An interview as Tech Coordinator

I had an interview today with a staff member at my school (and in my masters program) It was good for me because I had to learn some of the stuff myself, so I was doing some interviewing myself of the guys I work with.

Could you please describe the type of network our school is currently using?
Please try to include the following:

What types of cabling are we using and how are they being used?

Mostly Cat 5e cable, Fiber in the mider (those closets with all the wires and stuff in them) rooms; we do have gigabit to the desktop although the bulk of our machines do not have gigabit cards. The wiring in the school fantastic. It was just completed last summer and is pretty amazing.

What types of communication protocols do the computers have?
All connect to our network using TCP/IP

How does the server work for email, printing, filtering, and other types of communication?

Our email server is hosted at starmail.adams12.org, but I don’t have any other information on it. Our Windows machines we use a Windows 2003 server called HOHPS to facilitate printing. Website filtering is handled through the district.

Approximately how many MACs, PCs or other types of operating machines do we currently have in the school, running on the same network?

All run on the same network, 3 student labs of Windows machines, and  Windows machines for every secretary.

That equals 232 PCs. There are about 5 student labs of Macs in the school equaling about 184. Then there are 126 staff laptops in the school. All of those are Macs. This count was just done for the first time this summer. The pure number of machines in the school is daunting.

Of these machines how many are for teacher use and how many are for student use?
I would have to say about 350 of the 542 computers in the school are for student use.

What kinds of operating systems are these machines running?

Windows use Xp Pro, some Macs use 10.4 versions and the MacBooks run 10.5.

What kind of link to the Internet do the computers in our school have?
It is a fiber optic line running all the way into the building. (I think that is what you are asking?)

Do we have wireless?  If so, please describe it and if not please give a reason why.

Very limited wireless capability right now. There is wireless access in the staff centers that is not used very often. Sometimes it can be picked up in a few class rooms, but not very often. Horizon is a very unique school when it comes to design. It is a labyrinth of steel, concrete, corners, and odd shapes. Wireless in the entire school would be a very expensive task. That being said, the district just did a survey to see Horizon could be a wireless school. They have not reported back to us on that as of yet. (The survey just happened yesterday)

Will the infrastructure of our school support Web 2.0 tools?
If so, please make sure to state how and if not please state why.
The short answer is yes. But it is fairly limited in my opinion. Right now the interest and enthusiasm out weighs ability and availability of the machines in the building. This should be a priority for the school.

Could you please briefly state your ideas/plans for the continued use of technology and integration of Web 2.0 tools throughout the school.

As the interest increases at a rapid pace so will the use of these tools. Two things have to happen make sure that the integration of Web 2.0 tools are successful. First, teachers need to know how to use the tool, and WHY they are using the tools. These tools need to support the end goal of helping students learn. Second, the hardware technology needs to work and run these tools. If things don’t work then it does not matter how great the Web 2.0 plan or lesson is. Right now Horizon High school has to improve the physical hardware in many areas to utilize these new tools effectively.

Please try to include the following:
What types of sessions would you like to offer next year at our PD sessions?
I want to offer a wide variety, from the beginner to the experienced. I think the differenation teachers are expected to use to teach students needs to be used when teachers teach teachers. It is very hard for many adults to admit a lack of competence with technology and I want to find a way to make them feel comfortable and help them grow step by step. This will need to be done in smaller groups, so more tech leaders will be asked to participate in trainings to give the staff a variety of options during professional development.

Specific training will include:
Office 2007
Infinite Campus
MacBook tips and tricks/basic care
Department specific training
General Ed Tech (blogs, wiki, podcasts)

Do you plan to offer sessions outside of our PD sessions?

Yes, I think professional development does not just start and stop each Wednesday between 1-3pm. Good professional development happens all the time and needs to be flexible for teacher schedules. I would like to be able to set up individual help sessions at teacher request. Another option will be a tech help wiki specific to Horizon High School. It will be a free standing resource that will be available to staff 24/7 at school or at home. This will help allow staff of all ability levels a chance to get tech training or reminders at their own convenience.

Do you think/know if we have administrative support in attempts to get more teachers using blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 tools in their classrooms and with their students?

Administrative support has been fantastic, at the building level and at the district level. A new instructional technology coordinator at the building level is very excited about the use teacher blogs and wikis. There is support all around but the details about how to carry it out is not in place at this time.

Is it a future goal of the tech department to get everyone in the school up and running with a simple teacher site, which includes contact information and upcoming assignments and tests?

That isn’t as high up on the priority list right now. I think it might be more beneficial to focus on the department level first. It is likely that at least one person in each department will be excited/willing to maintain a department website. From there individual teachers will be able to create and maintain their own individual site, some will and some won’t, but at least we can have department contact information, overview and maybe even pictures of staff.

Do you you think/know if our tech plan contains a plan/goal or money to upgrade our current computers in the labs or get more/newer labs?

I know we have begun to layout a plan for replacement of computer labs in the school along with a replacement cycle for the staff laptop computers. The laptop replace started last year, but there are still 51 ibooks in the hands of staff.

Money is seriously limited at this point and I don’t know if the replacement cycle will be able to be started this year. The best hope is that the district bond will be passed this September, that mill levy has funds allocated specifically for technology. That would cover an entire new lab. Cross your fingers.