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Learning to Be Green COMPUTER-USING EDUCATORS, INC. On Kids Can Be Green, Too! CUE & A with Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard Professional Development Goes Green Dividing A Tech Leader’s Responsibilities Winter 2007 | Vol. 29 | No. 4 Advancing Student Achievement Through Technology

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Learning to Be GreenComputer-usinG eduCators, inC.

OnKids Can Be Green, Too!CUE & A with Representative Lucille Roybal-AllardProfessional Development Goes Green

Dividing A Tech Leader’s Responsibilities

Winter 2007 | Vol. 29 | no. 4

Advancing Student Achievement Through Technology

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Get the Test Tools Advantage:

• Created by an education panel including National Board Certified teachers

• Complete Mathematics and English-Language Arts CAHSEE solution

• Diagnostic prescriptive parallel Pretest and Posttest simulation

• Immediate feedback for answer selections with detailed explanations

• Teacher individual lesson plans included for CAHSEE remediation

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• CAHSEEonline.com Subscription Servicealso available

800-315-6193

Complete Information, Demos, and Testimonials at w w w . t e s t t o o l s . c o m

Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

Get the Test Tools Advantage:

• Created by an education panel including National Board Certified teachers

• Complete Mathematics and English-Language Arts CAHSEE solution

• Diagnostic prescriptive parallel Pretest and Posttest simulation

• Immediate feedback for answer selections with detailed explanations

• Teacher individual lesson plans included for CAHSEE remediation

• Cross-platform solutions for both Windows and Macintosh computers

• CAHSEEonline.com Subscription Service also available

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CUECUE promotes and supports the effective use of technology in the educational community.

AdvertisingPaid advertising accepted in accordance with editorial policy. For ad deadlines or additional information, please contact CUE Inc., 387 17th Street, Suite 208, Oakland, CA 94612, 510.814.6630. <www.cue.org/advertising/oncue/>

OnCUE journal (ISSN 0739-9553) is published and bulk-mailed four times during the academic year by Com-puter-Using Educators, Inc., and is one of the benefits of membership. Membership for CUE is $40/year, U.S. regular rate, $30/year, U.S. student rate, and $20/year retired rate. Corporate memberships are available.

Entire contents Copyright 2007 by CUE, Inc., unless other-wise indicated. All rights reserved. To reprint articles that are copyrighted by the author, you must contact the author for permission. All other items may be reprinted for educational use, but not for sale, with the provision that proper credit is given to OnCUE and to the author, if any.

2007 CUE, Inc. Board of Directors

Mike Lawrence, Executive Director Computer-Using Educators, Inc.387 17th Street, Suite 208 | Oakland, CA 94612Phone 510.814.6630 | Fax [email protected]

Editor Layout Sara Armstrong, Ph.D. Kesler [email protected]

Contributing Writers Barbara Bray, Brian Bridges, Sandra Burdick, Tim Landeck, Doug Prouty, Linda Oaks, David Thornburg, Chris York

Scott Smith, President [email protected]

Steven Glyer, [email protected] Barbara Keenoy, Member at [email protected]

Micheline LeBlanc, [email protected]

Debra White, [email protected]

Brian Bridges, Vice President/[email protected]

Terry Faherty, Member at [email protected]

Dr. Kurt Larson, Member [email protected]

Sharon Sutton, [email protected]

missionContents

W I N T E R 2 0 0 7

Bits and Bytes

OnCTAP:Technology Funding Challenges: Finding “Green” for your School .....20Ben Anderson and Brian BridgesCongratulations! .............................................................................21Conference News .............................................................................21Pearl Anniversary Feature................................................................21

Features

“CUE & A” with Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard ......................10Steven Glyer

Kids Can be Green, Too! ..................................................................12Sara Armstrong, Ph.D.

Departments

Tech Coordination: Dividing A Tech Leader’s Responsibilities ...........................................14Doug Prouty

Professional Development: Professional Development Goes Green ...............................................15Barbara Bray

Tips & Tricks: Visual Learning: Make It a Little Easier to Be Green ..................................................16Linda Oaks

The CUE Review ............................................................................17Sandra Burdick

Columns

UpFront: Campus as Teacher ..........................................................5Mike Lawrence

President's Column: Recycling CPU Cycles .......................................7Scott Smith

The Bleeding Edge: It’s Easier Being Green .......................................8David D. Thornburg, Ph.D.

On IT with CETPA: The Green Data Center and Classroom ............9Warren Williams

CUE Information & Forms

Annual CUE Conference: Pearls of Learning ...................................18CUE Membership Application ........................................................19 Leadership Symposium ....................................................................21CUEtoYOU ...................................................................................22Macworld .....................................................................................23Calendar .......................................................................................23

On the cover: Students at John Muir School test water quality.

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Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

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Campus as Teacher

By Mike LawrenceExecutive Director

[email protected]

www.cue.org Winter 2007 OnCUE

�U P F R O N T

Mike Lawrence and Kris Hill

Solar Panels

Entrance to Chartwell School

Reclaimed wood

Douglas Atkins, Executive Director

The vision of a thoughtfully designed “green” campus is a

recent one and represents much more than

environmental awareness.

TThis week, I had the opportunity to visit CUE Member Kris Hill at her school in Seaside, CA, on the Monterey Peninsula. Her campus opened in the Fall of 2006, and is poised to become first school

that will receive Platinum LEEDS certifica-tion in the United States. This certification represents the highest tier of sustainability and “green” building practices, as judged by the U.S. Green Building Council. Few buildings in the country have received this status, let alone a school. Chartwell School <www.chartwell.org> is innovative in many ways beyond this, however.

Chartwell currently serves the needs of about 125 students with differing learning styles, and most students have dyslexia. The focus of the school’s efforts is to transi-tion its students back into conventional educational settings. During my visit, I was quite impressed with the complete fusion of campus facilities with the school’s purpose as a learning institution. The lead-ership and faculty of the school view the campus as a “fellow teacher” or big learning laboratory within which students can inter-act and learn in much the same way they do with the (human) faculty. Sections of support struts, conduit, and water heating pipes have been left open to view for stu-dents to see how buildings are supported, electricity and networks are wired, and how rooms are heated.

The vision of a thought-fully designed “green” campus is a recent one and represents much more than environmental

awareness. Douglas Atkins, Executive Director, gave me a personal tour of the campus. He shared with me his passion for school design and forward thinking systems integration. What was surprising to me was that many of the enhancements needed to achieve Platinum LEEDS certification weren’t just great for the environment—they are “just good design” and oftentimes cheaper. By building for disassembly, building energy-saving systems and infra-

structure, and thinking deeply about how to leverage a school construction program towards student achievement, the school community can see an increase not just in energy savings, recycling materials, and sustainability, but in student achievement, learning outcomes, and creativity.

Technology is integrated throughout the campus’ physical and learning infrastruc-ture as well. Mobile labs are available in all but a few classrooms, and students use whichever laptop is available, tapping into aserver, enabling them to access their data from anywhere. Teachers are encouraged to infuse technology in lessons, and are cur-rently working on increasing cross-curricu-lar lessons. It was refreshing to see technol-ogy as an integrated part of a creative and innovative learning environment.

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Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

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IBy Scott Smith

CUE Board [email protected] Recycling

CPU CyclesIn 1987, Mrs. Peterson introduced her third grade students to “Mick-ey’s Space Adventure,” an adventure game in the genre made popular by the Zork and King’s Quest series. Students loved it. They

searched for clues to find crystals that would preserve the history of a race of aliens. They made predictions, applied logic, solved interesting puzzles, and kept a journal—and along the way, the students established a strong understanding of the planets in our solar system. While Mrs. Peterson’s students were saving the alien race, Mrs. Peterson was realizing the powerful role classroom computers play in student learning. From that day forward, she made it a high priority to keep a half dozen or more student work-stations in her classroom—which was no easy task with tight budgets, administrations tepid toward technology, borrowed equip-ment, and thin tech support. Roll forward twenty years, three different schools, and several grade changes later. En-ter Mrs. Peterson’s classroom today and you still see eight student workstations. How does she do it year after year? One answer is her passionate belief that when technology is purposely put in student hands, it pays

off academically; where there’s a will, there’s a way. But last year Mrs. Peterson found a new technology that made it much easier to realize her passion to keep a fresh supply of student workstations. A new technol-ogy from NComputing called the X300 that allowed her to reuse unwanted monitors, keyboards, and mice. This unique product is a half-size PCI card that plugs into the motherboard allowing three monitors, keyboards, mice, and head-sets to connect to it and share the CPU cy-cles. For $220, one Windows XP computer and some discarded peripherals can become four fully-functional student workstations independently running their own software applications shared from the host computer. The X300 uses terminal services software to take advantage of the hyper-threading technology built into the microprocessor. In a sense, it recycles the CPU cycles. The photo below shows a computer center in Mrs. Peterson’s classroom with flat screen monitors, keyboards, and mice wrapped around one host computer. With two X300 cards and two computers, Mrs. Peterson’s students enjoy eight workstations.

Obvious upsides are numerous: more workstations for less money; the ability to recycle discarded monitors, used keyboards and mice; lower power usage; fewer cords to manage; less precious classroom floor space used; and fewer computers for technicians to support. Downsides: with four worksta-tions dependent on a host, if the host goes down for repair, then four workstations are out of commission. Also, CPU intensive ap-plications like video editing run slowly. Technologies like the X300 offer new ways of going green. In this issue of OnCUE, we explore the many possibilities of yielding a brighter energy-efficient future. In 1987, Mrs. Peterson’s students worked to restore an alien’s history. Today, we carry the privi-lege of extending ours.

www.cue.org Winter 2007 OnCUE

7P R E S I D E N T ’ S C O L U M N

Mrs. Peterson found a new technology that made it much easier to realize her passion to

maintain a fresh supply of student workstations.

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Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

� T H E B L E E D I N G E D G E

It’s Easier Being Green: Addressing Computer Power Consumption

By David D. Thornburg, [email protected]

II used to love the Kermit song, It’s Not Easy Being Green. This has been true in more ways than one for quite awhile, but our recent focus on energy efficiency is changing the world for the better,

and we are all looking for ways to bring a little of the green movement into our lives.

One area that is often overlooked in our quest for energy efficiency is the power consumption of our computers. While this was not a big issue back in the days where the student computer ratio was 65 to 1, it surely is a bigger issue now, especially in those classrooms where there is a computer for every child. A typical desktop com-puter has a 250 watt power supply, which is adequate for most student computing needs. A powerful game computer may consume three times that amount of power. A class-room with 30 computers can place a load of 7.5 kilowatts on the system—roughly half the peak power demand of a medium-sized home. And, this power consumption is just for the computer itself, not counting the monitor. In a typical classroom, this power can raise the room temperature to the point where air conditioning is required, thus increasing the power consumption of the school even more.

Some US high schools have one-to-one computing in every English classroom. This means that the power consumption of the school’s computers can easily reach 75 kilowatts.

Of all the topics we think about related to computer use, power consumption is pretty near the bottom of the list. Fortunately, the subject of global climate change has caused some folks to think about this topic more than they otherwise might. And, several designers have come up with solutions that allow schools to provide stellar computing

experiences at a fraction of the energy cost of traditional computers.

One area to consider in looking at power consumption is the processor itself. (Graph-ics processors, especially at the high end, are real power hogs, but these chips are unlikely to be used in student comput-ers, at least at school.) AMD’s Athlon and Turion processors, for example, have special power management capabilities built in to minimize power consumption except when a burst of processing power is needed. Most of the time, the processor is just idling along waiting for a keystroke or mouse click. In this case, the chip runs at minimum power. When the computer is performing a transformation on a photograph, or some other computationally intensive task, the processor ramps up to do the job as quickly as possible before going back to a lower powered mode.

An alternative to on-chip power manage-ment is to use microprocessors that draw very little power to start with. This was the thinking behind MIT’s choice of the AMD Geode processor for the XO laptop for the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project (<olpc.com>, <laptop.org>).

There are some innovative ideas embodied in the OLPC. First, the power consumption of the device is only two watts, making it possible to operate through human power—initially with a crank-operated generator, and now perhaps using a string operated pulley system similar to a starter on a gas lawnmower (but much smaller, of course). A few minutes of physical labor provides an hour or so of reliable operation. This power saving comes from the use of the Geode chip, and the design of a novel display that uses far less power than the displays used in traditional laptops. The same display can be used for high resolution monochrome

operation (for reading e-books, for example) and, with back lighting, becomes a lower resolution color display.

While the original motivation for the low power chip was to allow human power to run the machine, the benefit remains even when the computer is plugged into the wall outlet.

Unless you are purchasing 250,000 or more of these computers at one time, this device is not likely to show up in your classroom. But that doesn’t mean that others aren’t jumping on the low-power bandwagon.

One new computer that is redefining desk-top computing a bit is the Zonbu system (<www.zonbu.com>) developed to be trivi-ally easy to set up and use, as well as to be very inexpensive to own and operate.

The Zonbu computer only draws 10 watts of power and connects to any display and keyboard you might already have. As with the OLPC laptop, it uses flash memory instead of rotating media (although it supports an external USB drive). Because the computer is designed to be used while connected to a special network, all your documents are backed up automatically, allowing you to gain access from other computers wherever you might be. The pre-installed software offerings meet the bulk of most computing requirements. The small footprint of this computer is matched by a low price ($99) if the purchaser subscribes to the online service ($12.95 per month) for two years. If you just want the computer, the price is about $250. The ten watt power consumption makes the Zonbu very “green,” an important feature in settings with multiple computers. The Zonbu computer is designed for end users, not for school use (although schools could use it if they wanted to).Continued on pg 11

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www.cue.org Winter 2007 OnCUE

By Warren [email protected]

O N I T W I T H C E T P A

The Green Data Center and Classroom!

IInformation and Education Tech-nology departments have begun to embrace the concept of “green” computing. They are implement-ing strategies and processes to assist schools, districts and county offices

to meet the challenge of improved energy efficiency. There is an understanding that “operations as usual’ will draw precious funds from the classroom as energy consumption demands more dollars from the budget. For this reason and because technology managers also understand the relationship of their opera-tions to global environmental issues, they are designing systems that allow for the expansion of services while consuming fewer resources.

For IT departments, innovation can represent profound changes to the culture of organizations. This change is frequently

viewed as top-down decision-making and is often the object of considerable angst for Chief Technology Officers (CTO). Despite this dynamic, educational technologists continue to strive to increase efficiencies to assist organizations in bringing more resources to the classroom, and to help improve teaching and learning.

Because the energy costs for three years of operation can exceed one and one half times the cost of purchasing servers and computers, CTOs have begun to look to alternatives for cost savings. In addition, data centers have exceptionally expensive cooling and energy demands. Some district and county offices have had to rebuild energy supply grids to keep pace with an ever-growing demand. The lack of energy capacity sometimes prevents the deploy-

ment of the technological tools to assist educators as they implement programs and provide resources.

There are alternatives to today’s energy inef-ficient operations. Virtualization—the pro-cess of running multiple programs on one or two computers or having five students work on one computer at the same time—can significantly reduce an energy footprint. The major corporations such as Dell, HP, and Apple have important initiatives to assist IT operations in reducing energy demand while also delivering “green” purchase and recycle programs.

Growing numbers of CTOs are making concerted efforts to protect the environment while increasing service to the educational community. There is the realization that “green” programs are beneficial and can pro-vide a best-case scenario for accommodating growth and providing an expanded array of educational tools.

Warren Williams is President-Elect for the California Educational Technology Profes-sionals Association (CETPA), is the K-12 Statewide Coordinator for Cal-PASS, mentor and teacher for the CTO Mentor Program, and serves on the Applications Coordination Committee for the California K-12 High Speed Network. He is currently a Director, Special Programs for the Grossmont Union High School District in La Mesa, California. He has served as Assistant Superintendent of Information and Technology Services, Educa-tional Technology Coordinator, Adult School Principal, Dean of Students and teacher. Warren pioneered work on Internet and Intranet development and has consulted with districts throughout the country on educational and information technology implementations.

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Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

10 F E A T U R E

Conducted by Steven Glyer [email protected] “CUE & A” with

Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard Representative, California’s 34th Congressional DistrictMember of the House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee

FFunding for technology in schools has always been a challenging quest. California has not provided any significant funding since the days of DHS (Digital High School). The only significant source of funds for education technology today has been from the federal government as a part

of NCLB. This program, called EETT (Enhancing Education Through Technology) has itself been reduced each year. Educa-tors have only been able to keep its present, much reduced state through the massive outcry to reverse the Bush administration’s efforts to zero out the funding.

ATTAIN is the new legislation destined to replace EETT through the reauthorization of NCLB. As of the opening of the 2007-08 school year, it is awaiting passage in the US Congress and signature of the President. Lucile Roybal-Allard, Congresswoman from Los Angeles has been one of the key in authors and champions of this legislation. What follows are a set of questions we have posed to Congresswoman Roybal-Allard regarding ATTAIN.

CUE: In light of the competitive nature of the emerging global economy, what role do you see technology playing in the lives of students in your district to prepare them for a world of work and learning in the 21st century?

Rep. Roybal-Allard: Technology plays an absolutely critical role in preparing our children for the challenges of the 21st Century. Regardless of whether students in my congressional district go onto college or whether they go straight to the workforce, technology will inevitably play a large role in their jobs and daily lives. We must provide them with the necessary skills to maintain a competitive edge in an environment that is increasingly dependent upon technology.

CUE: What are your top three funding priorities for K-12 (NCLB) education in this FY08 appropriations cycle?

Rep. Roybal-Allard: So many critical K-12 education programs have been drastically underfunded for years, making it a difficult task for me to pick only three as funding priorities. However, I have noticed from my seat on the Appropriations Subcommit-tee on Labor-HHS-Education that there are some programs that are routinely targeted by the Administration for deep cuts or even

elimination, even though they are effective learning tools. They include: The Enhancing Education Through Technology, or EETT, program; the Even Start Family Literacy program; and the Alcohol Abuse Reduction Program. In addition to these programs, I would underscore the tremendous importance of funding Title I, which is the backbone of the No Child Left Behind Act and provides funds to disadvantaged schools.

CUE: Do you support Chairman Obey’s effort to increase education funding overall in FY08? If yes, please explain...

Rep. Roybal-Allard: I absolutely support increases in education funding, and I believe that these increases are long overdue. For years, vital programs have received only level-funding, leaving them without the resources to keep pace with inflation. Other programs have sustained deep cuts, leaving school administrators forced to do more with less and, in many cases, serve fewer students. This year, Appropriations Chairman Rep. David Obey is taking the first steps toward restoring funds to programs that are most in need, and I wholeheartedly support that effort.

CUE: This year the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, HHS and Education allocated funding for educational technology. This was the first time since FY 05 that this subcommittee provided any dollars in this area. To what do you attribute this turnaround?

Rep. Roybal-Allard: I believe that Congress is finally beginning to understand how critical it is that our nation’s children be prepared to compete in the 21st Century, and that programs such as EETT are essential in giving students the technology skills they will need to succeed in this environment.

CUE: You are the lead sponsor of the ATTAIN Act. How important is the ongoing support of educational technology to your congres-sional district, which includes many school districts in Los Angeles County? To what extent does instructional technology coaching, mentoring, etc. transform classroom practice?

Rep. Roybal-Allard: Education technology is vitally important to my district, where classes are often overcrowded and teachers overextended. I introduced the Achieving Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Act because I saw first-hand the tremendous impact that technology can have on students. After visiting one

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F E A T U R E 11

Los Angeles area school in my district that seamlessly integrated technology in the classroom, I was amazed to see stu-dents that were previously low performers academically and at-risk of dropping out of school – many because they were non-native English speakers – now engaged and eager to learn.

Additionally, a large part of the ATTAIN Act focuses on the need for professional development, with a requirement that 40% of all formula funds be dedicated for that purpose. This focus on profes-sional development stems from a meeting of math and science teachers in a Los Angeles area school receiving education technol-ogy funds. Many were seasoned teachers who had been teaching the same class for 10, 15 or even 20 years. They related that, at first, they had been very resistant to any change in their teaching techniques. But after receiving training in how to use technology appropriately in the classroom, they felt empowered when they saw the “light bulbs” turn on for so many of their students who had been struggling with basic math and science concepts. All the teachers said that they could not imagine going back to teaching without technology tools.

CUE: In today’s global marketplace, the use of powerful technology tools is commonplace. However, current funding models for school districts make sustaining these essential tools nearly impossible. To succeed, our policies need to be changed. Technology tools are just as much consumables as textbooks and should be similarly funded and renewed. Do you agree with this approach?

Rep. Roybal-Allard: I absolutely agree. If we want our students to get jobs with top-rated companies using state-of-the-art technology, they must be learning with modern equipment in the schools. The problem, of course, is that there is current-ly no comprehensive way to show the age of schools’ computers and software. I have tried to remedy this in the ATTAIN Act by

requiring states to give guidance, technical assistance, and support on their plans to update computers, servers and software.

CUE: Do you think that the ATTAIN Act’s focus on professional development, systemic reform, and low achieving subgroups will, if it is passed, lead to increased funding for educational technology in FY09 and beyond? Please explain...

Rep. Roybal-Allard: Although you can never predict the budget outlook, I certainly hope that education technology will receive robust funding in the future. The goal of the ATTAIN Act was to respond to some of the critiques of the existing EETT program, namely that funds needed to be better-targeted toward the schools that need the most assistance, more prescriptive, and more focused on professional development. With these concerns addressed in the ATTAIN Act, I believe that we have a much better chance on ensuring sustained and robust funding for education technology into the future. Steven Glyer is CUE’s Board Secretary, serves as liaison to the CUE Legislative Advocacy Committee, and works as Director of Technology for Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

It’s Easier, continued from pg 8

Another powerful computer that operates in the low-power range of ten watts is the Koolu system (<www.koolu.com>), which can be operated as a terminal, or as a stand alone computer. The Koolu computer is designed for use in the developing world. It runs the Ubuntu distribution of Linux, and has lots of support worldwide.

Koolu, a Canadian company, is especially interested in emerging nations and in for-mulating ways to bring software to people who have never had computers or Internet connectivity before. The chief technical officer for Koolu, Jon “maddog” Hall is a tireless advocate of getting technology in the hands of children everywhere.

A variation of the desktop theme that uses even less power was developed by Ncom-puting (<www.ncomputing.com>). Their

approach is based on the reality that today’s low-cost desktop computers outperform servers made a few years ago.

By placing an interface card in one desktop machine, up to seven additional worksta-tions can be created through the use of interface boxes costing well below $100 apiece. These interfaces connect to dis-plays, mice, and keyboards, bringing fully independent computing to each user as if he or she was running a separate system, even though all seven clients are running off one host. Each of the client boxes derives power from the host computer, cutting down on power consumption as well as greatly reduc-ing the cost of bringing powerful computing to each student. Note that this device is geared to use in settings where the comput-ers are fixed, and does not address the truly portable anywhere/anytime issue. That said, there are many places where this approach makes great sense.

The reason this approach works is that today’s desktop computers are as powerful as yesterday’s servers. By having a modern desktop computer meet the needs of eight workstations, the power consumption per station drops significantly from 250 watts to about an eighth of that amount.

As we bring more computers into our class-rooms, the monetary and environmental costs of energy will become an increasingly important factor. As you can see, some innovative manufacturers are tackling the problem now to keep it from becoming a big problem later.

David Thornburg, Ph.D., Director, Global Operations, Thornburg Center for Profes-sional Development (<www.tcpd.org>, <www.tcpdpodcast.org>) has been an active supporter of CUE since its inception, and is a leader in the educational technology field.

Representative Roybal-Allard

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12 F E A T U R E

By Sara Armstrong, Ph.D.Editor, [email protected] Can Be Green, Too!

With a little bit of guidance, students work hard to make the world a better place

Picture used with permission

TToday’s students will be the beneficiaries of green prac-tices that start now. Their interest in climate change, factors affecting air, water, and health, conservation, and other environmental issues is immediate and press-ing. A number of schools enlist students in study and action. Here is a small sample of student engagement in

the challenges and benefits of green practices.

River School, NapaWhen students from Napa Valley’s River School participated in the GenGreen Expo (dubbed the “Green Fair”) last spring, they learned about a variety of topics, and met the event’s goal that “each of us, every day, can make a difference.” Students and community businesses and organizations presented ideas and provided information and dem-onstrations on topics that ranged from energy consumption, re-use vs. recycling waste, responsible water management, lowering indoor toxin levels to greenhouse gases, and reducing our dependence on chemicals and pesticides. When asked recently what they learned from the Green Fair about being green, these were some of the student responses:

• I learned that by unplugging electronic devices, I can save energy• Shortening your shower by just a little bit, can make a

HUGE difference• Feral animals can pollute the environment• Electronics can still be using energy when they’re plugged in even

if they’re not turned on• Dog feces has a humongous impact on the earth• An aluminum can may take 300 years to break down if they’re

not recycled• Oil dumping is illegal and can result in a prison term• Plastic can be made out of corn and it will be biodegradable• We all need to take responsibility for our choices and the impact

those choices have on our environment and civilization

Plans are underway for a second Green Fair in the spring of 2008.

John Muir School, San Diego“Muir students hike, garden, recycle, and observe nature. Then they use those experiences to develop their academic skills. For the past seven years Muir students have frequently shared outdoor experiences with schools around the world” according to Anne Lambert, library media teacher at John Muir. Indeed, in 2006, John Muir School won the Platinum Award in Global SchoolNet’s CyberFair Contest (<www.gsn.org/cf/>) in the area of environmental awareness. They developed a website titled “Muir Students Helping San Diego,” and answered these questions:

“We all need to take responsibility for our

choices and the impact those choices have on

our environment and civilization.”

— River School Student

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F E A T U R E S ( C O N T I N U E D ) 13

• How can we think globally and act locally?• How can we make the best use of our limited resources?• What projects are addressing local issues in San Diego today?• What more needs to be done?• What are the futures of our environment—possible, probable,

preventable, and preferred?

In their project narrative, Muir’s K-12 students explained that “CyberFair gave us a school-wide focus as we moved into our new campus this year. We created organic gardens, participated in water monitoring, learned about local animals, and visited many parts of our county. We also participated in science fair and the iEARN International Daffodil and Tulip Project.” See the winning website at <www.muirlibraryk12.net/index.html>. Bel Aire Elementary School, Tiburon

Bel Aire School’s “Got Sol?” project engaged students in studying solar power and reaping the benefits by eating a variety of dishes cooked with their solar ovens, including vegetables from the school’s Earth Boxes. Adapting a long-term project developed by Rowena Gerber at Miami Country Day School in Florida, the Bel Aire group hosted a Solar Fest, and continues their communications with children around the world on science topics. Visit Bel Aire School at <rusd.marin.k12.ca.us/belaire>, and view a film about Rowena Gerber and the solar cooking project at <ww.myhero.com/myhero/go/filmfestival/screeningroom2.asp>.

Kids care and kids can make a difference. Providing them with op-portunities at home and school to learn about environmental issues, and action they can take empowers them. Let’s provide means for them to contribute to the health and safety of the world in which they are living.

Sara Armstrong, Ph.D., Editor of OnCUE, is a former classroom teacher and currently an educational consultant specializing in project-based learning, digital storytelling, and technology integration into the curriculum. She is a former CUE Board member, CUE Board President, a Gold Disk Winner, and an associate of the Thornburg Center for Professional Development.

An Eclectic Collection of Green Resources

California School Garden Networkwww.csgn.org

Green Schools Initiative www.greenschools.net

California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroomcfaitc.org

Natural Resources Defense Councilwww.nrdc.org

YouthCaNwww.youthcanworld.org

iEARNwww.iearn.org

Global SchoolNet Foundationwww.gsn.org

TakingITGlobalwww.takingitglobal.org

EPA Environmental Kids Clubwww.epa.gov/kids/

Kids For a Clean Environment (Kids F.A.C.E.)www.kidsface.org

Zoompbskids.org/zoom/acivities/action/way04.html

National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences NIEHS Kids’ Pageskids.niehs.nih.gov

Environmental Fun for Kidsheartsandminds.org/links/greenkids.htm

Project Environment: Kids in Action1999 ThinkQuest Silver Award Winner in Science & Technologylibrary.thinkquest.org/6076/

The MY HERO Projectwww.myhero.com

Picture used with permission

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TT E C H C O O R D I N A T I O N

Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

14

By Doug [email protected]

Dividing a Tech Leader’s Responsibilities: Separate Hardware and Software from Professional Development

Now that the content of what we continue

to train has become commonplace, perhaps it is time to move that

component into the curriculum department

where it can join forces with existing

training teams.

AAny time I present a Technology Coordinator’s session or work-shop at a conference, it starts with the acknowledgement and listing of the many different hats that an educational technology leader must wear. Not only do

they have to handle the standard tech sup-port issues, but they often have their hand in many diverse responsibilities such as pur-chasing, professional development, E-Rate, curriculum content, software and hardware installation, server back up management, portals, learning systems, assessment tools, video conferencing, and the list goes on. Much of their effort focuses on how to man-age all of these responsibilities and how to delegate tasks.

In addition to the staggering list of duties, we also know that people who are qualified to do this job are few and far between. We can find good technicians but they might not be a people person or know anything about curriculum. We can find a curriculum expert but don’t ask them to configure a server or manage email spam. We have to hunt to find that rare jack-of-all-trades and then hope that we don’t burn them out too quickly.

So now that we are into the 21st century, I propose that we split the Technology Coor-dinator’s duties in two. We should have an IT Director who handles the hardware and software. Not a terribly glamorous position, but there are many qualified experts out there who enjoy the job. And with all of our servers running various applications such as email, web pages, databases, and all of our teachers and students pushing the limits of workstations and desktop applications, there is plenty to keep a whole department busy.

That means we move the professional development or training piece and the classroom/teacher tools into the Curricu-lum Department where they belong. For all

other non-technology trainings, classroom content and teacher tools, it is usually the Curriculum Department that is in charge. Why not expand their responsibilities and expertise and strengthen their hand?

Technology leaders have been training teachers on the use of a computers and applications for over fifteen years. I can remember giving lessons on FredMail and bar code readers with Laser Discs. Word processing, spreadsheets, and other applica-tions have been a staple of classes. Now that the content of what we continue to train has become commonplace, perhaps it is time to move that component into the curriculum department where it can join forces with existing training teams. For instance, the local experts—our librarians—should teach students online research practices.

For some time now, we have been using phrases like, “It’s not the technology, but the content.” and “Let’s not use technology for technology’s sake.” So if we make a content oriented, web-based resource available to our teachers and students, which depart-ment should manage it? Sure, the delivery system is technology, but that is because we are in the modern world and more and more resources are being delivered via tech-nology. Our textbooks are coming with CD ROMs. If those become completely digital, should the tech department take over the textbook process?

Curriculum content delivered via the Internet will continue to grow, whether it is a subscription service such as BrainPOP (<www.brainpop.com>) or NetTrekker (<www.nettrekker.com>), or something cre-ated by the district, county office, or state. Increasingly, we are putting in new test prep systems and student data tracking tools that all apply to student achievement. Having the Technology Department in charge of these types of tools doesn’t make sense.

A technology based curriculum tool is still a curriculum tool.

As technology leaders we have enough on our plates. If we keep adding everything that technology touches, we end up diluting our quality of service. I think it is time that our IT folks are allowed to put their time and resources into the support and deliv-ery of the technology systems, and move the educational tools and training to other departments.

Doug Prouty is a former CUE Board member and longtime CUE presenter.

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P R O F E S S I O N A L D E v E L O P M E N T 1�

By Barbara [email protected]

Professional Development Goes Green

A fEw GREEn linksTeaching Green www.teachinggreen.com

Ecomagination kids.ecomagination.com/flash_ content/index.php

Second Naturewww.secondnature.org Educating Children about the Earth www.earthsbirthday.org EcoKids www.ecokids.ca/pub/index.cfm EEK! Environmental Education for Kids www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/index.htm

Global Warming www.epa.gov/globalwarming/kids/

High School Environmental Center www.epa.gov/highschool/index.htm Safe Climate Calculator www.safeclimate.net/calculator/

Earth Day Ecological Footprint Quiz www.earthday.net/Footprint/index.asp

TThe future depends on what we do now and how we educate our children so they make the right decisions to preserve the earth. Everyone drinks water to survive, breathes the air, and leaves a carbon footprint

that impacts the environment. Teachers can adapt their curriculum by integrating action projects that involve green activities. Profes-sional development can go green by design-ing or pointing to saving the environment and climate change lessons that teachers can use or adapt as replacement units.

Biomonitoring is an example of monitoring plants and animals that gives us clues about pollution in our air, land, and water, before we even notice that something is wrong. Milkweed is a good plant to study because it shows signs of damage from ozone, grows in most areas of the United States, and is

the main food for Monarch butterflies. Damage to milkweed is measured by

showing stipples (dark polka dots) all over the leaves; losing leaves;

turning strange colors; or not growing very big.

Through Environmental Education for Kids (EEK) at

<www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/field/milkweed/index.htm>,

students around the state of Wisconsin stud-ied ozone, set up field plots, selected plants to be examined, collected ozone data, and followed up after the examination. Students from Spring Harbor Environmental Magnet Middle School near Madison, WI, as part of a research project of Elver and Token Creek Parks, collected data about milkweed plants and reported in a data chart organized by year from 1993-2006. The school has posted directions with specific examples for other schools around the country to use with their students on their website (<www.madison.k12.wi.us/stugeon/how.htm>).

If you stopped driving just 20 extra miles per week for one year, you could save about 900 pounds of CO2.

A professional developer can use the bio-monitoring activity to start a series of green workshops enhanced with a collaborative online environment where teachers share data, student conversations, and their own findings and reflections on the process.

Invite your teachers to calculate their carbon footprint—the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). The Carbon Calculator at Be Green (<www.begreennow.com>) can be used to determine their carbon footprints. Next, have your teachers share their graphs and create action plans to reduce carbon emissions and to share with the other teachers. Each teacher’s footprint and action plan can be used as a model for their students.

The Glossary of Climate Change Terms at <epa.gov.climatechange/glossary.html> can be used as a vocabulary activity. Students measure their family’s carbon footprint and work as a team to design brochures, posters, and public service announcements with eco-conscious strategies to take action to reduce carbon emissions.

Moving your thermostat down two degrees in the winter and up two degrees in the summer saves 2,000 pounds of CO2.

Take professional development one step further by mapping your curriculum to determine which of these activities meet the standards and can be used as replacement units. Go green and your students become eco-conscious, make a difference, and in-crease their academic achievement.

Barbara Bray writes a column on professional development for OnCUE, coordinates the PDQs (Professional Development Quick Tips) for Techlearning.com, and is President of My eCoach (<my-ecoach.com>). Check out her new blogs: <barbarabray.my-ecoach.com> and <newsblog.my-ecoach.com>, and a presenta-tion she created on Google tools (<google.my-ecoach.com>).

TIP

TIP

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S

T I P S A N D T R I C K S

Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

16

By Linda [email protected]

Sure, your technology plugs into the wall. And if it doesn’t, there’s a wireless router somewhere that does, or a battery charger just wait-ing. And that’s not to mention your speakers, projector, printer, and a

myriad other devices.

So what’s a techie to do? You don’t have to give up on your vision of being “green” and that’s smart. Recent studies have shown that leaving a computer on overnight costs you an extra $55 a year in electricity. A printer costs you an extra $17. So if you’re in a house, a classroom, or a computer lab with several stations, you are wasting valuable resources, including the wear and tear on your devices.

Luckily, Macintosh computers are smart enough to turn themselves off and on auto-matically. All you have to do is set it up!

Macs Running OS 7 – 9Look under your Apple Menu and go to “Control Panels.” Move to “Energy Saver.” The window that opens has several tabs at the top. The one you want is called “Schedule.” Click the box that says “Shut down instead of Sleep.” You can then decide if you like your schedule for “Weekdays” (for school) or every day. Then select the times that work for you.

Macs Running OS XThe set up is pretty much the same, but located in the System Preferences. Once there, select the light bulb (Energy Saver). To make your schedule set-up, look in the lower-right corner and click Schedule. Then you can select your best hours.

This works great with substitutes in your classroom—the computers are up and ready

to go when they show up. Also, all seven of the computers in my class have different loca-tions for start up buttons (including a power button on a keyboard that doesn’t work) and different methods for shutting down. It’s great to let the machines do the work for me. By the time the kids have all gone, the computers have all shut themselves down.

But what if you decide to work late? Not to worry. If you have applications open, the Mac will put up a notice advising you that it is scheduled to shut down. You can then postpone the scheduled shut down or cancel it all together. You’ll then need to shut it down yourself that day. On the other hand, this feature also prevents it from doing its job. For instance, if a child has left an applica-tion open, the Mac will expect you to answer the shutdown question. If you’ve left for the day, it will keep waiting. So in order to have the shutdown work, all applications, including windows asking about saving or colors etc., need to be quit.

What About Holidays?For weekdays when school’s not in session, it is easy to deal with the start ups by connect-ing the computers in the first place to surge protectors that are easily accessible. That way, you can just flip the protectors off to cut off the electricity and you’re set for the vacation.

An Option for WindowsYou can set your Windows computer to “hibernate” for up to five hours after you start it up. When it hibernates, it saves anything you’re working on and automatically opens it back up the next time you start up the machine. You can access this under “Power Options” in your control panels, which is accessed from the start menu.

Linda Oaks is an elementary teacher in southern California. She holds a Master’s in Educational Technology and is a CUE Gold Disk Award winner.

Make It A Little Easier to Be Green— Save Energy!

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T H E C U E R E v I E W 17

By Sandra [email protected]

CLRN Goes Green! Successfully Reviewed Resources on Environmental Education

Global Warming! Go Green! Conservation! Recycle! Get off fossil fuel! From past US vice Presidents to the man on the street, the environment is a hot topic and one of great concern to many citizens. In recent years there have been movies about our planet, documentaries on television, and volumes of books written about environmental issues. Students K-12 can learn about conservation, recycling, man’s impact on the environment, pollution, and the air we breathe using CLRN resources. The following video, software, and Internet sites show problems, discuss issues, and get students thinking about what the problems are and what they can do to help our Earth.

Title: Taking Care of Our EarthPublisher: 100% Educational Video, Inc.Grade(s): K-2 Media Type: Video URL: www.schoolvideos.comSubject Area: ScienceDescription: Taking Care of Our Earth ex-plores the Earth’s renewable and nonrenew-able resources. It provides a tour of a landfill with four animated characters to show how important it is to conserve resources. The video explains how reducing, reusing, and recycling benefit our environment—and how air and water pollution can hurt it.

Title: Earth Matters 4 KidsPublisher: Earth MattersGrade(s): 5-6Media Type: Free Internet URL: www.earthmatters4kids.com Subject Area: ScienceDescription: Earth Matters 4 Kids bridges Science Standards with environmental prin-ciples, using the natural world as a virtual forum. Featured on the Earth Matters site are diverse ecosystems and venues. Eco-systems shown are a kelp forest, a landfill, a wetland, the atmosphere and its gaseous exchanges, and an urban and country gar-den. Pop-up windows throughout the site provide written content and animation.

Title: Decisions, Decisions: The Environment Publisher: Tom Snyder ProductionsGrade(s): 5, 9 Media Type: Software URL: www.tomsnyder.comSubject Area: ScienceDescription: Decisions, Decisions: The Environment is one of a series that provides students with a chance to role-play as a

decision maker faced with a critical situ-ation drawn from contemporary issues. The program is an interactive experience that combines historical and contemporary content with critical thinking processes. It presents science and social science issues in the context of a local pollution crisis, including: municipal waste management, water pollution, land use issues, the role of government in achieving environmental quality, the economics of environmental action, and global issues.

Title: Human Impacts on the EnvironmentPublisher: CyberEdGrade(s): 9-12Media Type: SoftwareURL: www.cybered.netSubject Area: ScienceDescription: Human Impacts on the Envi-ronment explores complex environmental problems using up-to-date information and functional graphics to show how human activity impacts the environment. Interac-tive tutorials reinforce connections between actions and consequences, and encourage the user to evaluate the causes, effects, and solutions to environmental problems.

Title: Pollution RunoffPublisher: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Grade(s): 5-8Media Type: Free InternetURL: www.epa.gov/owow/nps/kids/index.htmlSubject Area: ScienceDescription: This webpage for kids deals with the ramifications of pollution, particu-larly runoff. The site has many components, which include a slide show for kids describ-ing micro-invertebrates, word searches, a game about water quality, experiments that

teach about the characteristics of water, resources for middle schoolers, and links to the EPA’s Water For Kids Page. Kids are encouraged to become “crusaders” for clean water.

Title: Air Quality IndexPublisher: U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyGrade(s): 7-12Media Type: Free InternetURL: www.airnow.govSubject Area: ScienceDescription: “The Air Quality Index” (AQI) is an index for reporting daily air qual-ity. It tells you how clean or polluted your outdoor air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. EPA calculates the AQI for five major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act: ground-level ozone, particle pollu-tion (also known as particulate matter), car-bon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. The site includes nationwide and regional real-time ozone air quality maps covering 46 US states and parts of Canada. These maps are updated daily every hour.

The California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) is a statewide education technol-ogy service of the California Department of Education and administrated by the Stan-islaus County Office of Education. Brian Bridges, Director. Search the CLRN database at <clrn.org>. Permission is hereby granted to California educators to copy this material for instructional use. The document may not be distributed for profit.

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Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

PaLm SPRINGS CoNvENTIoN CENTER maRCh 6-8, 2008

AdvAncing Student Achievement through technology

• JOin thousands at the premier west Coast event for innovative educators!

• UsE Ed Tech k12 Vouchers to reimburse your district for Conference registration!

• EXPlORE over 200 exhibits, close to 300 sessions, hands-on wORksHOPs AnD sEMinARs!

• DisCOVER classroom integration techniques for blogs, podcasts and countless other emerging technologies.

• nETwORk and share as we celebrate 30 years of CUE!

www.cue.org

• fUlfill Professional Development requirements of Enhancing Education through Technology (EETT) and AB 430 Practicum hours.

foR CoNfERENCE INfoRmaTIoN vISIT www.CuE2008.oRG

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Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

O N C T A P 20

Finding new and/or steady funding sources for your technology plan implementation is a constant challenge for schools. Dur-ing the past several years, most districts have had access to NCLB Title II, Part D funds, also known as Enhancing Educa-tion Through Technology (EETT) formula grants. In addition, Competitive EETT grants have provided some districts with a critical mass of targeted funds to imple-ment specific technology integration activities. However, with massive cuts to the EETT program, which last year re-duced EETT formula grants by 45%, and with EETT’s future in doubt, districts are wondering where to find the next funding source.

E-rate & the California Teleconnect Fund (CTF) While a majority of California’s districts take advantage of E-rate and California Teleconnect Fund (CTF) discounts, many smaller districts shy away thinking they don’t have the staff to complete the paper-work or to keep abreast of the changing E-rate landscape. E-rate, at a minimum, provides discounts to Internet connectiv-ity costs while the CTF provides local telephone discounts. By law, you may not receive CTF discounts unless you’ve also applied for E-rate. However, many districts avoid the workload by hiring an E-rate consultant to guide them through the E-rate maze. Many consultants are widely known around California for their efficient work and their reasonable fees. Given that E-rate consultants perform all the heavy lifting, districts that don’t currently receive E-rate and CTF discounts would be wise to utilize an E-rate consultant to apply for these discounts. As you read this, though, the annual E-rate application window is about to close; check <www.universalser-vice.org/sl/tools/calendar-reminders.aspx> for the latest info. However, it’s not too

late for you to acquire E-rate and CTF dis-counts for next school year. E-rate and the California Teleconnect Fund are both effec-tive methods of increasing your technology fund resources by providing discounts to your current expenses.

Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) ActThe Ed Tech Action Network, created by ISTE and COSN to inform Congress and educators about technology funding and integration, is one website all educators should be accessing to communicate to Congress about their technology funding needs. Currently, Congress has drafted a new bill to continue and improve EETT legislation. The new bill, Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (AT-TAIN), would revise the EETT formula and competitive grant programs first by focusing more attention and funding on professional development programs and secondly by prioritizing funding to schools that are in need of improvement. In addi-tion, ATTAIN would increase the percent-age a state could devote to formula grants from 50% to 60%. More importantly, though, it would create a minimum grant size as well as raise the percentage of funds required to be spent on professional devel-opment from 25% to 40%. To keep abreast of ATTAIN’s progress, and to assist ISTE and COSN with their work, subscribe to their e-mail list or to find your Congres-sional representative. The Ed Tech Action Network is located at: <www.edtechaction network.org>.

Classroom Sized Technology GrantsFinally, a variety of small school or class-room-focused grants are also available to fund technology acquisition and imple-mentation. Many CTAP regions publish a technology-funding newsletter, posting it on their websites as a PDF. Bi-monthly

issues highlight regional and national technology grants targeted for classroom technology integration. Check out CTAP Region 4’s Funding Alert for an example: <www.ctap4.org/grants/funding_alert.htm>.

Internet Safety UpdateAs an update to last issue’s article, “Copy-right, Internet Safety, and File Sharing, Oh My!,” which outlined changes to California’s district technology plan crite-ria, changes at the national level may be in store. On the heels of the unsuccessful Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), Congress has created a new bill, the “Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act,” which would require that schools receiving E-Rate funds certify that they are “educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms and cyberbul-lying awareness and response.” While the bill does not require schools to operate specific Internet safety courses, districts may instead opt to include information and precautions in their Acceptable Use Policies. Check the progress of this and other educational technology legislation at the EdTechActionNetwork website.

OnCTAP PodcastFind this and other OnCTAP podcasts at the iTunes store by searching for CTAP, or link directly to the podcast site: <www.gcast.com/u/bbridges51/onctap/>

For further information, contact your local regional office through the CTAP website <www.ctap.k12.ca.us>. Ben Anderson is chairperson of the State Coordinating Coun-cil and Director of CTAP Region 3. Brian Bridges is Director of the California Learning Resource Network and is on the CUE Board of Directors.

Technology Funding Challenges: Finding “Green” for your School By Ben Anderson and Brian Bridges

[email protected] and [email protected]

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CONGRATULATIONS!CUE is proud to announce the promo-tion of Marisol Valles, CUE’s Conference Manager, to the new position of Director of Operations of Computer-Using Educators. Hats off to you, and many thanks for four years of terrific conferences.

Conference NewsNew Partnership for Northern California Conference: CUE announced recently that we are partnering with FETC, a part of 1105 Media’s Educational Technology Group, to produce what will become an annual event—a conference in Northern California starting in October, 2008. To learn more, see <www.cue.org/press/1105/>.

Monterey, California will host the upcoming Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives K-12 Monterey Technology Conference Novem-ber 29-December 2. Sponsored through a partnership of CUE, California League of Middle Schools, and California League of High Schools, this conference will include a new K-5 strand, along with 50% more sessions than last year. The conference meets EETT, Ed-Tech K12 Voucher and QEIA re-quirements. See <www.cue.org/monterey/> for more information.

Macworld Conference and Expo will again include an expanded, CUE sponsored Mac-world Educator Academy on January 16-17 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Check the CUE website for more information and registration at <www.cue.org/macworld/>.

Pearl Anniversary Feature

CUE, I remember when…Vendors [at CUE conferences] many years ago in the golden age of educational soft-ware would give out little goodies to teachers as they walked the aisles. One could stock up on lots of pencils, candy, and mouse mats.

In the days before the Internet, it was wild in the vendor hall. The two major vendors, Learning Services and Ed Resources, would have booths next to each other with only an aisle separating them. The lines in front of their cashiers were long—snaking around the corners of the booths. As the confer-ence headed to the closing minutes, both owners of the companies would hold up a product and scream—“I have this for $25.” The other would then scream—“I have it for $24.” My husband worked the register for Learning Services one year and he remem-bers not going to the restroom for eight hours. I would bring him food, which he would eat while ringing up a sale.

The sessions in those early years were so different than those today. We didn’t have projection devices, [so we] gathered the participants around the computer screen. It was more of a “teaching teachers what technology can do” event than today. The teachers were funded by their districts to attend and they really didn’t know much about technology to start with. As I pre-sented a piece of software, you could hear ohs and ahs coming from the teachers. They were amazed at what the software could do. The first Carmen San Diego just amazed them. The Children’s Writing and Publish-ing Center brought the world of writing and inserting graphics to the classroom. (I still have the old software and can’t seem to throw it away.)

Marsha Lifter (<[email protected]) is a long-tine CUE member, CUE conference presenter, and one of the founders and past president of CUELA—a position she held more than once. Marsha is also a past president of MTCUE, and the new principal at Congregation Beth David School. She recently retired from LAUSD, and is on leave as an instructor in Educational Technology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Marsha still speaks at conferences, ad-vocating the use of technology tools for teaching and learning.

www.cue.org Winter 2007 OnCUE

B I T S A N D B y T E S 21

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Winter 2007 OnCUE www.cue.org

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www.cue.org Winter 2007 OnCUE

Calendar For more information on these events please visit www.cue.org/events/

2007November 2�-December 2 CLMS/CLHS/NHSA & CUE Technology Confer-ence, Monterey, CA www.cue.org/ monterey/

December 1 CUE Awards nomination deadline. www.cue.org/awards/

December 1 CUE Conference Early Bird registration deadline. www.cue2008.org

December 1� Nominations for CUE Board of Directors due. www.cue.org/nomination/

200�January 16-17 Macworld Educator Academy, San Francisco, CA www.cue.org/macworld

January 1� OCCUE Technology Festival, Newport Coast Elementary, Newport Coast, CA www.occue.org

January 26 CTAP3/CapCUE Educational Technology Conference, Granite Bay High School, Sacramento, CA ctap3.org

February 2 EBCUE Cool Tools IV, Alame-da County Office of Education, Hayward, CA www.ebcue.org

February 2 Silicon Valley CUE Tech Fair, Woodside High School, Woodside, CA www.svcue.org

March 6-� Annual CUE Conference: Pearls of Learning, Palm Springs, CA www.cue2008.org

April � CVCUE Ed Tech Conference, Sunnyside High School, Fresno Unified School District, Fresno, CA www.cvcue.org

April 10-12 Leadership 3.0 Symposium, CUE, ACSA, TICAL, Westin Hotel, San Francisco Airport, San Francisco, CA www.lead3.org

For more information: www.cue.org/events/

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Computer-Using Educators, Inc. | 3�7 17th Street, Suite 20� | Oakland, CA �4612phone �10.�14.6630 | fax �10.444.4�6� | email [email protected] | website www.cue.org

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