Thoughtful Problem #13
Your superintendent has learned that you wrote a Wikibook, and he asks you for your reactions to the Wikibook process and how you think writing Wikibooks (or something like it) might have a place in school. He is so intrigued by your response that he asks you to summarize your ideas on one-page and submit it to him.
Write a one-page document (three to five paragraphs) that he can use to share your ideas with his cabinet and school board. In it relate your experience (positive and/or negative) in writing a Wikibook. Explain where such a creative (constructivist) activity might fit in a school. You may also explain where it might not be a good fit. Explain the problems you might expect the project to encounter, and how the problems could be minimized. Wikibooks are only for non-fiction textbooks. Don't let that restriction limit your response because other wiki sites could be used for fiction or non-textbooks.
Response
Writing a Wikibook was one of the most unique projects I have worked on. I thought the idea was good and seemed to be a great group project. I do think it has some of the same drawbacks that standard group projects have, at least from my perspective as a student. Many group projects become split into separate tasks rather than true interaction. This project wasn't much different in that respect. In most groups, this is what occurred. Each group broke out their sections and for the most part,they didn't mix. I prefer group projects where the end result is a collaboration of all group members for all sections. That being said, I still think the project was a terrific experience and was well worth the effort.
I can certainly see the value of this type of project in the classroom. Many classes would benefit tremendously with this project. I can especially see a use for this in our Classroom for the Future grant classrooms. Since these classrooms have a laptop for every student, it would be easy for students to research and interact with each other. I would definitely recommend a pilot project be conducted to further evaluate this type of project.
As for problems, I see a few possibilities that may arise. First and foremost, I see the possibility of plagiarism with students cutting and pasting what they may have found. I also think that the content must lend itself to a wikibook. Math might not be a good fit but computer science or photography may be great. I think professional development will also need to be addressed. Teachers will need to be instructed on formating and the basic techno part of the project.
Ultimately, I think wikibooks definately will have a place in the coming future in the educational arena.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
TP# 12
Thoughtful Problem #12 - Read the three web pages for class 12 in Course Documents. Select one of these or one of your own that presents a serious ethical problem for the technology director. A serious ethical problem usually has consequences no matter how you decide to act. In three to five paragraphs, discuss as honestly as you can the ethical problem and the possible consequences.
Response:
For this TP, I chose to talk about the article The Tech Director's Ethical Dilemma. This article highlights the tough situations you may find yourself in as a Tech Director. It is a situation none of us would ever want to be in.
In this situation, the tech director discovers a situation that should never occur in a school district. The root of the problem is the district administration's failure to respond to a serious problem. Once the tech director has found evidence of the issue, his course of action had to follow a path that would lead towards the situation being further exposed. Failure to do so would be ethically wrong. Unfortunately, this tech director found himself fighting the poor ethical atmosphere of the district itself.
If this type of situation was allowed to occur and continue with staff knowledge, the administrative ethical base is not very strong. Ultimately, the tech director has the upper hand in the long run and the administration should be concerned. Consequences could be disasterous if the public learns of the situation. People would certainly loose jobs and the overall public opinion of the district would be horribly damaged.
Most importantly, there was a tremendous risk to the student population. It appears in this situation that the building principal lost sight of her true responsibilities. I am curious to find how this situation ultimately ended.
Response:
For this TP, I chose to talk about the article The Tech Director's Ethical Dilemma. This article highlights the tough situations you may find yourself in as a Tech Director. It is a situation none of us would ever want to be in.
In this situation, the tech director discovers a situation that should never occur in a school district. The root of the problem is the district administration's failure to respond to a serious problem. Once the tech director has found evidence of the issue, his course of action had to follow a path that would lead towards the situation being further exposed. Failure to do so would be ethically wrong. Unfortunately, this tech director found himself fighting the poor ethical atmosphere of the district itself.
If this type of situation was allowed to occur and continue with staff knowledge, the administrative ethical base is not very strong. Ultimately, the tech director has the upper hand in the long run and the administration should be concerned. Consequences could be disasterous if the public learns of the situation. People would certainly loose jobs and the overall public opinion of the district would be horribly damaged.
Most importantly, there was a tremendous risk to the student population. It appears in this situation that the building principal lost sight of her true responsibilities. I am curious to find how this situation ultimately ended.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
TP#11
Thoughtful Problem #11
Busy administrators and lay people (non-technically trained) usually prefer to read a 1-page summary of a technology report. If they have a special reason or interest, they may read the entire document. Your goal is to get them to read at least the 1-page summary. Our Thoughtful Problems have been designed to train you in the preparation of a logically-organized 1-page statement or explanation.
Choose a technology topic that interests you. Imagine that your superintendent has requested a report from you on this topic. In 3-5 paragraphs write a clear explanatory report. The report may concern a proposal for a new project, a progress report on a problem like poor network bandwidth, or a status report on a project like a one-to-one computer implementation or technology staff development program. The emphasis in this Thoughtful Problem is the clarity, explanation and persuasion that may be necessary for the report to be effective. Keep in mind that the report may be given to each school board director or to newspaper and television reporters.
Response
Classroom for the Future Grant
The Classroom for the Future Grant was awarded to Colonial School District on September 20th and is a landmark program in terms of both educational technology and large-scale high school reform and will become a model for other states. Pennsylvania will be the first state to combine “smart” classrooms and laptop computers in Math, English, Science and Social Studies classrooms with professional development for teachers. The Colonial School District has identified the Social Studies curriculum as our starting point and in year two and three of the grant we will expand the initiative as long as the state continues to fund the project.
Flip the Switch
On February 9, 2007 a “Flip the Switch” ceremony for state legislators, board members, faculty and media was held to kick off the installation of Classrooms for the Future. At this time, one mobile cart was deployed in a single Social Studies classroom in Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. In the days following “Flip the Switch”, five additional laptop carts containing over 140 laptops were deployed to five additional Social Studies classrooms in the high school.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) Implementation
Since the spring of 2005, Colonial School District has been planning to implement an in-house product that allows for self-contained real-time collaboration between staff and students. With the release of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 or MOSS, in January, the district was able to begin to see these ideas realized. The District began planning a MOSS implementation in conjunction with Microsoft Educational Services and one of the premier MOSS vendors, NuSoft Technologies in Grand Rapids Michigan. Internally, a storyboard environment was built to allow Colonial to visualize our ideas. Since this storyboard, a phased plan was developed (plan is contained on the back page of this pamphlet) to allow us to successfully reach our Goals.
With our implementation, classroom teachers have a separate course web site for each section they teach. In each section, students are granted rights to the page automatically when it is provisioned. This allows enrollment to adjust automatically as students drop or add classes. This newest version of MOSS contains several technologies unavailable in previous versions. Most notably are the addition of Blogs and Wiki’s. Teachers then have the option of building these modules into their course site as they see fit. These modules are self contained in-house and access is only available to the students currently enrolled in the section.
Another option contained in this new release is the SharePoint Learning Kit or SLK. The SLK allows teachers to “assign” electronic documents to students using the course site. This module also supports the SCORM 2004 standard for interactive assignment distribution.
This product has currently been released to the six Classroom for the Future Grant recipients
for use with their classes.
The MOSS system has been christened “The Colonial HUB”.
Busy administrators and lay people (non-technically trained) usually prefer to read a 1-page summary of a technology report. If they have a special reason or interest, they may read the entire document. Your goal is to get them to read at least the 1-page summary. Our Thoughtful Problems have been designed to train you in the preparation of a logically-organized 1-page statement or explanation.
Choose a technology topic that interests you. Imagine that your superintendent has requested a report from you on this topic. In 3-5 paragraphs write a clear explanatory report. The report may concern a proposal for a new project, a progress report on a problem like poor network bandwidth, or a status report on a project like a one-to-one computer implementation or technology staff development program. The emphasis in this Thoughtful Problem is the clarity, explanation and persuasion that may be necessary for the report to be effective. Keep in mind that the report may be given to each school board director or to newspaper and television reporters.
Response
Classroom for the Future Grant
The Classroom for the Future Grant was awarded to Colonial School District on September 20th and is a landmark program in terms of both educational technology and large-scale high school reform and will become a model for other states. Pennsylvania will be the first state to combine “smart” classrooms and laptop computers in Math, English, Science and Social Studies classrooms with professional development for teachers. The Colonial School District has identified the Social Studies curriculum as our starting point and in year two and three of the grant we will expand the initiative as long as the state continues to fund the project.
Flip the Switch
On February 9, 2007 a “Flip the Switch” ceremony for state legislators, board members, faculty and media was held to kick off the installation of Classrooms for the Future. At this time, one mobile cart was deployed in a single Social Studies classroom in Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. In the days following “Flip the Switch”, five additional laptop carts containing over 140 laptops were deployed to five additional Social Studies classrooms in the high school.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) Implementation
Since the spring of 2005, Colonial School District has been planning to implement an in-house product that allows for self-contained real-time collaboration between staff and students. With the release of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 or MOSS, in January, the district was able to begin to see these ideas realized. The District began planning a MOSS implementation in conjunction with Microsoft Educational Services and one of the premier MOSS vendors, NuSoft Technologies in Grand Rapids Michigan. Internally, a storyboard environment was built to allow Colonial to visualize our ideas. Since this storyboard, a phased plan was developed (plan is contained on the back page of this pamphlet) to allow us to successfully reach our Goals.
With our implementation, classroom teachers have a separate course web site for each section they teach. In each section, students are granted rights to the page automatically when it is provisioned. This allows enrollment to adjust automatically as students drop or add classes. This newest version of MOSS contains several technologies unavailable in previous versions. Most notably are the addition of Blogs and Wiki’s. Teachers then have the option of building these modules into their course site as they see fit. These modules are self contained in-house and access is only available to the students currently enrolled in the section.
Another option contained in this new release is the SharePoint Learning Kit or SLK. The SLK allows teachers to “assign” electronic documents to students using the course site. This module also supports the SCORM 2004 standard for interactive assignment distribution.
This product has currently been released to the six Classroom for the Future Grant recipients
for use with their classes.
The MOSS system has been christened “The Colonial HUB”.
Friday, November 9, 2007
TP #9
Thoughtful Problem #9 - You are asked to prepare a proposal for a Classrooms for the Future grant to provide laptop computers for each student in every high school Math, Science, Social Studies and English class. Your district administration wants this grant so that it doesn't have to purchase new computers with its own money and so that the district will appear to be progressive and competent. The administration sees this as a technology project rather than an education project. The state grant, however, requires that you develop clear educational goals, a reasonable implementation plan, and an effective evaluation plan for the project. In three-to-five paragraphs describe:
The educational goals of the project, how they were chosen and why they are important.
An implementation plan of how the teachers will be trained and how the laptops will be phased into the classrooms over months or years.
An evaluation plan that includes both formative and summative evaluation of the project to determine how well it has met its educational goals (with an appropriate rubric, if possible).
Response:
The district has decided to apply for the Classrooms for the Future Grant. By doing so, a large burden of the grant process falls on the technology department. This post will outline some of the details of the proposal.
Educational Goals
Students will become familiar with a computer as an educational tool.
Students will utilize the equipment as part of a Learning Management System already in-place.
Students will learn to collaborate through the use of blogs and wikis.
Implementation
The grant process itself does provide some teacher training utilizing the coach position. The coach position is partially funded by the grant and this person is responsible to trainings. The coach will build upon the preset trainings through individual, one-on-one training with each teacher. The trainings will be scheduled prior to the teacher receiving their classroom equipment. They will receive their teacher laptop at the training. The actual equipment will be distributed at the training. Student laptops will be distributed a classroom at a time. The technology department will deploy each cart the day after teacher training has occurred. The overall schedule will span several weeks.
Evaluation
An important part of any technology roll out is an evaluation. For this project, a benchmark assessment should be taken at the beginning of the year. In addition, formative assessments will occur throughout the year as the students are using the technology. Since the idea is that the technology will be used almost daily, teachers will be able to assess students achievements easily. As for a summative assessment, student performance will be measured with the benchmark taken earlier in the year.
The educational goals of the project, how they were chosen and why they are important.
An implementation plan of how the teachers will be trained and how the laptops will be phased into the classrooms over months or years.
An evaluation plan that includes both formative and summative evaluation of the project to determine how well it has met its educational goals (with an appropriate rubric, if possible).
Response:
The district has decided to apply for the Classrooms for the Future Grant. By doing so, a large burden of the grant process falls on the technology department. This post will outline some of the details of the proposal.
Educational Goals
Students will become familiar with a computer as an educational tool.
Students will utilize the equipment as part of a Learning Management System already in-place.
Students will learn to collaborate through the use of blogs and wikis.
Implementation
The grant process itself does provide some teacher training utilizing the coach position. The coach position is partially funded by the grant and this person is responsible to trainings. The coach will build upon the preset trainings through individual, one-on-one training with each teacher. The trainings will be scheduled prior to the teacher receiving their classroom equipment. They will receive their teacher laptop at the training. The actual equipment will be distributed at the training. Student laptops will be distributed a classroom at a time. The technology department will deploy each cart the day after teacher training has occurred. The overall schedule will span several weeks.
Evaluation
An important part of any technology roll out is an evaluation. For this project, a benchmark assessment should be taken at the beginning of the year. In addition, formative assessments will occur throughout the year as the students are using the technology. Since the idea is that the technology will be used almost daily, teachers will be able to assess students achievements easily. As for a summative assessment, student performance will be measured with the benchmark taken earlier in the year.
Project Update
Our group will be very well prepared for our presentation on Tuesday. I will be finishing the Budgeting section this weekend and Tim and Lifang are working on the Funding section. Each of us will then be working on our presentation.
TP #8
Thoughtful Problem #8 - Some teachers have complained of students listening to iPods and text messaging on their cell phones during class. Students believe the offenders should be punished, but all students should not have to pay for the misbehavior of a few. As Technology Coordinator, you are asked to develop a school policy to address student use of portable electronic devices. In three-to-five paragraphs, describe the two points of view and the reasons to be more restrictive or less restrictive of portable electronic devices. Conclude with your policy recommendation to the school board and the reasons for your specific recommendation.
Response:
Portable electronic devices often bring controversy in a K-12 environment. There are two points of view that can be looked at. I will look at each viewpoint in detail and then I will present a recommendation that will hopefully satisfy both parties.
The first viewpoint is that the devices do not belong in school. The devices serve as distractions and students often become distracted with the devices. In addition, because these devices are often communication devices, students may be tempted to use them in an inappropriate manner. Cell phones often have cameras built in. Students could quickly and discretely take a picture of an exam that will be given to other students later in the day. Also, students may be listening to answers or hints on their MP3 players while we may think they are listening to music. Furthermore, who is to say it is appropriate to listen to music while in class. For many, music is a distraction and will only hurt their progress in class.
The second viewpoint is that the devices have an educational value and that they should be allowed. Many schools are looking at podcasting as a learning tool. Also, many libraries are beginning to offer audio books to be checked out just like a paper bound book. These type of uses may well require portable devices. As for cell phones, many parents often state that they are a safety mechanism for their children. In the event of an emergency, students and parents can communicate quickly. Any mention of banning the devices in the building will certainly bring instant complaints.
As a recommended policy, the district should look to keep individuals from both viewpoints somewhat satisfied. Doing so is easier said than done. First, when it comes to cell phones, students should be allowed to carry them into the building but they should be prohibited from being used during the day. If a student is observed using the device, it should be taken for the remainder of the period. If a student is caught using the device to cheat or help others, standard disciplinary action should be taken. As for MP3 players, the district can satisfy the need for audio books by purchasing several devices and checking out the device along with the audio book. The storage size should be small to help bring the cost down. If the student loses the device, they would be required to pay for it, similar to an obligation for a book. As for personal MP3 players, I recommend they be prohibited from being used in the classroom. Podcasting does not require a portable device to work. Personal MP3 players have no real educational value. These recommendations should be added to the district's Acceptable Use Policy and should be strictly enforced.
Response:
Portable electronic devices often bring controversy in a K-12 environment. There are two points of view that can be looked at. I will look at each viewpoint in detail and then I will present a recommendation that will hopefully satisfy both parties.
The first viewpoint is that the devices do not belong in school. The devices serve as distractions and students often become distracted with the devices. In addition, because these devices are often communication devices, students may be tempted to use them in an inappropriate manner. Cell phones often have cameras built in. Students could quickly and discretely take a picture of an exam that will be given to other students later in the day. Also, students may be listening to answers or hints on their MP3 players while we may think they are listening to music. Furthermore, who is to say it is appropriate to listen to music while in class. For many, music is a distraction and will only hurt their progress in class.
The second viewpoint is that the devices have an educational value and that they should be allowed. Many schools are looking at podcasting as a learning tool. Also, many libraries are beginning to offer audio books to be checked out just like a paper bound book. These type of uses may well require portable devices. As for cell phones, many parents often state that they are a safety mechanism for their children. In the event of an emergency, students and parents can communicate quickly. Any mention of banning the devices in the building will certainly bring instant complaints.
As a recommended policy, the district should look to keep individuals from both viewpoints somewhat satisfied. Doing so is easier said than done. First, when it comes to cell phones, students should be allowed to carry them into the building but they should be prohibited from being used during the day. If a student is observed using the device, it should be taken for the remainder of the period. If a student is caught using the device to cheat or help others, standard disciplinary action should be taken. As for MP3 players, the district can satisfy the need for audio books by purchasing several devices and checking out the device along with the audio book. The storage size should be small to help bring the cost down. If the student loses the device, they would be required to pay for it, similar to an obligation for a book. As for personal MP3 players, I recommend they be prohibited from being used in the classroom. Podcasting does not require a portable device to work. Personal MP3 players have no real educational value. These recommendations should be added to the district's Acceptable Use Policy and should be strictly enforced.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
TP#7
Thoughtful Problem #7:
The core mission of any school is to promote powerful learning through effective teaching. As technology director, you are responsible for systems that are directly related to this core mission of teaching and learning such as Internet access, student reporting and curriculum systems. You are also responsible for systems that relate to student safety, finance and personnel that are fundamental to running the institution on a daily basis. You are told that network-related issues, perhaps virus-related, are interrupting the operation of all major systems.
Which systems do you try to stabilize and restore to service first? Why? What systems might be your second priority? Which systems would have a lower priority. Answer in 3-5 paragraphs using systems that provide clear examples and choices (you don't need to discuss lots of enterprise or auxilliary systems).
Response
Every technology department should have a well defined and tested disaster recovery plan (DRP). As the tech director, it is your responsibility to make sure your organization's plan is well defined and updated as new technology is deployed. With this plan in hand, your response to this problem should already be scripted. Now, you must put your plan to work.
One of the most important part of the "recovery" section of a DRP is the systems analysis section. This analysis should show every system in the organization. In this analysis, each system is rated by its criticality to the organization. Included in the rating is an allowable downtime, ease of recovery and other conditions are recorded. This then becomes your recoverablility guideline.
Most importantly, the analysis needs to be realistic. Users of each system will always say their system is the most important. The analysis needs to be conducted without bias. In addition, realistic down times must be listed. If the email system is rated as having a downtime of 4 hours, then the appropriate resources must be in-place to support this. Otherwise, the plan is worthless.
In the time section, a six means less than 4 hours, a five is 4-6 hours, a four is 7-12 hours, a three is 13-24 hours, a two is 24-48 hours and a zero means there is no criticality to the system and Restoration can occur once all other systems are stable. According to this chart, my first system to get working would be my directory services, active directory. The other headings refer to the conditions that may impact recovery.
Active Directory makes sense as the first system because it is the system that allows users to log on to the network in general. If users cannot log in, all other systems are irrelevant. Once this system has become stable and users are able to log on, the next step would be to restore mail flow. This will allow the communications to begin flowing.
Many may think that a phone system is the most important system to recover first because the district is not reachable in an emergency. In reality, a quick phone call to the phone vendor and all incoming calls are routed to a cell phone or an analog phone that is separate from the district phone system. With this in-place, phones are "restored" before many even know there is an issue.
Once log on and mail flow are complete, you can begin to work on all of the other systems in the chart until all systems are stabilized. Without this type of plan, important time may be wasted just after the outage determining what to recover first.
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