Current Happenings

New National Technology Plan

The U.S. Department of Education is developing a new National Educational Technology Plan to provide a vision for how information and communication technologies can help transform American education. The plan will provide a set of concrete goals that can inform state and local educational technology plans as well as inspire research, development, and innovation. A draft plan is expected in early 2010.

It is being developed by the U.S. Department of Education with support from the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International, a nonprofit research organization. This website is hosted by SRI International for the U.S. Department of Education.

https://edtechfuture.org/

Register @ https://edtechfuture.org/ to join the conversation. Discussion closes on 7/12/09.

Competitive EETT/ARRA Applications

Competitive grant applications will be posted soon. Those elibilbe are current grantees that are in compliance with previous grant requirements. Current grantees are those with IMPACT II, IMPACT III, and IMPACT IV funding.

We're Going Digital

This year the Title 2 Part D, EETT formula applications are going digital. Signatures are to be scanned into the application and the completed application is to be emailed to the regional consultant serving the LEA or Charter School. Due to the delayed posting of the planning grant amounts, the June 30, 2009 deadline for application submission has been moved to August 3, 2009.

The 2010-2011 EETT application includes activities and budgets from both the regular EETT and the ARRA-EETT allocation. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides a one-time allocation that supplements the regular EETT Formula allocation. The funding code for the ARRA funds is PRC 146 and the Chart of Accounts (COA) includes the same items as the PRC 107, the funding code for the regular EETT funds.

The ARRA funds do not replace the 2010-2011 allotment of Title II, Part D but they provide an opportunity to expand current programs and to produce results that show how educational technology can positively impact student's academic achievement. For this reason, the EETT-ARRA allocation will be tracked and evaluated separately from the regular EETT allocation.

The federal budget for 2010-2011 is currently being developed and will probably be passed in the fall. You may track the status of Title II Part D funding through the web site of the State Directors of Educational Technology Association (SETDA).

A No-Cost Solution for the Professional Development You Need!

United Star Distance Learning Consortium, Inc. (USDLC) is offering online professional development for North Carolina educators at no cost through the summer months. Why would we offer our online courses at no cost to North Carolina educators? Because we know of the difficult times that North Carolina educators are facing, and we would like to do what we can to make sure that they continue to have quality professional development.

USDLC is deeply grateful to North Carolina educators because many of our hundreds of hours of outstanding classroom video in our online courses were filmed in North Carolina classrooms. North Carolina has exceptional educators and we have been proud to share their work and the passion they bring to it with educators across the nation.

Learn all the details at:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/distancelearning/professional/usdlc.html
Questions may be directed to info@usdlc.org or to 888-828-7352.
Linda K. De Grand, Program Development Consultant

Essential Standards Review

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is seeking input on the Draft Essential Standards for North Carolina Public Schools. We value your opinion, and we know that feedback from throughout the State is critical to developing the most relevant and high-quality set of standards for teaching NC students.

DPI has requested that school districts compile feedback on the Draft Essential Standards; however, we are interested in receiving feedback from individuals as well. Whether you are a teacher, superintendent, parent, agency representative, or concerned citizen, we are interested in hearing from you.

To provide feedback, please go to http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB2295BE3HQKL. The Draft Essential Standards can be found at http://dpi.state.nc.us/acre/standards/. Thank you for your time.

Cindy Williamson, Director
K-12 Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology Divison

A Message for Tech Directors

Directors,
As you know the state of NC has hit a dire cash flow issue. As a result of this budget situation a freeze for purchases against state funds was issued on April 13, 2009. There have been several questions related to specific expenses and the ability to pay through state funds (specifically PRC 015 and PRC 073). Please see the attached files for information pertinent to this difficult situation.

A quote from the business department at NCDPI:

Technology Directors should work closely with their Finance Officers. The FO's are held responsible for all Purchase Orders and state expenditures. We have a Q & A posted at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/fbs/. In short all state funds including PRC 015 are under the Governor's Executive Order, no purchase orders after April 9th may be obligated with state funds unless it is critical and necessary for direct instruction. The executive order is due to the cash flow issue and the Governor wants to make sure payroll is met each month. If you have questions specific to your LEA, please follow the protocol set forth in the Question and Answer Document.

The Q & A document states:
Due to the volume of calls and e-mails we cannot answer all the questions personally. Many of the questions are asked several times by different LEAs. Therefore, we believe the most effective and efficient way to answer your questions is through the web process mentioned above. If you have questions that are not answered please e-mail them to Alexis Schauss aschauss@dpi.state.nc.us. This will help us centralize your questions and concerns. Working together we can make it through this most difficult time.

Thank you for all you do,
Neill Kimrey and Ed Chase
NCDPI

Neill Kimrey
Section Chief, Instructional Technology
Curriculum, Instruction and Technology Division
NC Dept. of Public Instruction
6364 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-6364
Phone:  919.807.3270
nkimrey@dpi.state.nc.us

Ed Chase
Manager - Connectivity Services
NC Department of Public Instruction
6316 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-6316
Phone:  919-807-3422
Cell:  919-812-5666
echase@dpi.state.nc.us

• STATE BUDGET FREEZE (pdf)
• FISCAL YEAR 2008-09 STATE CASH FLOW EMERGENCY (pdf)
• Additional Fiscal Year 2008-09 Budget Management Restrictions (pdf)

2009-2010 EETT Application Posted

The EETT Formula application has had a facelift. The revised application, instructions, budget spreadsheet, and evaluation forms are posted at http://www.ncwiseowl.org/it/funding.htm#107. The planning grant amounts have not been determined but we expect to receive them soon. For planning purposes, use last year's allocation. We will post the planning grant allotment spreadsheet as soon as it is received. Contact your regional consultant or Ouida Myers for assistance in completing the application.

PBS Online Video Access

NC WiseOwl is pleased to offer a selection of PBS online videos, courtesy of the State Library and NC LIVE. Access is only available through registered school networks, or by using an NC LIVE password (obtained from a local PUBLIC library). Complete information is available at http://www.ncwiseowl.org/zones/pbs/.

We are getting many email messages stating that upon trying to access the videos, users are prompted for a password. Access based upon IP authentication in your schools or district office requires registration. Your technical staff at your school or LEA can find information on this here: http://www.ncwiseowl.org/zones/pbs/about.htm.

We hope this new partnership brings more opportunities for your teachers and students.

Neill Kimrey
Section Chief, Instructional Technology
Curriculum, Instruction and Technology Division

AMTR Update

The Annual Media and Technology Report has been updated. One question has been added to section 2 for schools and districts. Data will be pulled down four times a year and posted to the Instructional Technology web site http://www.ncwiseowl.org/it/amtr.htm under the reports link. However, data that is pulled down on June 30th, 2009 will be used for the School Report Card, so each school and district must have information in the AMTR by June 30, 2009. There is a new part to the AMTR. This page is for principals to sign off on their school’s data. This must be signed by 7:30am on June 30th.

The web site for the Help Screen is http://www.ncwiseowl.org/it/AMTR/2009/help.html. You can also access the AMTR Data Entry Site from this site. If you want to go directly to the data entry page for the AMTR, the link is http://amtr.dpi.state.nc.us/amtr2009/. If you have problems logging in or have any other issues, please email Melanie Honeycutt at mhoneycutt@dpi.state.nc..us.

Computer Skills Course of Study Revision

The State Board of Education’s (SBE) Framework for Change initiative includes 27 recommendations to change dramatically the scope of the Standard Course of Study, assessments, and testing. Over the next five-years, DPI's Accountability and Curriculum Reform Effort or ACRE will address the following key elements:

• Define essential standards,
• Improve assessments of achievement and for informing instruction, and
• Build a new accountability system.

K12 computer skills is one of the first of five Standard Course of Study to be revised as essential standards. The NC Information Skills and Computer Skills are being combined to form the Information and Technology Essential Standards. The writing team for this task is composed of DPI employees and technology and media contacts from across all regions of the state. Additional information will be posted during this important revision.

K-12 Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology Website Updated

Bryar Cougle, Section Chief of Special Projects, announced that the new K-12 Curriculum, Instruction and Technology Division web site is live and may be viewed at http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/cit/. The Division site may be accessed from the NC Public Schools home page by selecting K-12 Curriculum, Instr. & Tech from the list under Choose Department. The K-12 Curriculum page (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/) has also been updated. Look for further changes as the Essential Standards initiative progresses.

NCTIES Director's meeting on UStream

The NC Director's Meeting will be broadcast via UStream at 3:00 today (March 4, 2009). The link for the webcast is: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/teaching-n-technology.

There is a chat feature built into the webcast in case there are questions from those viewing online. Please note that the meeting will be recorded and stored online at this site for future viewing. Set up will occur between 3:30 and 3:45. If there are questions Cindy Phthisic at cphthisic@ecps.k12.nc.us. Cindy is the Instructional Technologist for Edenton-Chowan Schools

Three New Instructional Technology Regional Consultants Join Instructional Technology

It is my pleasure to announce the employment of three new Instructional Technology regional consultants.

Cynthia Sartain is our new North Central regional consultant. Cynthia was most recently Technology and Media Director for Mooresville Graded Schools. During her tenure, the district grew to become a recognized state technology leader. Cynthia has had several leadership roles in recent state projects including the K-12 Connectivity Project, AMTR/TCO Delivery Model, and the NC 1:1 Learning Collaborative.

Cynthia is a graduate of UNCC earning a Masters in Instructional Systems Technology. She earned an undergraduate degree at ETSU in elementary education with a minor in computer science.

Amber Bass is our new North East regional consultant. Amber received her undergraduate degree from ECU and her MEd from NC State. In between the two, she began teaching middle school and for the past few years, Amber has been involved in curriculum development and instructional technology. She loves to meet new people and travel, and is looking forward to doing both in this position.

Julian Nichols-Wilson is our new South East regional consultant. Julian is a native of Fairmont, North Carolina. After graduating from Fairmont High, she continued her education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she majored in Speech Pathology and Audiology. She has experience as a speech pathologist for 15 years in the states of Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Julian then returned to further her education to be certified in regular education, and afterwards earned a Master of Education degree from East Carolina University in the area of Instructional Technology. She has experience in the classroom, and has served at the largest high school in Robeson County as a Technology Facilitator.

Cynthia, Amber, and Julian are working with our other section members and other NC DPI employees to get oriented to their new positions. They will also be scheduling regional meetings for the next month in order to get out and meet many of you across the state. Additionally, they will be scheduling technology plan monitoring visits for the 2007-2008 academic year; please work with them to make sure these are completed by May 15, 2009.

Also, the Instructional Technology section has taken this change of faces as an opportunity to transition several LEAs and Charter Schools to different regions in order to more evenly redistribute work loads of our regional consultants.

As always, your thoughts, comments, and questions are welcomed.

Neill Kimrey, Section Chief

Plagiarism Site Launched

Plagiarism is a persistent problem in today's society. As a means of providing guidelines for teaching students how to avoid plagiarism and for handling a student's suspected claim of authorship or creation of an assignment, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) has developed a plagiarism web site . This site is designed to support K-12 instruction in all curriculum areas and the North Carolina Graduation Project. The site provides resources for students, teachers, and parents.