Digital Camera Techniques

Gabrielle Richard-Harrington, Technology Integration Specialist, Sunderland Elementary School

Learn essential techniques for capturing, editing, and using digital images in the classroom. Explore some basic editing and project ideas using PhotoShop Elements 2.0 as a stepping stone. Leave with handouts, a web link to my templates, and the confidence to use these in your class tomorrow.

Digital Media

Community Connections: Using Technology to Reach Beyond the Classroom Walls

Linda Redding, Library Media Specialist, Halifax Elementary School, 1999 Pathfinder

Robert Dray, Grade 5 Teacher, Halifax Elementary School, Halifax

This presentation will focus on three media outlets that have been successfully used at Halifax Elementary School to highlight student work beyond the classroom walls, providing students to utilize existing technology and also providing an opportunity for positive public relations within the community.
   We have created a great partnership with our local public access provider. In the past, they have been generous with training our students and staff on how to use the technology available at their studio. In addition, they air school produced programming that range from classroom plays to our chorus concerts.
     There has been great excitement from students involved in the Van Go Radio Series. Students enjoy listening to the 30-minute program that includes a skit involving a realistic social issue that students react to by interacting with the two hosts, as well as listening to the views of students from other schools. Additional interaction involves phoning in comments to the “Voice your Choice”question and having student work posted on the Van Go Radio web site.  
     Working as guest editors of the Boston Globe Fun Pages is a great way for students to utilize existing technology. Students spend time online researching articles. Word processing and digital photography are also utilized.

English Language Arts, Social Studies

The Elditarod Project

Walter McKenzie, Director of Information Systems, Salem Public Schools, MassCUE Board Member

Preparing for its fifth year in 2005, the eIditarod project is a real-time, online project that motivates students to follow a dogsled team in real time online while completing problem solving tasks across the curriculum in the classroom. The project provides classroom teachers with a variety of support materials and a private teacher mailing list to assist students in the study of Alaska wildlife, weather and geography, the history and traditions of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, and the dog teams competing in the current year's race. Each class selects a team to follow and creates a wall-sized trail map on which to follow their team's progress. As the race begins, students check race updates online and email each project checkpoint as their team progresses. Students receive an automated response from each project checkpoint which contains trail information and a task to complete in the classroom. At the end of the race each participating class receives a certificate of completion. Many classes choose to email or snail mail their musher as part of their project participation. The project web site can be seen at http://surfaquarium.com/eiditarod/ and support materials can be viewed at http://surfaquarium.com/eiditarod/2004/shhhhh.htm

Internet Project, Curriculum Integration

Using PowerPoint to Present Research Material

Kathleen Halloran, Sixth Grade Teacher, Jacob Hiatt Magnet School, Worcester

Research can be rather dry for students. This workshop highlights how using PowerPoint can make research come alive for students so they not only learn more, but they have more fun doing it. The workshop also shows how to maximize time by utilizing a project that is crosscurricular in scope.
  This workshop will outline how the instructor designed a PowerPoint presentation for students as a way to introduce the project requirements, as well as a detailed rubric for the purposes of assessment. We will discuss how students, working in pairs, gathered research on a chosen country for their social studies class, then created a PowerPoint presentation to teach their classmates what they learned. The project was designed to cover three main subject areas – history/social science for the content, English language arts for the storyboard and notes pages, which was their “report,” and science/technology for their use of the software program, PowerPoint, to enhance their presentation of the information. It also addressed several criterion under the Personal/Social Growth portion of the Worcester Public Schools Intermediate Report Card. Samples of actual student work will be shown.

Multimedia

Using Electronic Data to Enhance Teaching and Learning

Alice Santiago, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology for Program Development, Boston Public Schools, 2003 Pathfinder

Melissa Dodd, MyBPS Program Coordinator, Boston Public Schools

The working details assessment tools on MyBPS, Boston Public Schools' Web-based portal for teachers and administrators. The tools help schools identify and align resources through up-to-date assessment data, including MCAS, and data analysis resources to support federal, state, and district standards and to facilitate Whole School Improvement. The workshop will also focus on the use of MyBPS as a communication tool to connect all 110,000 BPS constituents and a curriculum resource for teachers. MyBPS provides teachers, administrators, principals, and staff with access to information and resources to help them conduct the day-to-day essentials of education to enhance teaching and learning. Workshop participants will learn new perspectives to analyze student assessment data and take away a greater understanding of how technology can deliver educational tasks.
Session Outline:
- Using Technology to Deliver Educational tasks: Overview of MyBPS
- Rationale for MyBPS Development
-   MyBPS as a Communication Tool
-   MyBPS as a Curriculum Resource
-   Overview of MyBPS Assessment and Analysis Design
-   Using MyBPS Assessment Tools: From a Teacher's Perspective
-   Using MyBPS Assessment Tools: From a Principal's Perspective
-   Lessons Learned and Best Practices
-   Next Steps

Assessment, Internet Portal

The Inquiry Box — High Tech Meets Low Tech

Kristin Eichleay, Director, Boston Public Schools Access Technology Center

Susan DuBuske, Assistive Technology Assessor, Boston Public Schools Access Technology Center

Do you sometimes feel that high tech tools are overwhelming?  Inaccessible? And low tech tools usually do not address curricular content. What good are all the fancy schmancy software programs when you're sitting on the floor trying to keep the kids from playing with their feet, or someone else's? Envision an inexpensive, durable, easy to create, multipurpose tool that converts the best of high tech into an accessible   low tech format. Who said that learning can't be fun!! Brain research shows that multi-sensory approaches, e.g., visuals and manipulatives, promote learning! So take high tech out of the high-priced box, put it on a low-priced box and bring it down to the floor. Put it in a format that can go from classroom to playground to home for under $5.
   This simple, multipurpose, easily reproducible tool is appropriate across the curriculum. This tool uses a basic 8"X 8" packing cardboard cube that is readily available through local office supply stores. Bulk purchases of the cartons make it very affordable across schools. Clear acetate sheet protectors   attached to the box allow for unlimited teaching and learning possibilities. This session will provide   multiple examples of classroom applications and directions for making the box.  

English Language Arts, Mathematics, Assistive Technology

School Administrative Software in the New Millennium

Howard Johnson, Vice President Sales, Rediker Software, Inc.

Rich Rediker, President, Rediker Software, Inc.

See how easy it is to implement a school administrative software system that manages student record keeping school-wide and connects the school's main to office to classrooms and other department offices. We will demonstrate how Administrator's Plus manages student demographic records, scheduling, class attendance, K-12 report cards (including those with narratives, state standards and skills), transcripts, and discipline efficiently and effectively. We will also demonstrate our Picture ID card module which creates student ID cards that can be swiped to record tardy students, check out books and make cafeteria purchases. Our PDA module will also be demonstrated – This module enables users to access the data of their choice of PDA devices (Both Palm & Windows CE). Attendees will see how our PDA module will allow them to view student pictures in order to instantly verify a student's identity anywhere on campus. Additionally, we will demonstrate how our PDA program's schedule view automatically highlights the current date, time and class period to immediately reveal where that student should be at the time. We will demonstrate how GradeQuick, the teacher gradebook software program, is fully integrated with Administrator's Plus. GradeQuick will let your teachers download student rosters, organize and manage grades and send attendance and grades to the main office over the network. GradeQuick and Edline will allow a school to securely post assignments, progress reports, exam scores and grades on the Internet.

LIFT2: An Emerging Model of Professional Development

Ann Koufman-Frederick, Academic Director, LIFT2

David Cedrone, LIFT2 Program Director

Lisa Breit , LIFT2 Co-Instructor

LIFT2 (Leadership Initiatives for Teaching and Technology) is a thriving new professional learning community of 30 middle and high school math and science teachers from Massachusetts' Metro West (Silicon Valley of the East). LIFT2 teachers collaborate online to develop standards-based curriculum with new technologies. This summer each LIFT2 teacher worked in a paid Industry externship. Now they are applying 21st century workplace skills in their classrooms and labs. Funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education and industry contributions, the 15-month LIFT2 program is an emerging model of professional development that knits together workplace externships, face-to-face seminars and online courses, resources and tools. The online learning space for the LIFT2 academic program is within WIDE World, a site designed and supported by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. WIDE World includes online tools, an online educator community, and a resource website to develop understanding and facilitate collaboration among participants. These tools remain freely available after the program ends, allowing LIFT2 participants to sustain their learning and share the tools with local colleagues. This presentation will showcase teachers' industry externships, the WIDE World online learning space, and several new teacher-created science, technology engineering and math middle and high school curriculum websites.

Professional Development, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)

Scorcese and You: Digital Movie Making

Michael J. Purdy, Instructional Technology Specialist, Plymouth Public Schools

  iMovie has made the phrase, "I did it myself," a fairly common one in the world of digital movie making. With its simple, yet powerful, interface, the software package has brought "professional" standards and quality to everyone. In this workshop, we will examine movie-making techniques as demonstrated through iMovie and Final Cut Pro. Although these applications are Macintosh-based, the techniques that will be discussed and displayed are "cross-platform and cross-application." Video-streaming and DVD creation will also be included in this informative workshop.

Multimedia, Fine Arts

NCLB Title IID, Technology Enhancement Competitive Grants Showcase

The 2004-2006 NCLB Title IID, Technology Enhancement Competitive Grant recipients (Fund Code: 170) will share with you their projects: how they develop their proposals, implement their projects, and plan to sustain and scale up their initiatives. Showcase projects include technology integration into the curriculum; use of technology for data gathering, analysis, and assessment; and distance learning.

Using HanDBase to Create Assessments on the Palm

Sharon Esempio, Resource Teacher, Milton Bradley Elementary School, Springfield

Susan Birrell, Administrator of Educational Technology, Lowell Public Schools

Donna Boivin, District Technology Director, Springfield

Learn how to set up HanDBase files that will allow you to collect data on the Palm. Bring your Palm and we will beam you files for student information and assessments that you can then customize for your use. Use a central file of student data and create relationships in other files to populate your assessment files easily. Trial version of HanDBase will be beamed as well as directions, samples of actual databases used, and templates. Join us for a creative, productive, hands-on session.

K3000 Mac Demonstration: New Features

Nancy Avery and Cindy Kerrigan, New England Sales Representatives, Kurzweil Educational Systems

Product demonstrations throughout the conference will provide attendees with a broad base overview of the Kurzweil 3000 Assistive Technology text to speech software. Highlights will include accommodation for MCAS testing, study skills tools, audio file creation, online search for e-books etc.

Scholastic.com: Latest Launches and Developments, Thousands of Online Ideas for Free

Kathy Walsh, Scholastic.com

Come join us as we explore Scholastic.com, with thousand of pages of online and offline activities, professional resources, lesson plans and literacy activities and research tools--all presented in a safe and motivating environment.   Kathy Walsh of Scholastic.com will show latest launches and developments of the site including brand new content and online activities; a free and easy Class Homepage Builder, Teaching with Books, a literature search opportunity matching kids with appropriate literature and learning activities and Classport, a connection through Scholastic.com to connect teachers and classrooms around the world.

Teacher/Student Relations Made Stronger with Microsoft Solutions

Microsoft Team

In an age where children at younger and younger ages are far surpassing school's technology competencies, Microsoft will discuss and demonstrate how our solutions can be easily utilized to bridge that technology knowledge gap while at the same time keep children enthralled in curriculum and teachers strengthening their relations with their students. Microsoft's Sharepoint solutions enhance the collaboration, knowledge exchange and learning experience for students and teachers alike. This session will highlight common areas of how these solutions are leveraged in the classroom and add to a more enjoyable learning experience.

SASIxp and SiPS

Learn more about why over 16,000 K-12 schools have chosen SASIxp to help them gain complete control of their student information, allowing them to focus on student achievement. With SASIxp's comprehensive student information management for data-driven decisions and maximum accountability they are able to capture the data, manage the district and report the results. SiPS web-based technology is a powerful administrative tool integrating all aspects of student management. A centralized database provides administrators, teachers and parents with instant access to current attendance, grading and discipline information, while providing Information Technology Directors with a state-of-the-art enterprise application. Its relational database design offers broad scalability, and its web-based access provides secure entry anytime-anywhere from any PC or Macintosh with a standard web browser.

MECnet Users Get Together!
Take a break with us. Join us for food, drinks and plenty of good laughs and celebrate our successful relationship.

Apple OSX/Windows Acitive Directory Integration

With the introduction of Windows 2003 and Mac OSX 10.3.3, there are a slew of new options related to integrating your PCs and Macs on the same network. This tip will help you lay out some of the options available. The benefits far outweigh the costs. A single network, that provides data access to both PCs and Macs not only saves administrative costs, it lets you focus on selecting the right application (and desktop) for a particular task. A user can log into any device and have access to 'both sides of the network.'  Background: The road to PC and Mac co-existence on a network has been rocky to say the least. Most networks have opted to create two separate networks, with minimal connectivity. An occasional 'Mac share' on the PC side or PC access on the OSX server is the result. Update: Since OSX and Active Directory, there has been a growing movement to integrate the two into one authentication and access system. The initial links between OSX and Active Directory required a lot of engineering and customization. Most of those wrinkles have been worked out with 10.3.3 and 2003, giving a network admin several options for integration.

Transforming Middle School Mathematics Using Interactive Whiteboard Technology

Sue Scott-Mitchell, Educational Consultant with RM Educational Software, Inc, Former Mathematics Classroom Teacher

If you are looking to improve math performance and test scores within your school district, implement or further develop a standards-based curriculum, integrate technology more fully into your math curriculum, or discover new ways to engage and inspire your students with the challenge of mathematics, then this presentation will be of particular interest to you. Find out how RM Math Framework Edition can help you meet all of your strategic objectives within middle school mathematics. RM Math Framework Edition is a whole-class teaching system which utilizes interactive whiteboard technology to deliver a dynamic, and highly interactive, middle school math curriculum. Independent evaluations have shown that RM Math Framework Edition can make a significant difference to student motivation and engagement, with a corollary improvement in test scores and overall math performance at all attainment levels. The presentation will focus principally on the application of software and interactive whiteboards within the middle school math curriculum, but Sue will also demonstrate how RM software and interactive whiteboards can enhance teaching and learning across the curriculum, including the literacy, science, and geography. RM Math Framework Edition is currently supported only on the PC platform.

SEMS Related Questions and Answers

Special Education professionals look to Ann Jo Jackson for answers regarding data and reporting. This session is dedicated to Q & A from those attending.

Wireless networking & Mobility:

You've heard about wireless and mobility…but do you use it in YOUR school? If not, you really should, it's easy, cost effective and provides an enhanced learning environment for your students. During this session Cisco will detail the solutions available for wireless networking in K-12. Cisco will also discuss security options for wireless and mobile computing. And to bring it all together a demonstration of wireless networking solutions will be shown, with interactive Q&A.

TheWholeTeacher: Standards-Based (and Traditional) Grading Made Easy!

TheWholeTeacher.com is an online suite of browser-based products designed to help teachers manage lessons and grade books based on the Massachusetts State Frameworks. Our product is the newest and most powerful ally to teachers and administrators who are trying to satisfy the demands of accountability without placing an additional burden on teachers. Teachers, administrators and parents can now track the progress of their students and lessons against the Massachusetts State Frameworks while actually saving time with tedious and repetitive paperwork. Teachers love our easy-to-use web applications and pragmatic approach! We can show you how to trim valuable time spent planning, scheduling, and grading while satisfying current trends in accountability. During this session, we will show you how to quickly build and schedule assignments that are linked to the State Frameworks. You will be able to score assignments that are linked to multiple standards and keep detailed notes for each student. We'll show you how to print multiple-language progress reports and add a valuable new dimension to your grading while saving your valuable time. We will draw a name for a free one-year subscription during each session. Join us in our courtyard demo room to see how you can become a Whole Teacher!

Creating the Highly Interactive Classroom

Bob Grela, Northeast Educational Consultant, eInstruction

The Classroom Performance System (CPS) uses hand-held student response pads to greatly increase engagement while ensuring 100% participation. It will also automatically grade objective papers (quizzes, homework, tests) Comprehensive assessment and performance data, linked to individual state standards, is being compiled simultaneously behind the scenes. CPS is installed in over 7,000 classrooms in all 50 states.