MassCUE Conference - Fall, 2015

This past Wednesday and Thursday I attended the MassCUE (Massachusetts Computer Using Educators) annual Fall conference at Gillette Stadium. It was an awesome event, as usual. Probably 2,500 attendees (I guesstimate); the conference organizers reported that there were 1,700 classroom teachers, mainly MA, but some from RI and CT. Plymouth public schools sent 38 classroom teachers and administrators. There were Superintendents, Assistant Supers, Principals, Chief Technologists, Instructional Technology coordinators, and classroom teachers from K to Community College level.

The energy was amazing, positive, inspiring. There are teachers all over the Commonwealth doing amazing work in their classrooms using video production, audio recording, graphic arts, blogging, and more. There were also a few sessions focusing on the transformation of the school library from the traditional book depository to the active, engaging Learning Commons. Fantastic stuff.

What I like most about this conference is that, despite being a "technology conference" it is definitely not some sort of geek-fest. It's really about how technology opens doors, breaks barriers, for successful, deeper learning. More than half of all the workshop sessions are designed and delivered by classroom teachers to other classroom teachers about how this or that technology has enabled them to efficiently, effectively use project based learning, or create a more student centered classroom, or truly differentiate their instruction so all their students succeed.

Videos of the keynote addresses should be available in a couple of days. when they are, I'll post them for those who are interested.


What Did I learn?
I tried to focus in on a couple of topics while also taking in as much on the periphery as I could. Going 1-to-1, expanding and enhancing the adoption of digital technology throughout the community and employing video (both for instruction and for student assessment).


1-to-1
Going 1-to-1 is not about the devices, it's about how you transform your curriculum. If you keep doing things the same way and simply drop a bunch of laptops into the classroom, you fail. This is why professional development for teachers is so critical. Duxbury devoted 2 years of their PD time strictly to technology and the interaction of tech and pedagogy. They also provided lots of additional incentives, including PDP graduate credits through FItchburg State, for teachers.

And because going 1-to-1 is more about transformation than computers and wires and routers and stuff, having a clear vision, communicating that vision from the top, having a strong cross-disciplinary planning team, and building buy-in at all levels of the organization are critical.


Coaching Teachers in adoption of digital technology
The key message here: look for the "win" for the teacher (based on what their concerns, goals, and perspective). We looked at ways to present technology to different types of teachers so that it directly addressed their goals, their teaching practice, and their concerns. Some good insights here.


I also attended a sessions on the Paperless Classroom and Teaching in a BYOD Classroom, both to gain practical ideas about adoption of tech.


Using Video
Finally, I sat in a session on using video for student assessment and demonstration of learning. This amazing French teacher has her students work in small groups to create 10 - 15 minute videos, in French of course, on whatever topic they want (drama, horror, comedy, doesn't matter). English subtitles are required, of course. A couple of film clips she showed were fantastic. Everything about the film production is in French, of course; storyboard, script, camera direction, etc. Everything is done with readily accessible tools, nothing really expensive.