District/School Administration PK-16 Program Support Educational Technology
Massachusetts Online Network for Education (MassONE)

MassONE Newsletter - September 2005

Announcing MassONE!

Welcome back to school! Next month will mark the launch of Massachusetts Online Network for Education by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. MassONE represents Commissioner Driscoll's vision for an online tool that enables communication, collaboration, and sharing among educators, students, and ESE staff---creating ONE statewide community.

Many of MassONE's tools will be familiar to you, since MassONE grew out of VES, which has been available to educators and students for the past five years. MassONE represents a major redesign of VES, with new tools and a redesigned interface that will streamline its use.

You are receiving this bimonthly newsletter because you had a VES account, which has now become a MassONE account. Even though the name of the system has changed to MassONE, you will still be able to access your account, along with all of the information you may have posted on VES. Your user name and password will not change. If you have forgotten your password or if you want to set up an account for the first time, you can email MassONEHelp@doe.mass.edu or call MassONE at 781-338-3020. MassONE will need your name, email address and date of birth to distinguish you from any other educators who may have similar names.

MassONE allows educators to create their own online groups, which means that you can create a group for classes that you teach or for a group of teachers who are collaborating. When you create a new group, a MassONE "wizard" appears to help you design a home page. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can choose from a set of templates and images to give your group's homepage a unique look and feel, add announcements and other important information, and select tools that the group can use. You can then share ideas and resources with the group, and only members of the group will be able to view them.

Official Launch of MassONE

MassONE will be launched at a special workshop on October 31 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. at the Worcester Holiday Inn.

MassONE Announces Logo Contest

The ESE is holding a contest for students to design a logo for MassONE. The winner will be honored by Commissioner Driscoll at a special MassONE ceremony in October. The winning entry will appear on the MassONE web site and accompanying materials by November 1. All Massachusetts students from PreK to 12 are eligible to enter the contest. Please spread the word about the contest with others in your school, especially any art teachers.

MassONE Offers New Tools

If you haven't used the system for a few months, you're in for a nice surprise. There are several new tools designed to help teachers do their jobs more efficiently and effectively.

• Curriculum tools - These tools offer an easy way to create standards-based lesson plans. They include a lesson plan tool where users can enter information such key concepts, activities, and assessment strategies. The curriculum tools also include a standards database (see below), allowing you to quickly identify the standard(s) that you want to focus on. Once you have finished, your lesson is stored on MassONE, where you can easily access it and share it with other educators as you choose.
• Standards database - This database presents the curriculum and vocational technical frameworks in a way that allows you to view the standards in various ways. For example, you can view all of the learning standards for a grade and subject you teach. Or you might want to look at all the standards for a particular topic or skill in order to view the progression from one grade to the next.
• Survey tool - This tool makes it possible to quickly construct an online survey, offer it to group members of a group, and then access aggregated survey results for the group. Teachers can use it to create quizzes that students can complete online.

In addition to these new tools, MassONE offers all of the tools that VES previously offered. These are some of the most popular tools:

• Discussion forums - You can join or create a group that discusses a subject online. You can use the forums to share information with other educators, or set up a forum for your students to discuss topics covered in class.
• Virtual hard drive - This convenient tool allows you to access files from any computer, so you and your students can use it to take work home or to any other place where you can access a computer.
• Resources - MassONE offers links to thousands of lesson plans, activities, and other resources that relate to specific curriculum topics. You can search by grade level and topic or simply browse through groups of resources.
• Technology Self-Assessment Tool - This online tool allows educators to quickly find out which skills they need to acquire in order to best help their students. The tool can aggregate teacher data (anonymously) for a school or district, allowing technology leaders to see where the need for professional development is greatest.