Happy Friday to all of you:
Here are the latest updates from the world of FHS technology
1. SOIN has resolved the problem that was causing grades /assignments to not save.
2. Safari Montage is currently not working on the Mac notebooks. NORT2H, our consortium that is coordinating this site, is in the process of working with Safari Montage to resolve this problem. Safari Montage does work with PCs and Internet Explorer - if there are videos that you would like to be using, I can help you play them. The playlists are still there - even if we don't see them. This problem occurred after Tuesday when NORT2H did some updates. IF you are using it on your PC- it may work, it may not work.
3. We now have a FHS Technology Board. The board is made up of myself, Kim Armstrong, Gayle Dill, Rose Mary Young, Chris Kaminski and Kevin Liptrap. We will be meeting twice monthly and will be working on grant writing, making technology purchasing decisions, providing peer tech support and recognition and evaluating possible new technology for the building. This committee is a part of the FHS Technology Plan that I have developed with Kevin.
4. Chris Kaminski, Gayle Dill and I are a part of the district Website Redesign Committee, We will be working over the next 3 months to create a new, more accessible, more user friendly web page for our district. The new page software also allows multiple users at different authorization levels to edit or upload materials to the page. This is very exciting and I am looking forward to the scheduled rolling out the new page by the end of this school year. To see a sample of the type of site we will be working on developing, check out the Independence School Site -http://www.independence.k12.oh.us/
5. The district is moving toward a paperless environment. Part of this plan is the creation of e-forms. These electronic forms will be available on the e-school mall site - so you will be able to login, access a form and submit it electronically. Examples of the forms that will be available include sick leave , personal leave, conference requests - and any other form that needs some kind of authorization. We are also going to be working on putting our building level forms on the website - these forms would be available to parents and students - and would include field trip and vacation forms, technology acceptable use forms and college visit forms.
6. Chris Kaminski is working on developing the ability to live stream video - this will allow us to put live sporting events on the webpage.
7. The Shared Drives (xserve2/ teachers or students or building forms or copiers), will soon be accessible from home. This will allow you to access documents you have saved at school from home. Something we have been requesting for a long time. The site will be security protected, so you will be able to use it safely not only at home but from public WI-Fi locations. Just a note, if for some reason you can't see your teacher drive on your laptop, if you go to FINDER - then GO - the CONNECT TO SERVER - then pick xserve2 - it will show you all the shared drives - Teacher, Student, Copiers, Building Forms - hi-light the one you want and then hit connect.
8. Just a reminder - the strap on the laptop bags that were provided to you may come unhooked unexpectedly. Mark Kostur is contacting the manufacturer to come up with a solution. In the short term, either remove the strap from your bag, or use duct tape and wrap the hook so it doesn't pop open or use plastic zip ties to connect it to the loop on the bag.
9. Michelle Kocar has begun to plan some technology inservice time for our inservice day at the end of the semester. I am working with her on developing this time - you will have some choices of sessions to attend - more details will follow.
10. More teachers are starting to use the video conferencing capabilities we have. Ryan Graff's Art students are going to be participating in a discussion on art and Apartheid in South Africa. Dave Latkovic has formed a partnership with a teacher at Lorain LVS, Colleen Sliwinski's Anatomy and Physiology students have been participating in a series of live surgery broadcasts from the Cleveland Clinic and Gayle Dill and Janice Baker combined FHS and LFM students to participate in a discussion with a Young Adult author about the creative writing process. We can also host our own activities and search for lesson partners in the broader tech world. If you would like to do a class program like this, or would like to learn more about it - please talk with me - it is easier than it seems.
11. I will be talking with those of you who indicated on my tech survey that you would be interested in being a possible peer mentor. Please don't run away if you see me at your door :)
12. Don't forget to check out the resources and info on my blog http://edtechgirl.blogspot.com
13. Finally - Kevin has created a Principal's blog -which he is going to be updating each week. It is accessible from the FHS homepage on the district or directly from http://fhsliptrap.blogspot.com You can post a comment for Kevin by clicking on the word "comment" at the bottom of the blog posting.
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