Understanding
Your School’s Technology Culture
I.
Technological Capacity and Capabilities
1. What kind of technology
is available to you? Computers,
promethean boards, color printers, scanners, laser printers, and a projector (that is loaned out through the cinema
instructor). The library has a P Counter, which keeps
track of how many paper copies are printed by each student. All staff has access to xerox machines that allow for documents to be scanned and e-mailed directly from the machine.
2. What internet capability
is available? There is no wireless internet available outside of the principal’s
office; all computers are run through the district internet.
3. How is computer and
internet access provided? Dispersed computers? 1 to 1? Labs? Can students use
their own equipment? Computer and internet access is provided through two computer labs
(1 per each floor) as well as the library. Students must log in to Novell for
access. At the beginning of the year, parents must give students permission for
internet access. If this permission is not given, students have no internet
access. Students are allowed to bring their items from home, though students
are unable to access internet from personal computers. (The librarian will soon
receive a $9,500 grant, which she will use to buy Kindles. Her desire is to loan
them out, and download the audio books for students in need).
4. What kinds of filters are in place, and how do
they restrict what you might want to do? The district firewall
is in place restricting all Internet, including staff internet access. This is
the first year that Google Images has been allowed. Even so, the firewall is
very restrictive. The district just adopted a new policy in December in which
computers can only be used for school related assignments, college research,
and anything for community activities. The Librarian tries to offer downloads
for audio books for students who have trouble reading, but the District blocks
these types of downloads. Teachers recently signed an
agreement allowing teachers access to more media sites. The agreement was signed February 10, so I have yet to see what changes have been made.
5. If resources like social
media are blocked, are there “intranet” options? Are there ways to get special
permission to use blocked resources? For social media, the district has adopted Imoto,
so it is the only social media available (this was adopted in December). The only person in
the building who can give special permission is the principal. This is a tedious and difficult process, so staff and students get by with clever rephrasing in Google searches. For example, the librarian was offering help to a student doing a presentation on Ancient Greece. The student needed images of wine and weapons…which was of course blocked. Rather than giving up, the two reworded their search to stemware and gave specific examples of a sword…creativity is key. Another option is to try both internet browser options: Firefox and Internet Explorer, sometimes searches are able to seen in one browser but not the other. I also found it interesting that the CIA fact book blocked.
6. Who has the specialty
gear (cameras, scanners, etc.) and can you use it? The art room has two
digital cameras available as well as a color printer with a scanner. The Social Studies department
has scanners, the entire staff has access to two xerox machines (one per floor). The cinema department has 6 video
cameras and the only video projector, half the staff has a Promethean board in their classroom.
7. What is your best sense
of the technology that your students have at home? To what extent can you
expect them to have access to technology and internet access outside school to
work on school projects? At least 80% of students have computer access at home. Since, email is not available, the librarian uses her email to help students. The librarian doesn't assume students have access at home and thus allows students access to computers before and after school, even when staff meetings are occurring.
II. Leadership and Policies
8. Does your school have a
mission statement and an educational technology plan? If so, when were they
last updated? Attach them or provide a link to them from your blog. The mission of Palmer High School
10.
Do the missions and plans address the issues of digital
citizenship, or of developing a balanced view of technology adoption? The school district is more recently focusing on Digital citizenship and internet
safety. The School Board will provide ( what is called: I safe-district wide) internet safety to
students. This will be further developed as it has just recently been passed by the school board.
11.
Is technology well-funded at your school? Do you see signs of
technology rotation, professional development and on-going maintenance of
existing equipment? No, other schools seem to be
better funded. They have made great leaps in the past 4 years, but they are
still behind. Cindy Simon sees maintenance, and rotation, however professional
development could be improved.
12. Does your school have Internet use and parent
permission policies? When were they last updated? Attach them or provide a link
to them from your blog. Yes, students and parents must sign this before schools. If they
do not give permission, they have no access. Update December 2011.http://www.matsuk12.us/matsu/lib/matsu/_shared/MSBSD_Forms/MIS/StudentinternetPermissionForm.pdf
13.
Who are the ed tech leaders within your school? Does your school
have an ed tech committee? Is it active? What are its responsibilities? The school's Ed Tech is Steve Krueger
(who works out of district office). In school, Cindy Simon (librarian) and Steve Cook (computer and
business teacher) are the two tech leaders of the school. There is no ed tech committee.
15. Who are the student leaders in technology? Are there programs that allow
them to use their expertise to help teachers and other students? Are there
special programs that allow them to pursue their interests? When Cindy Simon runs into a technology problem during class, she will ask the class to see if they have an answer and, 9 times out of 10, a student is able to help…an d she is able to pass that information on. There are a number of programs available to students who want to grow and expand their knowledge in technology. Palmer High actually allows some students to begin the day in Palmer and spend half their school day at Career Tech High School, where they can receive a Cisco certification and a tremendous business education. A second option for students are the computer classes as well as the tech aps class.
16.
Are community members involved in regards to using technology in
your school? No. Non-staff cannot come in to use computers because of the Novell
login. There have been instances where coaches from other high school come in to the library after an athletic event wanting to use the computer and use internet. The only way for these visitors to have computer access is for Sys Ops to create a temporary login for that visitor. Even so, this temporary login is only good for so long and requires a great deal of planning before use.
17.
If something breaks, who fixes it? How do you contact them? Are
corrective and on-going maintenance well supported? Generally, teachers first try to fix things themselves, but when all else fails: contact Sys Ops. The school shares a tech employee with surrounding schools, so a work order must be placed and e-mailed online for assistance. Craig (our tech guy) is the employee shared and he does an excellent job of responding in a timely manner. My second week of student teaching the art room had some difficulties. The work order was placed in the afternoon on a Monday, and Craig responded before school the next day. Corrective and on-going maintenance is supported as much as it can be.
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