Design, intent and actual use.

Posted on 01/14/2012 by William Stites

While running a few errands today I had to withdrawal some money from the ATM.  It was freezing outside so I want to make use the drive-up machine so not to have to get out of my nice, warm car.

When I arrived there was someone ahead of me using the ATM and I had to wait for him to finish.  While I waited I was puzzled by what he was actually doing.

A drive-up ATM is designed for someone to drive-up and do their banking.  The machine is positioned in such a way to allow a person operate it from their car. The screen, height, buttons, etc have all been positioned and designed for this intended purpose.

That wasn’t what I saw.

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The iPad is not considered an educational tool?!

Posted on 01/05/2012 by William Stites

“Hi… I went to the apple store and asked for an educator’s discount on the iPad and they told me that they do not give a discount on iPads because they are not considered an educational tool.  After you picked me up off the floor and I went through my … are you kidding…… Is that unbelievable!  I didn’t buy it.” – close friend

That was an email I got from a close friend after they went to an Apple Store in the local mall and tried to get an iPad with an educational discount (available on most hardware).

I was baffled by the fact that this was the answer they were given.

I know things like the iPhone doesn’t have an educational discount, but a better answer to their question would have been, “Apple doesn’t discount the iPad for individual purchase.”

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Posted in iPad | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Where’s iDVD? Apple’s move away from optical media.

Posted on 12/24/2011 by William Stites

It’s the day before Christmas and all the through the house not a creature is stirring… except for my cousin who is trying to put together a DVD project on a brand new Lion iMac and couldn’t find iDVD.

With a drive to the Apple Store and a talk with a Genius he was told that it’s no longer supported on Lion, which isn’t exactly true.  iDVD isn’t pre-installed with Lion any longer but is still available on the iLife install DVD… which doesn’t come with the computer.  Bummer, but who installs software off DVDs anymore?!?!

And that’s the point.

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Posted in Technical | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The AppleID in your 1:1 Program – COPPA

Posted on 12/12/2011 by William Stites

We have a great 1:1 program at my school. In grades 4-12 every student (and all faculty) have a 13″ Macbook Pro with a 500GB backup drive along with a suite of software we’ve installed for productivity, content creation and organization.   Not only does each student have this powerful learning tool, they are also administrators on their own machines so they can install all though things that we forgot and they want.

We thought long and hard about how were would deliver software to our users and use JAMF’s Casper Self Service tool to do the job.  We have been very happy with the suite of tools JAMF provides and have even started using their mobile device management (MDM) platform to start deploying app to our iPads.

It was the iPads that got me first thinking about the AppleID.  As we begin to explore and pilot different management options for a possible iPad deployment one big issue is that ALL apps for the iPad have to be installed via the App Store and by no other mean.

Since we weren’t going to be moving to quickly on our iPad testing with student I thought we had some time to spend with this issue, I was wrong…

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Posted in 1to1, COPPA, Evernote, iPad, Technical | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Dealing with COPPA: Compliance, the lies and the future.

Posted on 12/11/2011 by William Stites

I don’t know about you but I am struggling with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

As we look to use different online tools in the classroom we evaluate them on the service(s) they provide, whether they meet our educational goals, and what is involved in the management and administration of the tool or service.

All of this is thrown a mess if the site’s account creation process involves the collection of personal information… enter COPPA compliance.

COPPA was enacted in 1998 the law requires that the Federal Trade Commission issue and enforce a rule concerning children’s online privacy, which the commission did in 1999. On April 21, 2000 the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule became effective.

COMPLIANCE & THE LYING

After reading the FAQ issued by the FTC one can still be left confused by what you actually need to do as site operator or as a school wanting to use a site that may or may not be COPPA compliant.

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Posted in Administration & Management, COPPA, EdTech, Teaching & Learning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Defining Data Domains for Entry, Ownership and Support

Posted on 11/13/2011 by William Stites

[NOTE: This is the second in a series of posts on the issue of Data Management in Schools. Read the first post here.]

In an earlier post I discussed a project I was undertaking to define “a clear set of rules and style guide­lines for enter­ing data…“.  As I began working through this project it became clear that I would first need to define the various data domains within the school, those responsible for the data entry, that had ownership over the various domains and the support personnel in each area.

What I uncovered was that we had at least nine top-level domains, sixteen (plus) sub-domains, well over thirty individuals responsible for data entry and the seven people responsible for support.

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Posted in Administration & Management, Data Management, Schools | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Interested in talking about Moodle? Moot anyone?

Posted on 11/12/2011 by William Stites

Are you interested in talking about Moodle? Would you like to come to a conference devoted to Moodle? Would you be willing to present at a conference devote to Moodle?

Are you are curious about how Moodle can be used in your school? Would you like to hear about case studies or best practice?  Wondering how Moodle is used in primary school, specific grade levels or disciplines?

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WordCamp Philly Version 2.0

Posted on 11/11/2011 by William Stites

There are certain things I look forward to in my job and the opportunities it affords me to learn new things and expand knowledge base.  WordCamp Philly 2011 provided me with the opportunity and delivered on learning in spades.

This was my second WordCamp Philly (and fourth overall – NYC & Boston) and having attended the previous year I knew I was in for a good day.  I dragged a colleague along with me this year (@damienbarrett) to learn together.

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Posted in Blogging, Community, Conferences, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rogue IT in Education and the BYOD, DIY model.

Posted on 10/25/2011 by William Stites

Chris Lehmann (@chrislehmann) of The Science Leadership Academy and founder of EduCon, said of technology:

“Technology must be like Oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible.”

I couldn’t agree more with this statement, but, as a Director of Technology, I also need to worry not only about the management of the technology itself, but also the expectations that come with it.

A recent article from CIO magazine titled “Embrace Rogue IT” talks about the various issues facing corporate IT, including: shrinking budgets, cloud computing, cheaper more powerful mobile devices, and of course, the iPad.  Additionally, the article reports that people are bypassing traditional IT channels and implementing their own “solutions.”  Put more simply, they are bringing a do it yourself (DIY) model to IT.

The article goes on to discuss how IT workers can put themselves in a better place by saying “Yes” more often, yet still finding a way to exert a modicum of control.

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Posted in 1to1, EdTech, Schools, Teaching & Learning, Technical | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

EdCampNYC 2011 – It’s all about the conversations

Posted on 10/15/2011 by William Stites

On October 1st I attended my second EdCampNYC.  It was a somewhat gray day, but the weather  would be no indication of the quality of the day ahead of me.

I had attend the previous year (My Day at EdCampNYC 2010) and I really enjoyed myself and the experience of my first unconference.  I was able to take a lot from last years EdCampNYC and looking to do the same this year.

from basil kolani...

The day began much as it had before, I got there early, parked, grabbed a cup of coffee from the Starbucks around the corner and made my way over the The School to wait for the doors to open.  When I got up stairs it was much as it was before… a board waiting to be filled with sessions, ideas and topics (I liked where the board was hanging last year, easier to get at).

I had decide that this year I would just attend the conference having hosted a sessions discussion on ideas in 2010.  As I waited to see what might be offered I moved about the room.

CONVERSATIONS ABOUND!

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