March Technology Communiqué—Wednesday, March 11, 2009
District Plans:
· Versa Trans Bus Routing Software has been installed. Marcia, Carole and Rowena are active cleaning up data. This process brought to our attention that we need to have a district wide unified way of inputting student data into DASL.
· Copiers are installed in each building and networked. Technology Services is working on setting up all workstations to print to the copiers.
· Erate Form 471 has been filed and we are waiting for acceptance. This will set the stage for moving to 20 mBits/s speed on our Internet connectivity for the District, we are currently at 10 mBits/s. Costs will be $2,650 per month or $31,800 per year. Erate will pay for $14,946 and Ohio K12 Network grant will pay $12,000—this leaves a balance of $4,854 for Shawnee School District. Shawnee Schools’ present utilization is at 60.5% with bursts that maximizes our 10 mBits/s pipeline.
· District Technology Plan has been submitted and we are waiting for review. Once accepted it will be signed by both our Treasurer and Superintendent before it becomes active for the next three years. This plan is going to require that we start documenting how technology is being utilized in our district.
· Security system is being replaced by Homeland Securities. Elmwood and Maplewood are complete, they will start with the Middle School on Monday the 16th and the high school the following Monday the 23rd.
· Network runs are being placed from workstations directly to the network switches. This will provide better bandwidth to the workstation.
· Kurzweil Software was moved to the Allen County Educational Center in order to aid several of our students with reading issues.
· Administration has decided to introduce AlertNow response system starting the 2009-2010 school year:
· In today’s climate, school administrators are under mounting pressure to increase attendance, build community relations, improve parental involvement, and ensure campus safety. AlertNow is an elite, industry-leading rapid communication service, designed specifically for the K-12 community that addresses all of these needs. Saf-T-Net (STN), founder of AlertNow, has partnered with thousands of schools in all 50 states, providing a cost-effective, reliable and user-friendly communication service to educators.
· AlertNow’s best-of-class technology delivers voice, e-mail and emergency SMS messages at a rate up to two million per hour – quickly keeping parents and staff informed on important and time-sensitive information. In addition to delivering routine messaging, AlertNow is a critical component to every crisis plan, ensuring accurate information is communicated immediately in the event of a lockdown, relocation, evacuation or other emergency situation.
· John Shawver recently setup Lima Central Catholic High School’s first network so they will be able to save files to a file server, instead of the issues they have had with using memory sticks. They were very appreciative to the fact that he introduced Deep Freeze to them so they can begin to protect computers.
· A system wide online work order system is being investigated by our Maintenance Department.
High School
· Camera system is being completed and software to view cameras will be installed on Administrative computers along with Technology Services,
· GradeQuick has been expanded to be able to create virtual quizzes and tests that automatically add the students score to your gradebook. This process is being tested in the high school to see how many teachers wanted to use the system for future purchase.
· Technology Services has ordered a new unit (Extenda X550) developed that runs 11 computers off of the host without the issues that have been created with the way our high school setup is presently. This means that for a lab of 22 computers we will need to purchase 2 computers.
· Shawnee Schools is partnering with Apollo Career Center and will be placing a new lab of 22 computers in the high school that will replace lab 1 in the center of the GIC. These workstations will house Turbo Cad Software for Mr. Metz’s classes. Fortunately, they will include a 22” flat screen monitors along with a very powerful computer.
· Two new laptops were purchased for the Athletic Department.
Middle School
· Ceiling mounted projectors and Elmo’s have been placed in the middle school in rooms-- A21, B23, B26, B25, A22, B21, C22, B27, B11, B14, and C39.
· Middle School Lab 3 was completely reinstalled and now has Microsoft Office on all the computers in the lab. We will eventually update all labs in the Middle School. Please note that we had many computers in that lab that had broken CD-Rom drives. Fortunately, we were able to get replacement parts under warranty in order to fix the lab.
Maplewood and Elmwood Elementaries:
· A schedule is being developed in order to place ceiling mounted projectors or carts along with Elmo’s into the classrooms of the elementary. Two new computers were placed in Special Ed purchased by Linda Sakemiller at the Allen County ESC.
· Technology Services is currently looking into the cost of having Accelerated Reader and Star as online programs ran through the web instead of being housed on our server.
Thanks and if you have any questions please feel free to email me your questions!
Jeff Heistan
District Technology Coordinator
Shawnee Local Schools
(419) 998-8182
sw_heistan@noacsc.org
March Technology Communiqué—Wednesday, March 11, 2009
District Plans:
· Versa Trans Bus Routing Software has been installed. Marcia, Carole and Rowena are active cleaning up data. This process brought to our attention that we need to have a district wide unified way of inputting student data into DASL.
· Copiers are installed in each building and networked. Technology Services is working on setting up all workstations to print to the copiers.
· Erate Form 471 has been filed and we are waiting for acceptance. This will set the stage for moving to 20 mBits/s speed on our Internet connectivity for the District, we are currently at 10 mBits/s. Costs will be $2,650 per month or $31,800 per year. Erate will pay for $14,946 and Ohio K12 Network grant will pay $12,000—this leaves a balance of $4,854 for Shawnee School District. Shawnee Schools’ present utilization is at 60.5% with bursts that maximizes our 10 mBits/s pipeline.
· District Technology Plan has been submitted and we are waiting for review. Once accepted it will be signed by both our Treasurer and Superintendent before it becomes active for the next three years. This plan is going to require that we start documenting how technology is being utilized in our district.
· Security system is being replaced by Homeland Securities. Elmwood and Maplewood are complete, they will start with the Middle School on Monday the 16th and the high school the following Monday the 23rd.
· Network runs are being placed from workstations directly to the network switches. This will provide better bandwidth to the workstation.
· Kurzweil Software was moved to the Allen County Educational Center in order to aid several of our students with reading issues.
· Administration has decided to introduce AlertNow response system starting the 2009-2010 school year:
· In today’s climate, school administrators are under mounting pressure to increase attendance, build community relations, improve parental involvement, and ensure campus safety. AlertNow is an elite, industry-leading rapid communication service, designed specifically for the K-12 community that addresses all of these needs. Saf-T-Net (STN), founder of AlertNow, has partnered with thousands of schools in all 50 states, providing a cost-effective, reliable and user-friendly communication service to educators.
· AlertNow’s best-of-class technology delivers voice, e-mail and emergency SMS messages at a rate up to two million per hour – quickly keeping parents and staff informed on important and time-sensitive information. In addition to delivering routine messaging, AlertNow is a critical component to every crisis plan, ensuring accurate information is communicated immediately in the event of a lockdown, relocation, evacuation or other emergency situation.
· John Shawver recently setup Lima Central Catholic High School’s first network so they will be able to save files to a file server, instead of the issues they have had with using memory sticks. They were very appreciative to the fact that he introduced Deep Freeze to them so they can begin to protect computers.
· A system wide online work order system is being investigated by our Maintenance Department.
High School
· Camera system is being completed and software to view cameras will be installed on Administrative computers along with Technology Services,
· GradeQuick has been expanded to be able to create virtual quizzes and tests that automatically add the students score to your gradebook. This process is being tested in the high school to see how many teachers wanted to use the system for future purchase.
· Technology Services has ordered a new unit (Extenda X550) developed that runs 11 computers off of the host without the issues that have been created with the way our high school setup is presently. This means that for a lab of 22 computers we will need to purchase 2 computers.
· Shawnee Schools is partnering with Apollo Career Center and will be placing a new lab of 22 computers in the high school that will replace lab 1 in the center of the GIC. These workstations will house Turbo Cad Software for Mr. Metz’s classes. Fortunately, they will include a 22” flat screen monitors along with a very powerful computer.
· Two new laptops were purchased for the Athletic Department.
Middle School
· Ceiling mounted projectors and Elmo’s have been placed in the middle school in rooms-- A21, B23, B26, B25, A22, B21, C22, B27, B11, B14, and C39.
· Middle School Lab 3 was completely reinstalled and now has Microsoft Office on all the computers in the lab. We will eventually update all labs in the Middle School. Please note that we had many computers in that lab that had broken CD-Rom drives. Fortunately, we were able to get replacement parts under warranty in order to fix the lab.
Maplewood and Elmwood Elementaries:
· A schedule is being developed in order to place ceiling mounted projectors or carts along with Elmo’s into the classrooms of the elementary. Two new computers were placed in Special Ed purchased by Linda Sakemiller at the Allen County ESC.
· Technology Services is currently looking into the cost of having Accelerated Reader and Star as online programs ran through the web instead of being housed on our server.
Thanks and if you have any questions please feel free to email me your questions!
Jeff Heistan
District Technology Coordinator
Shawnee Local Schools
(419) 998-8182
sw_heistan@noacsc.org