Friday we met with IBM & VPN to review the final verifications of the newly installed 802.11n network at JP. They did an excellent job and we now have a wireless environment that will enable students to access technology in every instructional space in this building.  On Friday we had data throughputs over 155 MPS in the library.

This new network does have important caveats that we all need to be cognizant of.  This network is met to maximize bandwidth and connectivity for teachers and students.  This is not meant to be a public wireless network, like one might find at a coffeehouse.

• We are ONLY running 802.11N over “A” 5ghz . We have turned off all 2.4Ghz B and G radios.
• We have one Wireless Network called “Fairport Schools”
• We have only allowed the X200 teacher laptops and Mobile Labs access to the network at this time.
• We have no guest Wireless enabled anywhere, nor have we let any other piece of hardware other than and X200 on this network.
• We  see a LIVE view of every connected wireless device. This provides a high level of technical detail that will be beneficial in troubleshooting and maintaining quality wireless services.
• We will  bring up guest services after we have a proven, successful district wide structure that fully supports the difficult demands of the high density mobile classroom.

Major kudos to Ross Ciulla, Tom Devitt, John Poland, Jason Scott, and Brett Provenzano for their significant contributions to this project.

The use of eReaders in school presents some exciting opportunities for students. One is the access to millions of different published works on a single device.

A second reason is that classrooms of students, with different reading levels, can read the same titled book, but at a reading level of which matches each respective student. For example, if a class of 20 11th grade social studies students were to read George Orwell’s book 1984. In this class are two students who are reading at a 6th grade level. The teacher, with 20 eReaders could have 18 students read the book 1984 as George Orwell wrote it and the other 2 could read a version written at the 6th grade level. In this manner the students can all learn and discuss the implications of “Big Brother”, “newspeak” and “doublethink“.

A third reason is the new dense wireless network in the libraries throughout the district. These environments are very suitable for such initiatives as Google books where it would only take a few seconds for a student in the library with eReader to download a book.

The market is changing rapidly on eReaders. The TVT group is exploring iPod Touches now. We will also bhe looking at enTourage eDGe™ and the Sony Reader Daily Edition because of their wireless features.

It was a real exciting week last week as I observed a math class being taught by Miss Osterwise using the new 802.11n wireless. She was skillfully using an online math exercise with about 27 students on laptops.  The students were fully engaged, learning math, and the technology

1142N Cisco Access Point

did what is was supposed to….empower and not interfere with the learning!.  It was really gratifying seeing our hard work and planning coming to fruition.   This was a test of our wireless engineering as it relates to the new network operations center.

The next phase of our JP project will have VPN and IBM install the final Cisco access points and we should be fully operational building wide with an 802.11n network  by the end of October.

Ross Ciulla and Tom Devitt switching to the upgraded core switch

Fairport senior technician Jason Scott wiring a network rack

This morning at 7 AM the team responsible for making the switch from the old network to the new network were hard at it again.  John Poland, Ross Ciulla, Tom Devitt, and Jason Scott compile the perfect “dream team” of experts in making this switch over.  The complexity of this work is really something….it requires a rich knowledge of the relationship of electrical power and network configurations all designed specifically to empower educators with the capacity to deliver the quality of instruction as articulated by the Fairport’s TVT vision.  I feel very fortunate to have such a group of intelligent  and dedicated professionals working very hard to bring our school district to a better place.

Today our network design & implementation team comprised of engineers from IBM, Monroe #1 BOCES, and ISC  toured Johanna Perrin.  We are now moving into an exciting phase of construction…at least from a technology perspective.

All of the network equipment has arrived and the team is busy configuring them and prepping them for installation.  We are shooting for the 23rd to begin the installation of the computer network components in the main computer closets and the 27th to allow the wireless engineers from IBM to do their final site survey.  Working very hard we should be able to have the computer network operating properly by the start of school and the wireless network shortly thereafter.  Below are some pictures from today’s tour:

Look before you jump to new technology

The vision for our technology use at Fairport Schools has been articulated via the work of the TVT team.  The capital projects are underway to bring us the infrastructure required to realize this vision.  To assist our teachers and administrators with determining what is contemporary technology  versus out-dated technology, we have identified a litmus test that can be applied to technology being considered for Fairport Schools.

1. Is the technology personal to the user?

2. Is the technology accessible over the Internet?

3.  Does it have an easy interface?

4. Can the technology be supported with current IT support services?

If the answer is yes to all four questions, than chances are favorable for this technology to work favorably in our new paradigm.  Let me explore these questions further….

1. Is the technology personal to the user?

20th century technology required a person to start from scratch whenever the person interacted with it.  For example, I would go to the library, search on a computer for a book called “Rifles for Watie”.  The next time I would go to the library the computer would not recognize me and I would start from scratch.  Today, I walk into the library, log on to a computer, and it would recognize me as having borrowed “Rifles for Waite” and recommend other books I might like. For students, everytime they interact with technology it should recognize them, their history, preferences, etc… Mrs. Bantle, FCSD Teacher Center Director is leading a book talk on  Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age by David Rose and Anne Meyer….one aspect of this book is how important it is for us educators to recognize how distinctively different our brains are and to alter our pedagogy to reflect this recognition…well this is at the heart of why we consider “good technology” technology that explicitly recognizes each student individually.

2. Is the technology accessible over the Internet?

Up until now students formal interactions with district owned software were very limiting….For example, in the elementary schools students access such software as Reader Rabbit once every 10-15 days which is when they are able to go to a computer lab AND because the software will only run from a specific machine (s).  Today, the vast majority of educational software is web based because schools today demand that this software be accessible to any student with Internet access.  By considering software that is web based we dramatically increase the potential impact that it might have on students.

3.  Does it have an easy interface?

Steve Jobs, when he introduced the iPhone in 2007 he spoke to why “smartphones” are really “dumb phones” because they are too complicated for the average person. …their interfaces are non-intuitive….well so too does this hold for technology to be used by our students and staff.  When considering new hardware and software we must pilot these systems with a variety  of folks to ensure that the interface is indeed intuitive….because if is not the technology will not be used!

4. Can the technology be supported?

Cutting edge technology is often called bleeding edge technology because of the many quarks and technical problems that new technology always presents….similar technology that has not been update or improved as technology has advanced poses just as many if not more problems.  At Fairport we have an extremely sharp group of professional technicians who excel at providing quality support on contemporary technologies, but we only have 7 technicians for approximately 9000 users…that is more than 1000 users per technician.  All it takes is one bad piece of software or hardware…..be it new or old….to bog down our whole support network.   This is why we are very sensitive about carefully screening all software and hardware to be purchased.

We are moving towards a standardized laptop model for professionals and students in grades 3-12. One reason is that flexibility and mobility are key elements of our district technology vision . The second reason is that we have a small support staff with a limited budget which prohibits a diversified laptop environment. In order to decide which type of laptop to zero in on we employed the scholarly influence of Dr. Wayne K. Hoy, Ohio State University and Dr. Brian Brent,University of Rochester upon our decision-making design.

We randomly surveyed 81 teachers on their

• preferences on computer operating systems
• level of support required for the different operating systems
• sense for what the critical elements of a laptop computer ought to have

We learned a great deal from this, way more than can be captured in this blog. Some of the more distinct points include:

1. 84% of teachers responded as very comfortable with Windows XP and 80% were either uncomfortable or had no experience with Apple OS.
2. Good battery life and Internet speed are critical requirements for instructional laptops.
3. More teachers were motivated to use the small 12″ laptop than any of the other choices.

We held focus group meetings with

• parents
• community members
• students
• teachers
• technicians

From these we learned that

• Parents want a laptop that provides their child with a comparable or better learning experience than other schools.
• Community members want the most economically conservative laptop solution that still meets the educational requirements.
• Technicians are much more knowledgeable with supporting the Windows environment for an enterprise solution than Apple.
• Students are far more comfortable with Windows, but love iTunes.
• Teachers would require extensive staff development on Apple to obtain their present level of comfort with Windows.

Laying all these out on a grid of objectives and priorities, that overlays the economic challenges we face, we will be moving forward in the following manner:

1. Provide Lenovo X200 as our enterprise laptop for grades 3-12. These will gradually replace the ones in our computer carts. These will come with a built in camera, 9 cell battery, power cord & case for teachers.
2. Offer the cradle, USB Mouse and exterior CD/DVD player as an option to acquire through building/program budgets.

While these sorts of decisions never please everyone, we think that our work in soliciting and measuring all the stakeholders feedback has resulted in the best possible decision. We will continue to use Apples as our enterprise solution for pod/vod casting and look forward to a NYS iTunesU hopefully soon.

Nothing beats holding a piece of chalk in your hand…..especially for those of us who remember burning through a box of chalk a week writing notes on the board…aahh the good ole’ days…

Fast forward to the present where industry specialists estimate that one in every seven classrooms in the world will have an interactive whiteboard in 1-2 years.  Why?…it is because they do so much more for the learner than a static board.  For example, on these boards students could watch the inauguration, have a video conference with a foreign classroom, tour the ancient ruins of Rome, and still take written notes from the teacher  ….

We are going to continue to use the Smartboard solution. This was first introduced to Fairport schools about 4 years ago.  They have been used throughout Monroe County schools and have been supported both technically and pedagogically through Monroe #1 BOCES Model Schools.  There are lots of interactive boards to choose from…Polyvision…Mimio….Promethean...we have decided that the differences between these boards are mitigated by today’s economic climate.

These economic reasons include that Fairport already has a large number of Smartboards and there has been a significant investment in intellectual capital.  Teachers have been trained for several years on these boards who in turn could assist their colleagues in learning this technology.

A second reason is that we only have 7 technicians for all the schools.   A second brand of interactive boards would require additional personnel to be hired to support them.   It simply would be cost prohibitive to start from scratch to train teachers and technicians on another system.

The third reason is that Fairport is required to buy this equipment through Monroe #1 BOCES who in turn services this equipment through their AV repair service. They have a solid history for supporting this board.  They are very restrictive on the types of interactive boards they can support.

Check out this page of Interactive activities on the Smartboard for an illustration of of the types of things that can occur on a Smartboard.

To see a visual illustration of the technical system click on this link and select the Smartboard 600 series.

Group response systems (GRS) have become popular in contemporary classrooms and at Fairport we use a GRS product called Senteos. These are used in conjunction with Smartboards. But why is this technology important? Is this just another example of having “Stuff” because it is “cool” and “new”….. My answer is NO.

A recent study by Dr. Kellah M. Edens from the University of South Carolina published some relevant research on the role of these GRS in improving learning. Her findings typify the vast body of research over the past decade on the use of technology and instruction…the technology is only as good as the pedagogy of the teacher applying it.

Her study suggests that GRS can improve the self-regulatory skills and intrinsic desire for mastery of goals…in otherwords the use of GRS have a very specific place and purpose, not unlike other pedagogical tools available in good teachers’ repertoire.

Fairport Teacher Mr. Travis Wood is an example of a teacher applying this technology to improve student learning. For lessons and tips on GRS see these Travis or these links below.

Links

Wichita Public Schools Smart Lessons w/Senteos

Ohio State University Designing Questions w/Clickers

The Professional Playground

 www.morguefile.com

Our wireless team formulated the finer details of the 802.11n 5 GHz deployment schedule. This team is made up of technical engineers and network administrators from ISC, Monroe #1 BOCES, IBM and VPN Services. Physical site surveys of all the buildings was our topic.

Physical site surveys is the act of physically walking the building with special technical equipment that identifies the specific locations for wireless access points.…the devices that emit/receive the wireless signals. This is VERY important to our TVT requirements for creating a predictable and flexible learning environment.

Over Feb break the VPN engineers will conduct a sire survey of JP mark the installation location of the wireless access points. We are still deep in an evaluation of the Cisco & Mehru wireless access points and should be finished in a month. This team also determined that it may be very possible to conduct a site survey of the high school later this year. The other buildings will be done at the tail end of the summer 2010.