Maine Learning Technology Initiative

Effective School Leadership for Learning with Technology. Do You Know It When You See It? facilitated by Chris Toy
Principal’s Webinar
June 28, 2011 at 4:00pm

National research and our experience in Maine establishes that the quality of leadership in schools is THE single most important factor in determining the ultimate success and sustainability of the effective use of technology in learning. Come join Technology Integrator Mike Arsenault and Principal Bruce Brann from Harrison Middle School, and Principal John Keane from Leonard Middle School in Old Town as we talk about their perspectives and ideas about this key topic.

Gather your leadership colleagues together, fire up your MLTI laptops, and join us on the the 28th!
To register for this webinar, select the Webcasts tab at the top of the http://maine121.org page and select the time to be directed to online registration. This webinar will be offered at 4:00pm.

Join us on June 21, 2011 at 3:15pm for the last Feed Forward Webinar for the 2010-2011 school year.  The Feed Forward webinar series is designed for the MLTI Team to receive feedback from Techs, Teachers, Leadership and even students!!

This month’s Feed Forward webinar will focus on summer re-imaging. We will review changes introduced in the new MLTI III 2011 image, and then move onto a discussion of processes shown to be successful for summertime reimaging, storage, and distribution in the fall.  We will also discuss Summer Redistribution.

Have a question you want addressed during the Feed Forward Series? Send your email to mlti.project@maine.gov with Feed Forward Listener Mail in the subject line. Get your question answered live! To register, please visit the Webcasts page and select webcasts from the top navigation (select the time of the webinar you wish to participate in to be directed to online registration).

If you wish to review past Feed Forward webinars, we’ve recorded and archived them.  Please visit the archives page to view recorded sessions (organized by date).

Do You Know It When You See It? facilitated by Chris Toy
Principal’s Webinar
May 24, 2011 at 4:00pm

What does it look like when teachers are effectively using technology for learning? Be sure to join us at 4:00pm on Tuesday May 24th for the MLTI Principal’s Webinar. The topic will be “Do You Know It When You See It? The ISTE NETS-T Standards for Teachers”.

Join us for a conversation with four Maine colleagues: Special guests will be Crystal Priest – District Technology Coordinator in MSAD #4, ACTEM President, and newly appointed Apple Distinguished Educator; Kevin Harrington – Principal of Piscataquis Community Secondary Schoo in Guilfordl; Dr. Mike Muir – Multiple Pathways Leader, Auburn School District and Director and Maine’s virtual project-based program for at-risk youth; and Ernie Easter – Classroom teacher for grades 7 & 8, self contained classroom, teaching all subjects and MLTI Teacher Leader for the New Sweden School.

Gather your leadership colleagues together, fire up your MLTI laptops, and join us on the the 24th!
To register for this webinar, select the Webcasts tab at the top of the http://maine121.org page and select the time to be directed to online registration.

For schools that would like to expand their MLTI 1:1 computing for high school or elementary grade levels or would like to offer MLTI devices to more teachers and staff, the Department of Education is pleased to announce another opportunity for Maine schools to add MLTI devices. These devices will have the 2011 MLTI custom image and will be delivered in the mid-June to early July timeframe. Device specifications are available in the Participation Packet on the Deployment Page.

We will be offering MLTI devices on either a 1-year or 2-year lease, and device order forms are due by noon on May 27, 2011.

Prices are as follows:

- 1-year plan: $816/device (one upfront payment due in July 2011)
- 2-year plan: $418/device/year (billed quarterly for two years at $104.50/quarter)

The Device Order Form, Participation Form, and details on this expansion opportunity are available in the 2011 Participation Packet found on the Deployment Page.

Schools that want to make payments before June 30, 2011 should contact the MLTI Project Office at mlti.project@maine.gov.

We are aware that some schools may need to get budget approvals before committing to purchase more MLTI devices, and budget meetings may not be scheduled until after May 27, 2011. If your school wants to get MLTI devices but cannot commit funds until after the May 27th deadline, please let us know your intent by submitting the Device Order Form by May 27th and asking us to Hold the Order for Board Approval. Be sure to give us the date of your board’s budget meeting. Please be sure to follow up with us immediately after that budget meeting to let us know the outcome.

Please note: this offering is only for schools that want to expand their 1:1 program; if your school requires additional MLTI devices because of increased enrollment or eligible staff, please complete the online MacBook Request Form.

If you have any questions or need any further information, please feel free to contact the MLTI Project Office via email or at 624-6746.

MLTI Project Team

Be sure to join us on Tuesday April 26th from 4-5 PM for this month’s MLTI Principal’s Webinar. The topic will be Students Learning Effectively With Technology Do you Know It When You See It? ISTE NETS for Students. We’ll be joined by Auburn Middle School Principal, Jim Hand, Auburn Tech Integrator Carl Bucciantini, and Mt. Ararat High School Principal Craig King.

We’ll also have the opportunity to learn more about Auburn’s iPad mobile learning project with kindergarten students!

It should be an interesting and informative hour!

Head on over to maine121.org, select webcasts from the top menu, then scroll down to April 26, 4:00 to register.

Join Chris Toy Tuesday, March 22nd from 4:00 – 5:00 PM for what promises to be a most interesting webinar. The topic is Superintendents, Principals, and MLTI, It’s All About Educational Leadership! We’ll be joined by superintendents Don Siviski from RSU2 and Jerry White from MSAD31. Mark Hatch, Principal at Messalonskee Middle School, and John Armentrout, tech director at RSU #2, will also be with us. So grab a colleague and join Chris and guests for a great conversation. 

This webinar will be held March 22, 2011 at 4:00pm.

To register for this webinar, select the Webcasts tab at the top of the http://maine121.org page and register for the time desired.

Thanks to Brad Edwards, Michael Corey,  Mike Muir and Edward Little High School recent graduate Jonathan Robinson for joining me for this month’s MLTI Principal’s Webinar about online learning.

After a brief announcement about MLTI’s Rice Bowl Challenge by Steve Garton,  http://www.maine.gov/mlti/ricebowl/ Tech Integrator Brad Edwards kicked things off with a great overview of the whys and wherefores of online learning. He shared some excellent resources including links to a recent document from the Maine Heritage Policy Center’s report to the new governor on digital learning and technology  http://www.mainepolicy.org/2011/01/schools-for-maines-future-the-promise-of-digital-learning/ as well as sites about online schools, resources, and tools. Brad advised principals whose schools did not yet have policies and plans for developing online learning to work with their leadership teams on this rapidly expanding aspect of learning in Maine.

IT Director Michael Corey shared the Acton School’s extensive collection of over 850 (and growing!) online resources. In addition to giving specific examples of how elementary and middle school teachers use Acton’s “Kid’s Corner” to enhance teaching and learning, Michael let everyone know that the whole collection is freely available to all educators and students. Here’s the link. http://www.acton.k12.me.us/ He’s interested in connecting with other schools to share ideas for sharing and managing the growing number of online learning resources.

Project Director Mike Muir shared an exciting new statewide project known as Maine’s Virtual Project-Based Learning Program. http://maine.citadelgroup.net Mike described the program as being aimed at students who are at-risk and dropouts. It is designed to be a program that provides students with the opportunity to earn a diploma from their community’s high school while working on standards-based projects at home but in the virtual school. Jonathan Robinson, a recent graduate from the program described why the project-based program worked for him. Mike wrapped up by inviting any schools interested in learning more about Maine’s Project-Based Virtual Learning Program to contact him at mmuir@maine.edu

There were some great questions and conversations throughout the hour. To get a recording of the webinar and transcripts of the conversation among the participants just go to http://maine121.org/?page_id=410 and select Webcasts, then Archives.

Be sure to save 4:00 Tuesday, February 22, 2011 for the next MLTI Principal’s Webinar.  The topic will be Social Networking and Web 2.0 – Leveraging Online Resources For Student and Adult Learning.

Be sure to schedule the hour between 4-5 PM on January 25, 2011 to join in on the next MLTI Principals’ Webinar. The topic this month is “Online Learning, Anytime, Anywhere, Anyone?” and will be facilitated by Chris Toy.

We’ll hear from tech integrator Brad Edwards, IT Director Michael Corey, and Maine’s Virtual School Director Mike Muir about what’s out there for online learning and what principals can do to enhance teaching and learning with technology in their schools.

So if you’re a principal, grab your leadership team. If you’re not, then grab your principal and join us!

To register, please visit http://maine121.org/, choose the choose the WebCasts tab from the top navigation (select the time of the webinar you wish to participate in to be directed to online registration).

This month’s Feed Forward webinar included a review of the near-final MLTI Image specifications for the 2011 software image, more viewer mail, a change in the Buffer Pool request protocol, and finally a clarification on the Department’s recommendations about commercial insurance for MLTI devices.

2011 Image Specification Details:

Mac OS X v10.6.6
Adobe Reader will be the default PDF viewer in Safari
update to iLife ’11
MindNode replaces Freemind

Additions:

Scratch
MuseScore
Adobe Digital Editions
Overdrive Media Console
NECAP Test User

Deletions:

iMovie ’06 (The most recent version will remain as part of iLife ’11)
Quicktime 7 Player (The most recent version will remain as part of Mac OS X)
Adobe Air

Viewer Mail
Escalation issues were discussed. The takeaways are to remember that for any MLTI Applecare Help Desk call that doesn’t resolve an issue, schools have an option to “Escalate” to case. Remember to get your case number! In addition, for schools with multiple technicians, the protocol remains that the listed Tech Lead in the Asset Manager is the only tech who may escalate a case.
iPods/iPhones/iPads arrived as holiday gifts for some students and teachers, and they discovered that they needed updates to iTunes and other associated software to sync the new device. To obtain these updates, please use MLTI Updater 003 found in Studywiz.

Buffer Pool
For all buffer pool requests, please include the price quote from the Depot in your request notes. This means that schools should dispatch units to the MLTI Repair Depot prior to making the request to obtain a price quote.

Finally, a discussion of why the Department does not recommend commercial insurance, and the implications of that on the use of the Buffer Pool, costs, etc. Most importantly, the recommendation does not mean that the Department is promising that the Buffer Pool will provide blanket coverage for all non-warranty issues. Please listen to the recording for more details!

Archive Recording (this is a 27MB file, please be patient after clicking the link!):
Feed_Forward_01_18_11