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We are getting close to completing our First Six Weeks and we are off to a great start! I feel so fortunate to have my kids enrolled in a school system with such outstanding teachers! I count my blessings daily knowing the opportunities you provide for them and all students of MISD. You are the best of the best!
Tech News: Fall 2004
GradeBooks: We have completed deploying the new version of your PowerGrade gradebook. Probably, the most complicated part of using this gradebook system is the initial setup. Rather than require the teachers to work through this process with the start of school upon us, we chose to do this for you. Setting up 400+ gradebooks is no easy task, so you might pat one of the tech staff on the back if you see them around. Several worked through one weekend to get this done. Starting this process earlier isn’t feasible as new students, teachers, and sections are an elusive variable at the start of school. We have to wait.
Wireless Mobile Labs: We are in the process of imaging about 140 new wireless laptops that will be added to the rolling wireless computer labs already on each campus.
Wireless Access Points: We have just finished setting up over 150 new wireless access points District wide. The access points will dramatically increase the range of the wireless mobile labs and wireless COWS. We are still on the lookout for dead areas on each campus. If you find an area with poor reception, let us know.
ID Card System: We are setting up an ID card system for the HS and MS this year. Our ultimate goal is to use these cards for lunch purchases, library checkout, and access control for entering certain areas including access to buildings. We are also exploring the possibility of creating cards in elementary that would be kept by the teacher and passed out during lunch. This will help us to identify and serve students on Free and Reduced lunch without actually identifying them.
Point of Sale System: We are working with Bobbie Green of Aramark, Inc. in setting up Point of Sale systems in all of our school cafeterias. This will bring us closer to having cashless transactions at the lunch line and make us more efficient. This will also allow those students on Free and Reduced to go through the line just like everyone else.
New Library System: We are presently working on a proposal to install a new library automation system. Our goal is to provide a single server web based system to serve the entire District. We want everyone to be able to access our card catalog from any computer that has an internet connection.
Access Control System: We have a proposal going out this week to install an access control system on every front door of every building at MISD. We will be creating ID cards for every employee in the District and they will use the magnetic swipe to enter the buildings after hours. This system will ultimately save us money in lost keys.
Secondary Projection Systems: We are working up a proposal to add projectors to departments at the secondary level. The projectors will be attached to rolling carts and will be shared within the departments. Our goal is to mount a projector on every classroom ceiling at every secondary classroom. Presently, plans are being made for renovations at secondary campuses that inhibits us from mounting these projectors. We could end up having to remove them all and rewire and mount them all again later. We are cautiously optimistic that we will have these available and will have secondary personnel trained to use them in mid November. As we place these projectors, we will being moving some of the COWS from each secondary campus over to the elementary schools. They don’t have the same problems
with shared space violations within their students as do the secondary students. ;) They can all gather around without as much fuss if you know what I mean. ;)
New IP Based Telephone System: The North and South High Schools will soon have a single phone system that will be shared between them. They will be able to transfer calls between buildings and to several other buildings within the District without using an outside line which will begin to save us money. Every classroom will have a phone to use that will also have voice mail. This is as much of a security enhancement as it is a communication one. We will be combining the old South Campus phone system with the existing Middle School phone system which will be a welcomed upgrade for them as several of their components have been failing. This will also give the MMS voice mail. Also, we will be selling the North Campuses existing phone system to the highest bidder and we will refrain from saying
anything bad about it until after it is sold. ;)
SPAM: We have had to make several changes to our mail filter almost monthly in our battle against SPAM. It is an ongoing war that will continue until either tougher laws are passed or some new technology initiative effectively forces spammers to use legitimate accounts that can easily be controlled from the senders provider before the mail bombards mail servers. However, over 80% of SPAM is sent by bots (infected computers) that grab users address books, and sends and spoofs email names and messages to us all. Your Windows based home computers must have anti-virus software installed if you use it on the internet. As we fight SPAM, try to refrain from submitting your email address on seemingly harmless web sites that offer you something for nothing. Message boards contribute to SPAM. Sending
your email to 5 friends in the hope of creating world peace will also get you spammed. ;)
Mail Filter: We have created an online training on how to create your own mail filter to help alleviate SPAM. In FirstClass email, first open the Teachers conference (where Swap Shop is found) and open the Online Training conference (lower right hand corner). You will find a message with a short tutorial movie on how to have SPAM removed to another mail folder. I recommend that you check this other folder periodically as sometimes legitimate email from the outside falls in the SPAM category.
Computer Help Desk Conference: This conference is located in the same area as the “Online Training Conference” mentioned above. You may post emails into this conference with “How Do You?” questions. You can also search this conferences “Subject Area” to see if there is already an explanation to a question you might have. While you are in the Computer Help Desk conference, you can press _ – F which will bring up the Find dialogue box. Simply type in your query and press return. It will search the entire conference. On a Windows computer, press ctrl – F. We monitor this conference in Technology and respond accordingly. However, if you feel you know the answer to a posted question, feel free to share! ;)
Elementary Teacher Stations: We replaced every elementary teacher station this summer. We moved their original teacher station down as their second computer, and we moved their original second computer down as their third classroom computer. The stations all come with a CD burner and can handle high end graphics projects like video editing natively. Here are a few new features:
Sherlock: If you haven’t used this little program yet, you are in for a real treat. It includes a full blown dictionary, all the yellow pages for searching, a language translator for about 8 different languages (including Spanish), movie locator (quite cool), stocks, flights, pictures (clip art), and moreÖ If it’s not in your dock, look in the Applications folder. Speaking of the Dock, you can drag things into it for quick access. BTW, the dock is the bar with icons at the bottom of your screen.
iPhoto: Plug in a digital still frame camera (like the ones we just purchased for you) to your computer, and OSX will automatically detect the camera, launch iPhoto, and allow you to click one button to import all of your pictures from the camera. You can touch up the pictures, take out the red eye, resize and crop your pictures to use in presentations and such.
iMovie: Edit a movie in a fashion that is as easy as word processing. Add effects to your movie and save it in a web format that allows you to post it on HomeWork online, or attach it to an email if it is under 3 meg in size. If students are in the picture, remember to always check to see if they meet the FERPA guidelines (which would probably be the most difficult part of using iMove). ;)
iTunes: All of the OSX eMacs have CD burners in them. You can use iTunes to find any music that you desire, listen to a royalty free 30 second clip, and purchase the song for .99 cents that would be yours to keep. Just remember, if you give the song you purchased away in a highlight video or sell the presentation or video with your purchased clip, you are still in violation of copyright law. You can however use up to 30 seconds of your clip in any presentation for educational needs as a part of the Fair Use Act.
Illegal Software and File Sharing: Which brings up the next item as I am sure that most of you are aware of the Music Industries lawsuits that are either pending or are still being settled out of court. Make sure that you have not loaded or are using any file sharing (swapping) software on any school computers. If you have LimeWire or something like it, please delete it immediately. If you have software purchased by your department or yourself that you are using on your computer, please send us a copy of any licenses you receive for our records. Thanks!
PowerSchool and HomeworkOnline: As a parent, we all appreciate your efforts and timeliness of the postings of assignments, homework, and grades! We have had a lot of compliments from parents and community members, and I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. Please keep up the good work! Parents have grown dependent on this system and I am quickly notified if PowerSchool is not functioning properly. ;) Thanks again for all of your hard work as I know your plates are full. Just know that you are making a difference in more ways than you may sometimes realize.
Printers and Printer Supplies: We just went out on bid for printer supplies for the District. The supply bid also included elementary inkjet printers to replace old inkjet printers that do not have a USB port. I want to remind all elementary teachers that if they have multiple page printouts to make, please try to use the laser printers located in the elementary libraries.
This summer: We had some lofty goals that we successfully met, but are scrambling to meet other demands which are common during the start of a new school year. Our staff physically touched every station in the District except for some of the teacher stations at both the HS and MMS (around 2200 stations). We unloaded well over 400 new stations, placed new images on each, and placed every computer in its inventoried location. We moved older equipment down (about 200 stations). We replaced 12 computer labs. We removed the oldest equipment (1993-94), inventoried over 200 more stations, placed them on palettes, and wrapped them in shrink-wrap to prepare for an auction (which we just completed). On a side note, we were offered this as a service from another vendor during purchase for $55,000 and obviously chose to
do it ourselves and save the District money. We have strategically placed over 150 wireless access points across the District.
We've upgraded enterprise systems, installed new servers, squeezed in 4 days of new teacher training, and more than I ought to mention and you care to read at this point. :) It turned into a very short summer.... ;)
I appreciate everyone’s patience as we are moving to complete these projects as fast as we can. I know this is somewhat long and there is more to mention, but I will stop here. ;) We are here as a service to you and the students of MISD. There are some great things taking place in the classrooms, and I am excited to see the use of technology playing an integral part. Thank you for your willingness to change from old tools to new tools. ;)
Kirk Paschall
Director of Technology
Midlothian I. S. D.
100 Walter Stephenson Rd.
Midlothian, TX 76065
voice 972.775.8296
fax 972.775.2126
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