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.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
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.
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.
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