Tech Office Update

I thought I would type up a short update with the goings on in the Technology Office, since I have been neglectful in my Technology Tips posts that I usually do on Tuesdays.

Chromebook Mobile Lab - Has been up and functioning.  Students really seem to enjoy using them.  We had one chromebook that the mousepad started malfunctioning on(it just stopped working, for no real reason....it worked when I set it up, but stopped working VERY early on in the school year)...this has been returned to Samsung, and they will be either repairing or replacing it.

Windows 7 Lab - The Windows 7 lab is also up and running.  Keep in mind that the machines in this lab are 4 years old, and have been re-imaged multiple times.  So far, the machines that have "had troubles" have been able to start running again.  It's VERY Important, that students who use these machines take care of them and shut them down correctly.  (2 of the 3 that "had troubles" were NOT shut down correctly)

Broken Screens  - We have had our first 4 broken screens of the school year already.  One of them was cause by a student dropping their machine.  Another was stepped on.  The other 2 did not know why their screen broke....but I DO see students often walking around with the screen open on their laptops.  This doesn't cause the screen to break...but if they are holding it open by putting pressure on the screen (thumb on the front...hand kind of on the back of the screen), it just makes it possible....the screens aren't very strong.

Broken Screen Repairs- Instead of returning the screens for repairs this year, I have found a business that sends me the appropriate part (replacement screen), and they send it to me and I do the repair here at the school.  This is a much more cost efficient solution (screens so far have been $67, in comparison to the $100 to have it repaired).

School Podcast - So far, I have completed 4 podcasts... although haven't done one since Homecoming week.  We had a few issues with guests who didn't want to be on the podcast, and/or trouble arranging a time to get an interview.  If you have an event or activity coming up that you would like to discuss on the podcast please let me know...  It does not take long to put one together, and I really enjoy doing them.  I record the interviews on my phone, so no special equipment needed, just some time set aside.

Forticlient/Symantec Issues - earlier in the year we had some issues with some student computers not being able to access sites at home.  This was a state issue with the Forticlient software that was installed on the student computers.  I believe this issue has been solved.  If a student is having trouble getting on a website that they need, they should contact me and I'll see what I can do.  Also, if a teacher has a site they need opened up for students...please contact me and I'll work with the DDN and get it opened up.

Colony Computers - I recently completed installing 4 new machines out at Roland Colony.  These computers have internet capability (although very restricted), and have Microsoft Office installed on them.  I also ordered some external DVD Drives for them, so that they can use some programs that they have on CD ROM.  I also need to install the printer on new machines (which I neglected to do when I brought them out there).

Microsoft Surfaces in Lake Benton - The Lake Benton Elementary school just ordered a bunch of Microsoft Surfaces for their "Upper" Elementary grades... they just came in (I think yesterday).  So I will be inventorying them, and begin setting them up for their students and staff.  With the growth of the Windows 8 Apps, and also Google Apps for Education...it will be interesting to see how they can use these in their classrooms.

Teacher Computer work - Most staff computers have been doing quite well, however there are a few "problem children" out there, that we need to look at replacing their machines.  Otherwise, it has mostly been installing programs that are needed on machines.  There were a few staff machines that were not functioning well, and they had a bunch of junk programs installed on them...these usually happen as "add-ons" when people are installing other programs on their machines.... for example...one staff member had 4 different toolbars installed on their internet explorer:  google, yahoo, ask, and avg!

Office 365 - I did a presentation on Office 365 to the staff a few weeks back on our Wednesday inservice time.  As we move forward, I'm continuing to wonder at what a valuable tool this is for our staff and students, and that if the State K12 Data Center is going to continue to provide this service to us... the possiblity of moving to chromebooks for our HS students is more of a possibilty than ever.

Server Power Back-Up - Earlier this fall, we had some problems with our back up power source on our Server.  It was just old equipment, and it would "overload" and it would shut down the server.  I replaced this and we haven't had any problems since.

Projector Bulbs - We have had a few projector bulbs already go out this fall.  When this happens, I have to order a new one...we don't keep them "on hand" as they are very expensive (over $100 for each of them).  However, I do have a projector in my office that I can "loan out" while we wait for the new bulb to come in.

I'm sure I'm leaving many things out...but just wanted to "highlight" some of the things I have been doing so far this school year.

Preperations are underway!

The new school year is bearing down on us. (Can't believe it will be here in a week!)

Tech office has been very busy.

Sophomore through Senior computers are all loaded and ready to go, except for the installation of forticlient.  We will be installing this on those machines this week.

Freshman computers are in, and I am working on completing the image for the new machines.  As soon as that is done, we will start duplicating and deploying them.

The incoming freshmen will be issued new HP laptops...HP 3125 machines.  We hope they will be a bit more dependable and sturdy than the older Acer machines, which are a good machine for the cost, but they have had some issues with screens cracking, and keyboards losing keys, and things of that nature.

Changes:
Students no longer has Smart Synch program on their machines.  The program was out of date, and unsupported by the developer.

All student machine will have Google Chrome installed on their machines this year.

All student machines will be joined to the domain, and log in to the server as a user.  In the past few years, they were technically "guests" on the system.  This should be helpful, as changes can be made easier to the machines.

All student machines will run the State's recommended "Symantec" anti-virus protection program.  This is a better, and more up to date antivirus program.  It also updates frequently, and will do a better job of protecting the machines from viruses.

All student machines will have "Forticlient" software installed for off-site filtering.  Previously, we had a separate program called "Cybersitter" that we ran on the machines.  Forticlient will be a good change, as it connects automatically with the schools Fortinet Web Filter.  So essentially the students will have the same filtering on the machines when away from the school, that they have at the school.

Mobile Labs
-We will have 2 functioning mobile labs in the school this year.  1 will be a standard laptop cart, with 26 machines running Windows 7.  The second mobile lab will be a mobile Chromebook lab.  We have ordered two new carts for the mobile labs, which will be nice.

I'm excited to see how the students respond to the chromebooks.  They operate on a solid state drive, meaning that the hard drive doesn't "spin".  This allows them to run at a lower temperature, and ensures a much longer battery life.  I'm sure many have heard that the Sioux Falls School District is moving to Chromebooks for all it's High School students.  If we have positive results and issues with mandatory state testing are worked out, this could be a possibility for Elkton students in the future.

-Another change we will make with the mobile labs is that grades 5 through 8 will be assigned a specific machine.  Each user in these grades will always use the same machine number.  Be it number 5, or 13, or 26... That way, we will save memory on the machines (by not having multiple 'users' log in to each machine), and also we will be able to know who was using what machine.  The number will be the same for each lab, so if a student is assigned #5...they will get the #5 from the Windows 7 lab, and the #5 from the chromebook lab.

Student Log-ins
-All students grades 5-12 will have their own network ID and state e-mail account.  This will give them access not only to e-mail, but also to be able access and use google drive and Microsoft 365.  Both of which are provided by the State.

-Students K-4 will continue to be able to use a general "student" log in.  If a staff member would like their students to be on the state e-mail system, this is something I can do for them, but it is not required.

Other than that, we need to install Windows 7 on 4 new machines for the Roland Colony and we are ready to go.

We have a great school year ahead of us!  I'm looking forward to working with you all, and also getting to know our new staff members.

A reminder, if you ever would like me to help learn how to use a new product or device, or anything of that nature, I would be glad to help you out.  (assuming I'm familiar with it, and if I'm not, I'm willing to learn)

Thanks for all your help and patience in the past year (and it the coming year).

Update from the Tech Office

Staff laptops have been ordered and should be in shortly.

Laptops for the Roland Colony School have been ordered and will also arrive in a few moments.

Narrowing down on a vendor on our student netbooks we are ordering for the freshmen.  Should be ordered hopefully by the end of the week.

Also looking at ordering a new laptop cart for the "mobile lab".

Narrowing in on ordering 30 chromebooks with a mobile cart for them as well.

So we'll have a mobile chromebook lab, and a mobile windows 7 lab.

Working on getting the Symantec antivirus program up and running on our windows machines.

Also will be installing the Forticlient management system installed on the student machines.

Things will be coming together for the new school year in the next 3 or 4 weeks.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.  I've been busy attending alot of Basketball camps, and watching alot of little league baseball this summer.

Weekend Update

Welcome to another addition of weekend update.

North Lab

This week the Tech office was super busy.  I am continuing to work on the North Lab in the school, making sure that each machine in there is being used and treated properly.  I have found many of these computers that have had changes made to the desktop over the week.

Other things that students are doing to the computers include:

1. Changing the background image or wallpaper
2. Students are adding "shortcuts" to the desktop.
3. "Pinning" programs to the task bar, so they stay up and running.
4. Changing the size of the icons on the desktop.
5. Changing the resolution of the screen.
6. Changing the size of the display
7. Changing the mouse (or pointer)
8. Changing the color of the windows (Pink and Black seem to be the favorites).
9. Moving icons on the desktop around.
10. And general mischief... mouse unplugged, keyboard unplugged, etc, etc...

Please keep in mind, and remind your students, all of them, that the North Lab computers are for the use of all students... Particularly those that don't get their own netbooks (Grades K-8).  The computers in the lab should not be "personalized" for individual students, as the computer is not set up for one person, but the use of all.

The more settings and/or changes made to the computers can lead to problems down the road.  I would like to see the number of programs on the desktop and/or taskbar minimized.  The more programs that are on there, the more RAM is being dedicated to have those programs "ready to run".  While I know it is common practice to have your commonly used programs on your desktop with a shortcut, the LAB is not a personal computer... we'd like to keep it "streamlined" so that everyone sees the same screen.

Two easy ways to ensure that the lab is being used correctly:

1.  Do NOT send students to work in there, unless they are being supervised.  (I chased two JH kids out there again this morning).

2.  When supervising watch your students... are they working on their programs, or are they changing the screen resolution?  Are all of the keyboards still plugged into the machines?  

Mobile Lab

In addition to the North Lab, I focused on getting some more computers ready for the Mobile Lab.  We had 20 in there, earlier... but #20 died, and a few others have started to show some problems (there's one that has a sticky keyboard, and another that has a noisy fan).  I worked on getting a few more in there, so that we can have the lab filled, and then remove the problem ones, and see if we can get them running, as well.

I know that having a lab that will work consistently, each time you use it is the number one goal.  I am hoping that the changes we have made to the lab, and to the machines, will help us.

Weekend!

Not a great deal planned this coming weekend, the 3rd and 4th grade boys will have their final BB game tomorrow at Deubrook.  Good Luck boys!  (It has been a joy and a pleasure to help these guys this year)

Saturday Night the SDSU Jackrabbits will be on espn2 facing Murray State in the annual "Bracketbusters" challenge.  Should be good exposure, but I hope we get a little better end result than the last game on espn2. (Game vs Alabama, that they lost on a last second shot).

Otherwise, some household duties, a few maintenance issues, and a few good runs (hopefully outside) to look forward to.

For the Friday Video, enjoy a little Black Keys "Tighten Up"

Have a great weekend everyone!