Uncategorized

Kyle Jones will be a part of the panel leading the discussion on Making the Digital Leap: What Must Happen in the District at the next CoSN CTO Forum on June 30th at 2:00 PM.  Greg DeYoung is moderating, and fellow panel members are Brian Borosh from East Stroudsberg Area School District and Derrel Fincher from the Oklahoma State Department of Education.  Details on the CTO forum are available on the CoSN website, and details on the ISTE 2015 conference can be found on the conference website.

The Hill School Headmaster Zachary Lehman turns to the only person he can trust with the immense power of the school's new laptop program: Kyle Jones.  Kyle, in his new position as Director of Information and Technology Services at the school, oversees a large, integrated department consisting of library, technology, academic technology, archives, and electronic media production personnel.  This funny cartoon was featured in The Hill News, a student-run-and-published newspaper that appears in both electronic and print forms.  The cartoon demonstrates that Kyle has already captured the minds — and the trust — of the students.

You can view the entire cartoon here.

An article by Kyle titled “Online Libraries: Are you Checked Out"?” has been selected for publication in the Winter 2012 edition of on Cue, the print publication for Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (MassCUE).  MassCUE members will receive this publication automatically as part of their membership.  For those who are not already a member of MassCUE, you can become a member of this fantastic organization by signing up online here.

You can download a copy of the article here.

Kyle will be speaking at the North Shore Technical High School on March 8, 2012 for the school’s Freshmen Career Day.  The Freshmen Career Day is an opportunity for the students to learn more about particular careers before choosing a particular vocation that they would like to study.  (North Shore Technical High School is a public vocational high school.)

Kyle will be representing the Information Technology Services (ITS) division for his talk, and will highlight some of the possible careers for students interested in information technology as a profession.  For those nearing high school and who are interested in information technology as a vocation, please visit the division’s web page.

Kyle was appointed to the board of the Computer Technology Assistance Corps at their February 22 board meeting.  CTAC, as it is more affectionately known, takes retired computers and refurbishes and revitalizes them for reuse.  In so doing, CTAC makes having a computer more affordable for low-income families.  Individuals seeking to support CTAC’s efforts may do so by making a donation or by purchasing a computer and/or computer services from CTAC.  For those making a donation, CTAC is a tax-exempt, 501(c)3 charitable organization.

In recognizing the board’s appointment, Board President Steve Bothwick commented, “People have been telling me for months that I need to meet this guy.  When we got together a few weeks ago, there were so many great ideas coming out of his head for CTAC that I said, ‘Kyle, I have to take notes!’”  If you are a business and are retiring computer equipment as part of a regular refresh program, please give CTAC a call.  You can reach CTAC by calling (603) 218-3078.  Not only will you be disposing of your equipment in a secure, environmentally-responsible manner, but you will also be helping those who are less fortunate.

Kyle will be speaking along with Joseph Spano, Director of Technology Integration at both Essex Agricultural and Technical High School and North Shore Technical High School, on the topic of Flipped Professional Development at MassCUE's 2012 Leadership Symposium at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.  Here's the full description of the talk:

Conducting technology centered professional development for teachers can be difficult for school systems.  Technology PD has two recurring pitfalls, user abilities and time.  Becoming proficient at using and integrating technology in the classroom takes time, and if the teacher is not comfortable using technology the amount of time needed greatly increases.  Additionally, there are usually multiple cases where the teacher needs one-on-one time to go step-by-step through a lesson.

The flipped PD model allows for teachers to go at their own pace, have some “one-to-one” time, and have the ability to review the lesson whenever they need to.  This presentation will review the equipment used, lesson setup, best practices, and potential issues in providing PD through a flipped model.  Since this is a new initiative for us we hope to then follow up at the fall conference with additional feedback from teachers using this program.

Those in the local area are encouraged to attend the MassCUE Leadership Symposium by clicking here to register.  If you are unable to attend, slides from the talk will be available through the MassCUE online scheduling application. following the conclusion of the symposium.