Teck Check - Goal Two: Effective Administration

For a number of years, I've used a set of simple checklists to help districts begin conversations about the "state of the state" of their technology implementations.

Based on five long-term goals I first articulated in the article, Maslow and Motherboards: Tech Planning, Multimedia School, Jan/Feb 2003, I update these checklists in a regular basis. Over this next week, I'll do so once again. Your comments are welcome (and invaluable).

At the end of the week, I will provide a link to a shared GoogelDrive folder that contains all these checklists as templates under CreativeCommons license.

 Goal Two: Effective Administration

The district will use technology to improve its administrative effectiveness through efficient business practices, communication, planning and record keeping.	Related educational objective	Progress to date	Importance H M L	Priority H M L
Student information system that can be accessed by administration that includes attendance, grading, discipline, health, census, and scheduling modules
Student information system that can be accessed by teaching staff using a variety of devices including smartphones and tablets
Student information system that can be accessed by parents using a variety of devices including smartphones and tablets
Student information system that can be accessed by students using a variety of devices including smartphones and tablets
Student information system that shares data efficiently with other systems (SIF)
System that allows data warehousing and data-driven decision-making, reliably housing test scores and other data related to student progress
Systems specific to the management of finance, transportation, personnel/payroll, food service, special education, building mechancial systems, security, etc.
System for curriculum management
Portable communication devices and applications for accessing adminstrative systems
On-line (web-based) district information using a variety of devices including smartphones and tablets
On-line (web-based) building information using a variety of devices including smartphones and tablets
On-line (web-based) department and classroom information using a variety of devices including smartphones and tablets
Interactive communications tools for administration (IM, electronic mailing lists, groupware, shared calendars, email directories and social media)
Electronic means of communication with the school staff for parents, students, and the community
Established technology competencies for school administration and training opportunities
Adopted policies and written guidelines on Internet use, safety, plagiarism, selection/reconsideration, copyright, etc.
Understanding of policy and ethical practices regarding technology use by administration
Other?

Teck Check - Goal One: Established Infrastructure

For a number of years, I've used a set of simple checklists to help districts begin conversations about the "state of the state" of their technology implementations.

Based on five long-term goals I first articulated in the article, Maslow and Motherboards: Tech Planning, Multimedia School, Jan/Feb 2003, I update these checklists in a regular basis. Over this next week, I'll do so once again. Your comments are welcome (and invaluable).

At the end of the week, I will provide a link to a shared GoogelDrive folder that contains all these checklists as templates under CreativeCommons license.

Goal One: Established Infrastructure   The district will have a reliable, adequate, cost-effective, and secure technology infrastructure that supports the learning, teaching, and administrative goals of the district.	Related educational objective	Progress to date	Importance H M L	Priority H M L
Adequate and reliable Internet access to the district
Adequate and reliable Internet access to all buildings
Adequate and reliable Internet access to all classrooms, media centers and labs
Level Seven Packet-shaping to prioritize network traffic
Adequate, coverage and capacity, wireless network access through out all buildings
Written security and disaster recovery plan.
Firewall security for networks
User verification through log-in and activity logging
District-wide virus protection software
Remote computer desktop monitoring and maintenance
Back up plan for all data
Adequate workstations and portable devices for staff and student use
Adequate peripheral technologies (printers, scanners, projectors, cameras, interactive white boards, ) for staff and student use
Efficient maintenance, repair and replacement procedures
Adequate and reliable telephone access to the district
Adequate and reliable telephone access to all buildings
Adequate and reliable telephone access to all classrooms
Adequate and reliable interactive television access to the district
Adequate and reliable interactive television access to all buildings
Adequate and reliable interactive television access to all classrooms
Written and thorough technology use policies
Adequate technical support for networks, computer equipment and applications including a helpdesk process for requesting and tracking technical help
Adequate leadership and management related to technology planning, budgeting, and policy-making including process for making collaborative technology decisions
Other?

BFTP: The ultimate rose-colored glasses

A weekend Blue Skunk "feature" will be a revision of an old post. I'm calling this BFTP: Blast from the Past. Original post April 20, 2008. Now with Google Glass, are we getting closer?

egocasting: Reading, watching, and listening only to media that reflect one's own tastes or opinions. wordspy.com

Daniel Wilson, in his Popular Mechanic's article "10 Genius Inventions We're Still Waiting For":

Augmented Reality
Kids’ knees and noggins can be protected with padding and helmets—but how do we safeguard their delicate minds? The answer may lie with Augmented Reality (AR), a technology that combines sights and sounds of the real world with virtual information. AR eyeglasses could detect inappropriate sights and remove them from view, while AR-enabled earbuds would delete ambient cursing. Meanwhile, adults might wear glasses that substitute blessed blank space for roadside billboards, television commercials and the annoying corporate names on most stadiums. Professor Jie Yang of the interACT research center at Carnegie Mellon University recently laid the groundwork for this technology. His prototype digital camera picks out street signs and billboards from a scene and translates their text to another language. Next on his to-do list, we hope: figuring out a way to translate obnoxious on-hold music into songs we actually like. 

The ultimate in rose-colored glasses - or goggles? Put these on and all the "unpleasantness" in the world simply goes away. Gee, let's blank out not just commercials, but:

• people who are too fat or too thin
• people who are a different race or religion or culture
• poor people, street people, scary people
• any person with a pimple, scar, or wart
• boys wearing those baggy pants that show their drawers
• people with bad hair

I can see this list might get very, very long... 

Here's the scary thing. Are people who egocast already using a "reality filter?" How much do any of us look only for like minds in the blogs we read, speakers we invite to our conferences, or journals we study and cite? Do we only work with the other teachers in our schools who share our educational beliefs?

I thought about this as the LWW headed out this fine spring day to tend her beloved flower gardens. Wouldn't it just be ever so much easier to wear glasses that would block the weeds than to take the time to pull them ?

Put a blogger you disagree with in your feed today. Read a real newspaper. Talk to the social studies teacher who lectures and hates computers.