Conference Agenda for Monday, March 10, 2008

Monday, March 10, 2008 (Continued)

M301: 21st Century Networking for 21st Century Skills: Are You Ready for the Bandwidth Crisis? (Spotlight Session)
Essential Skills: Leadership and Vision

The America’s Digital Schools 2006 report is predicting a 14-fold increase in demand for school Internet bandwidth within five years. With today’s average school Internet bandwidth at only 3kbps per student, many school districts will be woefully unprepared for the future. How and when does a technology coordinator or CTO make the case for increased capacity? At what cost?

This session will provide tools and resources for bandwidth measurement, present options for high bandwidth transport and Internet access, discuss factors that affect future projections, and share case studies of districts that seem to have positioned themselves properly (or improperly) for the 21st century. Input from attendees may help to shape this new resource for CTOs sponsored by CoSN.

[View Presentation]

• Karen Greenwood Henke, Founder, Nimble Press (Moderator)
• Bob Collie, Chief Technology Officer, Education Networks of America
• Jeanne Hayes, President, Hayes Connection
• Tom Rolfes, Education I.T. Manager, Nebraska Office of the Chief Information Officer and Nebraska Information Technology Commission
• Ed Zaiontz, Executive Director, Information Services, Round Rock ISD, TX

M302: Identifying and Measuring the Value of 21st Century Skills
Essential Skills: Planning and Budgeting

Moving beyond basic competency in core subjects to promoting deeper understanding and real world applications, 21st century skills will differentiate today's students in tomorrow's marketplace. This session will discuss an approach for determining progress towards measurable 21st century learning goals, as well as CoSN’s Value of Investment methodology which can be used to determine the cost and benefits of planned projects designed to promote 21st century skills. We will also discuss how an Arizona school district used CoSN's Value of Investment methodology to show how a one-to-one learning environment can lead to 21st century skills.

[View Presentation]

• Richard Kaestner, TCO/VOI Project Director, Consortium for School Networking (Moderator)
  [View Presentation]
• Margaret Honey, Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Research, Wireless Generation
• Stuart Kahl, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Measured Progress
• Tim Leedy, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance, Fountain Hills Unified School District #98, AZ
• Bianca Lochner, Information Technology Director, Fountain Hills Unified School District, AZ

M303: Taking Your District From Good To Great: Leveraging Data and Technology to Make the Leap
Essential Skills: Leadership and Vision, Planning and Budgeting, Team Building and Staffing, Systems Management, Information Management, Business Leadership, Education and Training

How can data use supported by technology help move your district from good to great? What is the link between processes, policy, products, and people? All of these components are critical to success, but often we fail to fully understand the relationship between these key elements due to insufficient data and technology. Technology can significantly improve operational efficiency and support more effective decision-making with improved data. How can you assess the effectiveness of data systems and their use in your district? Is your district using technology to its fullest capability? During this panel discussion, learn about tried-and-true strategies that have helped districts make substantial and meaningful improvements and about current research efforts to benchmark best practices for using data and technology to make informed decisions. Learn how any district can improve and grow by creating a culture of inquiry, collaboration, and action supported by all stakeholders.

• Irene Spero, Chief Operating Officer, Consortium for School Networking (Moderator)
• Polly Gifford, Technology Consultant for Lamar Consolidated ISD, TX & Principal Consultant, Education Partners Solution, Inc.
• Diane Kline, Director, American Productivity Quality Council (APQC) Education
• Elizabeth Laird, Research Associate, National Center for Educational Achievement

M304: Collaboration and Personalization: 21st Century Professional Development
Essential Skills: Education and Training

This session will provide an overview of the professional development initiatives and tools offered by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and will focus on 21st century education and its need for collaboration and personalization. One aspect of the new education paradigm is the use of online environments to foster communities of learning. Participants will learn about CoSN's online resources and support for technology leaders and seven steps to creating and sustaining a learning community. The Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development’s experiences with online learning will help technology leaders who are either familiar with learning communities, but disappointed in past attempts, or have not yet attempted an online learning program but plan to do so.

• Vicki Smith Bigham, President, Bigham Technology Solutions, Inc.
• Diane Jackson, Instructional Designer/Program Manager, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
  [View Presentation]

M305: Content for the Digital District
Essential Skills: Leadership and Vision, Planning and Budgeting, Information Management, Education and Training

Key to a teacher's success in the classroom is having easy access to pertinent and up-to-date curriculum resources. This session will focus on innovative ways that the Fairfax County (VA) School District and the Florida Department of Education have created curriculum repositories, or “portals,” for digital content targeted to individual classroom needs. These portals allow for inclusion of publisher’s textbook material at a granular level (e.g., by topic) for school systems to self-publish and for a service-oriented architecture applied to the field of educational content. Participants will learn how these organizations use technology to assist educators to easily access valuable digital materials aligned to state and local standards. Both organizations provide tools to organize, metatag, align, and deliver this valuable content.

• Dr. Kate Kemker, PhD, Bureau Chief, Bureau of Instruction and Innovation, Florida Department of Education
• Diane Murphy, PhD, Information Architect, Information Technology, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
• Ken Rice, Coordinator Instructional Systems, Information Technology, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
  [View Presentation]

M306: Cell Phones & Education: Opportunity or Distraction?
Essential Skills: Leadership and Vision, Communication Systems, Education and Training

No technology is more ubiquitous than the cell phone. Teachers and students alike are looking for ways to take advantage of the computer in everyone's pocket—the mobile phone. However, many school systems have banned pagers and cell phones more than a decade ago because of their connection to drug and gang activity and their disruption of classes. Concerns over their disruption of the educational process has coincided with cell phones becoming a convenience item in recent years. And parents have increasingly lobbied boards to change policies, primarily based on the argument that phones will make students and schools safer in light of national tragedies. In addition to providing students with a powerful tool at a reasonable price. Hear about some innovative projects that are using cell phones in education—a statewide initiative in North Carolina and some exciting educational programs in the Philippines and South Africa.

• Sheryl Abshire, PhD, Chief Technology Officer,, Calcasieu Parish Public Schools, LA (Moderator)
• Frances Bradburn, Former Director, Instructional Technology Division, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
• Riitta Vänskä, Senior Manager, Education and Research Policy, Nokia Corporation

M307: Project Management for IT Operations in a K-12 World
Essential Skills: Leadership and Vision, Team Building and Staffing, Systems Management, Business Leadership

Project management is a key element for technology leaders. Project Management Institute (PMI) methodologies and organizational structure can help keep IT projects within scope, on time, and within budgets. Participants in this session will be introduced to the philosophy of PMI, as well as to the components that will improve communication and help all stakeholders understand the business objectives and resource requirements of IT projects. Attendees will also learn how a large district reorganized around “Good to Great” leadership principles and PMI methodologies, and discuss the basics of project management and the value that PMI can add to an IT team.

[View Presentation]

• Robert Gravina, Chief Technology Officer, Information Technology, Poway Unified School District, CA
  [View Presentation]
• Robert Nelson, Owner, Leadership, Learning & Technology, LLC & Retired Chief Information Officer, Milwaukee Public Schools, WI
• Arthur Prithvi, Program Manager, Information Technology Services, Poway Unified School District, CA
  
  

Spotlight Session Hosted By:

This session will outline the decision criteria, savings, and alignment to student outcomes, associated with the deployment of a VOIP communication system across the Chicago Public Schools District (CPS). Key topics will include cost, operational and administrative efficiencies, and improved communications between the school and parents. Robert Runcie, CIO of CPS, will share their plan to leverage their VOIP communications infrastructure to maximize positive student outcomes, operational, and efficiency gains.

• Robert Runcie, Chief Information Officer, The Office of Technology Services, Chicago Public Schools District, IL
  
  

Spotlight Session Hosted By:

This session introduces a practical framework for security planning that focuses on compliance, data protection, and theft recovery. It will discuss how traditional security methods, such as visual theft deterrents and administrative policy, can be combined with innovations in encryption, asset tracking, and remote data deletion in a multi-layered strategy to maintain secure learning environments. Dan Turner, Director of Information Technology at Surrey School District, in British Columbia, recounts the challenges of performing manual inventory counts, ensuring software license compliance, and protecting against laptop theft, and the steps he took as a result. Implementing an IT asset management tool to automate his district’s inventory of more than 12,000 computers has allowed Mr. Turner to know where his district’s computers are, what they contain, and who is using them at all times. The ability to track lost or stolen computers enables school districts to focus their resources on the core business of educating students, rather than on time-consuming administrative issues. By observing this multi-layered approach, school administrators will learn how to apply a variety of tactics to protect important data and keep laptops in the hands of students.

• David Hawks, Education Business Development Manager, Absolute Software
• Dan Turner, Director of Information Management Services, Surrey School District, Canada
  

Spotlight Session Hosted By:

Today’s schools have more technology than ever before. And our classrooms are filled with students who are poised to learn better when these tools are incorporated into the daily classroom curriculum. One-to-one initiatives, mobile laptop carts, and computer labs can all benefit from software that enables the teacher to be in constant contact with each student. This presentation will explain how SynchronEyes classroom management software from SMART Technologies connects a teacher’s computer to every other computer in the classroom, including laptops and most mobile devices. The software enables a teacher to instruct, deliver quizzes, and control students’ online activities directly from his or her desktop and to share or transfer files with students individually or as a group. Come see how to effectively teach 21st century skills and how to maximize the benefits of the technology that your school has purchased.

• Jason Nast, Education Consultant / Software Specialist, SMART Technologies, Inc.
  

Spotlight Session Hosted by:

A panel of online safety and education experts will discuss the recent legislation passed in Virginia that requires the state’s schools to provide online safety education. In addition, a number of cities, counties, and other states actively encourage that students be taught online safety in schools. The panel will examine a possible trend in online safety education requirements, legislative and otherwise, and discuss the implications—pro and con—of such a mandate.

• Brent Olson, Assistant Vice President, AT&T Inc. (Moderator)
• Stephen Balkam, Chief Executive Officer, Family Online Safety Institute
• Marsali Hancock, President, Internet Keep Safe Coalition
• Lisa Hicks-Thomas, Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia