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temperature measurement
CTO/CIOTechnical Support

Heat Sensitive: Server Room Temperature Gauges

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“The air conditioning can’t keep up with the Texas heat,” shared a colleague one hot summer. “If the temperature rises higher than 80 degrees, we start paying attention!” Your wide area network (WAN) server room is heat sensitive. If you consistently run server/network equipment at temperatures higher than 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it is likely to fail. The district will lose its significant investment. Who wants to lose half a million dollars because a campus classroom couldn’t handle the heat? Let’s check out a few low-cost solutions.

From the Field: “We’ve had our AC go out a few times in the server room, even with a brand new unit.  I can’t afford to replace all the equipment and sure can’t afford down time.  If I know there is a temperature issue, I can come up here and turn everything off until the AC is fixed to prevent damage.”

 

Avoid Fire Sprinklers

“How hot does it have to get in here before the sprinklers go off? We’d be really be up the creek then!,” said one assistant superintendent. Fire sprinklers in rooms converted to house expensive server equipment could be a disaster.  The short-term solution while the air conditioning unit was fixed was to put fans in the open, unsecured doorway of the WAN room. More expensive fire suppression and cooling systems present a better alternative.

Fix the Problem

Solutions abound for beating the Texas heat in server rooms, including some of the following:

  1. Constructing a building just to house a district’s Wide Area Network (WAN) room;

  2. Installing an air conditioning unit just for the WAN room that is separate from the main building.

  3. Replacing existing racks with self-cooled racks that consolidate space and eliminate the need for the equipment to rely on a school’s air conditioning units.

This can be quite expensive, though. Small districts may find themselves cash-strapped. Temperature gauges present one less expensive option.

Monitor the Problem

“Price is always an issue, but less so for me in this case because of the value of the equipment being protected.” When you have hundreds of thousands of dollars in one room with critical data, you have to treat losing all of that to anything, including the Texas heat, as a disaster recovery event worth preventing.

Several benefits of monitoring include the ability to gather data on the temperature if it rises above the maximum temperature allowed. Also, it enables your technical support team to respond quickly and shut down critical equipment.

“I used the data from these monitors to get the district to purchase me a back-up air conditioner unit for my MDF!”
(source: Texas technology director)

You can accomplish temperature monitoring with “smart” temperature gauges that will send SMS text messages via phone, as well as email, alerts. There are a variety of criteria (source: IT WatchDog).

Selecting a Temperature Gauge

Ready to select a temperature gauge? Consider these criteria:

  1. Ease of installation

  2. SMS text message to a mobile phone

  3. Price and recurring costs, if any

  4. Temperature threshold for alert to be sent

  5. Specific sensing parameters (e.g. presence of water, fire, tampering)

These temperature gauges will send out a message that looks like this:

NOC #1 Temp Alert: Temperature is out of range. The current temperature is 98.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Current acceptable range is 68 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Link to device http://100.0.0.1 (fake)

Be Heat Sensitive with These Solutions

Here are six temperature gauge solutions available and in use in Texas school district server rooms:

  • AVTech

    • Cost: $145

    • Actual feedback from a school district: R26W for our NOC’s and RA3E’s for our MDF/IDF’s. The monitoring is set up to email us when temps exceed or drop below configured levels. There are wet and dry contact sensor options.  Room Alert 3E

  • IT WatchDog

    • Cost: $ Price varies

    • Actual feedback: I use IT Watchdog. Have had one in my server room for YEARS. I now use them for my refrigerators and freezers. It Watchdogs are very inexpensive.

  • Temperature Alert

    • Cost: $299.99

    • Actual feedback: Two of the WiFi Editions are installed, one in each of our network and server rooms. So far, so good!

  • Temperature Guard

    • Cost: $450-$500

    • Actual feedback: We have one of their Computer Room Guards and two of the Server Room Net Guards. Easy to set up and so far very reliable.

  • Triplite

    • Cost: $200-$300

    • Actual feedback: Triplite temperature sensors are connected to our UPSes in all our IDF/MDFs. These report with temperature information to our Solarwind’s Orion SNMP trap. The Orion sends SMS messages at various temperatures and, if the closet exceeds a maximum threshold, the Triplight UPSes shut off the network equipment before damage is done from the high temps. This works great and has really helped protect the district’s technology hardware. You do not have to use an SNMP trap server, but it helps increase functionality.

  • Ubiquiti

    • Cost: Work through an available reseller; check web site for list

    • Actual feedback: They work wonderfully and the prices are really good.

Closing Thoughts

If you’re worried about a hot Texas summer zapping your server/network equipment while you’re away, invest in a temperature gauge. While falling short of a full refit of your network center, it can help you avert disaster.

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Speak Up
CTO/CIOLeadership

Ways to Promote the Speak Up Survey

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

Klein Independent School District led the country on the number of Speak Up surveys for years. What value do they see in participating in Project Tomorrow’s survey? In a Speak Up publication, Dr. Bret Champion, superintendent of Klein ISD, answered that question by saying, “The data we gather from Speak Up informs next steps for digital learning in Klein ISD, as we work with all stakeholders to re-imagine learning and make our shared Promise2Purpose vision a reality for EVERY student.”

Last month, I wrote a post giving a broad overview of Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up Survey. As a refresher, the Speak Up survey is a national research project that is a free service to schools and districts to assist their efforts in technology and district planning. The survey will help districts gather the thoughts of students, parents, teachers, principals, librarians, technology leaders, district administrators, and community members on a range of issues such as:

  • Learning and teaching with mobile devices, digital content, gaming, videos, and virtual and augmented reality
  • Internet access at home and in school
  • Importance of math and the best ways to learn math
  • Digital citizenship
  • And much more!

As a former technology director, I totally agree with Dr. Champion’s assessment of the Speak Up survey which is why I’m hoping more districts will join Klein. That’s why I reached out to some districts who have been utilizing the data from the Speak Up survey for several years to find out their tips and tricks for the deployment of the survey. Below is what I learned.

How to Increase Staff Participation in the Survey

  • Provide tweets and other social media messages/images that campuses can use to promote the survey.Speak up
  • Hang posters announcing the survey at the entrance of each school.
  • Send survey instructions to each teacher to share with students through Google Classroom or other Learning Management Systems.
  • Provide an award for the campus with the most responses.
  • Provide presentations for each campus regarding survey results for use with their technology planning meetings.

Increasing Speak Up Participation by Parents/Community

  • Tweet out messages about Speak Up.
  • Send emails through the district’s message system at the district and campus level.
  • Post information about the survey on the district Facebook page.
  • Provide information with the Speak Up logo on all campus and district websites.
  • Put promotional messages on each school marquee.

Why Participate?

  • The data from the Speak Up survey is extremely useful for technology planning both at the district and campus levels.
  • Questions have been vetted for quality and relevance.
  • It is free and enables us to collect information through one survey instead of having to create our own.  
  • All the promotional materials are provided.

TCEA is so convinced this survey will assist districts in their technology planning that we are giving away two free TCEA Convention registrations to Texas school districts who submit their surveys during Speak Up America week (December 4-8),  or Speak Up Appreciation Week  (January 8-12).

Hopefully, some of the ideas offered by school districts can assist your school and/or district in promoting the survey, and a chance to win a free TCEA convention registration will provide an added incentive to participate. If you have any additional tips and tricks to share, please include them in the comment section below.

Credits: Microphone photo by Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash,  Teen with laptop: Photo by Mikayla Mallek on Unsplash. Also a big shout out to Dianne Tidwell, the Director of Instructional Technology at Tomball ISD, for providing me with some great tips on how Tomball gets such amazing participation in the survey.

 

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Source: Miguel Guhlin, Simple Network Design
CTO/CIOCybersecurityLeadership

When Disaster Strikes: Disaster Recovery Planning Part 2

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Welcome to Part 2 of When Disaster Strikes, a series focused on disaster recovery planning. (You can check out Part 1 here.)  In this portion, we will explore taking a systems approach and performing an assessment, including a checklist to follow.

Insight #3 – Systems Approach and Assessment

Conducting a needs assessment remains a critical first step. Moving forward from that benchmark assessment can involve developing a design of how data flows in the district and how it can best be maintained, backed up,  and set up for disaster recovery/business continuity.

You can partner with a variety of solution providers (e.g. TCEA, Encore Technologies, Computer Solutions, Dell, Education Partner Solutions) to conduct network, infrastructure, and data assessments. They can evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, then offer you a report. It is up to you whether you will rely on their particular solution, of course. For example, in my district, I put this design together to help leadership better understand the big picture.

when disaster strikes

My first effort at capturing the network in a 10K student district. Now, a DR/BC cloud backup site would replace NOC #2. Prices for a cloud-based NOC have gone down considerably in the few years since the above diagram was created.

More Lessons Learned

Dr. Kari Murphy (Deer Park ISD) offers these specific lessons, each resulting from a disaster that prompted them to see things from yet another perspective. Here is a quick re-organization and adaptation of those lessons.

Advance Planning

  • Formulate a formal disaster recovery plan.
  • Switch to electronic payments for employees.
  • Designate a remote off-site working location in advance.
  • Store data backups off-site.
  • Establish disaster recovery agreements with finance and student data providers.

Equipment and Facilities

  • Consolidate all servers into one location (e.g. convert physical to virtual).
  • Move critical data to the cloud (e.g. websites, other data).
  • Put all equipment on the second floor or higher to avoid flooding.
  • Add air and battery backup (e.g. Liebert Systems), fire suppression, natural gas generator, and fire doors for each network operations/data center.
  • Keep an industrial sink/sump pump and large drying fans accessible to quickly dry out flooded areas.
  • Ensure conduits are “foamed in.”
  • Test and verify vendor claims about their backup systems.
  • Add special coating to windows to prevent damage from bullets and airborne objects.

Communications and News

  • Track weather reports.
  • Establish a district-wide communication system for alerts.
  • Take advantage of tools like Voxer, Zello, or Telegram for quick communications among district staff.
  • Set up and maintain a phone number (e.g. Google Voice) that can be called for updates.

Insight #4 – Maintain a Living Document

Plan the time to start creating the disaster recovery plan. Then, keep that plan a living document. Ensure disaster recovery does not become a “shelve it and forget it” plan. Follow these suggestions to keep your disaster recovery plan up to date:

  • At every monthly team meeting, focus on one aspect of the plan for updating.
  • Require up-to-date inventory logs and make sure that new equipment purchases are added to the list.
  • Keep a master list of new data that is added to servers and identify how that data is being backed up.
  • Establish a master update schedule for primary and secondary network center equipment and services.
  • Present major changes and updates to the disaster recovery and business continuity plan to district leadership.
  • Plan and budget for enhancements, identifying a road map for upgrades, enhancements, and implementation.

These suggestions can ensure your disaster recovery plan remains a priority. Remember, disaster strikes when you least expect it.

Insight #5 – Hosted Solutions Backup

“I have thought about disaster recovery, but I haven’t given any thought to hosted solutions and how we’re backing up that data. How am I going to ensure that data is protected when it’s outside of my control?” While school districts often know how they are backing up their own data, outside vendors are another story. What happens when that vendor suffers a catastrophic data loss due to a backhoe, a natural disaster, or act of digital destruction? One tip is to put expectations for disaster recovery and business continuity in writing, identifying how quickly services can be restored. A second tip involves demanding a secured data dump from the vendor on a regular basis. In this way, you have control of your raw data. If the solution provider’s data center suffers a setback and data is lost, you would have a secure backup to work from.

Another Approach

Tokenization is the process of replacing sensitive data with unique identification symbols that retain all the essential information about the data without compromising its security (source).

Given the increasing number of data breaches affecting, well, everyone, one novel approach involves tokenization. In essence, hosted providers would use tokens in lieu of obtaining a copy of sensitive data. Confidential data is often transferred every hour or once a day via file transfer protocol (FTP) to solution providers. Any time data leaves your district servers, risk of a breach mounts. Tokenization, points out Michael Knight (keynote speaker and CEO of Encore Technologies), eliminates the need for the transfer of confidential data, offering instead a single use token. The token is not usable anywhere else and has no value in itself except in the context of a particular digital service provider.

Final Thoughts

The five insights shared in this two part series highlight the need for serious attention to disaster recovery and business continuity. As one speaker at the TCEA Technology Leadership Summit on October 11, 2017 stated, “Our school district cannot function without technology. Not investing in disaster recovery and business continuity ceased to be an option a long time ago.” How are you, as a school district leader, CTO/CIO safeguarding what your organization needs to be successful?

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stop sign under water
CTO/CIOTechnical Support

When Disaster Strikes: Recovery and Business Continuity (Part 1)

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

When Disaster Strikes, the theme of the October 11, 2017 Technology Leadership Summit , garnered a variety of insights from participants. In this blog entry, we’ll explore the first two of five insights. These insights flow from the experience of Texas technology leaders and can help you prevent natural and man-made disasters from crushing your district’s operations.

Insight #1 – Cross-Departmental Collaboration

“Process. The process has to involve HR, Business Office, and M&O,” said David Jacobson (Lamar Consolidated ISD). The Executive Director of Technology for Round Rock ISD agreed. “It’s the processes and procedures, working with all the other customers. We have to get them to understand the importance of planning. One way is to do tabletop exercises to practice to see what we would do in the event of an event,” said Mark Gabehart (Round Rock ISD). In these situations, it is important to 1) recognize the need; 2) clarify the depth of the hole the organization is in; and 3) present a plan to never be in that hole again.

Recognize the Need

“Like Burt Reynolds in the Hooper car chase scene where every building collapses and fires blaze as Reynolds deftly navigates his vehicle through them, I felt like we were replacing obsolete equipment just as it failed,” I said as I shared my equipment replacement tale of adventure. Years of neglect had left servers with critical data ready to die. It took multiple meetings with leadership teams and other department executive directors and directors to help them understand the situation.

Clarify the Depth of the Hole

As a technology director, you need to put the needs of the district in terms non-technical people can understand.  For example, here is an excerpt of the table I shared with the Superintendent’s Cabinet to help them better grasp the challenges. The Cabinet had no idea that years of under-funding technology had led them to a dangerous loss of critical business data (e.g. payroll). Staff clung to old technologies because that is what they were comfortable with, not because it was the best solution for the district.

AgeStorage RequiredDescription

Replacement Priority

1=highest
1 11 years old 500 gigs Central Office Business File Server
2 9-10 years old 500 gigs Moodle Course Management System
2 8-9 years old 200 gigs LanSweeper
2 7-8 years old 500 gigs Network Configuration Services
1 7-8 years old 300 gigs SolarWinds
2 7-8 years old 300 gigs MS-SQL Server

Replacing obsolete equipment and moving physical servers into virtual servers with a storage area network (SAN) can only be the first step.

Prepare a Plan (Features Updated Links)

The next step involves an equipment replacement plan. And that is then followed by a disaster recovery and business continuity plan. In one large urban district, living from one annual budget to another meant that disaster recovery was simply impossible. The district had only one network operations center where all the district servers and data were housed. There was no alternate location and, even if data was backed up (disaster recovery), no equipment to make it operational (business continuity). In part two of this series, we will share some of the lessons Texas technology directors have learned. For now, it is important to ensure regular equipment replacement with an annual budget. In my district, wise leaders set that budget at $500,000 per year after reviewing the multi-year equipment replacement plan.

Insight #2 – Disaster Recovery Planning Resources

“There are genuine resources out there to put plans together. It’s been frustrating to find resources, but now I know about various resources. We have a disaster recovery plan, but I didn’t realize how huge the business continuity plan was. How do we continue doing business?” It’s unsettling to realize that if you have no equipment to load all your backup data into and make it work, your district can’t overcome the disaster. What’s worse, the cost of recreating a network operations center (NOC) would be exorbitant, not to mention duplicating network/internet connections to district locations.

To help you think through these issues, here are a few documents shared at the Technology Leadership Summit:

What’s Next?

In part 2 of When Disaster Strikes, we will cover a few additional insights shared during the Technology Leadership Summit held on October 11, 2017.

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smart classrooms
CTO/CIOCybersecurityTechnical Support

Four Tech Tips to Prepare Your Smart Classrooms

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

iGens, also known as Gen Zs, are the new minds of our future. And the next generation won’t learn everything they need to know in the same way as previous generations. The iEverything world of cloud computing, AI (artificial intelligence), VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), and now MR (mixed reality) will lead to a unified Smart Education. Chromebooks, mobile phones, smart watches, and other media consumption devices will form the hub of lesson delivery both inside and outside of classrooms. How can schools prepare for the current and future technology needs to support smart classrooms?

Planning is the key, and knowing the most important factors to consider can help you save time and dollars down the road. Here are some tips to get you started.

Tip 1: Invest in the next generation WiFi infrastructure – the 802.11AX standard

WLANS make the heart of your infrastructure. Next generation WiFi standards are now coming to market that will allow delivery of the mixed media necessary to deliver Smart Education. Focus on reliable, high-speed connections that are capable of performing in dense, multi-user, and indoor and outdoor environments. Make sure your new infrastructure is ready for this new 802.11AX standard. Learn more about 802.11AX and what it means for schools here.

Tip 2: Support your high definition video needs with compression technology

High intelligence video is a part of smart classrooms.

IVS can help improve security in smart classrooms.

Both 4K and 1080p cameras allow for high quality Intelligent Video Security (IVS). The use of Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) and high-grade CMOS sensors result in a clearer picture with more detail. But most importantly, the use of H.265 compression technology can reduce your storage and bandwidth needs by 50 percent. Share clearer video in less space.

 

 

Tip 3: Automate your storage management

You can better control your budget by building a smart storage infrastructure with intelligent automation. This includes faster response for increased capacity, anticipation of failure, and data replication. Automating your store management improves the overall network performance and availability.

Tip 4: Design an open ecosystem

Animals in an ecosystem as a metaphor for smart classrooms.

An open ecosystem allows for technology to live and work together harmoniously.

When planning a network ecosystem, the interoperability between devices from different manufacturers is an important factor to consider. If devices from different vendors are designed within an open ecosystem and interoperate seamlessly, you are free to select devices that best suit your needs and budget rather than the limited selection that is typically available in proprietary systems. In other words, make smart choices now so that you will have more choices in the future.

In the end, great planning with an experienced team is key. Being prepared with innovative technologies that support your current and future classroom needs is the ultimate goal. With that in mind, you will be prepared to support the demands of iGens in the Smart Classroom.

This is a sponsored post written by Tom P. Yarbrough, Regional Director at Huawei Enterprise USA, Inc. Tom has over 20 years of experience working with K12, higher education, and research education organizations to build the most advanced technology environments that they can envision. 

Huawei, a global leader in Information ICT, serves over 170 countries with their partners to offer network infrastructure, storage, SDN, cloud computing and data center solutions. Huawei has 180,000+ employees on every continent. In 2017, Huawei ranked 83 on the Global Fortune 500. Learn More about Huawei’s Education Solutions >>

 

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Speakup
CTO/CIOLeadership

SpeakUp Survey Opens October 16

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

If you knew that 55 percent of your district’s parents thought their children would thrive in a blended learning classroom, would it impact your strategic planning for your school or district? Would it help your planning if you knew the five essential elements your teachers felt they needed to effectively and efficiently integrate digital content, tools, and resources into their daily instruction? Would it surprise you if you found that 53 percent of your middle and high school students felt they needed the Internet at home to do their homework, but only 13 percent of your teachers were assigning homework that needed the Internet? All of this information and so much more can easily be obtained by your district’s participation in the SpeakUp Survey. And by the way, these statistics are from the surveys completed by Texans in 2016.

Project Tomorrow is a national education nonprofit group whose mission is to “ensure that today’s students are well SpeakUpprepared to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders, and engaged citizens of the world.” The SpeakUp Research Project for Digital Learning is a national research project and a free service to schools and districts to gather survey data from students, teachers, librarians, campus and district administrators, parents, and community members. It is designed to help education leaders as they create and implement their vision of the next generation learning model. And it is completely free to school districts.

You are probably thinking this sounds like way too much work, that you simply don’t have time to distribute all of these surveys and make sure they are completed. The good news is that they have made this process super easy. They have everything you need.

SpeakUP Support Materials

Some of the items you can find on their website to help you organize and promote the survey are listed below.

  • Welcome Packet – gives you enough information to get started
  • Flyers – to help promote the survey
  • Information Material – to help answer all your questions (timeline, testimonials, introduction letters to give to principals, etc.)
  • Social Media – suggested messages for the different social media outlets
  • Sample Emails – help you get the word out
  • Instructions – for each group you are targeting
  • Lesson Plans – in case you want your teachers to build this activity into a learning experience
  • Press Release – to communicate to your community that you want their input

speakupYou have complete flexibility with the implementation of the survey. If this is your first time, you could start small by targeting one school or one grade level. You could decide to only survey students and staff this year and add parents and community members the following year. Just remember, the more data collected, the more information you will have for your strategic planning. This brings us to the best part. After the data is collected, Project Tomorrow analyzes it and provides you with your own data in an extremely easy format to read and manipulate. They even have a PowerPoint template that you can use to easily import your district’s data.

Important Details

  • Register your district so all further communications from Project Tomorrow will get to the right person.
  • Promote the survey using all of their free materials.
  • Determine the time frame to conduct the survey. Project Tomorrow opens the survey on October 16 and closes it on January 19.

Information is power. Knowing what key stakeholders value and their opinions on certain issues can assist school district administrators when implementing new programs and adjusting current ones. This is especially important when the district is transitioning from a print-based instructional model to one that relies on the use of digital materials and technologies. The SpeakUp Survey provides your district an excellent opportunity to help gather the data you need to monitor and adjust during this transition. Gaining this information has never been so easy! What are you waiting for? Register now! 

 

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learning management system
CTO/CIOLearning Management System (LMS)

12 Key Criteria to Consider When Deciding on a New Learning Management System

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Engaging K-12 students while ensuring that lessons properly align with state standards can be a monumental undertaking in today’s classroom. Over the last few years, using a learning management system (LMS) to document, track, report, and deliver curriculum is one thing that is making that easier. At the same time, they’re also giving pupils voice and choice, enabling personalization, and encouraging collaboration.

The question is, though, how does a district go about conducting an effective learning management system analysis to find a platform that meets (and exceeds) the individual needs and expectations?

Finding the Right Rubric

The first step is to consider adopting a rubric. After evaluating several sources for rubrics, we decided to use Criteria for the Evaluation of Learning Management Systems to review the numerous solutions we looked at. These included, but were not limited to, comprehensive solutions like itslearning as well as free versions like Canvas, Edmodo, and Piazza. We adapted the rubric accordingly and picked numerous platforms to review based on our familiarity with them and the variety of paid and free options offered by each.

Beyond the rubric, talk to schools and districts currently using the LMS solutions under consideration and gather informed feedback on how each platform performs. Finally, don’t forget to request demo accounts so that stakeholders can “try before they buy.” And while the basics obviously include seeing what products are out there, reviewing what each product will do, and then choosing the best product for your environment, there are actually several additional steps that every district should take before making a final selection. I’ve outlined my 12 key points to consider when selecting an LMS below.

1. Pedagogical Design

Knowing that the LMS’s main charge would be providing content and tools for engaging students and conducting interactive learning, we sought out a platform that integrates well with interactive tools and that allows us to routinely add new pedagogical tools to the system.

2. Design and Layout

We knew that a functional interface with a decent layout would do an “okay” job, but one that allowed for easy navigation with minimal training would be even better. During our research, we set our sights on finding an LMS that had a simple, intuitive interface with minimal clicks to access materials, with little or no training needed to get started.

3. Course Export

Does the LMS allow users to export course structure and content, as well as selected sub-elements of a course, using an industry-standard such as IMS Content Packaging? This important question was on our minds as we reviewed our LMS options, knowing that the solution would be most effective when serving as a fully-integrated solution for our district.

4. Archives

A good LMS has strong archival tools that support backup of completed courses with student submissions and discussions intact. An excellent match includes archive tools that support automatic backup of completed courses with student submissions and discussions intact. With the latter, instructors have full access and control of completed courses.

 5. Communication

We wanted a platform that included both asynchronous (email) and synchronous communication tools and that provides a high level of flexibility for the use of email (asynchronous by roster, individual, or group) as well as instant messaging, chat, and threaded discussions.

6. File Exchange 

In today’s collaborative educational environment, simple file exchange is a must-have. We sought out an LMS that provides secure drop-boxes and shared folders for file exchange among students as well as instructors—and that also allows for bulk downloads of attached files.

7. Sections and Groups

The platform had to allow instructors to define sub-groups of students within the class roster for purposes of communication and collaborative work, but we also needed a hierarchy of support sections within a single course (i.e., so that course content could be shared among sections).

8. E-portfolios

We wanted a platform that included an integrated, full-featured e-portfolio tool that would make it possible to gather, review, and present work products to support any portfolio strategy (e.g., résumé, learning, tenure, etc).

9. Discussion Tools

To streamline communications, our LMS needed to include extremely fast and highly-functional discussion tools complete with featured user profiles or pictures, file attachments, and HTML interface.

10. Testing and Assessment Tools

Our new LMS had to go beyond just simple test generation and provide user-friendly tools for creating assessments with multimedia, learning games, and other interactive tools (such as polls). Going a step further, the new platform would be able to provide immediate feedback with tips for remediation.

11. Grade Book and Student Tracking 

The platform had to include a highly-functional grade book that was easy to use and that allowed grades to be exported to a spreadsheet or student information system (SIS). Through the platform, teachers could access student tracking tools to learn, for example, which pages the student has viewed and what tasks have been completed. From there, the student receives an email when his or her participation is substandard.

12. Learning Analytics

In today’s analytics-centric learning environment, we wanted an LMS that could provide in-depth data gathering and reporting on learning outcomes based on configurable rubrics, and that would also allow for longitudinal analysis of cohorts as well as individuals (including e-portfolios).

Find the LMS That’s Right for You

The other key points that we factored in while reviewing our options included calendar and selective release (i.e., a collaborative calendar with pop-up announcements); integration with library resources (to allow faculty to find and reference both public and licensed library materials, including full texts); the use of open standards; and the availability and delivery of training materials and technical support.

When exploring your own options, be sure to incorporate the key points from this rubric—and your district’s individual wants and needs—into your final decision. There are hundreds of LMS options out there on the market today, so it pays to take the time and do your own research to find the right one.

This is a guest blog by Michael Cummings, who is the Technology Learning Coach in the Division of Technology at the Fort Worth Independent School District.

 

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technical
CTO/CIOCybersecurityProfessional LearningTechnical Support

Professional Development for Technical Support Staff

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

If you are like many system administrators or technical support staff in districts, finding relevant professional development is hard and expensive. You either attend something that has no impact on your role or use a subscription to an online training service and watch mediocre videos…until now! The TCEA System Administrator and Technical Support Conference is designed just for you, covering common technical issues in your district and helping you find effective solutions that have been tried by other districts.

technicalJoin us on October 26 and 27 at the TCEA Headquarters  in Austin for sessions on hot topics such BYOD management, end-user technical support, security, Chromebooks, emerging technologies, network/wireless management, and more. Check out the full list of sessions being offered and start planning which ones you will attend. Intensive learning will be packed into this day-and-a-half conference.

Here are just a few of the many sessions being offered:

  • Exploring Eduphoria’s Facilities and Events
  • Amplified Google for Education
  • Optimizing Your Wireless Network
  • Understanding and Implementing the CoSN/NIST Cybersecurity Framework in Your District
  • Mitigating Student-Caused Damage to Devices
  • Disaster Routing SIP Trunking Voice Services
  • Re-purposing Laptops and Desktops

You’ll also be able to network with other like-minded individuals in order to grow your professional learning network of technical support folks you can call on throughout the school year when you are planning a new deployment/upgrade or when problems arise. And lunch on the first day is provided!

Because you work hard to make sure that systems (hardware, software, connectivity, etc.) work as efficiently as possible to allow the rest of district employees to do their job well without thinking about the technology, you will find great value in attending the 2017 System Administrator and Technical Support Conference. So grab your co-workers and register today. You’ll be glad you did!

 

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managing change
CTO/CIOLeadership

Managing Change – It’s Not for the Faint of Heart

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

Imagine walking into a teacher’s classroom and telling her that you are going to completely turn her classroom upside down. The tried and true laminated lesson plans that she has been using for years are no longer going to be applicable. Her students will all have devices that connect to the Internet, so she is going to have to figure out how to help them manage their time on task. Introducing a one-to-one ratio of devices to students in a teacher’s classroom also shifts the control of the learning. The teacher is still in control, but now she has the ability to let her students pursue things that are relevant to them. This means that, potentially, her students may all be learning the same standards but using different resources. You are asking a teacher to fundamentally change the way she has approached teaching. When the teacher realizes how different this model of teaching and learning is, it is likely that she will look at you and say, “You want me to do what?”

Managing a new initiative is stressful. It requires someone who understands how to help navigate Changepeople through a dramatic shift in their professional practice. The types of change require different kinds of leadership skills. Changing a teacher’s planning period takes different skills than telling them every student is going to have a device and most of their lessons and materials will be delivered over that device. First order change usually deals with cosmetic changes, while second order change deals with the paradigms and philosophies. Research indicates that the leadership team should approach the management of these two types of change differently.

One of the reasons a first order change is easier to manage is because they generally are met with less resistance because they do not challenge an educator’s fundamental belief. Second order changes require teachers to become learners, to think deeply about their practice, and to adopt new and often challenging ideas about their role in the classroom.

It is highly recommended that you review research on first and second order change. I highly recommend the book Implementing Change: Patterns, Principles, and Potholes by Hall and Hord. It’s expensive, but when you are investing this much time and money on a project that involves such change, it’s a wise investment.

When implementing a transition from print to digital instructional materials, you might also want to consider the following:

Leadership

Need collaborative leadership, not just individual leadership. You need buy-in from leadership at every level of the district. This is critical. If the leadership is not actively involved and supporting the staff implementing the change,  the change will fail.

Planning

Address infrastructure, maintenance, learning strategies, training requirements, technical support, and policies. Make sure flexibility is a part of the planning process. Interventions will be necessary. Don’t be surprised when your plans go awry. Making appropriate interventions are key to the success. When you make necessary adjustments, it communicates you are listening to the staff who are implementing the change and reduces their resistance.

Engagement

Involve teachers in the planning and roll-out of digital learning. Identify the tools, content, Changetraining, and support they will need. Organizations adopt change, but individuals are the ones that implement change. District leadership might have decided to enact the change, but it is the people at the school level that actually make it happen. The change process can’t be dictated from central office.

Creativity and Flexibility

You can’t mandate a second order change. Let your stakeholders find the flaws, but also identify solutions. Your goal is to find a mutually satisfactory outcome. This is not a sprint, but a marathon.

Persistence and Prioritization

ChangeSuccess takes time and commitment to strategic action plans, review, and adjustment. It may take several cycles after implementation to determine if the new initiative is working. Expect an implementation dip.

Supplant, Not Supplement

Modify the curriculum to replace ineffective practices with those that best leverage the technology. Don’t let bad practices bring down the initiative.

Sustainable Funding

Moving to digital materials requires annual budgeting for the cost of devices, broadband, training, and content. An analysis of the budget should be done to determine where savings may be found so the budget can be realigned to sustain the initiative.

I helped implement a project of this nature. I have the battle scars to prove it. It was one of the hardest things I ever did as an administrator, but one of the most gratifying. I knew the human aspect of the project was going to be the most difficult, but I was surprised at how much time we needed to spend on thinking through the psychology and dynamics of the change process. My best advice is not to underestimate the need to put a strategic team together just to review and analyze the project and refer to the research on managing a second order change.

Managing Change Resources

Photo credits: Header Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash,  2. Charlz Gutiérrez De Piñeres on Unsplash (edited), 3. Photo by Climate KIC on Unsplash,4,  Photo by Jonathan Simcoe on Unsplash, 

 

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customer service
CTO/CIO

TCEA Responds: Time and Attendance Tracking for Adults

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Dear TCEA Responds:

We have an interesting situation in my district that deals with how to prevent employees from clocking in for each other. I just had two technicians who were logging in from home to “clock in” and then drive in to work at a leisurely pace. I’m thinking about switching to a different solution. What do you recommend?

-William, Technology Director

Dear William:

Thanks for your inquiry. There are really two fundamental challenges you describe in your email. Please allow me to address them each in turn.

Challenge #1 – Lack of Trust and Integrity

Preventing Technology Department staff from abusing their access and power can be a problem. These are really cultural and personnel concerns. Create a culture where trust and integrity are the bedrock foundation of all relationships. Training people out of lying, cheating, and stealing can be difficult. That is why you should strive to hire folks aligned to your department’s values and beliefs. If you do not have those clearly outlined (and in prominent display for everyone to see) already, then take half a day and have your team develop the core values that they can all agree on. Then refer to them often in meetings, helping to remind everyone of what they agreed to.

I also recommend having crucial confrontations with affected employees. The CPR approach I have adopted in these situations is based on the work of the  Vital Smarts team.

THE CPR APPROACH

The CPR approach focuses on a key element of supervisor/employee interactions over time. Those elements are in bold type below. Each step is documented, although you hope you will not need it after the first interaction.

In the first interaction, focus on the content. In this case, you notice staff are clocking in remotely. You make it clear that you expect staff to clock in while at work. “While clocking in remotely may have been accepted in the past, it is no longer so. From this point on, we will all clock in on site at our offices,” you might say.

In the second interaction, focus on the pattern of behavior. Share the agreed upon expectation, then describe the observed behavior. Ask what happened to cause the behavior to deviate from the expectation to get at employees’ thinking. Avoid jumping to conclusions (it’s so easy to do this, but sets all up for failure). If a pattern of untrustworthy behavior becomes evident, then further steps may be needed.

“As you know, we all agreed to clock in on site at our offices. I noticed you clocked in remotely several times this week. What happened?” This type of entry provides insight into whether the staff member needed more direct instruction or is exhibiting a poor attitude. There may also be other issues (“I have to drop my child off and that always makes me late”) that you can take into account. For example, for a staff member whose start time is too early, you can adjust their work hours to eliminate that obstacle.

In the third interaction, focus on the relationship. Repeated violations of trust have damaged your relationship. You begin to feel you can no longer trust the staff member.  “In the past, we’ve agreed that clocking in remotely is not accepted in our organization. You have done so on these three occasions. What’s going on?” Based on the respectful dialogue (or not) that ensues, you will have the information you need to make a decision. Remember, you are genuinely curious about why a staff member would violate organizational policy and rules.

Unavoidable Separation

I have used CPR successfully prior to beginning the oral/written warning process that ends in employee separation. Often, it gets the results and maintains a positive relationship with the employee. When the end comes, there’s little surprise to you both. You genuinely cared, were respectful, and urged changes. The employee persisted in negative behavior.  As a result, the actions you are forced to take to resolve the problem (ranging from oral to written warnings and/or reprimands) are the direct responsibility of the employee. Often, CPR results in a positive outcome. This happens when you care, avoid hitting people over the head with consequences of non-compliance. People understand why their actions are incongruent with the organization. You can honestly say, “I’ve done everything I can to help the employee be successful.” The situation is win/win for both you and the employee.

When an employee’s contrary actions persist, you both know the problem(s) well.  At that point, a staff member may resign. They realize that their way is out of alignment with the organization.  If behavior does not change, the district human resources team will have documentation to begin termination proceedings.

While you can always put technical solutions in place to mitigate inappropriate behavior (e.g. fingerprinting), the best approach relies on a strong culture. Build a culture of trust with clear expectations in place. Hold people accountable at crucial moments when a problem is small. “Nip it in the bud,” as the saying goes.

Challenge #2 – Time Clock Solution Selection

There are a variety of time clock tools available. Here are a few solutions that school districts have adopted for employees who need to clock in.

  1. Frontline’s Time and Attendance* (f.k.a. Veritime)
  2. Kronos
  3. NovaTime
  4. Time Clock Plus

*In addition to tracking employee time and attendance, this product integrates with Absence Management (f.k.a. AESOP substitute tracking system).

Making a Choice

What separates these solutions? Features for each are many. For most districts, cost, management and monitoring, and integration with mobile apps may serve as distinguishing features. Unfortunately though, each system can be abused for convenience. Setting clear policies and building a culture of trust will help minimize issues. And it is possible that increased trust and clear policies well communicated can lower costs (e.g. you pay more for each feature). Otherwise, you may find yourself deploying expensive biometric technologies. These biometrics (e.g. fingerprints, voice patterns) are used to minimize policy violations. My preference is for easy to manage and user-centric tools. What are your district’s priorities for a time and attendance system?

 

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