Blog Assignment #4

The Lake-Lehman School District does have a storage area on its network.  Each student and faculty member is assigned a space on their "U" drive.  This can be accessed once you have logged onto a computer using your personal user name and password.  Teachers can add class notes, power points, templates, etc. to the students' U drives.  This is convenient for absences and setting up for large projects.

Our email system is through Novell.  All teachers have an email address, but students do not.  I mainly access my work email only at school, but there is an option to log on at home as well.

The most important thing I read in this chapter was about intranets.  Lake-Lehman has started to switch over to an intranet for absences and pay stubs.  I am hoping this will continue to evolve to eliminate the massive paper trail we have in the district.  It will be nice to have a forum that everyone can access that isn't posted on our main webpage that anyone and everyone can see.

Assignment 2 - Software Selection Forms

My district does not have a software selection form available.  I think this type of form would be very helpful in a school district to help alleviate confusion on why software is being ordered and how it will be used in the classroom.  There are a variety of teachers, and topics that need to be covered, so a software selection form would leave little to no confusion on who wants to use it, what students are going to gain from the software, and background on what kind of learning experience the software will provide.  It is another form, but I think it will help teachers get products that they really want to help better the education of their students.

Discussion 1 - Challenges

In order to be a successful technology leader, one must have more than just technological skills.  As stated by Moursund (1992), successful technology coordinators should be able to communicate with people, have knowledge and support the educational system, a broad education, dedication to lifelong learning, and adequate knowledge of technology.  A few points that are important in becoming a successful technology coordinator would be to develop plans to increase technology literacy throughout the district, provide training on the technology resources within the district, and develop district wide technology plans.

Challenges will occur on a daily basis for a technology leader.  Depending on the infrastructure of the technology department, different challenges will occur.  Many districts do not have the support of enough people in the technology department, which creates problems throughout the district.  Technology hiccups occur on a daily basis, and there are many employees that are not savvy enough to take care of issues on their own.  Our technology coordinator is always on the go within all the buildings in my district.  Technology coordinators need to overcome the unwillingness to change from administrators and teachers within the district with the use of technology.  Funding is also another issue technology departments face on a yearly basis.