Reflection and Forward

The Wikibook project has been an incredible learning experience. It presented many new challenges and expanded the potential for in-depth learning throughout the process. Most people, including myself, are used to the writing process model. You research for a long while, then write the rough draft(which others rarely see), then revise(most people never see this either), then revise again before finally submitting a final copy. This presented a big challenge and required a major shift in thinking. Since a Wikibook can be edited at anytime by any registered user, posting the rough draft as content is not a bad practice - in fact it's a pretty good one. This enables other group members to see what has been posted, make changes as needed, and leave feedback for you on the wikibook discussion page. Of course, if you want to revert back to the original copy, Wikibooks keeps track of the page history.

A Wikibook absolutely has a place in high schools and colleges. Perhaps even kids in middle may even be able to benefit. I say high school and colleges first because a Wikibook does require the student to be somewhat motivated internally. Much of this work can be done at home or otherwise outside the classroom. A Wikibook gives students the opportunity to post their own content, collaborate with fellow classmates, and learn by doing. At the end of the class, the final Wikibook is still on the web so anyone with access to the internet can access their book which gives kids a sense of ownership that few projects ever can. Kids can go home and share the Wikibook with family and other friends and that information is now out there for others to learn from. Our Wikibook, for example, is the greatest reference for my job description available and it is continually going to be updated as times change which standard textbooks cannot do. So the next year, another class of students can edit the book and make updates to it so the book never becomes outdated.

I gained so much knowledge from participating in this project. Since I was given so much time to complete my section, I had plenty of time to research my section and consult many different sources. When it came time to put my content together I had actually gained so much knowledge that I was able to write most of the content myself and go back and insert references after the first draft was complete. Now being able to see the book in its entirety and see what other groups did, it is incredibly rewarding to say that we have the most comprehensive job description for a technology director out there right now.

Is this the world I'm working so hard to be a part of??

Still in shock, I will do my best to explain my approach to the scenario detailed in "Talking Shop: School Technology Coordinator Gets Lesson in Ethics".

First of all, this school district that Toni Bowers was hired by certainly has no coherent technology plan in place. It was incredibly obvious as the scenario unfolded. How can any technology director - I'm referring to the previous one - install ANY technology without proper funding, protection, and infrastructure. Not only did that director drop the ball, but he apparently wasn't held accountable to the district for anything.

So the first major task Toni faces is to restore the email server. First, how is Toni supposed to find out exactly what clogged the server without investigating thoroughly. Second, doesn't the school have an email policy. Every source I consult tells me that almost all school districts with a serious technology plan has an email policy and that an email - the object - is property of the school district, therefore Toni should absolutely be allowed to forward questionable material on to the proper channels.

It is absolutely deplorable that Toni ended up being harassed over this. Teachers were told Toni was snooping? Teachers were told ANYTHING period? How does this become public knowledge? The amount of unprofessionalism from the principal down blew me away. Evidence continued to mount up, for example, students prove that a teacher showed them how to bypass the web filter, and the principal's IP address keeps coming up as attempting to access blocked sites. Yet, Toni still was not able to fight it.

Maybe this is the young, inexperienced side of me coming out, but this is how I feel. I absolutely would have done the same thing as Toni. No one is going to scare me out of coming forward. I cannot believe that at the time of hire I would not be told that if I came accross any objectionable material I would be obligated to bring it to the attention of my superiors. Can the district really fire me over it? I find that hard to believe. I find inappropriate content, I stop a teacher from illegal sexual actions with a student, expose the principal's lack of integrity, you would think a district would appreciate the opportunity to clean house and bring in truly honorable professionals. I understand that initially the district might deal with some negative press, but that will soon turn positive when they act approrpiately. Is brushing all these horrible acts under the carpet worth it just to save face? Not in the world I live in. And, if I would be treated as Toni was, I would find another job anyway as soon as possible. That kind of district is not who I want to work for.

Period.

Cat 6 versus Cat 5e

In planning for a new school with regards to today's technology, Web 2.0 applications are increasingly gaining popularity. Applications like Facebook, MySpace, Moodle, Blackboard, Second Life, and many more are becoming very popular - and some are slowly seeing some use in the classroom and yielding positive results. Some of these applications make very frequent use of streaming audio, video along with images, video chat, and other major media features. These features require a tremendous amount of bandwidth to perform effectively, efficiently, and without distraction.

This is why I believe it is very important for us as an educational institution to be on the forefront of this new technology. Since we are building, we have the perfect opportunity to implement the required infrastructure right from the start. Up until recently, we have been using Category 5e network cable which supports up to 100MHz of bandwidth. Category 6 cable is the next generation of wired technology and presents us with the following advantages. Category (Cat) 6 network cable supports up to 200MHz available bandwidth which means for applications like Second Life, and video chats, there will be less noise and transfer loss and stronger signal. Cat 6 cable is much more reliable since it allows for this greater rate of transfer. Cat 6 is backward compatible with Cat 5 applications which is why experts are predicting that 80 to 90 percent of all new installations will utilize Cat 6 cable. This means that all current applications will show improvements in performance and pave the way for more demanding next generation applications.

In terms of physical installation, it is not practical to install Cat 5e cable even if we plan to upgrade to Cat 6 since it is very difficult and expensive to install new cable behind walls, in ducts, under floors, and other difficult places. Now you may also have heard of fiber optic technology. Fiber Optic technology essentially offers the same advantages and in some aspects to a greater degree. However, optical technology is still very expensive and is not a responsible move. Cat 6 cable will give us many years of successful use of Web 2.0 applications for less money than optical cable. But Cat 6 is necessary to keep our educational institution on the cutting edge of successful use of technology in the classroom.

Classroom of the Future

The educational goals would be to teach students how to properly use computers both functionally and educationally, have students use the computers during the learning process in ways that will enhance learning, design learning environments that effectively use the computers to enhance learning in all applied subject areas. There is much research that concludes that the only way to truly teach technology and use technology effectively to enhance learning is to fully integrate technology and computers with the learning process as tools, and not as something extra.

The best implementation plan would be to start fresh at the start of the new school year. This gives you ample time to plan trainings and set expectations for teachers based on the educational goals set forth for the students. Trainings will need to take place before the start of the school year and be mandatory for all teachers in order to ensure that teachers reach the desired proficiency level with regard to general computer operation, software operation, and understand what is expected of them in terms of designing their learning environments. There will be additional training sessions before the start of the school year that will be broken down by subject area to train teachers in subject specific software that will be used. By the time the school year starts, teachers will have already been trained, assessed to ensure they meet expectations, and have taken the time to plan their learning environments along with the first set of lessons. Since they have been trained, these learning environments and lessons will be designed the new way, with technology and the computers fully integrated into the learning process. Since this will be done, this should eliminate possible confusion both for teachers and especially for students. Continuing training and workshops will be given and teachers will be required to attend these activities during inservice days or during other set times.

According to An Educator's Guide to Evaluating the Use of Technology in Schools and Classrooms, the planning for how your evaluations will be done should be done at the same time as the entire initiative is being planned. In order to be eligible for the grant to begin with the evaluation plan must be finished as well. On their website, a getting started worksheet is provided for use as a resource when planning your evaluation. When planning an evaluation you must take into an account what results all the parties involved want to see. It is safe to assume that some other considerations will need to include whether or not the program is cost-efficient, how comfortable or uncomfortable the teachers feel with the program and if that can be improved, and what the cost of maintaining the program will be once the grant runs out. The most important consideration however should be how well the educational goals were met. Right from the start students will be given a brief assessment of their base knowledge. After each until they will be assessed by a teacher-made unit test and these results will be noted. Each test will be compared to the previous teaching system to evaluate improvement or decline. Students will be given verbal feedback and occasionally written feedback on class assignments all throughout the school year. At the end of the year, a standardized assessment will be given to the students. This standardized test will contain information that the curriculum required students to learn. The curriculum will have been based on the standards set forth according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (www.pde.gov). These results will be compared to the old teaching system for improvement or decline.

iPods, Cellphones, PDAs, etc.

Administrators always seem to pose policy questions in terms of being more restrictive or less restrictive. Portable media devices and their accompanying policies are no exception. But the fact of the matter is that ever since the dawn of the boombox, kids have had these devices in schools. I think the major difference here is size. A walkman or CD player is much easier to spot with huge, old-school headphones. Nowadays, iPods come smaller than ever with headphones that slip right in the ear. Throughout my high school career as these portable media devices began to appear everywhere and diversify constantly, it felt like the school administration was reacting to these devices out of fear more than educational interest. During a long final exam period I had my CD player with me and I was playing classical music to help me concentrate during the exam. I always perform better with light classical music behind me. Of course I had them taken away. Not because I could have been cheating on the test - which was impossible to do, not because I was distracting other students - and I was not, not because of any educational reason; but, they were taken away simply because I was not "supposed" to have it even though there was no written policy in effect at the time. In my policy I would have no problem with a student using a media player during an exam as long as I approve that it is in fact being used for that purpose - as opposed to cheating - and as long as the device is not causing a distraction to other students. Overall, my take on this issue may be considered radically different from what I experienced.

We should not be worried about being more or less restrictive. We need to be thinking about these devices from an educational viewpoint. First, the most obvious, if a student is using any such device during a lecture and is causing a distraction for themselves or for the students around them, the device needs to be either put away or taken away until the end of class. It is the same idea as two students who cannot keep quiet in the classroom during class. We also need to capitalize on the educational potential of these devices. Today, many cell phones, and PDAs can perform similar functions. I recently read an article about a school that uses cell phones and PDAs in classroom instruction. For example, the teacher during lecture can pose a question at the students and have students input their responses using these devices and display the results on the board. Teachers are able to ensure that every student participates and supplies an answer. This is much more effective than traditional methods where one student - usually the same student through time - raises a hand and answers the question. For other students who usually do not like to participate or do not like to go out on a limb and be wrong when answering a complex question, they have the chance to submit their answer anonymously and gain so much more from the instruction.

My proposed policy is two-fold. It puts responsibility on the teachers and administration not only to prevent distractions due to the use of these devices, but to begin designing learning environments(where possible) that capitalize on the educational benefits of these devices. These devices would be permitted in the school and in the classroom with the following conditions. During class, a student may only use such devices when directed by the teacher. If a student is caught using a device when not appropriate or if the student is distracting other students, a student will be asked to put the device away and in subsequent offenses the device will be taken away and held by the teacher until the end of the class period. Teachers and Administration will design learning environments, where possible, that will employ the use of such devices in an educationally appropriate manor that is beneficial to learners.

Curing a Virus

After identifying the actual problem, I need to decide if the problem poses a threat to any unaffected systems and if so, take those systems offline. I need to perform a thorough check on all of the machines possibly affected - hopefully this would not be the servers. I will check the general network connections first to make sure the infrastructure is not damaged. Once this is done, I will send out communication of some sort to all faculty, students, and staff telling them about the issue and what i will be doing to stabilize everything.
First I want to check the cafeteria point of sale system. It is very important that kids eat obviously, and if that system is down, you cannot count on students having cash and the district will surely not want to pay for the food for the kids. Next I will make sure the attendance system is working properly including access to student records for the guidance office. After I am sure students can be fed - which is a basic necessity - I want to make sure that the office staff can start processing attendance for the day and the guidance office can have student records available for any advising they might be doing today.
Next I will make sure that the financial systems and general administration systems are operational including classroom telephones and security cameras. In the school district I'm thinking of - Northampton Area - the cameras and phones would rank here. Officers are posted throughout the school and all doors are locked all the time so cameras are an extra bonus but not a higher priority than student meals and guidance. Phones are all standard phones. The last thing I would check is the computer labs and teacher's computers. I have already sent out communication telling faculty of the problem and in that communication I have told them to back up any files they really need on a jump drive. I will go around and assist if needed with my staff. After checking the server over thoroughly or refreshing or reinstalling the server, I will simply image all the computer lab computers and faculty computers with a fresh, clean image just in case anything came over the network into those computers.

Moving from Outsourcing to Internal

There are 3 main points I wish to make briefly based on my findings. First, anytime a school is building its own technology department - regardless whether or not the program is brand new or just switching from outsourcing to an internal department - the district must design a technology plan. Any time a decision is made regarding technology in the classroom, it should relate in some fashion back to the technology plan and contribute to achieving the goals set forth within the plan. The technology plan can be thought of as a line item on the school budget so that the plan is well funded and thought of as such. Especially when shifting from outsourced help to internal departments, finding solid staff is crucial.

The staff you need to hire for sure (based on a school district the size of my alma mater, Northampton) is a Director of Technology. This is the technology coordinator we have been learning about all semester. The technology coordinator would coordinate and supervise all aspects of the technology department. He or she will be responsible for working toward the goals set forth in the district technology plan. He or she will work with curriculum design and implementation of technology into learning environments. He or she will be responsible for training and evaluating staff, faculty, and students. He or she will set expectations and enforce them, be responsible for assisting in development of web-based courses and advise in the selection of efficient instructional technology for the district. For a district like Northampton which covers a large area, you need two technology support staff members to split evenly among the districts four elementary schools. Over time, it would be ideal to have one support staff in each school. These support staff would be responsible providing technical and educational support to teachers and students in the schools they are assigned. They will assist in the design of instructional environments using technology to enhance learning. They will assist in training and evaluating teachers, students, and also assist administrators. Northampton has an advantage in that the Middle School and High School is on the same campus and are connected. The technology coordinator would be based here as well as two technology support staff. Lastly, we cannot forget about the network technicians. We need at least two. The network centers around the high school but support is needed at all schools. The network technicians are responsible for the nitty-gritty infrastructure of the district network. They are responsible for network and server administration and maintenance and are supervised by the technology coordinator.

Finally and perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle is the cost. The salary range for technology coordinator according to www.salary.com is between $70,000 and $110,000. Our technology coordinator would most likely fall near the upper side of that range due to the amount of responsibility he is being given. Support staff on average make between $45,000 and $75,000. Our support staff will most likely fall in the middle. Network technicians average between $37,000 and $50,000. In order to hire quality network technicians, I would expect to offer a starting salary of $43,000. But the final numbers look like this: A school district like Northampton could end up spending between $324,000 and $510,000 a year on a staff like this. Certainly cheaper than outsourcing. Even to outsource properly I would hope a school district would still be employing some support staff.