Monthly Archives: March 2011

SCAET … the board breakdown

Posted in education, SCAET, scedtech by

I have to say I was very surprised with the response from my last post on the SCAET. Only two people commented on the blog but I received numerous emails and Facebook messages agreeing with me, posing more questions, or even giving me information on where to find out more. Since then I have found a list of board members of SCAET. Their names are printed annually in the SC EdTech program. When you look at where the board members are from, the question I ask is whose interests are they are looking out for?
SC Budget and Control Board, Division of State Information Technology (1 member)
SC Department of Education, Internal Technology (1 member)
SCAET Business Manager (1 member)
SCETV Representative (1 member)
Business (AT&T, Relational Technology Solutions) (2 members) 
Universities (Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, USC) (3 members)
District Technology Directors (Anderson Four, Dillon II) (2 members)
SC Association of School Librarians(SCASL)  (1 member) This is the only rotating position on the board.

When I look at this list I see a couple things …
1. The board seems to be heavy in State Agency members.
2. The board is also extremely heavy in Information Technology, as in infrastructure. Even the business board members mainly deal with the infrastructure side of our state technology.
3. The District Technology Directors on the board do not represent all aspects of the state when it comes to district technology. Why aren’t there any directors from the low country or the midlands?
4. The ONLY school level position is the SCASL board member. One person connected to a school on the board is NOT enough.
5. There are NO Instructional Technology positions, no principals, and no teachers on the board.

So I ask again, whose interests are they looking out for?

I found out through a couple of my email and Facebook communications that SCAET was at one time in competition with AECT of SC, another technology association in the state. Both groups had common members. The SCAET finally won out and AECT of SC slowly died out. So how and when did the SCAET stop accepting members? When did we stop having a say and why?

What is next for South Carolina? What is your vision for our state technology? Is this something that can be reformed or do we need to start anew?

Branding and Marriage in the Modern World

Posted in branding by

Recently, I have published a twtpoll asking people to help me decide on my new last name. I am getting married in a couple months and it is a serious question to ask of a 37 year old woman who has made her mark on her career with her maiden name. So I am polling anyone on the internet about what my name should be. I understand the decision in the end is my choice but I am interested in other’s weighing in. I have had a number of responses from friends and family explaining what they chose and why. I am surprised that at the time of this blog post the option of MaryAnn Sansonetti Wood with Sansonetti as my middle name is in the lead.

Over the last 13 years, I have conducted workshops, presented at conferences, and received awards as MaryAnn Sansonetti. So if I continue on my career path would I have the same recognition as MaryAnn Wood or even MaryAnn S. Wood? Would people make the connection that I am that person they saw a year ago at whatever conference where I did a presentation on SMART board or iPods? In today’s world branding is mainstream and my brand is my name. So I am leaning towards the hyphen but please feel free to weigh in!