Tic-Tech: Fwd: Minutes of Tech Forum 11/30/00

From: Mark Ahlness (mahlness@cks.ssd.k12.wa.us)
Date: Fri Dec 15 2000 - 22:03:57 PST

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    --- TIC-TECH message:
    (these minutes have been reformatted, and they may appear slightly
    different from the original, but no content has been changed - ma)
    -----------------------------
    Subject: Minutes of Tech Forum 11/30/00
    Tech Forum 11/30/00

    Microsoft Classroom Teacher Network (MCTN)
    Two representatives from (MCTN) gave us a tour of:
    http://www.microsoft.com/education/default.asp Joining is free and if
    you register with them, they will update you on the new monthly content.

    You will find a great deal of information available:
     * Office Tips for Teachers
     * Challenge students to put Office to work in their written
    assignments!
     * Winter Activities
     * Lesson plans to ring in the holiday season!
     * Brenda's and Robin's Tech Tips
     * Help your students make the best use of the internet
     * Standards-Based vs. Traditional Mathematics
     * Mathematics Professor, Dr. Barbara Reys, from the University of
    Missouri delves into different approaches to teaching math.
     * Certificate of the Month Club
     * Award kids the December Holiday Awareness certificate when they
    demonstrate understanding of cultural holidays!
     * Education Revolution
     * Dr. Rudy Crew, Executive Director of the Institute for K-12
    Leadership at the University of Washington discusses the Fourth R in
    education --Revolution.
     * On-line tutorials That can be downloaded and printed off of the web
    site.
     * Talking to teachers, usability and not all about ms they wanted free
    tips and helps
    Plus a lot more! Take a look.

    Cheryl Bohn, Instructional Technology cbohn@seattleschools.org
    <mailto:cbohn@seattleschools.org>
    Gave us a tour of: www.seattleschools.edgate.org/
    Teachers can easily create a site for themselves and include:
     * Favorite links
     * Homework
     * Flash cards
     * Text book links
     * Self Tests
    You can lead parents and students directly to your page on Edgate.

    Eric Faulkner, Instructional Technology efaulkner@seattleschools.org
    <mailto:efaulkner@seattleschools.org>
    Gave us a tour of the new Instructional Technology Web Site at:
    <http://www.seattleschools.org/area/it/index.xml>
    A lot of information is available such as:
     * Tech Planning
     * Progress to date
     * Tech Standards
     * Purchasing Guide
     * Web Safety
     * Best Practices
     * Professional Dev
     * IT Staff
    Also: New tools Videos <http://it.ssd.k12.wa.us/newtools/newtools.html>

    John Rowlands, Information Services jrowlands@seattleschools.org
    <mailto:jrowlands@seattleschools.org>
    Levy's in February 2001:
    BEX II (Building Excellence II)
    EP&O (Educational Program & Operations)
    The above levy's include:
     * About 22% of the District's annual general fund budget.
     * Laptops for teachers and training on how to use them.
     * Replacement costs for student computers, etc
     * A new Student Information System
     * Secondary school improvements
     * South end expansion to meet growth requirements.

    Q. Are these 'super majority' levy's?
    A. Yes
            
    Q. Will this increase taxes?
    A. Not really. The tax rate remains basically unchanged. The EP&O
    replaces an existing levy, and BEXII replaces BEXI.

    Q. Are servers included in this levy?
    A. Yes, there would be some funds available.

    Update on e-mail:
    It was taking 2 to 4 hours per station to set up Exchange/Outlook and a
    lot of the current equipment couldn't function with this application. So
    as to not ignore the majority of folks, we chose to go with OWA or
    Outlook Web Access. This will function on any Pentium 100 and above with
    Internet Access. We realize that OWA does not have all of the features
    as Outlook, but it will work on virtually any computer until we can get
    new equipment for teachers.

    A document was distributed with Q & A regarding OWA (this will be on the
    inside site shortly.) A schedule was distributed.

    John asked for volunteers among this group who wouldn't mind serving as
    a pilot group for OWA. Most attendees volunteered. OWA packets of
    information were distributed.

    Reminder:
    The Technology Brochure is updated every month (which includes the
    current WAN/LAN schedule.) Please pick up a brochure when you arrive at
    the Tech Forum

    Q & A
    We will be finished with the wiring in 2002

    Q.Information needs to be disseminated better. Can we send information
    by other means regarding Tech Forums such as the WEA newsletter, The
    Guide and so on?
    A.Yes. We will attempt to get information out to as many as possible.

    Q Office computers will have outlook. Do I still need to have OWA
    loaded?
    A. All offices will have Exchange/Outlook loaded onto their machines.
    OWA is not an application that needs to be loaded onto a machine. OWA is
    available via the Internet through Internet Explorer or Netscape. You
    can reach it by any computer with Internet access.

    Q. Does OWA support online conferencing?
    A. No

    Charlie Walker, Information Services chwalker@seattleschools.org
    <mailto:chwalker@seattleschools.org>
    The Network Analyst's map is full! Every school has a Network Analyst.
    You can see who your Analyst is by going to:
    <http://inside.seattleschools.org> >Info Services > Who is my Analyst?
    You will see a map. If you put your mouse over your school, you will see
    a pop up box that will include the information for your school. There is
    a also a list available by going to: <http://inside.seattleschools.org>
    >Info Services > School List - Same information in a different format.

    Who do I call?
    When you have a software, hardware or network problem, call the Help
    Desk at 252.0333 The Help Desk will work with you to troubleshoot the
    problems with you over the phone. If someone needs to come to your site
    to work on the issue, the Help Desk will log an HDR or Help Desk
    Request. This is how your Network Analyst is alerted of the problem. Be
    prepared with the barcode of the machine with the problem if at all
    possible.

    If the issue is hardware related and needs to be referred to Work
    Control, the Help Desk will log a call for you to Work Control and log a
    ticket for your Network Analyst so that we are able to make sure that we
    are able to track the repair. Our goal is for you to only make one
    phone call!

    Introduction of Michael Gross Software Licensing Guy
    Michael will be helping schools to ensure they have the proper licenses
    for all software on their machines.

    Q. Is there a password for the Command Anti-Virus update? Where do we go
    for updates?
    A. We will develop a self-loading software process that does not need a
    password. See your Network Analysts for the password.

    Meeting Adjourned at 6:00 PM.
    John, Charlie and a few other presenters stayed until 7:00 to talk with
    attendees that had additional questions, recommendations or concerns.
    -------------------------------
    Mark Ahlness
    mahlness@cks.ssd.k12.wa.us
    Teacher, grade three at:
    Arbor Heights Elementary School
    http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/
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