Archived Information

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

Newsletter - February 2006

MassONE Is Growing!

MassONE now has 72,807 registered users. That's a lot of potential collaborators for you and your students! Perhaps you will want to share teaching strategies with colleagues throughout your district, join an online professional development course, or involve your students in online discussion. MassONE also has a new training specialist, Bob Kelley, who started work with MassONE the week of its official launch. Finally, MassONE also has some great new tools, which are described below.

Virtual Hard Drive Redesigned

If you haven't used the Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) in a while, take a look! The interface has been streamlined to make it more user friendly. And because MassONE's new interface is "group-centric," it's easier to store and findmaterials in the VHD. Once you select a work group from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen, clicking the VHD will take you directly to the folder for that specific group.

Dropbox Tool Now Available

In response to requests from users, MassONE has created a dropbox tool, which is useful for anyone teaching onlinewith MassONE. A dropbox allows students to securely submit homework to their teacher while keeping it out of view from the other students. Of course, the dropbox can be used for professional development, as well as for student courses.

To create a dropbox for a workgroup:

1. Choose the desired workgroup from the dropdown menu.
2. Click on the VHD icon in the left navigation bar.
3. Click the "add dropbox" button.
4. Name the dropbox and click OK.
5. The teacher and students will see a homework dropbox in that workgroup's VHD.

New Curriculum Tool

MassONE is pleased to announce that, through its collaboration with WIDE World, developed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, MassONE users now have access to WIDE World's Collaborative Curriculum Design Tool (CCDT). The CCDT is a web application that supports the development and dissemination of lesson plans and curriculum units that foster student learning through the application of the Teaching for Understanding Framework. To access the tool, log into MassONE, then click Curriculum Tools, and then click CCDT. MassONE thanks WIDE World for making this tool available to Massachusetts educators.

Forget Your Password?

If you misplaced your password, you can quickly and easily reset it, anytime. To access the password reset tool, just go to MassONE's home page http://massone.mass.edu/ and click "Forgot Your Password." To provide you with a secure password reset tool, MassONE uses a two-step process. First you need to provide some basic information, along with a new password in an online form. Then MassONE will instantly email you a secure link. When you click on the link in the email and your password is reset. For security reasons the password reset tool cannot be made available to students. To reset a student's password, check with your district's MassONE Admin or with MassONE.

MassONE Admin Trainings

Regional MassONE Admin trainings are being scheduled throughout the school year at locations throughout the state. These workshops will use the train-the-trainer model to increase capacity within a district. Topics will include implementation strategies, a tools overview, and managing accounts. Trainings will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. To check the current schedule and register for a workshop, go to MassONE's online training registration page and use the drop-down menu to register to view the locations and dates.

Onsite Training for New MassONE 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 http://massone.mass.edu/training/ and fax it to 781-338-6880.

MassONE Offers Organizational Memberships

Organizations that work with Massachusetts teachers and students are now eligible to apply for membership in MassONE. This means that MassONE will increasingly be used for online professional development and e-learning activities for students.

Summer Content Institutes to Feature MassONE

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is seeking proposals for summer content institutes focusing on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. This year all institutes must incorporate MassONE to enhance the teaching, learning, discussion, and exchange of projects. Proposals are due February 27, 2006. For more information, refer to the RFP at http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/grants/grants06/rfp/171_151.html

Spring Technology Conference

Mark your calendar for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Enhancing Educational Through Technology Conference, which will be held in Worcester on April 26, 2006. The conference will feature workshops presenting innovative uses of MassONE in professional development and in the classroom; panel discussions and exhibits by technology grants recipients; welcoming remarks by Bob Bickerton, Senior Associate Commissioner at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; a keynote speech by Chris Dede from the Harvard Graduate School of Education; and information on FY2007 technology grants. In mid-March, the web page will offer online registration and descriptions of the sessions and exhibits.

MassONE Used by Tech Grant Partners

Donna LeBretton, instructional technology coordinator in Whitman-Hanson Regional School District, is using MassONE extensively in her work with Project LEAP. The project, funded through an Enhancing Education Through Technology grant, has provided laptop computers to help boost school students' math achievement at the Whitman Middle School and Hull's Memorial Middle School.

Donna finds MassONE a great tool for collaborating with the teachers in the two districts. She has loaded the project's Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) with workshop handouts and PowerPoints, links to online math resources, resources and activities developed by project participants, and relevant articles on topics such as technology and Universal Design. She has even included a drop box, where participants can submit comments and suggestions for the project. Because these resources are posted on MassONE, participants can access them whenever and wherever it is convenient for them.

Another tool Donna likes is the MassONE announcements tool, which is handy for publicizing upcoming workshops and meetings. Donna also uses announcements to create excitement about the project, posting "cool" math sites, offering tips for getting the most from the project, and explaining how to access resources in the VHD. Since some of the participants are new to technology and to MassONE, Donna also sends email to remind them to go to MassONE to access these items.

Donna plans to eventually use MassONE's discussion forums for both teachers and students. Because the grant has just started, she is careful not to overwhelm the participants with too many new ideas at once. Still, she says that she has already seen a lot of growth and excitement from teachers and students, which pleases her. Donna is passionate about helping teachers and students, and she believes that having useful information available anytime, anyplace will help improve learning.

For more information about Project LEAP, Donna can be reached at Donna.Lebretton@whrsd.k12.ma.us.