And now for the second half of the school year

New for second half of the school year

We have implemented an email address that helps us detect work orders or 'tickets'. If you are unaware of this change please send technical difficulties to techsupport@rsu36.org. In April, we will use a more robust application for this need.

Students at LHS have file-shares now so that their work can be securely accessed, stored, shared, retrieved, and backed up just like LHS staff members. Kym and Sue St. Pies will be showing staff and students how to do this on Macs and later PC's like in the library and Computer Labs.

We are continuing to repair issues on the new infrastructure but let us assure you that these are growth issues not patch-work repairs of an ailing system. Please keep us informed of issues.

Currently, long log-ins are an issue and it has been noticed that it may be a connection issue with the servers, so we will update to Win Server 2008 sooner than later .....As an option, Macbook logins are quicker....Also, put your work/files in folders in the parent My Documents folder. If you have many files you do not need or use and they add up to huge memory files, remember you can put them in a share - or on a memory stick - or just delete them (or not)

Also, if you are not logging in at your PC to the rsu36 please do so since other local login options will be disabled

Student intra-district emails (gmail accounts) are ready to be deployed next week. Staff gmail accounts are ready and that means it is ripe for accessing Google Apps....We will get to this when we complete showing students how to log in and showing staff more about the network shares they have available - and even how to use these with your students...This, combined with Google Apps, begins robust collaboration and communication dynamics necessary for 21st century skills. We will schedule weekly trainings/discussions this point foreward.... To start with see this Google Resource Wiki Page created just for you.

Please note that we will be upgrading to a brand new First Class server and Archiving server over the next couple of weeks and although we will back the old system up it is not a migration without unforeseen issues, so please take some time to back up stuff you don't want to lose.

More details on this later. The new server will be a clean install with new user name and accounts - not the old ones, like jsmith@sad36.org - more like, jsmith@rsu36.net

As you may or may not know we monitor bandwidth use weekly and have noticed spikes affecting end-user performance. We have detected devices not part of our system and these would be ipod touches. To assist maximizing bandwidth and minimizing infiltration, we will attempt to block these devices until we devise a policy for use and/or an academic reason - and they do have academic merit. I am hoping this creates a dynamic for discussion with staff and students, esp since we have mechanisms for communication and collaboration in place....Ideally, we could reach a solution that embraces our 'connected' students and limits distraction in the classroom- and on the servers.

District Website - We will meet with Admins and admin asst's Feb 4 (and the following three weeks) initially to decide information for the ditrict page and the individual school pages. The site will start as an informational portal first and (slowly) grow to a dynamic one throughout the year. Gathering and managing content, regular updates, photo uploads and management are and will be three great challenges. We would like a basic webiste launch date in March.
The infrastructure project for the LHS and LES is 90% complete and we begin at LMS Feb3, 2010.

It has been a pleasure so far and we hoped it would have been a little smoother on the user end. Please bring any discussions, ideas, concerns, issues, complaints to us because we want things to work for you and your students.

And now a search for a learning management system for our district. Can you say 'Moodle'? Visit http://demo.moodle.net/

2010's tasks,considerations, new things...and training

During x-mas break we transferred LES and LHS staff over to login/user accounts and this means you will be able to login and have a profile with lots of space for your work/data. It also means your profile is on the server and backed up – and if your computer died tomorrow, don’t fret about lost data - it is on the server! Oh, and the server(s) now has/have many backup devices including network storage and USB devices. You also have file sharing for you and your students and/or staff if desired: It is a great way to save paper since you can have students store their work in a folder either in their profile or yours. Speaking of saving paper (and improving collaboration with staff and students) , we are now a Google school and have access to Google Edu Apps or Google Apps for Education and that means a host of teaching and learning tools and opportunities – and it means students have Gmail. We need to discuss, train and deploy! Also, Macbooks litter the district and the suite of educational tools on them have yet to be maximized. We need to train! Equally exciting, we have a dedicated Apple server called Snow leopard. More about this later.
Also, by the end of January we will deploy Spiceworks an IT management and maintenance service that will allow us to do inventory of our technology hardware and software (there is a concept for ya) and create a helpdesk for tech troubles and work orders.
Finally, we will undergo training for our powerful teleconferencing system –Tanberg- in January. Much more info on this coming your way!

Oh….and we want to deploy the new website by mid Feb 2010.

Consider and/or Do!

1. Consider Linux as a cost saving tool for 2011-2012
2. Consider and/or Purchase Moodle server to create a veritable Learning Management System (LMS)
3. Manage paper consumption and consider paperless: see 15 tools to go paperless and free, customizable textbooks see flexbooks
4. Consider 1:1 in the district
5. A PD movement in earnest for technology, differentiating with tech
6. Devise a middle school technology scope and sequence with proficiency exams…and a Computer Lit course....
7. Implement Internet safety awareness curriculum asap, esp at LES and LMS
8. Consider an Info literacy curriculum
9. Involve kids in tech decision-making
10. Upgrade to fiber optics with Time Warner to improve cost and speed to LMS and LHS – bye-bye T1 and T3 lines
11. Adopt collaborative platforms like Ning, Google Apps, and Joomla
12. Learn and improve data analysis - collect, analyze, aggregate, and manage data, as well as assist teachers in its collection and use to drive instruction. And differentiation via technology

Phew......