Time to Play “Catch-Up” on Tech Stuff

Several Deadlines are Approaching

There are several deadlines approaching that require some immediate attention. In the coming days, there will be a registration deadline for the Third Open Light Emerging Technologies Conference on Saturday, March 7, at Hot Springs High School in Truth or Consequences. Letters to parents and students about School Central will be in the mail no later than Friday, Feb. 27. That means all teachers, activity directors and coaches need to set up group pages by Friday. Also, that same letters to parents will include staff telephone directories, so each staff member with a published extension must set up their voice mail by Friday.

NMSU’s Regional Educational Technology Assistance (RETA) popular and extremely informative Webinar Series continues with Inspiration 8 on Thursday, Feb. 26, Photo Story and Movie Maker on Monday, March 2, and Audio Discussions Using Vaestro on Thursday, March 4. The webinars are recorded and can be viewed at anytime after the live session by going to the ARCHIVE TAB on the webinar page.

There is a MARCH 4 deadline to register for the Third Open Light Emerging Technologies Conference on Saturday, March 7, at Hot Springs High School in Truth or Consequences. Over FIFTY (50!) RETA instructors and educators from several southwestern NM school districts will be in attendance, so it is a great chance to learn, collaborate and socialize with your colleagues. SCS personnel will receive a stipend for their attendance, but you must REGISTER before March 4 to select your two technology sessions and receive free transportation. Please contact The Tech Team or call ext. 3135 if you have any questions.

Many of us have some work to do in order to be ready for the formal launch of School Central to the Socorro Community. We have approximately 70 teachers, administrators and staff members who have registered to date. We need to get everyone registered quickly and “group pages” need to be set up. Please continue reading for important instructions.

Looking Forward … Straight Ahead and Down the Road

There are ALWAYS New Opportunities at SCS

NMSU’s Regional Educational Technology Assistance (RETA) popular and extremely informative Webinar Series continues through an impressive list of topics. In the next week, free webinars will include Google Earth, EyeJot and Voki, and Inspiration 8. If you are unable to attend the live “syncronous” session, you can always visit the ARCHIVE TAB on the webinar page to “asynchronously” view the recorded session.

There is still time to register for the Third Open Light Emerging Technologies Conference on Saturday, March 7, at Hot Springs High School in Truth or Consequences. Over FIFTY (50!) RETA instructors and educators from several southwestern NM school districts will be in attendance, so it is a great chance to learn, collaborate and socialize with your colleagues. SCS personnel will receive a stipend for their attendance, but you must REGISTER before March 4 to select your two technology sessions and receive free transportation. Please contact The Tech Team or call ext. 3135 if you have any questions.

The Socorro Consolidated School District is quite fortunate to have access to these programs free of charge through the Open Light Partnership.

If you have not already done so, please sign up at School Central as soon as possible. The best way to do this is to sign up via the email that was sent to you by School Central. Teachers, coaches and activity moderators also need to CREATE A CLASS/ACTIVITY GROUP PAGE so that parents and students can sign up for alerts and communications. Parents and students are scheduled to receive an announcement on February 23rd, so we need to be completely set up by then. If you are having a problem, please contact your supervisor, your site administrator or The Tech Team for assistance.

On Thursday, February 12, the Tech Department made its final submissions to the Universal Service Administrative Company for its contract awards under the E-Rate Funding Program for 2009-2010. Contracts have been awarded to several vendors pending funding from the program, and lots of exciting changes could be on the way.

The Socorro Technology Boom Continues

New Technology on the Horizon and the Latest RETA Webinars

If you were like me and overwhelmed this past week, you may have missed two very exciting webinars by NMSU’s Regional Educational Technology Assistance (RETA) educators. By going to the ARCHIVE tab from the webinars page, you can view the recorded session at your leisure. Monday night’s session, Interactive Presentations with VoiceThread and Omnisio, and Thursday night’s session, Keeping Connected with Edmodo, Twitter and Yammer: Microblogging in Education, are fabulous tools for integrating ELA skills into your lessons through techonology.

RETA’s Webinar Series continues next week with Going Live with UStream on Monday night and Having a Web Presence with Google Sites and Google Notebook on Thursday night.

If you have not already done so, please remember that you need to sign up at School Central AND CREATE YOUR CLASS/ACTIVITY GROUP PAGE as soon as possible. The best way to do this is to sign up via the email that was sent to you last week by School Central. If you are having a problem, please contact your suupervisor, your site administrator or The Tech Team. Dr. Wilson’s goal is to send formal notifications and invitations to parents and students on February 19th, so we need to be completely set up by then.

In other news, the Techology Department is close to finalizing its recommendations for major improvements for the new school year. Many great changes are planned for 2009-2010 in accordance with the SCS Technology Plan that was formally approved by the state.