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

Newsletter - September 2006

Welcome Back to School!

As you begin the new school year, it's a good time to think about how you can help students develop the skills they will need in the 21st century. MassONE exists to help you and your students develop those skills. With the rapid growth of online and learning and collaboration in the realms of higher education, business, and even high schools, you can give your students a head start by exposing them to MassONE. Its discussion forums, Virtual Hard Drive, and online survey tool can be easily integrated into classroom activities. You can start small-or big-and the MassONE staff are always available to help you. For information on setting up accounts for students, go the MassONE web site or contact MassONE Help at 781-338-3020 or MassONEHelp@doe.mass.edu.

Survey Tool Updated

During the summer, the MassONE staff were busy improving the online survey tool. You may notice that it has a more intuitive look and feel, which was developed in response to requests from MassONE users. Probably the most exciting enhancement is the tool's ability to create surveys that can be taken by both MassONE users and non-users. To create such a survey, just select the "anonymous survey" option, and you will receive a URL (web address) for accessing the survey.

Teachers can use the survey tool for a variety of purposes. For example, a history teacher can give an online pre-test to find out how much students already know about an era. A science teacher can create online forms for students to report the data gathered for a class project. In a literature class, students can complete an online survey to express their opinions about issues raised by a novel. To get started using the survey tool, log in to MassONE and click the clipboard icon.

Web Site Updates

The MassONE web site now includes new sections designed to make it easier for all educators to take advantage of MassONE's tools and resources. Check the links for MassONE Admins and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education staff on the MassONE home page.

MassONE Seeks Feedback

MassONE is committed to providing the best possible system for educators and students. If you have any suggestions for making the system more useful, please write to MassONEHelp@doe.mass.edu or call 781-338-3020. The MassONE development staff continues to work to improve the system, and they are interested in hearing your ideas.

Professional Development Opportunities Coming

The Partnership for Technology Professional Development (PTPD) continues to move forward. The partners spent the summer finalizing the course topics and developing the course content. The courses, which begin in December, will include:

1. 21st Century Literacy Skills for Teachers
2. Creating Assessments Using Online Tools
3. Universal Design for Learning in the General Education Curricululm
4. Teacher Tech: Digital Media in the Classroom
5. Principles of Curriculum Design
6. Leadership for the 21st Century: Teaching, Learning, and Technology

The courses will be developed and taught by CAST, MESPA (Massachusetts Elementary School Principals' Association), and VHS (Virtual High School). There will also be a self-paced orientation to MassONE, consisting of 10 one-hour modules, which will be available all year.

Enhancements to MassONE Admin Tools

MassONE Admins now have the ability to move educators from one school to another within their district. They can also delete accounts for educators who have left the district. (In case you don't know what a MassONE Admin is, they are district staff who facilitate account registrations for teachers and students and set up MassONE resources for their district and schools. To find out who your MassONE Admin is, check the list at http://massone.mass.edu/admin/list.html.)

MassONE Training Available for New Users

Would you like to jump-start the use of MassONE in your district? MassONE will come to your location and provide training for groups of 15 or more. Setting up onsite training requires the approval of a principal or district administrator. Applicants must articulate how they plan to use MassONE at the district, school, or classroom level. There are several ways you can request onsite training:

• Send an email to massonetraining@doe.mass.edu.
• Call MassONE at 781-338-3018.
• Print out the training request form    and fax it to 781-338-6880.

Training for MassONE Admins

If you are a MassONE Admin or you are interested in becoming one, consider attending the upcoming MassONE Admin training in Malden on October 5 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. This training will provide an overview of the MassONE online tools and resources, as well as a more detailed look at how to register and manage user accounts on behalf of a school, district, or educational organization/collaborative. The session will also present best practices and innovative uses of MassONE so that participants can brainstorm new directions and plan for possible district-wide.

MassONE Hits the Conference Circuit

If you're interested in learning more, keep an eye out for the MassONE presentations at these fall conferences. MassONE will also have an exhibit table at the MassCUE conference.

Virtual High School (VHS)
Advancing Online Learning
Sheraton Ferncroft in Danvers
September 28-29, 2006

Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA)
The Many Hats We Wear
Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center October 29-30
[MassONE will have a table in the exhibition hall.]

Massachusetts Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE)
Holiday Inn in Worcester
October 27, 2006

Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (MassCUE)
Education for the Information Age
Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center
November 15-16, 2006

MassONE Used in Summer Content Institutes

All of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's content institutes used MassONE's tools to enhance communication and collaboration among the participants. Each institute had its own workgroup, with a "home page" including an overview of institute, its course schedule, and contact information for the instructors. MassONE's online survey tool was used to create pre-and post-tests for each institute, enabling the Department to access aggregated data to analyze and report on the effectiveness of the institutes.

Most of the institutes used MassONE's discussion forums to continue their conversations beyond the walls of the classroom. Some of the conversations were quite lively, with four institutes (Lens on Literature, Reasoning Algebraically, Bridges Mathematics, and TLC Algebra) posting more than 300 messages by the end of the summer.

Some institutes used the Virtual Hard Drive to share documents. In the Climate Change institute, for example, each participant was asked to post a report on a teaching resource, which other participants could then view. The instructor had posted a template for the report, so that participants would know what to include. In New Technologies in the Visual Arts, the instructors posted the syllabus, supply list, and rubrics for assessing participants' work. They also posted an image for participants to write about in the discussion forum.

Back Issues of Newsletters

If you missed any previous issues of the MassONE newsletter, you can now find them on the MassONE web site. To access them, click MassONE News Archives on the MassONE home page.