Benefits of Participation

Members of professional organizations are entitled to many benefits including journal subscriptions, reduced conference fees, grant opportunities and resources not available to non-members. The Michigan Electronic Resources (MER), a service of the Michigan eLibrary, contains descriptions and links to the web sites of over 500 organizations and professional associations related to K-12 education. Our focus is identifying state and national organizations connected to media and technology.

Being a part of a professional organization benefits educators by helping them stay up-to-date with the latest research, strategies, projects and opportunities to share information and resources with colleagues all over the world.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the premier organization for technology integration. ISTE has been instrumental in the development of National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), as well as publishing many resources related to educational technology. Subscribers receive both hard copy and online resources.

Michigan Organizations

Michigan has several organizations for those with an interest and connection to media and technology and successful practices in the classroom.

The Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) is a professional association of more than 1400 school library media professionals, most of whom work in K-12 schools. MAME members include persons with many job titles such as school library media specialists, school library, media and technology supervisors and coordinators, REMC directors and personnel, EMC and LRC directors, academic library/media faculty at the university level, as well as students, teachers, principals, and other persons interested in library/audiovisual/media/technology areas of education.

The Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 1975 dedicated to bringing educators from all levels together to share their knowledge and concerns regarding educational uses of computers and technology. The MACUL conference held every spring offers over 250 individual sessions, hands-on opportunities and nationally recognized featured speakers. The conference draws thousands of educators from Michigan and beyond.

Of special interest to technology coordinators is the Michigan Association for Educational Data Systems (MAEDS). MAEDS has been a state-wide organization for 40 years with the purpose of providing, promoting, encouraging, advising and cooperating in the use of technology to support educational enterprises.

Several other national organizations may be of interest to Michigan educators.

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is the country’s premier voice for K-12 education leaders who use technology strategically to improve teaching and learning. CoSN is a strong advocacy group who stays on top of all national developments and has excellent communication with its members.

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is a membership organization open only to state-level technology administrators. It is, however, full of very valuable resources on topics critical to all technology leaders.