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.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Project Update
So far, I have provided several sections to our chapter.
Long range planning - with example
Documentation - with example
Replacement schedule - with example
12 Principals of GASB
I am currently working on the Needs Assessment, Draft, and Budget Account Samples. I should have additional posts by Saturday with these sections.
Long range planning - with example
Documentation - with example
Replacement schedule - with example
12 Principals of GASB
I am currently working on the Needs Assessment, Draft, and Budget Account Samples. I should have additional posts by Saturday with these sections.
Thoughtfu Problem #6
Thoughtful Problem #6 background
Congratulations! You are the new Technology Director of a school district that has outsourced all technology support services in the past. You believe that your district needs its own technology department to address technology needs effectively and economically. The most expensive part of your department will be staff. Do a web search to see how other schools staff their technology departments. Find at websites that help you address the topic.
Thoughtful Problem #6 question
In three-to-five paragraphs, describe the jobs, tasks qualifications of the kinds of staff you will need. List no more than three websites you found helpful. (Alternative: you may choose a different aspect of maintenance and support using the same scenario.)
Response
In order to make an educational technology department self sufficient, you need several key positions. Depending on the size of the district, more than one person may hold any single position or one person may hold multiple positions. That being said, here are the critical positions:
Network Technician - The Network Technician is responsible for keeping the district network functional. This staff member should have a good amount of experience working with many different types of infrastructure hardware and should hold some industry certifications, such as Cisco Certified Network Professional. They must know switching and routing, firewalls, and intrusion detection. This position will most likely be you most expensive salary but it will be well worth it when you have a staff member that can diagnose network issues instantly.
Server Technician - The server Technician is responsible for maintaining all district servers. This staff member needs to be familiar with all operating systems in use across the district and should have an industry certification as well such as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer or Certified Netware Engineer. They should also be well versed with the hardware in place and may even hold a hardware certificate from specific vendors certifying they know the layout of the equipment. This staff member will most likely also be able to serve as a helping hand for the Network Technician.
Desktop Technician - Desktop Technicians are the grunt workers in an IT department. They are often responsible for hundreds of computers across a widespread area. Certifications for this position are not responsible however, the staff members should have an adequate amount of experience working on desktops. A good knowledge of desktop cloning is also preferred.
Database Technician - This position may not be required in all districts. Most district systems such as Grading, Student Information, Scheduling, etc. all rely on underlying databases. If the district has these products on site, it is important to have this position on staff. If they are all off site, it is less important. This staff member should be familiar with SQL and Oracle databases. They should be able to run queries and extract data when necessary. This person most likely holds a computer science degree.
These four positions will allow most technology departments to be self sufficient. There may still be an occasion where outside help is required however, that should be few and far between.
Websites
http://www.qcsd.org/21301081720118763/site/default.asp
http://www.beth.k12.pa.us/technology/it/staff.html
http://www.methacton.org/688090617141134/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=53352
*Also a good deal of this was taken from the structure I helped setup an Colonial School District
Congratulations! You are the new Technology Director of a school district that has outsourced all technology support services in the past. You believe that your district needs its own technology department to address technology needs effectively and economically. The most expensive part of your department will be staff. Do a web search to see how other schools staff their technology departments. Find at websites that help you address the topic.
Thoughtful Problem #6 question
In three-to-five paragraphs, describe the jobs, tasks qualifications of the kinds of staff you will need. List no more than three websites you found helpful. (Alternative: you may choose a different aspect of maintenance and support using the same scenario.)
Response
In order to make an educational technology department self sufficient, you need several key positions. Depending on the size of the district, more than one person may hold any single position or one person may hold multiple positions. That being said, here are the critical positions:
Network Technician - The Network Technician is responsible for keeping the district network functional. This staff member should have a good amount of experience working with many different types of infrastructure hardware and should hold some industry certifications, such as Cisco Certified Network Professional. They must know switching and routing, firewalls, and intrusion detection. This position will most likely be you most expensive salary but it will be well worth it when you have a staff member that can diagnose network issues instantly.
Server Technician - The server Technician is responsible for maintaining all district servers. This staff member needs to be familiar with all operating systems in use across the district and should have an industry certification as well such as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer or Certified Netware Engineer. They should also be well versed with the hardware in place and may even hold a hardware certificate from specific vendors certifying they know the layout of the equipment. This staff member will most likely also be able to serve as a helping hand for the Network Technician.
Desktop Technician - Desktop Technicians are the grunt workers in an IT department. They are often responsible for hundreds of computers across a widespread area. Certifications for this position are not responsible however, the staff members should have an adequate amount of experience working on desktops. A good knowledge of desktop cloning is also preferred.
Database Technician - This position may not be required in all districts. Most district systems such as Grading, Student Information, Scheduling, etc. all rely on underlying databases. If the district has these products on site, it is important to have this position on staff. If they are all off site, it is less important. This staff member should be familiar with SQL and Oracle databases. They should be able to run queries and extract data when necessary. This person most likely holds a computer science degree.
These four positions will allow most technology departments to be self sufficient. There may still be an occasion where outside help is required however, that should be few and far between.
Websites
http://www.qcsd.org/21301081720118763/site/default.asp
http://www.beth.k12.pa.us/technology/it/staff.html
http://www.methacton.org/688090617141134/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=53352
*Also a good deal of this was taken from the structure I helped setup an Colonial School District
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
TP #5
Thoughtful Problem #5: You have been hired as a technology director for a school district that uses an operating system that is not your main area of expertise. Research the topic "imaging" or "cloning" to see how you might rapidly clone a new shipment of 500 laptops. Pay attention to cost, time and expertise. In three-to-five paragraphs, describe your options, why you chose the option you did, and what problems you may expect with that choice.
Response:
I have a good deal of experience with cloning Windows PC's and have been involved in cloning Linux systems as well. I have never been involved with cloning Mac equipment so I will choose this platform for my response.
Given the task of rapidly installing 500 new laptops, I would start by developing a project plan. I would assign all tasks to be completed to members of my staff along with acceptable time frames that need to be observed. The first and most important task is the image creation. I would immediately order/request a single unit that 100% matches the specs of the 500 to be shipped immediately. With any luck, this unit will be received at least one week prior to the full shipment. I would assign one staff member to build a clean image. An image creation checklist would be used to ensure the image was created according to the district specifications. The image would get built and a midpoint image would be taken. At that point, the unit would be passed off to someone else to verify. Once the verification was complete, changes were made if necessary and then the machine would be ready for a final image to be taken.
For this task, I would use two products together, NetInstall and Apple Software Restore. This solution is an Apple recommended solution. Using NetInstall, the custom image gets pushed out to each machine. From there, if additional changes are needed down the line, they can be sent using Apple Software Restore. By this I mean that if you needed to add PhotoShop to your image after the initial image was deployed, you could create a packaged install and distribute to all 500 units.
This option appears to be the best solution available for large scale imaging of Macs. The software is included with a OS X Server so assuming you have one on-site, there is no additional cost for the product. The interface is very easy to use for any technician that has Mac experience so that should not be an issue either. The main issue that may appear is the speed of pushing the image to the clients. I would recommend they be done in smaller groups of 20-25 machines at a time. At this rate, given an estimated imaging process of about 45 minutes per group, you are looking at almost 2 days to push the image out. From there, each machine will need a final inspection before final deployment. Overall, I would recommend at least two individuals for five days to finish the deployment process. Compared to doing each unit individually, the time savings is huge.
Response:
I have a good deal of experience with cloning Windows PC's and have been involved in cloning Linux systems as well. I have never been involved with cloning Mac equipment so I will choose this platform for my response.
Given the task of rapidly installing 500 new laptops, I would start by developing a project plan. I would assign all tasks to be completed to members of my staff along with acceptable time frames that need to be observed. The first and most important task is the image creation. I would immediately order/request a single unit that 100% matches the specs of the 500 to be shipped immediately. With any luck, this unit will be received at least one week prior to the full shipment. I would assign one staff member to build a clean image. An image creation checklist would be used to ensure the image was created according to the district specifications. The image would get built and a midpoint image would be taken. At that point, the unit would be passed off to someone else to verify. Once the verification was complete, changes were made if necessary and then the machine would be ready for a final image to be taken.
For this task, I would use two products together, NetInstall and Apple Software Restore. This solution is an Apple recommended solution. Using NetInstall, the custom image gets pushed out to each machine. From there, if additional changes are needed down the line, they can be sent using Apple Software Restore. By this I mean that if you needed to add PhotoShop to your image after the initial image was deployed, you could create a packaged install and distribute to all 500 units.
This option appears to be the best solution available for large scale imaging of Macs. The software is included with a OS X Server so assuming you have one on-site, there is no additional cost for the product. The interface is very easy to use for any technician that has Mac experience so that should not be an issue either. The main issue that may appear is the speed of pushing the image to the clients. I would recommend they be done in smaller groups of 20-25 machines at a time. At this rate, given an estimated imaging process of about 45 minutes per group, you are looking at almost 2 days to push the image out. From there, each machine will need a final inspection before final deployment. Overall, I would recommend at least two individuals for five days to finish the deployment process. Compared to doing each unit individually, the time savings is huge.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
TP# 4
What are the most important things you want to convey to future technology directors?
What was hardest for you to understand?
Maybe that will be hardest to make clear to a reader.
What should be covered in depth and what should not be covered in depth?
What knowledge would most help you in a Technology Director position?
Response:
As a technology director in a school district, there are many limitations on how the business of budgeting, funding and purchasing takes place. My strongest recommendation to anyone entering the role of a technology director is to seek help when walking down an unknown path. There are numerous people in your organization, or others that are able to help you. Experience has taught me that a good director will ask for help when needed and not try to figure it out, especially whn it comes to district finances. I have found that the business office or even tech directors of other neighboring districts can be a tremendous help.
Personally, I have had experience with these topics prior to this class. When I first started working on our technology budget, I found the purchasing process was difficult. WHen dealing with technology, many purchases are over the bid limit of $10,000. What I found was I did not have a good understanding of PEPPM and COSTARS. I found that once I had a thourough understanding if these contracts, life became much easier. COSTARS has now become my best friend. Almost every purchase I make is now through a COSTARS vendor. I have the ability to vendor shop and get a better price while not needing to worry about going to bid. I do still always get three competiung bids on alomost everything I purchase.
I think the entire budget -> funding -> and purchasing process needs to be covered in detail. No director wants to find himself breaking regulations when dealing with taxpayer money. School Districts are audited frequently and technology purchases are always looked at. I wouldn't want to end up worrying that I did something wrong.
Having a thorough knowledge of this process BEFORE beginning to work on budgets would have been ideal. The majority of our class will have the benefit of knowing more about this process before needing it than I did.
What was hardest for you to understand?
Maybe that will be hardest to make clear to a reader.
What should be covered in depth and what should not be covered in depth?
What knowledge would most help you in a Technology Director position?
Response:
As a technology director in a school district, there are many limitations on how the business of budgeting, funding and purchasing takes place. My strongest recommendation to anyone entering the role of a technology director is to seek help when walking down an unknown path. There are numerous people in your organization, or others that are able to help you. Experience has taught me that a good director will ask for help when needed and not try to figure it out, especially whn it comes to district finances. I have found that the business office or even tech directors of other neighboring districts can be a tremendous help.
Personally, I have had experience with these topics prior to this class. When I first started working on our technology budget, I found the purchasing process was difficult. WHen dealing with technology, many purchases are over the bid limit of $10,000. What I found was I did not have a good understanding of PEPPM and COSTARS. I found that once I had a thourough understanding if these contracts, life became much easier. COSTARS has now become my best friend. Almost every purchase I make is now through a COSTARS vendor. I have the ability to vendor shop and get a better price while not needing to worry about going to bid. I do still always get three competiung bids on alomost everything I purchase.
I think the entire budget -> funding -> and purchasing process needs to be covered in detail. No director wants to find himself breaking regulations when dealing with taxpayer money. School Districts are audited frequently and technology purchases are always looked at. I wouldn't want to end up worrying that I did something wrong.
Having a thorough knowledge of this process BEFORE beginning to work on budgets would have been ideal. The majority of our class will have the benefit of knowing more about this process before needing it than I did.
TP#3
Directions:
1. Describe the project, its purpose, its intended participants and its expected goals/objectives
2. Explain the division of funding sources you would like among budget, e-rate and grants
3. Find a suitable grant agency and describe why that agency would be interested in funding your project
Response:
My project is to install a foriegn language lab in my district's middle school. The purpose of this project is to allow students to learn foriegn languages faster and easier than is presently possible. Our district installed a language lab in our high school six years ago. Since it's deployment, we have doubled the amount of students taking AP language classes and the foriegn language program has prospered. With this project, middles school students would be able to benefit from the available technology while learning new languages. The lab would be installed in an extension of the library.
This project has several intended goals:
1. To further develop the ability to understand and communicate in the target language.
2. To supplement older textbooks with international television broadcasts and other up-to-the-minute language samples.
3. To expand opportunities for oral testing.
4. To increase the amount of time a student spends listening to spoken language.
This project has several funding sources:
1. The district will budget for converting part of the library into a lab, including the cost of air conditioning and proper furniture for a language lab.
2. The district is seeking grant funds for the purchase of 15 desktop computers, with headsets and microphones.
3. The district will also plan on installing network cabling in this new lab. The district will apply for an e-rate discount for the cost of connecting this new area to the rest of the building network.
For this project, the district will apply to the Colonial Foundation for Educational Innovation. The mission of the Colonial Foundation for Educational Innovation is to enhance the quality of education and educational opportunities and generate and distribute financial and other resources to and for the students of Colonial School District.
1. Describe the project, its purpose, its intended participants and its expected goals/objectives
2. Explain the division of funding sources you would like among budget, e-rate and grants
3. Find a suitable grant agency and describe why that agency would be interested in funding your project
Response:
My project is to install a foriegn language lab in my district's middle school. The purpose of this project is to allow students to learn foriegn languages faster and easier than is presently possible. Our district installed a language lab in our high school six years ago. Since it's deployment, we have doubled the amount of students taking AP language classes and the foriegn language program has prospered. With this project, middles school students would be able to benefit from the available technology while learning new languages. The lab would be installed in an extension of the library.
This project has several intended goals:
1. To further develop the ability to understand and communicate in the target language.
2. To supplement older textbooks with international television broadcasts and other up-to-the-minute language samples.
3. To expand opportunities for oral testing.
4. To increase the amount of time a student spends listening to spoken language.
This project has several funding sources:
1. The district will budget for converting part of the library into a lab, including the cost of air conditioning and proper furniture for a language lab.
2. The district is seeking grant funds for the purchase of 15 desktop computers, with headsets and microphones.
3. The district will also plan on installing network cabling in this new lab. The district will apply for an e-rate discount for the cost of connecting this new area to the rest of the building network.
For this project, the district will apply to the Colonial Foundation for Educational Innovation. The mission of the Colonial Foundation for Educational Innovation is to enhance the quality of education and educational opportunities and generate and distribute financial and other resources to and for the students of Colonial School District.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Thoughtful Problem #1
In college, I was a Computer Science major. My intention was to become a Computer Science teacher at the high school level. Having taken over 10 years to get my degree, that never materialized. I ended up getting technical training and started working as a computer technician. Eventually, I ended up working for a school district in the IT department. It seems my two different career paths intersected. I was working in education as a technology professional. Ultimately, I want to be a Chief Information Officer or a Technology Director.
One of the most interesting things to me is to be able to build systems from the ground up. Technology is always changing and with those changes come new ideas and products. In the eight years I've been with Colonial School District, I have been personally responsible for the planning and deployment of at least three separate systems. I want to eventually be the individual that is able to choose what systems get built rather than just be the one doing the work.
I have a very technical background. I have had years of training including several industry certifications (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Cisco Certified Network Professional, Novell Certified Administrator) and a BS in Computer Science. I have been in this industry for over 10 years, eight of which were in education. I started as a basic technician and have progress to an acting Technology Coordinator. I have seen the various aspects of educational technology from many different perspectives.
The biggest challenge I have found is a lack of understanding about what is required to keep technology running. We are a hands on district that does not outsource any of our work. In the last three years our PC count has increased by nearly 900 units. Our servers have increased from about 15 to almost 40. In this time, we have only increased staff by one person, a Technology Staff Developer. I have found that many administrators don't account properly for maintaining the equipment we have and the effects of adding more.
One of the most interesting things to me is to be able to build systems from the ground up. Technology is always changing and with those changes come new ideas and products. In the eight years I've been with Colonial School District, I have been personally responsible for the planning and deployment of at least three separate systems. I want to eventually be the individual that is able to choose what systems get built rather than just be the one doing the work.
I have a very technical background. I have had years of training including several industry certifications (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Cisco Certified Network Professional, Novell Certified Administrator) and a BS in Computer Science. I have been in this industry for over 10 years, eight of which were in education. I started as a basic technician and have progress to an acting Technology Coordinator. I have seen the various aspects of educational technology from many different perspectives.
The biggest challenge I have found is a lack of understanding about what is required to keep technology running. We are a hands on district that does not outsource any of our work. In the last three years our PC count has increased by nearly 900 units. Our servers have increased from about 15 to almost 40. In this time, we have only increased staff by one person, a Technology Staff Developer. I have found that many administrators don't account properly for maintaining the equipment we have and the effects of adding more.
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