Collaboration, partnerships, and communication across organizations are key characteristics for today’s successful organizations. We are stronger and can offer more when we build strong partnerships with other organizations whose missions and interests align with our own.

In this brief slide deck that I presented at a MassCUE board retreat, my points were about serving our members, using social networking and other tech tools to communicate and connect with our members.

Another important characteristic is a focus on growing your network, and this should include partnering with other organizations. The MassCUE annual technology and education conference has become exponentially better, has grown in attendance, and has improved in reputation in the last two years. What did we do? We moved to a better location (Gillette Stadium) and we partnered with the state school superintendents’ organization (Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents).

The importance of this partnership almost can’t be overstated. Vendor sponsors like that teachers, technology staff, and superintendents are all at one conference together. We see more districts sending teams of educators, now that more central office administrators are aware of the conference and the quality keynote speakers, sessions, and sponsors.

This partnering and collaborating is a trend I am now spotting more often. I read this week that The National School Boards Association and the American Association of School Administrators will combine their annual conferences into a single event beginning in 2013. This makes sense. Instead of competing for attendees, they work together toward positive results for both organizations.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals recently changed their logo. It dropped the word principal from the logo and it now says  “leading schools.” The announcement mentioned appealing to a broader audience and recognizing that there are many leaders in a school.

What is your organization doing to partner with others? Are you planning joint conferences, or professional development?

During the MassCUE conference, Annamaria Schrimpf, MassCUE President, and I (as METAA president) met with Microsoft representatives Richard Grady and Eric Robertson to discuss software licensing options and ways that Microsoft might improve their outreach to schools in Massachusetts. Microsoft is developing a licensing program for schools that will be based on staff numbers rather than on the number of computers in a school. We are very interested in seeing this come to fruition and look forward to seeing the plan when it is finalized later this month.

Even more interesting, the conversation included a discussion of professional development, free online resources, and other ways that schools and Microsoft can work together collaboratively to better serve the educators and students of Massachusetts.

In August, I attended a three day Microsoft Institute that was offered free to Massachusetts educators. It was exceptionally well done and we all learned so much. I was blown away by the number and quality of educational resources that Microsoft offers free online. One thing Microsoft could do is to organize these resources better and publicize them to educators.

Here are some of those tools:
Educator Competency Wheel
The number of competencies reflected here may be overwhelming at first, but this would be a really good conversation starter in your school district to uncover the really important skills you are looking for in the people you want to hire and retain.
http://www.microsoft.com/education/competencies/

Teacher Guides
“Watch videos, and download guides and e-books to inspire your class and to help you make the best use of tools and technology in your lessons.”
http://www.microsoft.com/education/teachers/guides/

Auto Collage
AutoCollage allows you to select a folder or group of digital images and very quickly create a collage. I found it even easier to use than the collage feature in Picasa.
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/cambridge/projects/autocollage/

World Wide Telescope
Microsoft’s answer to Google Earth.
http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/

PhotoSynth
Use Photosynth to take your photos, and mash them together to create a 3D scene. See the site for some excellent examples.
http://www.photosynth.net/

SongSmith
This is Microsoft’s challenge to Apple’s Garage Band.
It lets users create music and in addition to playing your own instruments or writing music, you can sing a tune into a microphone to automatically make musical arrangements.
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/songsmith/teachers.html

Windows Live Movie Maker (Windows 7 and Vista only)
Use this to turn your photos and videos into a finished product.
http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker?os=winxp

Photo Story
Create slideshows, add special effects, titles, captions, soundtracks and narration to create a powerful photo story.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx

Mouse Mischief
Mouse Mischief is a program that allows you to connect up to 25 wireless mice to a single computer and every student in a classroom can interact with a presentation, answering questions and collaborating.
http://www.microsoft.com/multipoint/mouse-mischief/

DreamSpark
Professional software development tools free to students.
https://www.dreamspark.com/default.aspx

Kodu
A very cool visual programming language made specifically for creating games.
So easy even an adult can use it. The worlds that are built and ready to use are so good that your students can create a professional looking application.
http://fuse.microsoft.com/project/kodu.aspx

Annamaria Schrimpf and I presented at the MassCUE M.A.S.S. Conference on Wednesday. Our topic was using the presentation format of Pecha Kucha to keep professional development on the agenda. Pecha Kuchas take less than 7 minutes to deliver (20 slides – 20 seconds per slide), so it can fit into grade level meetings, department meetings, and faculty meetings.
We started by showing the Daniel Pink video about the format, then presented one of our own.
There were many people in the room (SRO) and what makes the difference between an OK presentation and a really lively one is how engaged and participatory the attendees are. Well these attendees were awesome. When we broke for small group discussions (having asked people to talk about the possibilities they saw in Pecha Kucha and how they might use it) the sound level in the room was nearing sonic boom level. It was really wonderful, and the ideas people shared out to the entire group were so on-target, creative, and thought-provoking, that I wished I had a recording of the session. I’ll never remember all those great ideas!

We will be posting our presentation materials on the MassCUE Ning.

At the MassCUE and M.A.S.S. Annual Technology Conference today we heard Chris Matthews of Hardball. It was an interesting keynote speech, full of personal anecdotes from his long and fascinating career, and some advice for our students.

The scheduled keynote presenter was Rachel Maddow, who had to cancel at the last minute for an important interview for MSNBC. Chris Matthews did a remarkable job stepping in with only a couple of days notice.

In his opening remarks he said, “Education remains the key to getting ahead in life, not just for recent immigrants, but for all.” He talked about the challenging childhood experiences of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and stated that education was an essential component that helped them get ahead.

He reminded the crowd of 1300 attendees that he has ties to Massachusetts, as an alum of Holy Cross and as a staffer of 6 years for Thomas Tip O’Neill. He had everyone chuckling when he mentioned the reaming he got from Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, but did say he is going to attend the Rally to Restore Sanity, just the same.

Although he talked about leadership and some of the qualities of great leaders, and offered compelling examples, the biggest take-away for me (as an educator) was when he gave the following advice to students of today.

He told them to stay connected, network, stay in touch on Facebook with your 5 or 10 close friends from high school and your 10 or 15 friends from college, especially for those first few years out of college. Use these connections to network, find opportunities, and know what others are doing. This may provide the spark for you to make that critical connection to your first job, or an idea for a career. This was great advice and flies in the face of the advice I sometimes hear that Facebook is a waste and that students should stay out of social networking. I was happy to hear someone talk about the many benefits of staying in touch this way. It really is the way of the world.

Chris also said that recent graduates should not be afraid to ask favors, that, in fact, resumes are nearly useless today and that making connections, networking, asking for a favor, and selling yourself are the tools that will land you your first job. I loved his idea that asking and receiving a favor is a “two-fer.” Once someone does a favor for you they have a little bit of investment in seeing you succeed. They’ll do you another favor later.

Tomorrow’s keynote is Peter Reynolds of Fablevision and I am already looking forward to that.

I received a newsletter from Slideshare this week with an item called: 5 Traits Event Organizers Want From Speakers. The list seems obvious, but having encountered speakers that did not meet these standards, it is worth writing about.

Here’s their list of 5 traits:

1) Understand the event’s community – get to know your audience ahead of the event.
2) Promote the event – a speaker’s own following or readership is great source of potential attendees
3) Be dependable – Your reputation matters.
4) Expect the unexpected – Don’t assume there will be a dependable Internet connection.
5) Participate in the event – don’t just fly in, speak, and fly out.

Being dependable is a key requirement. I am a member of the board of directors for MassCUE (Massachusetts ISTE affiliate). Last year we had a verbal commitment from a nationally known speaker (you have heard of him) and he canceled really late because he “forgot” he was going to T + L. From my point of view this is unacceptable. Because of this, I will never attend his conference and will never recommend him as a speaker. It’s insupportable to make an organization look for a replacement 7 weeks before a big conference. Being dependable and honoring commitments are really meeting the bare minimum standard.

Engaging in the event and being fully present is a great suggestion. We often get speakers who stay and attend and offer breakout sessions. They stay around and talk to people and make connections with our attendees. This is huge. Conference participants really appreciate it.

I love the suggestion to have a “Plan B.” Sure a speaker can come to a conference expecting a high-speed internet connection, but a back-up plan is always advisable. The connection might be too slow for your content or the attendees might soak up all the bandwidth. It’s great to have screenshots and/or videos downloaded locally.

The last suggestion from Slideshare that is a “nice to do” but not a “required to do” is to promote the event. Speakers often have their own following and can tweet or blog or email about the event to them. Promoting the event this way is a great goodwill gesture and is always appreciated.

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

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!!

MassCUE is an affiliate organization to ISTE . I am (as I type) in a large conference room with leaders from affiliates from all across the country, as well as some folks from as far away as Australia. We are all sharing best practices at NECC 2009 .

The information, strategies, and aggregate energy in the room is amazing. I’ve taken some notes about what other affiliates do and hope to follow up with them for details.

I want to learn more about those chapters that have

• managed to hire an executive director;
• increased their conference attendance;
• make an impact in their state advocating for technology in education;
• "Master Digital Educators" certification;
• Google partnerships;
• Administrative Technology Acadamies; and
• Administrative Leadership Summits in the summer.

Lots of good work furthering the understanding of technology in education.