Blog Assignment #3

Does the educational system that you are affiliated with offer a shared storage area on the network for students or faculty?------Do you find this beneficial?

Within the Wilkes-Barre Area School District, there is a shared storage area on the network for students and faculty.  The students have an H drive and the faculty have an H drive.  The main difference between the two is that the faculty H drives have more storage space than the student H drives.  This is definitely beneficial as I am able to access data saved on my H drive from any computer in the school where I work or within the school district.

What type of Email System does your educational system implement? Do you use this mail system at school?.......from home? explain.....

Within the Wilkes-Barre Area School District, Microsoft Outlook Web Access is used.  All of the teachers in the district are able to access their e-mail at work, at home, and from any computer with an internet connection.  The ease of access is key to teachers staying informed of what is going on within their building or responding to a parent’s concerns over how their child is doing in a particular class.

Overall, from this chapter, the most important things that I learned were.....

The management of a network is a complex enterprise.  One person cannot handle the demands of an entire school district.  There are different options for getting the necessary help and support that will be required in order for the network.  A district can train individuals internally, contract some work out, accept the help of volunteers, train students to provide IT support.  The other important thing that I learned was the importance of an Acceptable Use Policy for the users of computers and technology in an educational setting.  The rules, responsibilities, and consequences are laid out in a nice framework so that the technology users in a school district are aware of what is acceptable and unacceptable technology usage.  The example AUP was extremely helpful in understanding all of the areas that need to be addressed by an AUP.

Blog Assignment #2

      The district (Wilkes-Barre Area) that I work for does not use Software Selection forms to gather information before purchasing software.  Software Selection decisions are made exclusively by the Technology Department.  Individual teachers do not have the option of making recommendations as to what new software would benefit students in the classroom.  

     If the Wilkes-Barre Area School District were to establish a Software Selection committee, it would be beneficial in a number of ways.  First,  it would allow for more educators to be involved in the selection process for new software and technology.  This is important because it would allow more teachers to voice their opinions as to what types of software would be most beneficial to the students in their classrooms.  It would also allow committee members to try new educational software and technology to see what it out there. Second, it would establish a solid management process.  Having a committee make a decision strengthens the decisions that are made and allows for blame to be shared by all members of the committee if a poor decision were to be made rather than the blame being placed entirely on the technology coordinator.  Finally, the last benefit of a Software Selection committee is that better decisions are generally made by a group over an one individual person.  Having the group come to a consensus on what software programs and technology to invest in for the district will help the district achieve their vision for technology and education.

Blog Assignment #1

      In order to be a successful technology leader, I will need to establish a vision or plan for the school district  where I am working.  The vision will have goals that were agreed upon by by all the stakeholders in the district (administrators, teachers, para-professionals, parents, and students).  The vision will provide a framework upon which I can use to work towards the goals set forth by the school district. 

     The individual skills that I will need to be a successful technology leader are: a combination of strong interpersonal skills, effective problem solving skills, leadership and planning skills, and technical skills.  As a technology leader, I will be working towards meeting the specific needs of individual teachers and students while at the same time working towards the collective needs of the whole district.  I believe that each day on the job will be different and present new challenges.  Some days I would be training teachers how to use technology while other days could be spent working on technology grants or troubleshooting technical problems that individual teachers are experiencing with technology.  The biggest challenge of being a successful technology leader is being able to handle all the daily challenges that may arise on the job.  It is being able to multi-task and prioritize what problem/situation needs to be addressed immediately, what problem/situation needs to be addressed soon, and what problem/situation can be addressed at a later time.

     In my present job as a school library media specialist, I use problem solving skills to help both teachers and students with technology related issues.  Additionally, I show students how to break down their research topics into more specific search terms and then show them how to search for information using the library's online catalog, databases, and the Internet.  I enjoy communicating with students and teachers and helping them to problem solve.  I find myself multi-tasking constantly as I have usually have several different projects going on at the same time.  Through my experiences, I believe that I possess some of the qualities that are necessary to be a successful technology leader.