Post #4

The school district uses a shared storage system which has different partitions for students and teachers. This way the teacher’s information can be protected more effectively. Yes this is beneficial because if you need to save some information quickly or save something for class you can do so on the shared storage area without needing a flash drive. Having the shared storage allows you to access the information you save from any computer on the network which is especially useful for those teachers that are travelers.

The school uses Microsoft outlook to share email between staff and students. The email system can be used from both school and home. The email system can be accessed from any computer which allows teachers to keep in touch with students, parents, faculty, and administrators. I use the email system from both school and home in order to keep in touch with fellow teachers on schedule changes. Email has become an essential form of communication and as such needs to be available as much as possible. I use email to remind my self of important issues as well as administration uses email to keep in touch with faculty.

In this chapter the most important thing covered I think was acceptable use policies. Whether it be internet or access in general there has to be policies in place to manage both. I found the examples in the book to be excellent guides to see how to create such policies and good models of what need to be in these policies. I think it is important to note that everything dealing with technology changes rapidly so these policies should be updated every year. The interesting thing is that everyone has to sign them yet no one remembers signing them. There should be a better way to get the message across like a program the first time users log on that makes them go thru screens and read the acceptable use policies having already signed them of course. Acceptable use policies are so important it is like an insurance policy you don’t want to get caught without insurance but also keeping all these records can be quite tedious. Acceptable use policies have to focus on covering all scenarios because if it isn’t specified than it could be considered acceptable. In this chapter there were lots of great management tips and techniques that allow a system to rum more smoothly, the examples provided clearly depict what is necessary to run a well organized network.

Assignment 2 software selection Form

I do not believe that the tech department uses a software selection form. I think that they are so busy with work that they do not have the time to go through the whole process. The tech leaders are so busy that I am not sure how much of this gets accomplished by them and how involved the administration is in seeking new technologies to improve the classroom. This is a shame and I think it occurs more often then not with the technology people being overworked now days, don’t have the time to do all aspects of their job to the best of their ability.

I think the form itself is great but it seems like it would require quite a large amount of time to set up committee and meet with them and get all this done. Finding the people to be on such a committee might not be the easiest task either. The process of using the form seems like it would be most beneficial because it would help administration know what the teachers need and want, and what will be the most beneficial to have in the classroom. The teachers would get a lot more input and technology would be acquired the way it should be in order to fill a need in the curriculum not because administration thinks it is cool or useful.

Sorry Assignment 1 was late

I just go the book yesterday and my one friend was having a baby so I had to go down and visit them at the hospital yesterday and did not get to post. They a nine pound two ounce baby boy so it was quite the fun interesting day.

Assignment #1 Technology Leader

The position of technology leader seems to be quite a demanding one, not only do you need to have some technical background but a lot of personality and people skills. I would assume from the atmosphere of the job that communication and people skills would be your number one priority. With the great number of people you will be meeting and communicating with in this position it seems like it would require you to have top notch interpersonal skills in order to get through your day.

The job requires lots of patience not only with people but with all the problems you will deal with in technology. Any time you are dealing with people you need to have patience because people at this point are usually in some form of duress. There are always so many possible things that can go wrong in a day that you have to be prepared for anything to happen. The computer might not work no mater what you do as well as at any given time you might have ten people asking you to do stuff so you need to be able to work well under pressure. Multitasking ability is always a plus being able to do multiple things at one time is never overrated.

The job requires some keen business skills you have to figure out where you can get the best deals on whatever you’re district needs as well as a time frame for when to install it. You have to negotiate with vendors for whatever you can get play them against each other. The job of balancing the budget is also a challenging one which requires corner cutting and any fancy maneuvers you can think of. All in all, this job requires quite a well rounded human being capable of doing many task where the more talents the person has the more useful they will be in the position.

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