[edtech] Boston Area Ed Tech Group

[Peter Hess]

Hi Folks,

At the last two Ed Tech Partners meetings, I talked briefly about the 
possibility of getting together a group of people involved with educational 
technology at Boston Area NERCOMP schools.   I've started making a list of 
names of those who have responded positively when asked about being part of 
such a group, and am looking to add to it.

If you know people who might be interested in this sort of thing, I'd 
appreciate your assistance in getting the word to them.  You could send 
them the message below -- as-is or personalized -- or substitute a message 
of your own.  One thing I'd like to be consistent about is asking non-MIT 
people to use the email address edtechstartup at mit.edu to communicate their 
interest.

If you haven't already done so and would like to, you can reply to me or 
send email to edtechstartup at mit.edu to get on the list yourself.

Thanks for your consideration and assistance.

Best,

-Peter

---------------------Possible text of message to your Ed Tech contacts 
----------------------------------

Dear  ___________________

We're in the preliminary stages of bringing together a group made up of 
people who work with educational technology at NERCOMP affiliated colleges 
and universities in the Boston area.  Some additional details about what we 
envision are below.

If participation in a group like that interests you, and you'd like to be 
kept informed about how it's developing, please send an email to 
edtechstartup at mit.edu saying so.

If you have colleagues whom you think might be interested,  we'd very much 
appreciate your forwarding this message to them.  They too can indicate 
their interest by sending email to edtechstartup at mit.edu.

If anyone receiving this message wants to become actively involved in 
getting the proposed group organized, please mention that in your email.

Thank you for your consideration.

Regards,

  ------------------------------------------------------

About the Boston Area Educational Technology Interest Group:

This project grew out of the Educational Technology Partners group at 
MIT.  Some of us in that group, appreciative of what we've gained from our 
interactions with our colleagues from other departments, became interested 
in the possibility of creating a similar group that extended beyond the 
boundaries of our campus.  We decided to try to connect with those working 
with educational technology at other NERCOMP affiliated Colleges and 
Universities in the Boston area.

Bringing together a group like this would allow its members to:
- Get a close-up view of how problems we face have been addressed by 
neighboring institutions;
- Have greater personal contact with our local colleagues;
- Take advantage of resources and events at nearby schools;
- Make use of the group as a basis for other collaborative efforts, 
especially those that would benefit from the possibility of face-to-face 
contact.

Some likely areas of interest for this group are:
- Electronically enhanced classrooms and learning spaces,
- Digital libraries,
- Learning management and content management systems,
- Instructional media,
- Instructional design,
- Electronic portfolios,
- Video-, web- and teleconferencing.

We have been in touch with the members of the NERCOMP SIGMasters' Group, 
who have provided some support for this effort.

Peter Hess
617-253-6435
phess at mit.edu