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Conference Agenda for Sunday, March 9, 2008
Schedule subject to change.
Sunday, March 9, 2008 - Pre Conference Events |
7:00 AM-8:00 PM
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Registration Open
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| 8:00 AM-5:00 PM |
CoSN’s 7th Annual International Symposium: Bringing Web 2.0 Innovation to Our Schools: Leadership and Policy Challenges*
Sponsored by: Adobe Systems Inc. Pearson Foundation and Goethe-Institut/German Cultural Center
View the full agenda for the Symposium.
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| 9:00 AM-12:00 PM |
Pre-Conference Workshop: Measuring the Value of Investment in Technology*
| Facilitator: |
- Rich Kaestner, Project Director, CoSN’s Value of Investment & Taking TCO to the Classroom Initiatives
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| Panel Members: |
- Jon Bernstein, President, Bernstein Strategy Group
- Robert Gravina, Chief Technology Officer, Information Technology, Poway Unified School District, CA
- Jason Hall, Senior Account Executive, Cox Business
- TBD
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This workshop will review CoSN’s methodology for measuring costs and benefits of proposed technology projects. The “business” of schools is for education to result in a different approach for evaluating proposed project benefits. CoSN is developing a methodology and tools to help you to explicitly understand and communicate the costs and benefits of proposed technology projects. This session includes an online demonstration of CoSN’s Value of Investment (VOI) website and tools, a review of case study examples, and an interactive session on developing measurable project benefits.
Participants will be able to:
- Explain why VOI is important, but different from ROI (Return on Investment)
- Use a methodology and tools to measure the value of investment for proposed projects
- Develop anticipated project benefits in terms that are important to constituents
- Discuss the relationship between TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and VOI
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| 9:00 AM-12:00 PM |
Pre-Conference Workshop: Planning for the Inevitable: IT Disaster Preparedness*
| Facilitators: |
- Linda Sharp, Project Director, CoSN’s Cyber Security for the Digital District Initiative
- Sheryl Abshire, PhD, Chief Technology Officer, Administrative Coordinator of Technology, Calcasieu Parish School System, LA
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Most school districts have plans for dealing with emergencies such as terrorist attacks, hurricanes, or flu pandemics, but those plans often fall short of what is needed according to an analysis by the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO). When there is an unexpected disaster of any kind, school personnel, students, parents, and communities expect to rely on the communication and critical services that the district provides, and the technology that supports them. Disaster recovery of IT-related operations and information is critical to the 24/7 operations of your district and its overall business-continuity planning. This strong reliance on technology presents significant challenges to today’s school technology leader. The time to plan and prepare for a disaster and cyber security is before the event is imminent. Much can be learned from the experiences of individuals, schools and districts that have developed and tested plans, and from those that have recently experienced disasters. What preparations were made? What worked or needed modification in testing or in an actual disaster? What would they recommend to others? Best practices will be explored, and suggestions for effective preparations will be shared.
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| 1:00 PM-4:00 PM |
Pre-Conference Workshop: Boot Camp for School District Technology Leader/CTOs*
| Facilitators: |
- Ed Zaiontz, Executive Director, Information Services, Round Rock ISD, TX
- Robert Gravina, Chief Technology Officer, Information Technology, Poway Unified School District, CA
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O.K., you are the person in charge of technology at your school district. What are the essential skills that you need in order to succeed? Where do you turn to continuously expand your knowledge base? According to the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the responsibilities of the CIO/CTO in all industry sectors have moved from being largely technical to being mainly strategic (leadership and management, fiscal management, organization and culture skills, and business skills). Yet, in the education sector, these are new trends and few people have the broad set of skills needed to provide strategic technology leadership within their school district. The task of identifying and developing essential skills for CTOs, a relatively new hybrid position in schools, is critical. While the responsibilities of the district technology leader/CTO vary by district, the Consortium for School Networking has developed a Framework of Essential Skills for CTOs. Learn about the framework and then participate in an interactive exercise to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
[View Presentation]
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| 1:00 PM-4:00 PM |
Pre-Conference Workshop: Technology Leadership, Planning and Implementation: Specific Strategies for Small School Districts*
| Facilitator: |
- Vicki Smith Bigham, President, Bigham Technology Solutions Inc. & CoSN Professional Development Consultant
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| Presenters: |
- Bob Collie, Chief Technology Officer, Education Networks of America (ENA)
- C. Michael Lay, Technology Coordinator, Scott County Schools, TN
- Marilyn Privett, IT Program Coordinator, Batavia City School District, NY
- Mark Radcliffe, Training Specialist, blendedschools.net and former Instructional Technology Specialist, Troy Area School District, PA
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Of the more than 14,000 school districts in the United States, nearly 75% have student populations of less than 2,500. The technology leadership concerns and needs of small districts are typically impacted by a different set of resources, personnel, and even expertise constraints than are experienced in larger or medium-sized districts. This workshop will focus on resources that the Consortium for School Networking has been pulling together to focus on the unique technology leadership, planning and implementation needs of small school districts. How do you deal with the ever-expanding role and responsibility of effectively managing the district’s technology initiatives? How do you successfully garner community support? How do you address budgeting and staffing, technical support, and grants? How do you manage ongoing maintenance, support and professional development? Hear about experiences and learn best practices from administrators in small districts and find resources that have been targeted to the needs of small district chief technology officers (CTOs), superintendents, and others responsible for effective technology implementation and use in small districts.
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| 3:30 PM-5:00 PM |
CoSN’s Corporate Member Council (Exclusively for CoSN Corporate Members)
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| 5:15 PM-7:30 PM |
Opening Reception in the Exhibit Hall
Join us as we begin the annual conference with a welcome reception in the exhibit hall on Sunday evening. Arrive early to take advantage of previewing innovative new products and tools that can help meet your district’s needs, chat with colleagues and win door prizes by completing your exhibit hall passport.
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* Preregistration and additional payment are required.
** Preregistration is required.
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