eTech Ohio Connections
Volume 2, Issue 11

December eTech Ohio E-Rate Workshops will offer step-by-step instructions on preparing and filing the Form 471, the form requesting discounts on eligible services ordered. eTech Ohio December 2006 E-Rate Workshops are scheduled for:

• December 1: NWOCA, Archbold/Toledo area
• December 4: Auglaize ESC, Wapakoneta (AM)
• December 5: SCOCA, Piketon (AM)
• December 6: Upper Arlington Library, Columbus
• December 7: NOECA, Sandusky (AM)
• December 8: WNEO, Kent (AM)
• December 11: Jefferson Community College, Steubenville (PM)
• December 12: SOITA Conference, Dayton (PM)
• December 14: Muskingum Valley ESC, Zanesville (AM)

Details and registration will be provided on the eTech Ohio website.

Eligible Services Update:
The FCC has approved the eligible Services List and the SLD has announced the Form 471 filing window for funding year 2007-08. The Form 471 application filing window for Funding Year 2007 will open at noon EST on Tuesday, November 14, 2006 and will close at 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday, February 7, 2007.

The filing window will be open for 86 days. In addition, the approved Eligible Services List contains some significant changes from the draft list including information about:

• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) eligibility
• Blackberry eligibility
• Cost allocation for ineligible services

Award Update:
Through Wave 23 of the 2006-07 funding year, Ohio applicants have received $42.5M in E-Rate discount awards. Funding waves are being announced by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) program administrators every week.

For more information on the federal E-Rate program, contact Dan Farslow at 877.383.2406.

• Plan administrators should verify that their TPT version 3.0 certification letter has been generated. If not, plan administrators should ensure that Treasurer and Superintendent approvals have been completed in the online tool.
• If your current plan resides in TPT version 2.5, eTech Ohio recommends that you access and locally save an electronic copy of the plan and certification letter (PDF), to ensure accessibility of the documents and start your new draft in TPT 3.0 by Friday, December 1, 2006.
• Organizations whose technology plan expires on June 30, 2007, should create a substantive written plan within TPT version 3.0 to comply with the upcoming E-Rate funding year.

Re-visiting the Technology Plan? eTech Ohio encourage districts to re-visit their technology plan on an annual basis to make appropriate changes/modifications within their new draft as it impacts the district and as changes are needed to comply with E-Rate requirements.

• Differentiating Instruction with Technology: Part 1
• Instructional Design Theory into Practice
• OATDLP: Assistive Technology for Early Childhood
• OATDLP: Assistive Technology for Learning to Read and Write
• OATDLP: Seating and Positioning to Promote Activity
• OATDLP: Software for Early Childhood
• Understanding Media Literacy

Registration for winter courses will be open through TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2006. Information about course offerings, training locations and registration for select courses is available on the eTech Ohio website.

For questions about eLearning, please contact the eLearning Team at 877.383.2406.

• Registration is now available through the Conference website. The Early Bird Registration deadline is Wednesday, December 13, 2006.
  
  
• Keynote and Featured Speakers: eTech Ohio is pleased to present a variety of national and international experts and leaders in their field for the 2007 Educational Technology Conference. A complete list of speakers is available on the Conference website.
  
  
• More hotels! The Courtyard by Marriott - Columbus Downtown and Red Roof Inn hotels have been added to the Conference hotel block. Please visit eTech Ohio's Conference Lodging page for rate and contact information.
  
  
• 2007 Exhibition Space: Is your company or organization interested in exhibiting at Conference 2007? Please contact Conference exhibit hall staff or information about available booth space and rates for Conference 2007.
  
  
• Deadlines:
  
  
  • November 15 - Submissions for Student Video Contest are due. Contest information can be found on the Conference Submit page.
    
    
  • The Early Bird Registration deadline is Wednesday, December 13. Registration is available through the Conference website.

Additional questions or inquiries about the eTech Ohio Educational Technology Conference can be directed to the Conference Team at 1.877.383.2406.

To be eligible to receive FY07 PD Grant funds, districts must have completed and submitted their FY06 Final Project Reports, FY06 Final Expenditure Report and the FY07 application. The status of an entity's previously submitted Final Project Report can be accessed through the PD Contact's Hall Pass account.

FY07 PD Grant recipients should review the FY07 PD Grant Spending Guidelines in planning their professional development.

Contact Steve Crumbacher or your local eTech Ohio Educational Technology Consultant at 877.383.2406 with questions related to PD Grant funds.

WGTE presents new workshops on technology and inquiry-based teaching strategies! Read more about these interactive professional development sessions.

PBS 45 & 49:
It has been seven months since PBS 45 & 49 refocused the station website to feature video-on-demand more prominently. This upgrade included adding every locally produced program we have created in the last 10 years, all of the Instructional Television series we have produced, adding community events hosted by other non-profits, and offering continually updated promos for our general audience programs. Our communications staff revamped the look and navigation of the website to make it more user friendly. Finally we contracted with a commercial firm to host our videos so that they would play more quickly when requested and be of a better digital quality.

In the seven months since the VOD has been featured we have seen a tremendous growth in use. The number of monthly uses grew 585% while the average number of minutes spent viewing grew 53%.

Recognizing this, beginning Monday, October 9, 2006 we have a new on-going series of short programs that will look at places, people and events that make Northeast Ohio a great place to live. The series is title Local Focus. The first show was made available online Monday at 9 am and new shows will be available every Monday from then on until the end of December. For more information, contact freeman@wneo.org.

WMUB:
WMUB and the Dayton Daily News co-sponsored four Elections Issues Forums in October. Broadcast live from an auditorium at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, the sessions addressed issues on voters' minds: Religion, Gambling and the Learn & Earn initiative, and the Minimum Wage amendment. Spokespersons on various sides of the issues were questioned by panels of journalists representing the Dayton Daily News, Ohio Public Radio, and the Dayton Business Journal. Questions from listeners in attendance, on the phone and via email were also incorporated into the programs. The fourth program, not broadcast at press time, is to include a Reporters' Roundtable summarizing the issues. The programs were originated by WMUB and distributed via eTech Ohio to other radio stations and radio reading services in Ohio.

THEME: "Express One Word" Contestants are invited to express themselves in an original way based around a single word.

WHO'S ELIGIBLE: Any Ohio High School Student (Grades 9-12)

COST: Free to all eligible students.

HOW TO ENTER: Submit original work, digitally produced, on CD or DVD only. There is no cost to enter.

DEADLINE: Entries must be postmarked by November 18, 2006.

CATEGORIES: Artwork, Movies, Music Composition, Photography and Web-based Animation

WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED: At the Ohio Youth Digital Arts Festival, January 28, 2007 at Capital University in Columbus. Finalists will be notified in advance. Send your contest submission to:

Ohio Youth Digital Arts Festival
c/o TRECA
2222 Marion-Mt. Gilead Road
Marion, Ohio 43302