February 2009 - Posts - Technology Services

February 2009 - Posts

Elmbrook announces technology advisory groups

Elmbrook Technology Advisory Groups (e-TAG)

If you are interested in participating on one of the three advisory groups below, please send an e-mail message indicating your interest, the project name, and your area of expertise to chris.thompson@elmbrookschools.org . All meetings will be held at the Central Administrative Office, 13780 Hope Street.

Project: Web Portal Design and Development
1. Project Timeline: Phase 1 (Summer '09) – Staff and Students, Phase 2 (Fall '09) – Parents and Community Site)
2. Description: based on iGoogle technology, specific stakeholder portals (students, staff, parents) are being developed on top of a SQL database.
3. Advisors needed: Professionals with experience in web portal design, web site project management, SQL database development, or specifically developing around iGoogle technology are encouraged to attend.
4. Meeting Dates: March 24 (4:30pm-6:00pm), May 19 (4:30pm-6:00pm), September (tbd)
Project: Network Security
1. Project Timeline: Wireless in 2009 & 2010, Firewall consideration in 2010, Network Security audit In 2010
2. Description: As the district adopts Windows and wireless technologies, the opportunity to consider desktop and network security
3. Advisors needed: Professionals with experience in wireless and network security are encouraged to attend.
4. Meeting Dates: April 28^th (4:30pm-6:00pm), June 16^th (4:30pm-6:00pm), October (tbd)
Technology Planning for the Future
1. Project Timeline: Ongoing
2. Description: This advisory group will consider current and future technologies and their impact on teaching, learning and support.
3. Advisors needed: Professionals with experience in technology strategic planning, exposure to futuristic technologies or leading applications of technologies, or with keen insight on aligning technology to support strategic initiatives.
4. Meeting Dates: May 6 (4:30pm-6:00pm), October (tbd)

Purpose of e-TAG

The purpose of the technology advisory groups is to access the professional knowledge that exists in our community in order to guide and sustain existing and future technology initiatives within the district. Each advisory group, coordinated by a district staff member, will be specific to a project or topic that will guide frequency of meetings and duration of the group. Meetings will be structured to include a presentation of today's existing environment, goals of the project/initiative, exploration of existing and anticipated technology solutions, and discussion about industry standards, best practices, and performance indicators. Participants will be asked to share their perspectives as parents/students/community members, as well as their professional experience with a given topic.

Technology Overview

The School District of Elmbrook is quickly becoming a technology leader in classroom use, instructional and technical support, as well as through its alignment with District goals and initiatives. New projects and initiatives currently being implemented include:

Instructional

SMARTBoards in every K-12 classroom (380 classrooms)
Office 2007 Rollout (K-12)
Dual-boot Macs to support new middle school curriculum
Tablet Laptop initiative for elementary teachers to support standards-based grading and reporting
Adobe CS4 at both high schools for use in Art, Business, Web Design and Graphics Courses

Strategic

Web Portal Design
Summer SMART Professional Development Academy
Data Warehouse and Visual Analysis Tools for Dashboard Development

Operational

Conversion of 15 servers and 3,400 computers to 100% Windows and Exchange/Outlook environment
Secured Wireless coverage blanketing all 11 schools

Posted: Feb 25 2009, 11:06 AM by thompsoc |

Technology Committee Minutes

Minutes from Technology Steering Committee

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

7:15 – 8:15am

CAO – Rm 133

Attendance: Monica Lentz, Dan Paese, Kristin Konitzer, Amy Andersen, Maxine Weisz, Angela O'Reagan, David Peterson, Rick Ziolkowski, Glen Allgaier, Rachel Russell, Jeanne Siegenthaler

7:15 – 7:20 New Equipment Installation Process

Tracking:

Requisition created – Product received (help to manage vendors)
Receipt date – installation (help to manage workload and customer response time)

Historically, Tech Services has not done an adequate job at informing users when their software or equipment has arrived at CAO and then installed it on a timely basis. To strengthen communication and support the centralized receiving of all technology equipment, as soon as equipment arrives at CAO we will open a ticket in bigWeb to track progress.

We do not have a commitment as to what is reasonable for installation time, but will review the process in two months to determine a target/goal for completion.

7:20 – 7:30 - Netbooks

Quick presentation/description
Would they meet any existing/future needs

Netbooks are mini-laptops, currently with a 10" display, full keyboard, limited memory (1gb) and hard drive (40gb), wireless access and in the $400 price range. They could be a cost effective solution to computer access at middle school or elementary. They could be a solution for a 1-1 initiative (1 student, 1 computer). We may try them on a limited basis to see if they adequately meet the needs without investing too much product development time (not a priority but could meet accessibility/portability needs). Chris does not see this as the solution to teacher laptops at secondary.

7:30 – 8:15 Facebook

Build common understanding of application
Identify Risks and Concerns
New Staff Policy considered by Board on 2/10
Student safety training ideas
Staff safety training ideas

Internet Safety -

Monica, Angela, and Kristin demonstrated how Facebook worked and talked about the dangers of "friending" others. Because friends of friends can see one's facebook site, there is absolutely no way to control visibility. Various risks come from this personal use, more from a "teacher sponsored" site for his/her students:

Teacher is exposed to all student posts – parties, use of controlled substances, etc. – put in a position where he/she has to report

No documentation of "online" conversations for protection of the teacher/district

Blurred boundaries between professional classroom communication and casual social conversation

Potential for disclosure of too much personal information – exposing students

Policy: On Tuesday evening (2/10) the Board of Education passed a revised policy for staff use of technology that discourages:

"the use of non-district approved social networking and instant messaging sites by staff.."

This will be communicated to all staff the week of 2/16 – including clarification on existing blogs on blogspot, facebook sites, others.

Great discussion on what we can do for three different stakeholder groups:

Staff – need an overview on what the technologies are and how they are used/mis-used – texting, bullying, cheating,

Students – need training at all levels, coordinated approach to internet safety – 4^th grade (ITL, 6^th Gr computers) - 10 th grade (Health?). Perhaps it would be more effective if high school students (NHS or Key Club) presented to elementary/middle school students?

Parents – need awareness, tools to monitor.

Parent Recommendations – facebook settings, location, monitor account frequently
Videotape – facebook presentation – available for checkout or podcast
Parent Network – Event –
Continued message – newsletters or district events e-mail
Aggregate resources – direct people to for education/awareness/training
Collect benchmark district – education efforts
Survey staff – parents of teenagers – how do you monitor – dangers/pitfalls
Do we have a parent network advocacy group –
Evaluate and recommend resources

Suggestion to invite FBI – Eric Szatkowski – eszatkowski@wi.rr.com, . Parent network brought him in last year but failed to invite Brookfield PD which caused some bad feelings. Chris would rather have a co-presentation with Brookfield Police and Elmbrook students.

Data review

Jan – 461 tickets

Response: 4.25 hrs –90.5%
Closure: 10 hrs – 95.7%

Dec – 325 Tickets

Response: 5.5 hours (10.5 hour business day, 10.5 hr goal) – 88.5%

Closure Avg: 14.5 hours (10.5 hour business day, 31.5 hour goal) – 88.3%

Posted: Feb 15 2009, 09:54 PM by thompsoc

Filed under: committee, minutes

February TSC Agenda

Agenda for Technology Steering Committee