Welcome to the World of Blogging

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

What is a blog? Short for 'web log' it is a web site that allows participants to exchange ideas, add comments, and post resources on topics of interest in real time. You can read messages other participants have posted, then click on the "comments" button to add your own. Over time, discussion threads are archived as the newest topics of interest are featured on the front page of the blog. More user-friendly than a discussion board, more group-dynamic than chat or email, a blog allows everyone to become part of a community of learners. The MassCUE blog will be set up so that all may read its contents, but only registered members may post comments. Come learn how the blog works, how to register yourself, and how to use this discussion tool with your school colleagues and your students.

Secure Technology in the Classroom

Michele Walker, Marketing Specialist, UNICOM

See secure wireless devices for your classroom in action in this presentation. Come and see how you can load applications that you use everyday onto your PDA. This presentation will also outline the new generation of Anti-virus products and the phases of securing a network.

Security, Handhelds

Effective Leadership for Systemic Organizational Change

Kenneth Jones

     Schools and school districts are using the term “Transformation” as a term to define the reform activities that have been initiated within their organization. Many of these initiatives involve the integration of technology into the day-to-day activities of school district personnel. But are they aware of just what “Transformation” means in terms of the leadership of their organization? This follow-up session will focus on “Transformational Leadership” as a proven set of skills that will allow you to most efficiently and effectively “Transform” your organizational system.

      As Steven Covey states on page 287 of his book, Principle-Centered Leadership, “The goal of transformational leadership is to “transform” people and organizations in a literal sense – to change them in mind and heart; enlarge vision, insight, and understanding; clarify purposes; make behavior congruent with beliefs, principles, or values; and bring about changes that are permanent, self-perpetuating, and momentum building.”

Not Your Mother's Research Project

Geraldine Beck , Grade 7 Language Arts Teacher, Blanchard Middle School, Westford

Mary Weaver, Media Specialist, Blanchard Middle School, Westford

Sarah Heath, Grade 7 Language Arts Teacher, Blanchard Middle School, Westford

This project was designed for seventh grade as a long-term project with the objective of teaching media literacy, organization skills, and presentation skills. Media literacy standards using the BIG SIX and evaluating print and electronic information were an initial component of the process. Organizational skills were taught through the process as multiple due dates and components of the project spanned a time period of six months. the culmination of the project was a presentation to the class in which students were given multiple ways to report their findings.
   The technology available in our computer labs through Internet research guided the first part of the project. As the handhelds became available to us, the process was updated using handhelds for gathering information and sharing that information via “beaming.” Two hundred seventh grade students used the handhelds at different times. Ultimately every research topic and resources used for that topic were stored on the handheld and available to every student. the handhelds were also used to take notes during a “press conference” of famous people who had been topics of research. The project incorporated some of the newest technology available to our system.
English Language Arts, Media Literacy, Handhelds

Calorie Project

Chris Burke, Director of Technology Integration, Ipswich Public Schools

The Calorie Project offers students the experience to learn about caloric expenditure (fitness/activities) and caloric intake (nutrition/diet) through a series of interactive spreadsheet projects and PowerPoint presentations, which are accessible online. Students take information that is provided by their textbooks, the Internet, and their instructors to learn about their own personal habits. This personal data and other learning activities are transformed into a personal portfolio for authentic assessment purposes at the end of the unit.
   The Ipswich Public Schools hosted a thirteen-week workshop series designed to help teachers develop and individualize their curriculum. Curriculum design was modeled after the Calorie Project, which is applicable to the math and science curriculum frameworks. The workshop series helped teachers incorporate the various technology skills that are needed to create technology-enhanced math and science curricula. Participants will learn how teachers used interactive spreadsheets, developed interactive PowerPoint presentations, evaluated Web sites, and posted their class assignments online.

Professional Development, Internet, Health

Lexia: Phonics for Struggling Learners

Ruth Browne, Cluster Support, Office of Instructional Technology, Boston Public Schools

Florence Charles, Teacher, Channing Elementary School, Boston Public Schools

The Boston Public Schools received a State Grant to provide Lexia Software and training to teams of K-3 teachers. The purpose of the grant is to determine the effectiveness of the Lexia software to improve reading comprehension. Struggling readers in ELA classes in grades K-3 use the appropriate Lexia Phonics Software to provide daily reinforcement for the explicit phonics instruction they receive in Readers and Writers Workshop. Lexia students' performance will be compared with control group students in each school. Pre and post test data will be used to compare the gains made in reading by the Lexia and the Control Group students.
   Lexia, research based software, has been used in fourteen Boston Public Elementary schools to provide an effective tool for reading skill development and assessment for struggling readers. Lexia capitalizes on the benefits that computerized instructional support can provide through daily support and reinforcement.
English Language Arts, Professional Development, Phonics

Educational Technology: Come See and Try the Latest Educational Software for Preschool-Elementary

Eileen Barnett, Director/Educational Software Specialist, Lesley University, 2003 Pathfinder

Participants will have the opportunity to experience some of the best new educational software with the help of Eileen Barnett, Educational Software Specialist at Lesley University. Session One will highlight Pre-School – Elementary materials. Session Two will highlight Middle School and High School materials along with exciting web resources. Each participant will be able to enjoy a hands-on experience with some of the most exciting software to be released in 2003-2004 while using the latest Apple notebooks. Each participant will leave the session with an annotated bibliography of all of the materials available.

Curriculum Integration, Teacher Productivity

Nos Divertimos En Nuestra Escuela: Using Technology to Enhance World Language Instruction

Valerie Becker, Director of Integrated Technology, West Tisbury School, West Tisbury, 1999 Pathfinder

Vanessa Vento, West Tisbury School, West Tisbury

  Powerful information technologies have revolutionized the way we teach world languages. The projects we will demonstrate have proven to motivate middle school kids to work and perform at their highest possible level. They are engaging, capturing students' interest, their energy, and their pride of ownership. Technology is an essential, not a peripheral, component of these projects. the students' products are published learning artifacts.
   During our session, we will present sample projects involving animations, bilingual worldwide web pages, slide show presentations, telecommunications (Internet resources, videoconferencing and email projects), and student created movies. This variety will inform all teachers of world languages on a rich array of projects designed to integrate technology into their curriculum and, in addition, provide an accurate means to assess how students are actually using the language.
   The presenters will show examples of student projects which demonstrate how teachers engaged students in interesting and personally meaningful authentic activities designed to facilitate the learning and assessment of a second language. This rich array of tasks integrate content and process and align to curriculum standards, include a wealth of world wide Web resources, provide opportunities to explore a wide range of technologies, shares methods for easy, successful videoconferencing, and offers an assortment of assessment rubrics and strategies. A question-and-answer discussion will follow the presentation.

World Language, Multimedia

Digital Scrapbooking and Portfolios

Dr. Nancy Smith, President, Aunt Goodiebags, Inc.

This session will show how to create digital scrapbooks and portfolios. Although I will use mPower for the demonstration, many of the techniques can be transferred to other multimedia programs. these ideas can be used to create classroom memory books, art portfolios, and family history. You can even put these scrapbooks on the Internet.

Professional Development, Internet

What You Really Need to Know Before Putting Video Over IP

Ragen Tiliakos, Ed.D., Technology Director, Taunton Public Schools

Ken Goulart, Engineer, Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant

Ken Bell, Taunton Media Convergence Technician

Before you set out to install video over IP, come learn from the experiences of the Taunton Public Schools. We will provide an overview of what is video over IP, explain how to prepare your district network to be ready, and discuss what equipment you'll need. We will provide a checklist of do's and don't's to help you determine if you can do it and then to help you get through the steps required. Then we'll cover multiple uses of video over IP.

Networking

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.

Advocating for Technology in Massachusetts Schools - ETAC Year Three

Isa Kaftal Zimmerman, Division Director, Technology in Education, Lesley University, 1993 Pathfinder

Members of the Educational Technology Advisory Committee to the Commissioner and Board of Education (ETAC), which is composed of educators and business representatives, will discuss their continuing work now, in its third year. ETAC has produced the MA STaR chart and benchmarks for technology plans. It has explored elearning and the synergy of K-12, higher education, and business working together. And it is making recommendations about IT licensure and the self-assessment tools for educators. This is a good opportunity for ETAC to hear from the field and for the field to influence ETAC. This session will include a presentation and discussion.

Administration, Professional Development

Data, Data, Data! HanDBase It Now!

Susan Birrell, Administrator of Educational Technology, Lowell Public Schools

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

Donna Boivin, District Technology Director, Springfield

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

Every day means more data, you need to collect, analyze, share or distribute to others. How districts use Palm handheld computers with HanDBase and other tools to handle it all. Leave with trial versions of databases and software demos of programs that we have found useful to the process.

K3000 (PC) & High Stakes Testing Accommodations

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.

Success for Struggling Readers with Scholastic's READ 180

Julia Spencer, Ph.D. , Scholastic.com

Cindy Walowicz, Scholastic.com

Come and see for yourself the research and success behind the nation's premier technology reading intervention program, turning the lives of struggling readers 180 degrees with READ 180. This session will review the model, the use of technology, the efficacy studies, and the results of a successful implementation model. Turn your children's failures into success with READ 180! Used in Boston, Chicopee, Springfield, Fitchburg, Worcester, Pittsfield, Holyoke, and more.

Understand Microsoft's Education Licensing Programs
Microsoft Team

Did you know Microsoft offers discounts of up to 80% to educational institutions? Are you still scratching your head on what is the best Microsoft volume licensing program for your needs? Microsoft's local Education Solutions Group will provide an overview of the 3 most common academic volume licensing programs available today. This session is intended to provide a high level understanding of our academic licensing programs thus allowing you to pursue the most appropriate program that meets you and your school's needs.

Be An Instructional Leader In Literacy With The Waterford Early Reading Program  

Being a leader today means addressing the constantly changing needs of our students. This session will focus on providing schools with a scientifically research-based literacy solution, The Waterford Early Reading Program, has enabled schools in Massachusetts to level the learning field for their Pre-K -2 students. Participants will learn how instructional technology leverages interactive curriculum to teach students to become successful readers and writers. Provide your students with educational reading content that is aligned to the Massachusetts Frameworks. Come see the benefits of a program that is being used in multiple Reading First schools in the state with significant gain and informational reports that help keep students on track for achievement.

How to Manage a Safe and Secure Network
Joe Coco & Jeff Bajgot, MECnet

The security and stability of your network is under constant attack from hackers, viruses, and SPAM. This can be stressful and time-consuming, taking you away from more important aspects of your job. This seminar will provide you with tips and tools to maintain a solid and secure network.

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.

SEMSNet- The Secure Massachusetts Pure Web Based IEP Software

Plan to attend this workshop and learn why the majority of MA schools are using SEMS software today! Our solution centers around a pure web based school district data base. Teachers love the easy of use and 24/7 access to our software. Technology directors appreciate our secure hosting solution that requires no hardware installation or maintenance. District office staff depends upon the ease of reporting and our company commitment to meeting state requirements. SEMSNet includes iShare, iKeep, i504, iHome, and iMedicaid.   Come and learn more!   

Networking for the 21 st Century Education:

Do you want your school or school district to be at the top of the class? If so, please join us for an overview of networking solutions that can help empower school districts to breakaway from the status quo and meet the challenges of education in the 21 st century. Cisco will help districts understand the value of building end-to-end converged networks to support voice, video and data. We will also provide a high level overview of wireless technology and network security during this session. Come hear from the experts and learn how to create an innovative educational environment!

TheWholeTeacher:   How to drastically reduce the amount of time spent planning, scheduling, and grading while satisfying current trends in accountability.

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! In this session, we will show you how to search the Frameworks by keyword, build lessons and link them to the standards, and schedule them into your electronic plan book. You will see how lessons can be easily modified to meet individualized student goals. We'll show you how you can collect evidence in support of your strategies to achieve those goals. You will learn how to report on which frameworks you have covered, and those that you have not. You will discover how to submit lesson plans or your entire plan book to administrators electronically, with just a few simple clicks of the mouse. 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.