorthand phrases like "turning up the HEAT" and assessing the HEAT in a classroom (or lesson).
LoTi has developed resources to show that the HEAT framework aligns to and supports many educational initiatives, like Understanding by Design:

"Is your school swamped with curriculum projects, state mandates, and technology infusion programs aimed at improving student achievement? LoTi (Levels of Teaching Innovation) was designed to harness the critical attributes of these initiatives (e.g., Daggett’s Rigor & Relevance, Marzano’s Research-based Best Practices, and Wiggins & McTighe’s Understanding by Design) into one UNITED EFFORT to improve instruction and maximize student achievement."
http://loticonnection.com/freelotisessions.html

What I like about LoTi (so far):

• the recognition that pedagogy and approach is as (or even more) important than technology use, &
• the simplicity of the acronym which makes it easy to remember and use, but does not oversimplify the concept to the point of being simplistic.

I hope to learn more about it and try it out. Of course, I am already wondering if it needs to be tailored to fit. If I’m doing walkthroughs, don’t I want to watch for safety? classroom management? I guess I’ll see. I would love to hear from anyone who has used the LoTi method. What were your experiences with LoTi and HEAT?