Archived
Technology CORE Team Meeting Minutes

Tech CORE Team Minutes
June 7, 2006

Attendance: Mike Greene, Cheryl Newman, Dan Matthews, Annette Romano, Pat Gosda, Kevin Delaney, Elsa Melby, Cindy Castren, Leah Wertz, Beth Montrello, Kelly Opiela, Sarah Glassman, Bill Edelstein, Rachel Stead, Nancy Sieper

1. The CORE Team’s appreciation was extended to members who are leaving the commmittee: Dave L’Hommedieu and Bill Edelstein. Thanks also to Beth Montrello whose term has ended!

2. Budget
Mike passed out an overview of the possible budget expenditures and placement of new laptops. There was a discussion about the six year replacement cycle and the needs of the schools.

3. Peripherals
The group discussed new printer placements and whether heavy or medium duty printers would be best for each location. Medium duty should meet most needs. Auditorium screens will probably not come out of this budget, but Charlie has indicated that there may be other funds to purchase these. A couple of schools (Rosendale & Iroquois) hope to pilot Mimio whiteboard devices before we consider a larger future purchase of these. iPods and science probes will probably need to be purchased through other means, as they are considered “supplies” (less than $300).

4. Paper Usage and Electronic Communications
Should we consider a goal for next year to help reduce the amount of paper consumed in the district? We could educate people, perhaps at faculty meetings, on how to save paper by sharing more communications and documents in electronic form. We need to encourage more electronic communication between administrators, secretaries, and teachers. First Class is an ideal medium for this.

5. Summer Meeting Date: Tuesday, July 18th 9am - 2pm

6. End-of-Year Summary and Goal Planning
We worked on the CORE Team Goal End-of-Year Summary. Six areas were included in the summary. They included:
-assistance with First Class implementation & training
-guidance of the teacher laptop distribution process
-managing the 6-year replacment cycle
-work on network/Internet policies
-dissemination of new technology information
-integration of district technology standards.
Most goals were achieved, with the exception of integration of technology standards. This is an ongoing goal that we will focus on during the next school year.

Four goals for next school year were identified. They include:
-renewed work with the district technology standards
-focusing the 6-year replacement cycle on high school needs
-providing input for the tech aspects of the district capital project
-continuing our sharing of new technologies.

7. United Streaming Videos
This online educational video service will probably not be available after June 2006, as the distribution agreement between United Streaming and PBS has been terminated. There is a similar service that BOCES has implemented, and we will look into this as a possible alternative.

8. “Bits & Bytes” Publication
Mike needs to have more input from everyone for content. Should each school sign up for a month and be responsible for a few articles? What about including a ‘Tech Trainer Corner’ with technical tips? Please consider possible strategies and share them with Mike.

9. Show & Tell:
Mike demonstrated how to create “thumbnail” image Web pages with iPhoto, and then how to incorporate them into a First Class website.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
May 11, 2006

Attendance: Dave Crandall, Mike Greene, Dave L’Hommedieu, Rachel Stead, Pat Gosda, Cindy Castren, Pat Cardettino, Kelly Opiela, Beth Montrello, Annette Romano, Bob Michaels, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Sieper, John Rickert, Dave Hudson, Kevin Delaney

BUDGET
Peripherals
Changes to the Building Peripheral Requests 2006-2007 (Partial Draft)
HS Media - No printers needed
HS D105 color printer @$1807
HS Art Dept. - heavy duty color printer at @$3200
HS Resource Room - 1 B/W laser printer @$1141
HS English Dept. - 1 B/W laser printer @$1141
HS Music Dept. - 1 B/W laser printer @$1141
Birchwood - 0 Smart Boards, but 2 document cameras
Does Rosendale really want a Smartboard?

Mike mentioned the possible use of a Mimio device instead of SmartBoards. They are about half the price and are temporarily attached directly to any whiteboard. It was suggested that there might be a demo in the fall at one of our meetings.

If you are requesting a printer please determine where it actually will be located. Consider physical size, output needs, etc.. Dave will research printer model options.

iPods for foreign language - possible pilot program using Hugh Farley grant$$?

Replacement Cycle
Estimated costs so far:
$50,000 - Infrastructure
$80,000 - 20% for peripherals
$30,000 - 25 replacement iBooks
$ 5,000 - MS music
Committed to a total of @$85,000 in place for Sept. l (All but peripherals)
Leaves $235,000 for January 2007 computer purchases.
Priority is to equip those elementary and middle school faculty members who did not receive a new iBook in January, 2006.
Discussed moving of eMacs, iMacs, and iBooks between elementary schools to standardize labs and carts for ease of support and continuing the replacement cycle. (One iBook Possibility: create 2 carts of Early 2004 iBooks, move the remainder (14) Early 2004 iBooks to Iroquois, therefore 3 carts could feasibly be replaced.)

JRT - Joint Review Team
Purpose is to improve communication and coordination between committees, create awareness of each committees duties, and to empower teachers in the decision making process.
Will present the following recommendations at future faculty meetings:
All CORE teams and committees post meeting minutes online in one area on First Class, viewable by all staff.
Annual reports will be submitted to the Academic CORE Team by July 1. ACT will be made up of the co-chairs from each CORE, 1 or 2 directors, plus a couple other staff members.
Draft goals submitted for following year by July 30 to ACT.
Recommendations back from ACT prior to first committee meeting.
Maintain open communications between faculty and CORE representatives.
The district is committed to 2 full summer days for CORE teams to accomplish any necessary work prior to the above deadlines.

First Class Website Development
Mike demonstrated how you can insert a QuickTime movie into a FC webpage document. It is as easy as exporting your video as a compressed QuickTime file from an application such as iMovie and doing an Insert, or just dragging & dropping the file, into your webpage document.

Send Mike articles for a new “bits & bytes” issue!!!!



Next Meeting: June 7 at 12:00 in the Board Room
Recorder/Refreshments: Cheryl Newman and ???

Tech CORE Team Minutes
April 12, 2006

Attending: Michael Greene, John Rickert, David Crandall, Pat Gosda, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Sieper, Beth Montrello, Leah Wertz, Charlie McCambridge, Kelly Opiela, Cindy Castren, Pat Cardettino, David L’Hommedieu, Dan Matthews, Bill Edelstein, (Kristen Majkut, Library Intern)

-A draft of the document “Images and the Internet” dealing with searching for and using Internet images was discussed. Some minor changes were suggested. An updated version of this document will be posted in the CORE First Class conference for any additional recommendations.

-A general discussion of Internet filtering followed. The difficulties of blocking all inappropriate sites and images using specific words and terms was acknowledged. The advantages and disadvantages of specific search engines (e.g. Google, Altavista) and sites (e.g. pics4learning.com) were discussed. There is a need to properly educate both faculty and staff about how to appropriately search, and which resources to utilize. Sharing the “Images and the Internet” document at faculty meetings will be a good start.

-Network security concerns were raised. There was a recent case of a number of student files being deleted from a building server. The ideas of limiting user permissions and/or creating student user accounts were discussed. Dave L. and Charlie will research how realistic it might be to have individual passworded student folders on all building servers.

-Mike indicated the need for “bits & bytes” articles. Please pass along any contributions to him!


-BUDGET:

Charlie is developing scenarios for various budget contingencies, depending upon how the upcoming budget vote turns out.

Pat C. and Dave L. compiled building computer inventories to assist with purchasing considerations.

It is hoped that there will continue to be approximately $400,000 worth of tech purchases available in next year’s budget. Some approximate initial thoughts on allocations included:
-$50,000 for centralized, networking equipment (e.g. servers)
-$80,000 for peripherals, representing 20% of budget
-$15,000 for teacher laptops (MS Art, Music, PE, Tech & Elem Music)
-$5,000 for middle school music program updating

If fairly accurate, these account for about $150,000 of the $400,000.

Representatives of each building shared information on peripheral purchase needs (e.g. projectors, document cameras, SmartBoards, printers). There was also discussion on whether to initially focus on the replacement of desktop computers or rolling laptop labs. This discussion will continue at the next meeting, and Mike will develop a spreadsheet on peripherals purchases to share.

Next meeting: Wednesday, May 10th at 8:00AM
Refreshments/Recorders: Cheryl Newman & Cindy Castren

Tech CORE Team Minutes
March 9, 2006

Present:  Michael Greene, Charlie McCambridge, David Crandall, Pat Gosda, Bill Edelstein,  Pat Cardettino, Carol La Row, Annette Romano, Nancy Sieper, Cheryl Cufari, Dan Matthews, David L’Hommedieu, Bob Michaels

 Capital Project:
Charlie distributed handouts entitled “Technology in the 2006 Capital Project—What’s in/What’s Out?”  and “Technology Integration/Security”.  These included capital project expenditure information on areas including wireless networks, telephone systems, “media on demand” services, and security for the elementary, middle & high schools.

 Charlie will be happy to try to answer questions via email.  The whole construction project will take at least 4 years.  We may be able to do some of the technology projects before some of the other construction as we have a robust network already in place.  Our telephone service critically needs attention.

 Charlie will be visiting several school sites to see some recommended Library/Media centers.  Some suggested districts were: Queensbury, Scarsdale, and Greece. Representatives of Tech Core may be interested in participating in these visitations.

 Media On Demand (MOD) would provide access to a wide variety of media. Funding has been included for the high school to pilot this. Teachers would access content through a remote server. This would allow teachers to view video without DVDs and DVD players.  It would also require consideration of copyright implications. David clarified our options, which would be digitizing our own collections for MOD.  This would require directly paying royalties for the content.  Another option would be buying into a MOD service with their own collection. If the latter was chosen, would there be flexibility for customizing content?  What cost would be involved for such a service?  If it were successful in the high school, would the district be able to fund its being expanded to other buildings?  Who should be involved in the decision making process for this?  Can we visit other school districts that have this in place? Further investigation and discussion are needed.

 Pat raised the concern that classroom displays (e.g. LCD projectors, plasma screens) purchased through the capital project be somewhat flexible in the way they are mounted in classrooms. There needs to be a balance struck between flexibility and practicality with how these are installed. 

Other Charlie Items:
The Board of Education will be considering expanded tech support for the district.  There will be a substantial increase in the BOCES budget next year due to the ongoing tech renewal cycle.

 Bob indicated the importance of providing the community with information about how our proposed technology purchases would be economically and instructionally effective.   One example is a proposed Student Management Service.  Information on demographics, special needs students, testing data, and enrollment will need to be submitted to the state on a monthly basis, and therefore we need a new Student Management System to perform this mandatory submission.

 Charlie distributed a handout entitled “The Sun Has Set”, including a spreadsheet of obsolete Apple products no longer being supported by the company. 

David Crandall led the discussion on equipment purchases for January 2007:
As an initial figure, each elementary building receiving 14 computers (eMacs or iBooks) was considered. Please check the computer inventories in your school prior to the next meeting. We especially need to count the number of eMacs and iBooks, including their date of purchase/generation.  One suggestion was to replace a building’s lab, cart, classrooms on a rotating basis, perhaps swapping computers between schools to maintain a consistency within each building.  Refer to pages 12 & 13 of the “District Technology Plan” for what equipment is to be replaced in the 6 year technology cycle. (Charlie will post these pages in the Tech Core First Class conference.)

VA and Iroquois will need to complete their distribution of learning laptops to those teachers who did not receive them this year (e.g. art, PE, Music, health, tech).  This will require approximately 20 computers.To replace the laptops at the High School would require the purchase of about 130 computers.  David L. recommended buying them all in one year to make support of these machines more efficient.  Such a purchase would probably have to wait until the following school year.

Other:
Please review the “Images on the Internet” document in Tech CORE First Class conference prior to the next Core meeting.  We’ll share feedback at the next meeting.

Next meeting:  Wednesday, April 12th  (Noon – 3PM) in the CSE conference room in VA.   Refreshments & note taking: John and Carol 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
February 8, 2006

Attendance: Michael Greene, Bill Edelstein, Pat Gosda, Nancy Sieper, Cheryl Cufari, Beth Montrello, Leah Wertz, Dan Matthews, Kelly Opiela, Rachel Stead, David Crandall, Cindy Castren, David L'Hommedieu, Pat Cardettino

- If teachers come across inadvertently blocked Web sites, they should contact their building Computer TAs in order to have them unblocked. The message received when trying to access a blocked site will be modified, and will no longer indicate that a message has been generated about the attempted access.

- Laptop rollouts have been completed and Michael G. is beginning half-day training sessions with kindergarten & 1st grade teachers next week. Middle School English is scheduled for the morning of the March 24th conference day.

- A need was identified to create a document for teachers concerning the use of student photos & names on school Web, as well as safe image searching on the Internet. Cheryl C. will coordinate the authoring.

Budget:
- Additional elementary & middle school projectors needs (based upon number of classrooms, including art & music):

Birchwood 13
Craig 16
Rosendale 12
Hillside 12
Glencliff 12
VA 18
Iroquois 20
Cost of projectors is currently around $1200 each. If about half of the indicated projectors are purchased, it is hoped that they will cover the initial critical needs. This may be possible by increasing the peripherals portion of the tech budget from 15% to 20%. What other considerations should be taken into account for projector purchases (e.g. speakers, video adaptors, carts)? Perhaps Charlie could put out a bid on these items to determine the total cost of a projector station. Other peripherals that may be needed include document cameras.

-Charlie provided a handout indicating the long-term timeframe of equipment leases.

- Should we replace the donated GE HP towers (custodians, cafeteria, etc.) in the near future?

- Where would we need to replace other computers to create uniformity within working spaces? For building computer labs:
Birchwood 6-7 eMacs
Craig 7 eMacs
Rosendale 16 eMacs
Hillside 6-8 eMacs
Glencliff 6 eMacs
VA 6 eMacs
Iroquois 15 eMacs

Uniformity in replacement of lab computers and rolling laptops is a high priority.

Sharing:
- Michael G. shared the need for Bits & Bytes items for a new issue. Please pass along articles from your buildings. We might want to highlight certain aspects of First Class (e.g. conference etiquette), the laptop rollout, and progress toward a student management system.

- Michael once again demonstrated Google Earth, and indicated that a training session is scheduled for this afternoon at the high school. He shared its measurement capabilities, various “layers” and the ability to add overlaid images.

Michael has also created a video tutorial DVD on how to use First Class to create Web sites. He is considering doing the same with the United Streaming Video service. These tutorial disks will be distributed to each building and be available to sign-out through media centers. He will post an announcement in First Class advertising them.

Budget:
- Check with your buildings to see if there are other items/peripherals needed.
- Are there other additional laptops needed in buildings (e.g. added teaching positions)?

Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 8 Noon - 3:00 PM
Possible topics:
-Architect/Engineer report on bond issue items
-Finalize budget discussions

Tech CORE Team Minutes
January 19, 2006

Attendance:
Cheryl Cufari, Annette Romano, Bob Michaels, Pat Cardettino, Cindy Castren, Kelly Opiela, Dan Matthews, Michael Greene, David Crandall, Charlie McCambridge, David L’Hommedieu, Kevin Delaney, Pat Gosda, Bill Edelstein, Nancy Sieper

Laptop Rollouts:
Rosendale, Birchwood, Craig, Glencliff, & Hillside rollouts went well with no unexpected glitches. The revised “computer use” document was reviewed, and the teachers seem happy with the fact that district insurance will cover their laptops even when off of school grounds. Some teachers mentioned that it was good to be learning about the new computers together as a faculty. Some file management training would help. Teachers have asked for suggestions on how students might use the laptops most effectively.
Mike is trying to arrange for half-day grade level training at the elementary level. He will start with K-1. He plans to ask for input on specific capabilities that teachers might like to explore.
Craig needs another airport to improve wireless access. This is apparently true in some other elementary buildings as well.
Middle schools are doing rollouts by deptartment, and not all teachers have received the training as yet. The centralized & automated imaging of the computers was very good. Many thanks to the team responsible for this process.
Security was discussed, and theft protection seems more of a concern at the middle schools.

Continued Training:
Could ongoing training be held during faculty meetings or after school? This would work at the elementary level. TechTalk-type sessions could be held at the end of faculty meetings, and teachers may choose to stay if the topic is one that would be personally helpful.
Some middle school subject areas may provide ongoing training at department meetings (e.g. Math). One-on-one and small group training has previously proven to be especially successful.
It was discussed that we may want to advocate for technology training time during our professional days in June.

Areas where teacher must/could be trained:
- how to use projectors
- Web site development (using First Class)
- other advanced First Class training
- integrating technology into specific curriculum activities
- video streaming (United Streaming service)
- implementing technology standards at each grade level
- file management

Speakers for computers:
Try to have as many sets of speakers as you have projectors in a building.

Summer Directions for Laptops:
2 options:
1. bring home
2. keep in one common secured area out of sight

Maintenance and upgrading will probably need to occur during the summer.

Show and Tell: Mike Greene
-Webquests - A Webquest is a student activity that uses Internet resources selectively chosen by the teacher. A great resource for locating teacher developed Webquests: http:/webquest.org/

It also has a relatively new area for easily creating Webquests:

http://webquest.org/questgarden/author/

Registering for accounts is free through this coming summer. Hint: Remember to click “Submit” as you move from one authoring page to another, or you will lose what you created. Mike would be happy to help anyone interested.

- Map Web site: www.maps101.com/
Very easy to use and fabulous for K-12. You can share the user information and password with students, but please don’t post on Web sites.

- Google Earth is now available for the Mac as a free download. Polly Farrington is doing training on Google Earth on January 26th at 9:00 in the HS Media Center. All are welcome.

-Mike is creating DVD tutorials to be used by teachers. Copies will be made available in each building. His first production is about creating Web sites in First Class.

Technololgy budget: Next year’s tech budget looks like it will be about the same as the last, appproximately $400,000 worth of leased equipment. Purchase of infrastructure items will probably again be scheduled for the summer, and other items for mid-year. This will help us to stay on track for the 6-year replacement cycle. Previously, 15% has been budgeted for peripherals. This percentage may need to be increased given the increase in number of laptops and demand for projectors, etc. We will need to prioritize what needs to be replaced and need to be consistent.
Please determine how many classroom and special area teachers there are in your buildings who might need a projector. You can use the “blue sheet” list from the laptop rollout to help you. What are the other peripherals your building needs? Please bring information to the next meeting. Charlie suggested the option of possibly “fast tracking” parts of the bond, such as mounting the classroom projectors and installing the new telephone system. This would need SED approval. However, please don’t promise anything to anyone at this point!

Refreshments/ Recording next meeting: Dave L. and Dan
Topics: Peripherals
Standards

Refreshments and Recorders for the rest of the year (revised):
2/8 8-11am Dan/Dave L’H
3/8 12-3pm David C/Mike
4/12 12-3pm John/Carol (CSE Conference Room)
5/10 8-11am Cheryl N/Cindy
6/7 12-3pm PatC/Chris

Tech CORE Team Minutes
December 14, 2005

Attendance: Kelly Opiela, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Siepa, Leah Wertz, Chris Bianchi, Annette Romano, Cindy Castren, Pat Cardettino, Beth Montrello, Cheryl Newman, Pat Gosda, Michael Greene, John Rickert, Carol LaRow, Bill Edelstein, Dan Matthews, Kevin Delaney, Jessie Fitzgerald, Rachel Stead, Dave L’Hommedieu. Visitor: Dr. Baughman

I. Distribution/Processing of Laptops

II. Show and Tell

 III. Computer Use Agreement Document

IV. More Roll Out Information

V. Budget

 VI. Miscellaneous

Tech CORE Team Minutes
November 16, 2005

Attendance: Pat Cardettino, Cindy Castren, David Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Kevin Delaney, Bill Edelstein, Pat Gosda, Michael Greene, David L'Hommedieu, Charlie McCambridge, Cheryl Newman, Leah Wertz

Renewal Cycle:
Charlie McCambridge passed out a document listing what has been purchased for the current year and stated that 1/3 of the district computers have now been replaced to date. With new laptops arriving, a discussion was held on the number of projectors needed and alternate ways to project. Charlie publicly acknowledged the support the Board Of Education has shown for allocating money to keep the district up-to-date technologically. Buildings now need to consider rotating classroom machines as laptops are distributed to fill gaps where newer computers are needed.

Laptop Distribution:

Elementary teachers receiving: All K-5 classroom teachers, Art, Music, PE, Reading, Special Ed, 2 Counselors, Instrumental Music.

Middle School teachers receiving: Special Ed, Math, Social Studies, English, Science, Foreign Language, Home & Careers. Health: to be determined for the one teacher that does not have one. Art, Music, PE not receiving. Art could use multiple desktop classroom machines for their program. Music has older working computers compatible with their Yamaha keyboard software. Next year's discussion should include music software upgrade, if it exists. PE would be using it more as a professional machine and will get a laptop next year. Each of these 3 departments will be receiving redistributed eMacs.

TA's and Media Specialists need to talk to principals to prepare for laptops. Consderations as to possible relocation of newer machines in rooms now so that others have access, backup of teachers' files from computers being currently used, and helping teachers to do that. TA's need time to ready laptops for distribution. The last week of December was suggested. Labs would be closed so that time could be dedicated just to this process.

Training - Mike will develop a plan to best serve the teachers in relation to the number of computers being distributed and the variety of departments. Building trainers will meet for the second time with him on 12/5.


Possible Future Expenditures and topics for December discussion:
-Laptop distribution to those who were not included in this round.
-Needs on the management side, including the nurses.
-Needs in the high school in terms of conditions of original computers.
-Labs/Media Centers needs.
-Additional servers.
-Peripherals such as projectors (perhaps a larger percentage of the budget than in the past)


Dr. Baughman thanked Tech Core for developing the replacement plan. The district is working on making Ed Alston III and Joe Lane permanent district employees. He also discussed the “opt out” policy of having student pictures and full names on the Web site. Forms for this have been in district mailings and parents can inform Meghan Allen and building principals about their wishes to do so.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
October 20, 2005

Attendance: Mike Greene, Dave Crandall, Charlie McCambridge, John Rickert, Rachel Stead, Beth Montrello, Annette Romano, Cindy Castren, Pat Cardettino, David L’Hommedieu, Cherly Newman, Chris Bianchi, Kevin Delong, Pat Gosda, Cherly Cufari, Nancy Sieper, Dan Matthews, BIll Edlestein, Robert Michaels, Lea Wertz, Kelly Opiela

1) Committee Questionnaire

Tech CORE members discussed and responded to a questionnnaire provided by a team collecting and analyzing data on district committtees.


2) Show and Tell - First Class

Mike reiterated the need to bring relevant conferences directly to your First Class desktops. This includes the Tech CORE conference for members.

Mike shared the Web page development component of First Class. Once created, pages saved in the Home Page Folder will be live on the Web. The URL for such pages is:
http:/fc.niskyschools.org/ ~“username”/

-To create a Web page, go under File > New > New Document Special > Personal Web Page or Site Web Page
-Type text, change font, etc.
-Drag images files to page.
-Drag & drop icons from other pages to create links to them.
-To add link to another site from a Web browser, just drag the URL from the top of the window.

Mike is offering a Model Schools course on this capability starting in mid-November. It was also suggested that it might be shared during faculty meetings and in future district-wide training. Unfortunately, there is no time available for such training during the January professional growth day.

Dave has turned on the Web site feature for all TechCORE members.


3) Laptops

-Trainer computers are here (2 per elementary & middle school building).
-Trainers will get them after school sometime in November and will be asked to participate in at least a couple of sessions with Mike.
-Trainers will most likely distribute computers at building faculty meetings in January.
-All teachers will be participate in at least one half-day training session with Mike.
-One additional suggestion is to provide release time for trainers to offer support during school hours.


4. Charlie’s Report

-Charlie distributed facilities bond information. It is also available on the district Web site.

-Niskayuna, along with other NYS districts, are now required to report student information to the state electronically.

-Increased tech support for those buildings that will receive new laptops is being planned.

-The district Print Shop is accepting electronic orders for printing, and delivers copies within a day or two.

-BOCES is working on potentially providing on-demand electronic media resources to districts.

-We may want to consider inviting representatives from the architect/engineer’s firm as future speakers to Tech CORE.


Our next meeting will be held on November 30th at noon in Van Antwerp Room 204.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
September 21, 2005

Attending: Pat Cardettino, Bill Edelstein, Beth Montrello, Cheryl Cufari, David Crandall, Charlie McCambridge, Nancy Sieper, Carol LaRow, Leah Wertz, Rachael Stead, Kelly Opiela, Annette Romano, Dave L’Hommedieu, Dan Matthews, John Rickert, Bob Michaels, Cheryl Newman, Mike Greene

Tech CORE 2005-06 Meeting Dates:

10/20 8-11AM Kelly/Beth
11/30 12-3PM Nancy/ Annette (VA Rm204)
12/14 8-11AM Leah/Rachael
1/19 12-3 PM Cheryl C/Pat C
2/8 8-11AM Dan /Dave L’H
3/8 12-3PM David C/ Mike
4/12 12-3 PM John/Carol (CSE Conference Rm)
5/10 8-11AM Cheryl N/Cindy
6/7 12-3PM Pat G/Chris
Note: All meetings are on Wednesdays, except 10/20 & 1/19 (Thursdays).
Meetings are held in the district Board Room, unless otherwise noted.
CORE members listed for each meeting will take notes and provide refreshments.

Computer Purchases (Mike & Charlie)
Apple iBook G4s (14inch) with SuperDrives will be distributed in January to all K-5 classroom teachers and elementary music & art teachers. Middle school English, science and foreign language teachers will also receive laptops.
Training iBooks are currently being processed, and two will be allocated to each elementary and middle school. Please contact Mike with the names of those who will be trainers in you building.
All those receiving iBooks will receive training. In addition to Mike, potential trainers include media specialists, TAs, and teachers still to be identified. These teachers will be selected from among those earmarked for getting the iBooks. Training will include basic use as well as curriculum-related activities. Input will be elicited from teachers on what type of instructional uses they might like to be trained for. Some suggestions from CORE members included report forms, curricular Web links, streaming video, LCD projector hookups, and the iLife suite of software. Training will be in the form of half-day sessions.
Reduction in prices might allow for additional machines to be purchased and distributed so that all elementary teachers might receive them, as well as potentially middle school art, music, reading, and PE teachers. These decisions will be made as actual prices and numbers of machines needed are more definite.
Purchase of peripheral equipment is based upon 15% of the replacement budget. Do we want to keep it at this rate, and how do we allocate it? Peripheral purchasing decisions need to be made and presented to BOCES by October 1st. A goal might be 1 projector per grade level at the elementary level. Send info to Mike concerning the number of projectors currently in your building and number of classroom sections.


First Class training
Feedback on training has generally been quite positive. More training will be forthcoming in ?bits & bytes? articles, TechTalks, and courses. Any problems with FC should be reported to Joe Lane or Eric Hausgaard through your building TA.
Remember that when you post or reply to a conference it goes to everyone. Sometimes it is better to respond to an individual as opposed to the conference. All staff should also be aware of confidentiality issues. Principals should remind staff to look at Employee Area conference for district news.
There are some differences and limitations in the First Class Web interface. It is always better to use the First Class client whenever possible.
Mike will be offering a course through Model Schools in November on First Class documents and creating/posting Web sites.

Capital Improvement Project (Charlie):
Capital improvement project information was distributed for review. What is role of the Tech CORE Team in this bond issue? Bidding on project will not begin for a year if passed in January (6/07). Research is needed on what capabilities we want, what is available now, and what will be potentially available in the future.

Some agenda items for next meeting:
Capital Improvement Project (This will be a standing agenda item for some time)
Tech Standards Web Site

Next meeting: Thursday, October 20th 8-11:00AM
Food/minutes: Kelly & Beth

Tech CORE Team Minutes
June 8, 2005

In Attendance: Rachel Brewer, Pat Cardettino, Dave Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Bill Edelstein, Mike Greene, Dave L’Hommedieu, Dan Matthews, Beth Montrello, Cheryl Newman, John Rickert, Nancy Sieper, Leah Wertz

Replacement Cycle Discussion:
Dave L. shared a cost comparison of Apple vs. Dell laptop purchases for next year’s replacement cycle using quotes from NERIC. Since we are leasing through BOCES, our options of vendors are limited to those who they deal with. Mike asked if the prices quoted on the vendor Web sites represent finalized pricing, or if pricing is negotiable due to the number of units being purchased.

Question was raised as to how frequently discussions should take place during the replacement cycle to consider possible platform changes. Should it be every year, in the middle of the cycle (3 years), or at the end of the cycle?

Survey results from the elementary and middle school teachers were compiled by Mike and sorted by school. The majority of staff were neutral as far as a need for a particular platform, but the majority commented on their comfort with Macs.

Dave spoke with a couple of high school departments and the technicians. The Math Department pointed to a program that they use with Texas Instruments calculators, TI Interactive, that is only available as aWindows application. The technicians pointed to the amount of time spent on virus and spyware problems dealing with the HS laptops.

It was unanimously agreed that we would keep the current configurations of platforms as they are for next year’s replacement cycle. Elementary and middle schools will purchase Macs, and the high school rolling lab will be Windows machines.

Mike has had difficulty arranging for times for technology updates at the elementary buildings. As an alternative, it was decided that he would author a special edition of “bits & bytes”, updating the faculty on district technology news. Topics will include our new communication program (First Class), computer repladement plan purchases, and tech standards & lesson exemplars dissemination.

The district’s new communication program will be First Class. The client software will be installed on as many computers as possible by September, but the service can also be accessed via a Web browser. On the first Superintendent’s Conference Day in the fall, introductory training sessions will be held for all district faculty. Some volunteers may be needed to help with these training sessions.

Mike provided a demo on the United Streaming Video service. The cost for this service conti nues to be covered by a grant , but now it is being distributed by the Discovery Channel. Teachers and students can register for their own user names and passwords. It is strongly recommended that teachers download videos instead of depending upon streaming to view them with their students. The Discovery Channel has added a number of new features beyond the video content. Mike has already distributed information on the updated service to media specialists and computer TAs, but also asked that CORE members help to spread the word.

The student technology standards & exemplar activities still need to be organized and disseminated as a Web site. An administrative intern working with Dave and in the district offices this summer may be available to work on portions of this. Mike is looking for someone to volunteer to assist with the design and development of the Web site.

It was decided that, at this point, a summer meeting does not appear to be necessary. However, Dave asked for all members to regularly check their school email accounts through the summer for any communications.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
May 18, 2005

Present:  Pat Cardettino, David Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Bill Edelstein, Pat Gosda, Michael Greene, David L’Hommedieu, Charlie McCambridge, Bob Michaels, Beth Montrello, Cheryl Newman, Kelly Opelia, John Rickert, Nancy Sieper
 
1.  Communication with faculty about standards and the computer replacement plan between now and the end of the school year. 
Mike Greene will develop a PowerPoint about this and is willing to go to schools to present this information.  Dave will communicate with Tony Brandone and the elementary principals about the best time to present this information.  Kelly O. volunteered to present at Birchwood, Beth M. & Cheryl C. at Glencliff, and Pat G. at VA.
 
2.  Distribution of new computers for 2005-06
Tech. Core will make recommendations to the superintendent.  Dave Crandall has already communicated with directors about which departments will get computers at the middle school level. 
 
Some computers will be purchased during summer and most in January ’06 in order to save money during 2005-06 budget year.  One technical position to support these computers will be added in Jan. ’06.  Discussion of whether we would be to get back on an all-summer computer purchase cycle sometime in the future.  The district is also exploring the possibility of cooperative purchasing among schools in Schenectady County for the future.
 
Dave Crandall contacted all elementary principals regarding staffing for 2005-06 and distributed a summary of numbers of elementary teacher.  Total elementary teachers potentially needing computers would be 114.  Our plan is to also purchase 32 laptops for high school math, social studies, and business ed.  The remaining money would be used to purchase laptops for middle school English, foreign language and science.
 
Charlie McCambridge distributed price information for iBook G4 laptops.  Discussion followed about screen size and combo vs.” super” drives (DVD burning).  Do all units need DVD burners?
 
3.  Computer platform of new laptops
There was considerable discussion of the factors affecting the decision about what platform (Windows vs. Mac) the new laptops should be.  Areas mentioned included:  total cost of ownership; compatibility with software; what other schools in the area are using; possibility of future consortium purchases; skills needed by tech. staff to service the computers;  time frame for making the decision; teacher and student computer needs;  impact of standards on platform decision; viruses and spyware.
 
Regardless of platform, teachers will need training for their new laptops.  How will we do teacher training for computers arriving mid-year?  Dave Crandall will check with superintendent about arranging time for training.
 
Criteria were developed for Technology Core to use in making a recommendation about computer platform.  These are:
·        Types of capabilities required in our educational environment
·        Levels of hardware required in varying settings
·        Needs only satisfied by one platform (e.g. Windows, Macintosh)
·        Home-use compatibility
·        Compatibility with currently owned software (inventory current software)
·        Networking flexibility
·        Technical support needs (e.g. repair, security, virus/spyware)
·        Initial cost , as well as “total cost of ownership” (TCO)
·        Relative weight of laptops
 
Process for making computer platform decision:
·        Meet at NERIC with vendors to review both platforms.
·        Charlie McCambridge will get dates for these meetings at NERIC, and any Tech. Core member may attend.
·        Charlie will also check with other districts about what computers they are purchasing.
·        Get feedback from teachers.
·        Kelly and Mike will develop a question to determine from teachers if the choice of computer platform will preclude them from meeting any of their teaching objectives.  Dave L’Hommedieu will talk to math, social studies, and business departments at high school about this as well.  He will also gather anecdotal information from the tech. staff about service concerns with each platform.
·        Tech. Core will analyze data and choose platform to recommend.
 
Recommendations about computer configuration and platform must be made by Technology Core at our next meeting so that summer computer orders may be placed with NERIC in time for delivery for by September.
 
Next meeting:  June 8, 12 – 3 p.m.  Minutes and food:  Pat Cardettino and Beth Montrello

Tech CORE Team Minutes
April 13, 2005

In attendance were:
Beth Montrello, Leah Wertz, Cheryl Newman, Nancy Sieper, Cheryl Cufari, Bill Edelstein, Kelly Opiela, Pat Cardettino, Dan Mathews, Pat Gosda, Chris Bianchi, David L’Hommedieu. Michael Greene, Charlie McCambridge, John Rickert


Standards:
An updated Web site design for the sharing of standards and activity exemplars was shared by Mike.
Dave L’H. discussed the high school standards survey and shared his updated work.

Budget:
Charlie provided handouts with current budget information.
New initiatives from NYSED were discussed concerning data warehousing and student data tracking. Data reporting requirements will include attendance, test scores, personal and geographical info. Bill E. expressed concern about privacy issues.
Technology purchase allocation recommendations for next school year were discussed.
Related issues, such as purchasing desktops vs. laptops, and customization of computers were also addressed.

E-Mail/communication system:
The email committee has made a final recommendation to implement First Class for the district’s new email/communications system. Security, operations, cost, implementation & functionality were among the criteria considered by the committee.

The next Tech CORE meeting has been rescheduled to Wednesday, May 18th.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
March 9, 2005

Attending: Rachel Brewer, Pat Cardettino, David Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Pat Gosda, Michael Greene, David L'Hommedieu, Dan Matthews, Charlie McCambridge, Bob Michaels, Cheryl Newman, Kelly Opiela, John Rickert, Nancy Sieper, Leah Wertz

Mike and Dave L. showed the format they are working on for presenting the tech standards data that has been collected. The group discussed various methods to display the information. Currently the elementary data is shown by grade level results, the middle school by grade and subject. Dave presented a Powerpoint presentation that breaks down the high school survey information by department.
Dave and Mike are also developing rubric templates to be provided with particular activities to assist with assessment. They will also work on a method to display an overview of the high school information.

Members were updated on the recent email “spam” problems. A hardware device (Barracuda) is being considered to block spam from the server. It was suggested that information be disseminated on methods to avoid spam and virus/spyware. This information could be shared in future issues of “bits & bytes”.

A report on the email committee's work was presented. After reviewing four packages, the committee hopes to have a final recommendation by the end of their next meeting in late March.

Charlie gave an update on the installation of the fiber optic network connections in the district, and what still needs to be accomplished.

Charlie and David C. gave a budget update. Some questions remain concerning the replacement items for next year and their final distribution.

The next meeting is scheduled for April 13th 12 - 3 pm with Dave C. and Mike -Snacks/recorder.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
February 9, 2005

Attending: Margie Amerling, Chris Bianchi, Rachel Brewer, David Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Bill Edelstein, Pat Gosda, Michael Greene, Dave L'Hommedieu, Dan Matthews, Charlie McCambridge, Beth Montrello, Cheryl Newman, Nancy Sieper, Leah Wertz

Charlie discussed the renewal cycle timeline for next year's purchase of equipment through NERIC. Software loads should be identified before July 7 so equipment can be ready in time for the start of the school year. Additional summer staffing could be available for processing new equipment.

A copy of the budget initiatives presented to the BOE by the superintendent was handed out and discussed.

More information is needed from the department directors in order to finalize our recommendation for the allocation of renewal equipment for 2005/2006. Dave L'H. will contact the directors.

Mike G. demonstrated the use of answers.com and their 1-ClickAnswers application.

Dave L'H. reported on the high school survey which was conducted through the Blackboard online service. All high school departments responded, although data from the Art dept was lost and is being reconstructed. Dave also demonstrated a preliminary compilation of the data received.
Mike shared a Web site skeleton as a model for presenting tech standards and exemplar activities. He also shared Ballston Spa's tech skills matrix.

Mike reported on the email/communications committee work. So far, two packages (Groupwise and First Class) have been presented to the committee. Other applications will be reviewed at future meetings.

The next meeting will be March 9th (8 - 11 a.m.). Margie and John are scheduled for minutes/refreshments.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
January 12, 2005

A committee to review email software has been formed and is working.  GroupWise has made a presentation about their email software. The committee is creating a matrix for email software evaluation.  Desirable email features:  Ease of use, interface with multiple platforms, reliability, virus and spam protection, mail message tracking, ability to group recipients for messaging, provision for threaded discussions, integration with standard software packages, calendaring, and web mail for remote access.  About $15,000 is budgeted for the email program.  Next meeting of the email committee will be Feb. 7 with a presentation from First Class software.
 
Charlie distributed and described materials about the facility review process.  There is a possibility that a few pilot “smart classrooms” may be set up before they are constructed district-wide.
 
Charlie gave an overview of the funds available for the technology renewal budget for 2005-06.  About $234,000 would be available after infrastructure needs, administrative computers, AIS lab, and peripherals are purchased.  Charlie and Dave described two possible scenarios for distributing the laptops to be purchased with these funds. One scenario includes a new teacher laptop for each elementary classroom plus music and art, 45 middle school laptops and 31 high school laptops in rolling carts.  The other scenario includes laptops for elementary grades 1-3 plus music and art, 76 middle school laptops, 31 high school laptops in rolling carts, and 7 district music laptops.  Discussion included how elementary grade levels were selected, use of high school rolling laptop labs, possible “trickle-down” of eMacs to teachers not getting laptops in 2005-06, logistical problems with laptops, the need for training for use of new computers, the need for daily in-building technical support in each building, need for additional computer projectors and network connections.  The superintendent will decide how the new computers are distributed.  Other scenarios could be developed.
 
Mike discussed gathering and verifying information about what technology standards are being met by each department or grade.  He outlined a plan to take what information we already have and meet with computer TAs to verify its accuracy, then go to teachers with this information for more review. 
 
Attendance:
Chris Bianchi                                         
Pat Cardettino              
Dave Crandall                                                   
Bill Edelstein
Pat Gosda                                                        
Mike Greene
Dan Matthews                                                   
Beth Montrello
Charlie McCambridge                                       
Cheryl Newman
Kelly Opiela                                                      
John Rickert
Nancy Sieper                                                   
Leah Wertz                                                                  
 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
December 8, 2004

- Attendance: Pat Gosda, Chris Bianchi, Pat Cardettino, Cheryl Newman, Kelly Opiela, Rachel Brewer, David L'Hommedieu, Leah Wertz, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Sieper, John Rickert, Bob Michaels, Charlie McCambridge, Mike Greene, Bill Edelstein, Lynn Macan.

- Bits and Bytes: Discussed the need for Bits and Bytes articles, so including more information from real classrooms and teacher experieces. Tech CORE members should solicit articles from colleagues to send along to Mike G. We can also write narratives of what others are doing and send them to Mike.

- Show and Tell: Last year Mike presented ezediaMX (multimedia presentation software) It is similar to Hyperstudio in that it creates non-linear and hyperlinked presentations.
 Mike demonstrated mPOWER 5, which is similar to ezediaMX, but without some of the features such as path animation and logic tools. This application makes up for that with its ease of use (especially for younger students) and its quickness. Mike thinks it seems to function much better than ezediaMX. The interface appears to be less difficult to use. Although there is no software money left to pilot it this year, Mike would be willing to show it to teachers for future consideration.
  Discussion followed regarding the appropriateness of different presentation software applications for varying age/grade levels and the process through which those applications are piloted and/or adopted.

- Budget & Tech Plan: Charlie passed out technology support budget sheets for 2004-2008. We are assuming 50% BOCES aid, because we cannot forecast the rate. Planning reflects the replacement cycle. An explanation of the 6-year replacement plan is included, as well as a state-required explanation of services provided by the telephone company. Mike mentioned that we should mention the potential impact of the facilities project within the Tech Plan, even though some of the changes may be outside of the time range of the plan. There is no computer equipment included in the facilities project proposals. We need to include these technology support sheets, along with the itemized replacement plan (with updates), in the Tech Plan. It also needs to be clear that with the replacement plan, we may have extra computers for some time. In the event that those machines break down, the replacement plan does not provide for replacement of those machines, but only for the newer ones bought under the replacement plan.
  Discussion followed regarding purchasing standalones vs. limited capability workstations (e.g. ?thin clients?).
  We should have recommendations for how to allocate next year's budget to the Superintendent by March. Significant conversation should take place in January regarding learning laptop purchases and placement.
  Tech CORE members should come to the next meeting (January) with ideas for what we will need in terms of computers (numbers) from the money budgeted for next year, as well as peripherals, etc. Consider not just grade levels and departments, but also media centers and other special area needs. Mike G. commented that there is also the possibility of staggering the computers among different grade levels instead of just deploying them in a “top-down” fashion. The decisions should be needs-based and tied to the standards. Secondary principals will talk to the directors and get some very specific ideas of their needs. Are there any departments that have run into roadblocks because their laptops do not have the capabilities for what they want them to do?
  Dave L., Mike and Charlie will meet prior to the next meeting to determine how much of the budget will be available for computers after consideration for network upgrade needs, etc.
  The Tech Plan is essentially done, but pages B-12 and B-13 need to be revised. We will also add a few sentences to indicate that a capital project will take place over the next few years.

- Email Committee: Mike G. reported that a committee has been formed to look at email packages. It includes a wide range of people throughout the district including NTA and Tech CORE. They will be looking at various packages over the next several months and report their findings in March. Bill suggested that there should be community representation as well.
  There will be an interactive Web session on December 14th at 11:00 AM concerning First Class. Email Mike Greene if you would like any information on that.
  Dave L. reported that the HS Tech Committee will have a presentation on GroupWise from someone from BOCES on December 21st.

- SIS Committee: A Student Information Services study committee (global database that we are moving toward including grading, scheduling, calendars, etc.) has met once and had a demonstration from by BOCES on StarBase. The various databases that the district already uses generally do not “talk” to each other. A unified SIS package would eliminate most of this problem. It was suggested that the representation in this group also be expanded to include teachers, etc.

- Student Tech Standards & Exemplars: These do not lend themselves to traditional publishing, but are much better hyperlinked. Mike has created some sample pages with hyperlinks for each standard that link to grade levels and exemplars. This style shows the exemplars for a single standard across the grade level continuum, but not the various standards for a single grade level. Mike will work on adding this perspective. This could be the direction in which we are heading in terms of how to present the data we receive.

Adjourned 2:41 pm

Tech CORE Team Minutes
November 10, 2004

In attendance:  Rachel Brewer, Bob Michaels, Dan Matthews, David Crandall, Bill Edelstein, Charlie McCambridge, Mike Greene, Kelly Opiela, David L’Hommedieu, Cheryl Newman, Leah Wertz, Cheryl Curfari, Beth Montrello, Nancy Sieper, Marge Amerling, Pat Cardettino


2005-2008 Tech Plan:
The document was reviewed for wording accuracy. Several suggested changes were made. The budget and inventory portions of the plan were discussed, and Charlie will develop those. Statements concerning the 6-year replacement cycle and the facilities renovation process will be authored by Mike and David C.

Tech Standards:
David C. shared thoughts on formats in which both middle school and high school standards information, including exemplars, might be presented The high school may be difficult as, in addition to “core” courses, there are also many electives. Most of the standards will have already be introduced prior to 9th grade, however many will need to be reinforced and some more advanced ones introduced. Groups were formed to review and clarify tech standards document based on teacher surveying data.

Other:
The future need to discuss budgetary items was raised. The general budget amount will already be addressed by the end of the calendar year, and the CORE Team will need to help determine specific purchases within a couple of months after that. A plan for initial distribution of any “learning laptops” purchased will need to be decided upon. Future technology needs and the desire to remain flexible were discussed.

VoIP (voice over IP) telephone services were discussed. Bill E. shared his use of expandable cordless phones as an easy solution to having multiple handsets available with this service.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
October 13, 2004

Attendance: Dave Crandall, Mike Geene, Kelly Opiela, Dave L’Hommedieu, Cheryl Newman, Pat Cardettino, Leah Wertz, Cheryl Cufari, Beth Montrello, Rachel Brewer, Dan Matthews, Nancy Sieper

1. Send Mike Greene articles or ideas for the “bits & bytes” publication...please!

2. District Technology Plan:
-needs to updated by January
-needs to fulfill State Ed. and federal requirements
-Charlie will need to assist with the budget section extending it 3 years, with a year-by-year summary.

Mike shared the changes in wording of several sections of the original Tech Plan recently made by a subcommittee. These, and a number of additional changes, were discussed and incorporated.

3. Dave discussed the Tech Standards survey administered in June 2004.
The final standards document will appear in 2 forms- print and electronic (hyperlinked). It will include a growing library of examplar activities/lessons.
Staff development offerings and the purchase of equipment will be affected by how standards are linked to grade levels/content areas.
Two groups worked to analyze the survey results, one looking at the elementary surveys, and the other working on the middle school surveys.

Next meeting:
Wednesday, November 10th 8 - 11 am
Agenda: We will continue our work on the Tech Standards surveys.
Refreshments and Recorder - Dan and Kelly

Tech CORE Team Minutes
September 15, 2004

Attendance: Mike Greene, David Crandall, John Rickert, Kelly Opiela, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Sieper, Pat Gosda, Rachel Brewer, Bill Edelstein, Dan Matthews, Charlie McCambridge, Bob Michaels, Kevin Baughman


1. Meeting Dates:
In the summer it was decided to alternate the meeting times between AM and PM to accommodate classroom teachers. The original dates were changed due to conflicts for Dave and John. The schedule is as follows:

Date: Snack/Recorder:

October 13th (12-3PM) Cheryl and Nancy
November 10 (8-11AM) Dan and Kelly
December 8 (12-3PM) Leah and Rachel
January 12 (8-11AM) Pat and TBA
February 9 (12-3PM) Charlie and Dave L.
March 9 (8-11AM) John and Margie
April 13 (12-3PM) Dave and Mike
May 11 (8-11AM) TBA
June 8 (12-3PM) TBA


2. Current Representatives/ Need for more:

Craig: No Rep (Need 1 Teacher)
Hillside: Marge & Nancy
Birchwood: Kelly
Glencliff: Cheryl
Rosendale: Dan
Iroquois: Dave C. (Need Teacher or TA)
Van Antwerp: Pat (Need Teacher or TA)
High School: Rachel, Dave L., John, Leah (Need 1 More Teacher)
Community: Bill E. & Bob M.


3. Technology Replacement Schedule:

-all orders for this renewal cycle have arrived
-some difficulties with chip availability from IBM for new Macs
(machines arrived first day of school)
-a number of machines are still in the process of being setup
-printers are setup (mostly High School)



4. Network Issues:

-contract dispute between NERIC and fiber optic bidder (Fiber Tech) has led to a delay
-construction to tentatively occur December 6 - 20 and completion by January 15
-Charlie is trying to move up dates and attempting to minimize disruption due to construction (e.g. digging across parking lots)
-switch to fiber optics will improve network speeds dramatically


5. Email Issues:

-currently considering “First Class” software
-visitation to Burnt Hills to examine its use
-our server is having reliability problems and is being overly taxed
-new server will help alleviate problems
-timeframe for implementation is still months away


6. Tech Plan Updating:

-required by SED
-our approval comes through NERIC in Albany
-required to receive federal funding (e-rate)
-need a current plan that covers government requirements
-our plan is good for this year
-we need approval for next year by this January
-can be approved for up to 3 years
-need to review and update
-decided to have a sub-group edit current plan and discuss direction
(Rachel, Mike, Charlie)
-Dr. Baughman asked that we consider the facility plan and the student management system being considered

7. Mike shared Dave L.’s Web site dedicated to his adoption of 2 boys from Kazakstan.


8. Handout on need for district-wide student data system shared and discussed. Dave L. will review additional information at future meetings.

9. Student Technology Standards:
-completed grids on the elementary standards survey were distributed
-will analyze this information and align activities/skills to their appropriate grade levels/content areas


Next meeting agenda:

1. Technology Plan Update
2. Standards - working in two groups (elementary and secondary)

Tech CORE Team Minutes
August 5, 2004

Attendance: David Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Bill Edelstein, Pat Gosda,
Mike Greene, David L'Hommedieu, Charlie McCambridge, John Rickert

Meeting dates for the 2004-05 school year were set alternating between
morning and afternoon. A discussion to follow in September as to any
conflict with absent members:
September 15 (8-11)
October 6 (12-3)
November 3 (8-11)
December 1 (12-3)
January 5 (8-11)
February 2 (12-3)
March 2 (8-11)
April 6 (12-3)
May 4 (8-11)
June 1 (12-3)

Data from the Elementary Staff Development Day technology skills survey conducted in June was passed out. The progress made at each grade level will be filled into a grade level grid that outlines the standards. More discussion as to the survey information and gaps in meeting the standards will be done at the September meeting when more elementary members are present. Dave L'Hommedieu and Dave Crandall will layout a similar format for the middle school. John Rickert will take care of finding out similar information for the high school, perhaps by department broken down into
those subjects' grade levels. Distribution of the data may be channeled through a web site in order to provide what is being done at what grade level. Bill Edelstein mentioned that also a narrative/summary should be
added explaining what needs to be done at various grade levels.

Dave L'Hommedieu was introduced as the technical and network coordinator and half-time high school educational technologist. Interviews have been conducted for another technician.

An update was given as to the progress of the Technology Replacement Plan this summer. Charlie and Dave L'Hommedieu both contributed:
-$400,00 worth of orders have been placed by NERIC with various contractors and some shipments have arrived. Apple has a shortage of G4 and G5 chips which is delaying shipment until after 8/15. All Dells have arrived except the laptops. Some tracking is needed for some equipment.
-Network construction has been delayed due to contractual issues between NERIC and bidder. The necessary excavation work will try to be done by school's opening. Network hardware can be installed without the wide area
network being in place.
-Laptops are being loaded for high school by technical staff.
-Elementary networks will be done hopefully by school's opening.
-A software change in Dynix with a web-interface will occur as of 8/6.
-6 high power access points will be installed in middle school labs and media center for rolling labs.
-Servers have been changed at the middle and elementary schools and a web server is being replaced at the high school. The latter will allow for discussion groups.
-High school science area has work being done to temporarily take care of a problem.

A discussion on saving documents was conducted centering around backing up, storage capacity and security. Pat Gosda mentioned a system of logging into a server, working, and then the server would be backed up nightly. It was also mentioned that a student data system was going to be researched this year and would store student records, grades, etc. The committee agreed that a pilot at some point will be done to find out if this would work rather easily. Dave L'Hommedieu will investigate what is needed to set up a log-in system on the network by the September meeting. At that
time, the committee will set a date for acquiring the necessary components. The student information system side of this network idea will be worked on separately.

Items for September agenda:
-Update of network saving idea
-Elementary standards grid filled in and discussion conducted
-Middle school standards data update
-Update on process of getting technology standard data from high school faculty
-Need to update the district technology plan

Tech CORE Team Minutes
June 3, 2004

1) Next year’s (2004-2005) technology purchasing recommendation, developed by an ad hoc subcommittee, was presented to the Team for feedback. Discussion ensued including questions about types of computers being considered for purchase, the concept of ?learning laptops?, and the need for peripheral devices and software to support purchases (e.g. LCD projectors for Technology Education laptops). The Team agreed that this recommendation should be submitted to Kevin Baughman for approval.

2) Questions were raised concerning “First Class”, the software currently being tested for handling district email, among other services (e.g. discussion boards, calendaring, Web page posting). It was suggested that, in addition to administrative personnel, teachers be included in the subsequent testing of this software. It would be beneficial to have at least a few teachers participate from each level, with varying technological skills. Contact Mike with the names of any willing participants.

3) Rachel shared the Merlot.com Web site. It’s a great source of peer reviewed instructional materials in a variety of subject areas, primarily appropriate for the secondary level.

4) The process of administering the upcoming teacher survey on our Student Technology Standards was discussed. Concern was raised over the fact that this survey, in basically the same form, was worked on by teachers at the end of the last school year. Mike (and/or posssibly other CORE members) may give a general talk on why we are surveying again, and what the ultimate benefits of this information will be. How to deal with special area subjects was discussed. Media Specialists and possibly some classroom teachers will be asked to act as recorders during the sessions. A few Team members agreed to assist in the surveying process as well (Margie A.& Dan M. - 1st grade, Kelly O. - 4th grade).

5) Thursday, August 5th (9AM-Noon) was chosen as a summer meeting date. The agenda will include:
-Discussion of Software Standardization
-Review of Technology Standards information
-Review of 2004-2005 meeting schedule

Tech CORE Team Minutes
May 5, 2004

1. Charlie discussed the possibility of an expanded network for the entire district beginning this September.
a. He is working with BOCES and Fibertech (of Rochester) for a 100 megabit district network, and is considering changing our Internet service provider (currently AT&T).
b. Charlie is looking at a few different proposals and will keep us updated via the listserv.

2. Mike G. mentioned that if any Tech CORE member is not on the listserv, they should let him know ASAP.

3. Review of the building ?Purchasing Priority? lists.
a. Mike G. noticed that the philosophy in developing the lists differed from building to building – from a “wish list” vs. a “need to survive.”
b. Paul Favata discussed the potential use of probes for the Science Department and its benefit to other grade levels/departments.
c. Dave C. suggested it would be wise to operate equally for all elementary schools, communicating more with those schools to determine what is considered to be “up to snuff” and what is needed to bring all the elementary schools to that level.
d. Cheryl stressed the need to determine the vision for technology integration to guide what is purchased.
e. Other factors were mentioned, including training for the new technology, how it supports the curriculum, and equity in terms of where to put the technology.
f. Charlie suggested borrowing ideas of how to proceed from neighboring districts.
g. Discussion followed on how to implement the replacement technology – whether by department/grade level or other ways. The grade level/department approach might better for training support, giving teachers the time and staff development resources required.
h. Some agreed upon thoughts for purchasing/replacement:
-network needs to be up, stable and sufficiently enhanced (e.g bandwidth)
-each elementary building should have a full-class rolling lab
-each middle school should have a portable lab for Technology classes
-learning laptops should eventually be provided to each teacher (which may require some time, and involve “trickle down” of machines in the interim)
-necessary peripherals should be purchased each year
-adequate staff development should be provided

4. Show and Tell
Mike G. showed eZediaMX, which is a possible alternative to Hyperstudio. It is less linear than Power Point and can be used across multiple platforms. It recognizes many different types of media, including jpeg., Quicktime, MP3, etc. It is useful because it basically has a “drag and drop”, object-oriented environment. Disadvantages include the fact that the eZedia player must be launched to play the presentation, but this player is free and can be installed on other machines. Additionally, eZedia does not have the drawing tools available in HyperStudio.

5. Elementary grade levels will be meeting on the last Thursday of June. TAs and a Tech CORE reps will attend those meetings to facilitate a Tech Standards survey for information collection.

6. Dave C. will check with the secondary directors to see if Standards feedback can be worked into the June meeting.

6. June Tech CORE meeting:
a. Will address how to facilitate the grade levels Standards survey through role-play and a review of the process.
b. Provide additional input/feedback on the replacement lists.
c. Discussion of a summer meeting. (Members should check their summer schedules prior to the meeting.)
d. Show & Tell: Rachel B. - Merlot.org

Tech CORE Team Minutes
April 1, 2004

1) Equipment Replacement Plan, Equipment Inventory, and Building Priority Purchasing Lists:
If the district budget is passed, a plan regarding the implementation of equipment replacement will need to be developed. Assuming budget passage, we need to prepare ahead of time so that orders can be submitted early. Recommendations should be discussed at Tech CORE, and then continue to a district committee, including the Superintendent, providing for wider input.

Current building equipment inventory lists - Birchwood’s list is complete, but most schools are still trying complete inventories. Lists will be used to help determine what needs to be ordered for each building in the replacement plan. Inventory lists need to be submitted as soon as possible to Mike. There was discussion about ways to help buildings complete their inventories in a timely manner.

Concerns regarding how to plan the replacement cycle were discussed. There is a need to determine the most logical and effective way to replace equipment. There is also a need to consider the varying enrollment projections in buildings.

Priority Purchasing Lists- Schools shared how they determined the contents of their lists. Decisions were made based on what items are needed the most, who needs the equipment first, and a need to improve what is outdated and not used.

Obviously, all items in the 6 year replacement plan can’t be purchased in the first year. Who should get the items first? Should it be determined by school building, grade level/department, oldest machines? There has to be input from the buildings themselves, staying focused on the needs of the students. Decisions need to be made that will be equitable across the district. Open communication needs to occur about how equipment will be purchased and why.

A reminder was made that ?learning laptop? computers are to be accessible in the classrooms by the students. Teachers can take them home and use them for managerial tasks, but they are also instructional/curricular resources.


2) Show and Tell:
Dan provided a presentation on Vonage (vonage.com). It is a broadband phone company that provides telephony over the Internet. The big advantage is its low costs. There are several plans which can include local calls, all 518 numbers and long distance. There are also extra features such as free voice mail, caller I.D. and call waiting. You can keep your current phone number. If the network is down the phone can ring to another phone. If the power is down the system won’t work. You can check and play voice mail messages online. A couple of disadvantages are that you may have to rewire some lines in your home to accommodate multiple phones, and you have to type “1-518” to make local calls.


3) ?bits & bytes?:
Mike asked everyone to write an article that could potentially be used in upcoming issues. Laptops and time were provided.


4) Standards:
Again, the goal is to identify which technology skills should be covered by grade level/subject area. We will start by looking at the elementary level. Referring to the standards, teachers will be asked what, if anything, is done at each grade level to cover that specific standard. On April 20th there is a district-wide elementary faculty meeting, and it was proposed to use part of that meeting to have grade levels start to look at the standards. It was questioned if that would be the best time as it will be late in the day. We discussed possibly using part of one of the staff days at the end of the school year. Paul suggested using April 20th to address just one standard. That would allow the staff to begin the process and get an understanding of what needs to occur. The process could continue at another date. It was also suggested to only provide an overview of the state of district technology and what we are trying to accomplish, but to wait until June to actually start the process since it will be so late in the day. Mike will follow-up with David Crandall and the elementary principals.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
March 3, 2004

1. Call to Order: 8:05 AM

2. Review of District Computer / Equipment inventory (developed by Mike Greene)
a. Dave passed out a screen shot of the database interface
b. Buildings should report what they have
c. Mike will discuss this with TAs in order to facilitate this in each building.
d. Dave indicated that a separate effort will account for network equipment (i.e. hubs, switches, servers).
e. Mr. Hudson recommended adding the MAC address to the database for any new equipment.
f. Dave suggested that the TAs dedicate the morning of March 19 to data entry- there was general agreement- Lynn arrived at the meeting at 10:30, and agreed that this was a good use of time.
g. It was also suggested that the second page include drop-down menus and specific models for each item
h. Fax machines should be included in the list; the fax machines in the elementary schools are in need of replacement.

3. Discussion of Replacement strategy
a. Must consider the imminent needs due to failure or aging.
b. Must consider professional development and systematic approach.
c. Must consider functionality in computer labs- at least as good as all other machines in the building.

4. Discussion of Teacher Access to Student Data
a. Charlie passed out and described screen shots of student database interface showing the information currently available through terminal software (e.g. Versaterm, Teraterm).
b. Additional information suggestions:
i. Class lists for each course section are not available, although period-by-period attendance software addresses this. With ODBC (upgrade planned for next year) teachers will be able to capture info for their own record books.
ii. Disciplinary information was suggested- Charlie indicated that both discipline and health tracking are available and possible, but have not yet been implemented due to cost and time constraints, as well as privacy concerns.
iii. Students’ teachers from previous years or from previous levels within a year if a level change has occurred.
iv. Quarter grades of a completed course might be made available.
v. Custodial/non custodial parent
vi. Email address
c. Dave suggested that for privacy reasons, a teacher should have access only to his or her own students.
i. One solution to this concern would be to limit a teacher’s access to the records of students on their class lists.
ii. A screen display was suggested to be less of a privacy risk than printed copies of data from the guidance office which may be left around.
iii. Tracking who accesses information can be logged each time the database is accessed.
d. CORE recommended that teachers have access to entire first screen, family information, attendance, current schedule, previous schedule including teachers, custodial parent, email addresses. Additional information will require access through the guidance office.
e. Terminal software may need be loaded on each teacher’s computer.
f. Timeline: Fall 2004.

5. Tech Services Schedule- Charlie shared a schedule of the assignments for computer service throughout the buildings.

6. 40th anniversary of computer technology use in NCSD- Charlie shared an article documenting the first computer use in the district, which was a link to GE.

7. Replacement program/ network upgrade.
a. Plan is to replace hubs with switches at all buildings
b. The upgrade is also planned to increase the number of ports at each building.
c. Timeline: Summer 2004.
d. This upgrade must be done in conjunction with upgrades to LAN and WAN.
e. Charlie shared and explained a rough plan and estimate of costs (Annese & Assoc.).
f. A long discussion followed regarding the relative need for each of the various types of upgrades and the direction of the network upgrades (e.g. physical drops v. wireless)

8. Dave asked that by the April meeting:
a. Folks prioritize equipment replacement in their buildings (media specialists)
b. Buildings enter their current computer inventory into the database (TAs).
c. Consider strategies for purchasing replacement equipment.

9. Next time: Kelly Opiela, Margie Amerling- April Minutes and Snacks

Tech CORE Team Minutes
February 4, 2004

Technical Problems:
 Mike Greene reported about technology concerns from Birchwood. 
• Tech support – need regular technical on-site help.
• Battery problems with iBook laptops purchased last year.  Mike has contacted Apple about this problem.  
• Some problems connecting computers to the district network. May relocate some switching equipment from middle schools to elementary schools. 
• Virus outbreak raised the question of who is responsible for virus eradication.  Charlie is planning regular training sessions for TAs.  Preventing viruses at the network level is being explored.  District planning to install new mail software called First Class. 
Other Technical Discussion:
• Carol asked about access to computer accounts for Model Schools and Continuing Ed training in the high school labs. 
• Charlie enumerated where the technical staff is currently working.  A policy about student help is being developed. 
• Need for server replacements is another concern.  Servers are here but need to be set up.
• Tech core members should try to support computer users in their buildings by listening to their concerns and reporting what solutions are on the horizon. 
• Charlie suggested that we need to get the infrastructure working before we expand with new computers. 
 
Budget:
Charlie distributed information about the draft 2004-2005 budget.  Included are a several items to improve technology, such as additional technical help, bandwidth, BOCES data warehouse, a network administrator, and a high school technologist.
 
Replacement Plan:
Discussion of how to implement the technology replacement plan if it is approved in the 2004-05 budget.  Another planning group will make this decision, but Tech Core will make a recommendation.  Considerations: 
• Define infrastructure needs.  Charlie agreed to bring information about this to the next meeting.
• Equipment purchase should follow infrastructure development and support staffing.  Infrastructure should be developed expeditiously.
• Plan for equipment replacement.  Possibilities:  by school, department, grade, middle school teams, equal distribution to each school per pupil, or replace oldest, least capable, or most worn/unreliable equipment first.   Within buildings:  classes, media center, labs, laptop carts.
• Staff development needs relating to new computers.
• Need a list of current equipment and locations.
• Recommendations from the schools about their needs. 
• Possibility that future funding would not be available.
 
Show and Tell:
• Rachel showed peer-reviewed lesson plans and test prep activities from the Mohawk Regional Information Center web site atwww.modelschools.org  Good for ideas for integrating technology.  Rachel will post specific web addresses on our listserv.
• Carol showed Interactive Word Documents.  Type directly on forms, create pull-down menus, add help messages and comments.  She offers training for this as a Model Schools course both at the high school and at VA.
 
Bits & Bytes
Mike will email the next issue and also send a written notice to everyone asking if they had a problem receiving it or if they use a non-district email address.  He needs some ideas and success stories for the next issue.
 
Next meeting:
• Charlie to identify current status of infrastructure, planned infrastructure upgrades and target dates for completion.  Need list of computers, locations and their capabilities.
• Mike will develop a chart of computer capabilities to append to the minutes.  Building TAs will be asked to complete the chart for our next meeting.
• Tech Core reps. should bring information about what items from the replacement cycle need to be replaced next year.  Consult building media specialist and computer TA in each school.  Dave will get this information from Craig.
• Discuss information needed for designing and implementing a survey about technology standards.
• Continue discussion of replacement plan.
• Send questions about access to student data to Mike for our discussion next time.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
January 7, 2004

1.WMHT Streaming Video - Mike Greene described this free service that is available to anyone in the district through the WMHT website. You can contact Mike with any questions.

2. Review District Technology Plan: Dave C., Mike G. and Charlie M. reviewed the
Board presentation regarding the replacement plan and its relation to the Technology Standards. The review included replacement and enhancement items. The plan was well received by the board. The overall impact on the budget appears to be favorable due to BOCES aide and cost offsets/avoidances.

3. Allocation of Technology Items if passed in budget (for year one): An initial discussion followed about the various ways to allocate resources. Additional discussion regarding the importance of including Tech CORE representation on the District Technology Management Team (the group that will ultimately determine technology allocation) occurred and the concept was supported. It was determined that more discussion was important on these topics prior to the budget vote if we are going to be prepared in the event that the budget is approved.

4. Technology Standards Feedback discussion: The group discussed that the
information that was generated by last June’s survey was not sufficient. Mike G. will provide forms that were completed accurately, to be used as exemplars. Dave Crandall will speak with Lynn Macan to determine if further data can be gathered on the Professional Growth day in March.


Agenda for next meeting:

1. Computer Allocation Year One Plan
2. Technology Management Group
3. Technology Standards Discussion
4. Exemplars - Mike Green
5. Access to Student Data
6. Technology Standards Web Site Presentation - Rachel Brewer

Tech CORE Team Minutes
December 3, 2003

Standards Survey: Group work continued to collate the data from the district Tech Standards survey administered in the spring.

Show and Tell: Mike presented video conferencing through Apple’s “iChat AV” software. This capability currently can be used between the middle schools and high school. The technical issues of conferencing outside of our district network are being researched.

Carol presented “Writer’s Companion” which takes students through the writing process from brainstorming to publication, and features more “bells and whistles” than Inspiration. Carol will clarify the “free offer” deal from the vendor.

Technology “Replacement” Plan: Charlie distributed several handouts which were discussed, including the replacement plan to be submitted to the Board of Education. This plan has a number of enhancements included as well (e.g. increased number of laptops, funding for computing peripherals, etc.). Several CORE members will be presenting to the Board during their meeting of January 5th. Charlie also indicated a need in the district to dispose of old hardware. This is being investigated.

Next meeting: January meeting will follow Budget presentation at BOE meeting, so discussion of that meeting will occur.
-Continued discussion on student tech standards
-Student data availability

Tech CORE Team Minutes
November 6, 2003

Standards Survey: An amount of time was devoted to collating the technology standards survey done in June, 2003 by grade levels and departments. Teams
of Core members entered activities and comments into one document per grade or subject area in order to asses what equity and consistency already
exists. Expectations for each standard will eventually be drawn up based on this collation.

District Web Site: Megan Allen spoke about the Web site now up and running. She highlighted some of the major features, explained the process and design considerations plus future developments being discussed:
-Printer friendly forms
-More content continually being added
-Board of Education form to send comments to a specific member
-Subscription mail service where residents would sign up and receive general district announcements as they happen
Megan stated that children's pictures can be used without parent permission. If names are used, parental permission is needed.

Hardware: Charlie handed out and discussed a replacement plan that could be followed in order to avoid district computers becoming outdated in huge
numbers all at once. A payment cycle, including aide programs for which we might qualify, was presented. A venture capital fund may be needed to keep
technology going. Members were asked to go over plan and the discussion will be continued in December. We are to look at the needed equipment and
other ideas or configurations that may be doable to save some expenditures. We also need to pay attention to peripherals that are needed.

For next meeting:
-Look at budget and the tech plan for district budget process
-Respond to Charlie if any data on the replacement plan needs to be changed which will be used in discussion for budget recommendations
-Need to begin plan for the budget report - when and what we need to tell them about district technology
-Continue working on standards

 Tech CORE Team Minutes
October 1, 2003

1. Welcome to new members! Members present were Michael Greene, John Rickert, Bob Michaels, Rachel Brewer, David L’Hommedieu, Ron Charney, Margie Amerling, Kelly Opiela, Pat Gosda, Leah Wertz, Lynn Macan, Cheryl Cufari, Bill Edelstein, Pete Melito, Dave Crandall, Paul Favata, Charlie McCambridge, Dan Matthews, Nancy Sieper

2.Meeting Dates (8AM-11AM): Refreshments, and Recorders:

Nov 6 Thursday: Cheryl Cufari and Nancy Sieper
Dec 3 Wednesday: Leah Wertz and Rachel Brewer
Jan 7 Wednesday: Dave L’Hommedieu and Ron Charney
Feb 4 Wednesday: Pat Gosda and Pete Melito
Mar 3 Wednesday: Dan Matthews and Paul Favata
April 1 Thursday: Kelly Opiela and Marge Amerling
May 5 Wednesday: Mike Greene and Dave Crandall
June 3 Thursday: Lynn Macan
Thank you to Lynn & Mike for October’s refreshments.

3. Survey:
The team broke into groups and tabulated data from the staff technology/professional development survey.

4.Blogs (Web logs):
A blog is used for daily journaling, or is a place to write your thoughts. It may be open to the public and allows people to share their ideas in an open forum.
Some web sites to consider to see blogs on the internet are:
blogspot.com
www.diaryland.com (for elementary)
http://schoolblogdebate.blogspot.com
or go to Google and type in “blogs”
The concern of controlling access and moderating blogs was discussed.

5. Bits and Bytes:
At least the first issue will be printed as hard copy. In the future, it will continue to be posted on the Web site and could be sent out as an email attachment. We are working on a transition from hard copy.
Mike needs a volunteer to help. Let him know if you are willing to lend a hand as editor.
Write a quick blurb about something special going on at your school and submit it to Mike!!

6.New Niskayuna Schools Web site:

http://niskayunaschools.org

OR

http://niskyschools.org


7. Tech Plans and Standards:
The technology plan has been approved by the state. It includes the plan and the student standards. We need to create a long range replacement plan for technology
Iinked to what is needed to meet the technology integration standards. Tech CORE members will meet with Lynn, Matt, and Kevin before the January Board meeting in preparation of presenting the plan and our requests to the board. This will probably be at the December Tech CORE meeting. The results of the survey will be the basis of our plan.

8. Faculty access to student data:
How can we provide better faculty access and avoid redundant work and paper lists, ?
A global database would work better than the multiple databases that we have now. Our databases do not communicate with each other. A number of local districts have global databases. Several can be Web-based. This would meet our needs better that what we have at present.

9. NYSCATE Technology Conference:
In Albany this year
Nov 23,24,25
if interested see: www.nyscate.org for conference information.
Mike says it’s the best educational technolgy conference of the year.

10. Next meeting:
Look at standards and integration faculty survey
Prepare for board presentaion and consider budget needs
Charlie will get information on student data for teachers

Tech CORE Team Minutes
June 4, 2003

Staff Development Survey & Superintendent's Conference Day (6/24):
Lynn shared initial results from the recent professional staff development survey. Discussion ensued concerning how we can utilize this data in helping to direct our future professional development and standardization of technology instruction. The use of Professional Growth Day on June 26th was discussed, and how we might incorporate the implementation of the Student Technology Standards into this day. It was suggested that groups might familiarize themselves more fully with the Student Standards and possibly work on information gathering that would assist in developing a scope & sequence for instruction. A subcommittee will be meet to develop the necessary structure for this information gathering. Volunteers for the work included: Cheryl Cufari, Carol LaRow, Mike Greene, David Crandall, & Lynn Macan. Questions that might be asked:
"Do you teach a skill?" "How do you do it?" "When do you do it?" There was discussion about the need for standardization and accountability regarding the instruction of technology. Grouping for the meetings on 26th will probably be by grade level for elementary and departments on the middle school level.

"Show & Tell" :
Mike shared a set of HyperStudio stacks (interactive multimedia files) created by middle school Social Studies teachers for instruction on the U.S. Constitution. These stacks could be shared with an entire class utilizing an LCD projector, or students might use them on individual computers. Other thoughts on the possible use of this technology were shared (e.g. creating "template" stacks for students to add information to for peer testing/review purposes, etc.).

District Technology Plan:
The most recent draft of the district Tech Plan was distributed. Appendices still need to be compiled and included. Mike will deal with these. The newly developed budget component was reviewed. It was stressed that "equipment" only includes purchased items over $300, so does not include such items as scanners, TVs, VCR/DVD players, etc. Most computers are not considered in this area either, as they are leased, not purchased. There was additional discussion on the 6 year replacement cycle and how machines might be distributed and in what timetable. Charlie answered questions raised by the group, including those concerning increases in supply funds and computer leases.

Tech CORE Staff Communications/Sharing:
Pat G. raised concern over the lack of contributions to the "bits & bytes" publication. There was discussion about how we should proceed communicating with staff in the future. Mass emailings was suggested. Having a "point person" in each building responsible for submitting article ideas was also raised.

There will be no summer CORE meeting. Next year's meeting dates will generally continue to be the first Wednesday of each month.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
May 7, 2003

Faculty/Staff Sharing: Mike reminded all to use faculty meetings to bring technology to the forefront. Please try to share technology successes at these meetings. Perhaps, 4T participants could demonstrate something that they have learned/created. Mike is also willing to help. It will be especially important in the Fall when people are setting goals. This could also help facilitate transitioning tech standards to classroom experiences.

Technical Issues: Our centralized servers are aging and becoming less reliable. Due to problems with illness, Civil Service testing, and lack of a consistent tech staff, there has been difficulty keeping up with needs. A number of resources on the "HIGH server" have not been available on the network recently. Some of these have been resolved in the last few days. Web mail service has been down, and most users are not able to upload files to the Web server. Some serious power outages have also affected the network. Mike will check on whether BOCES will support a Web mail service for us in the future. He will also write generic directions to assist with setting up a school mail account from home email software. This summer both college and high school people will assist with technical issues. Stability and consistency of staff will be important in the future. Next year, we should have specific people to contact depending upon the type of technical problems that need to be reported. BOCES has begun development of our new district Web site. There is no additional charge for this service. Mike shared the home page design with the team.

Staff Development Survey: Surveys have been returned by all buildings, with most people responding. The results will be tabulated in time for the next meeting.

Rubistar "Show & Tell": Mike demonstrated a free Web site service that assists teachers or students in the development of printable rubrics. This is only one of the services available on the 4teachers.org site. Some of the others include: Quizstar, Quiz maker, Think Tank, and Notable Pics. Check out Rubistar at http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ Online Quizzes can be created by using Quiz Maker and also Blackboard.com.

Tech Plan Budget: Each school is asked to email their list of equipment purchase projections for 2004-2005 to Mike & Charlie for inclusion in the tech plan. Our Tech Plan has to be submitted to the state by June so that we may apply for federal eRate money, which could amount to $45 - 50,000. This money subsidizes the cost of telecommunication services . Time was spent revising and discussing the budget pages for the tech plan. Along with the gross figures, it was suggested by Dr. Baughman that we put the aidable net totals in our plan also, which would more accurately represent local expenses. Bill Edelstein suggested we add a table of contents with a brief descriptor. More work on this will occur at our June meeting. Equity and standardization of equipment are two very important factors when it comes to the tech budget. It was suggested, especially in the larger secondary schools, that perhaps a tech committee could help Tech CORE reps with information gathering and decision making. Lynn Macan also suggested that one possibility for the June 26th conference day was to devote some time to technology planning and implementation. Dr. Baughman strongly encouraged Tech CORE members to consider field trips, presentations, etc. to keep themselves abreast of new tech developments. The district will support these endeavors. Lynn Macan also felt that companies are very willing to do presentations, and that we as Tech CORE should pursue these opportunities.

Agenda for next Tech Core Meeting on June 4th:
1. Discuss staff professional development survey results
2. Facilitation of the adoption of the standards and how we might use Superintendent's Day (6/26)
3. Carol LaRow: "Show and Tell"
4. Check out Dave Crandall's Mickey Mouse tie whether it be old or new.

Email any items that you would like to learn about to Mike or Dave!

Tech CORE Team Minutes
April 2, 2003

1) Meeting called to order- 8:02AM


2) Letter to Board concerning high school support
a) Dave distributed letter which went to BOE
b) One board member asked what Dave would like the board to do, since it was so late when the letter was sent.
c) Dave reiterated TechCORE's support of the HS technologist's position
d) Dave recommended that TechCORE should look at everything that the district does with technology, then go back to the board next year with a firmer rationale for the position.
e) Mike recalled Charlie's earlier recommendation for stipended department members at the high school to provide tech support, and re-asserted the need for a person who sees the bigger picture.
f) Bill recommended using paid high school students
g) Dave suggested that we are really looking for an educator who can other teach educators rather than a student for this particular position.
h) The discussion broadened to the need for technical support in addition to educational technology support, and the role that students may be able to play in that need.

3) "Show & Tell" - WebQuest Generator- Mike Greene
a) WebQuest is a teacher-generated activity in which problems or questions are provided to students, and in which resources (online and print) are recommended/provided to meet the goals of the activity.
b) Freeware- available for MacOS9Classic and Windows
c) http://www.bsu.edu/CTT/webquest.html

4) Tech Plan budget-
a) Charlie, Mike and Dave met prior to our meeting, examined other tech plan budgets, and assembled a format for our budget
b) Dave: budget should include enough information, but does not need to be over-detailed.
c) Audiences: state and district. While it must be acceptable to the state, we also want it to be very useful to the district.
d) Charlie explained documents disseminated
e) Bob began a discussion of bandwidth expense and usage. He recommended examining to what extent file sharing software (e.g. KAZAA, LimeWire) may be consuming an inordinate proportion of bandwidth. He also suggested that increased cost of bandwidth could be savings in other areas, such as for textbooks.
f) Pat Gosda asked about the replacement cycle of machines, and the longevity of the plan
g) It was agreed that we would be sending the plan as effective through 2005. Dave suggested that for the purposes of the state, the budget as written is acceptable. For our purposes, it may be beneficial to break the budget items out more. Therefore we might well spend our time deciding what categories of budget items are most important to our decision-making.
h) Mike shared an example from Bethlehem's TechPlan budget. Dave pointed out that this budget relied heavily on a bond issue and does not provide for staging within five-year bond cycles.
i) Dave shared an example from Granville's TechPlan budget
j) In turn, all present members of CORE shared their perspectives on the budget. There seemed to be general concurrence that we should send the State as minimal a document as possible, and that more detail should be provided for our own use which reflects our vision and a sense of equity.
k) For the next meeting, each member should bring the budget summary sheet with their brainstormed recommendation for breakout amounts for each school. By the june meeting, we should get the budget summary done for the tech plan.
l) Charlie: does the group want to reflect growth in the budget? Does the group want to fully allocate tech expenses to tech dept, or to turn over budgetary control/ responsibility to subject departments?
m) Dave reviewed tech budget which has been approved for next year from the board-approved document. He recommended that we ask teachers/TAs what they want in the future, not for next year.

5) Use of faculty meetings to share tech successes- Mike
a) In addition to Bits & Bytes, personal review of tech achievements at faculty meetings would help highlight the use of technology
b) Recommended that tech core members ask for time at faculty meetings (five-ten minutes?) to make technology innovation and success visible.
c) Maureen- already on the Craig faculty meeting re: video streaming. She is hoping to improve interest. She also asked for a list of 4Ters, so that she can spotlight the pairs at faculty meetings.

6) Feedback and/or discussion of faculty meeting presentations of Standards and Survey
a) Dave: any questions? Has everyone done it?
b) Some have, some have not. Dave explained how he handled it in a faculty meeting
c) Implementation and development of specificity of use must involve grade-level meetings and also multiple-grade meetings (scope and sequence). Survey was handed out at his meeting following a general review of the standards document.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
March 5, 2003


Megan Allen distributed an updated draft for the new District website.  Minor changes were made from the email version distributed in February. Templates for schools use should be ready by the second week of April. The final version will be worked on over the spring and summer with a final version ready for use in the fall.  A new web address will be publicized when it becomes available.  A suggestion was made that there be re-direction from the old website name to the new site.  The site will be housed on the BOCES server.  BOCES will be in charge of technical aspects of the website with no extra fee to the district.  Megan will be looking into whether there will be Front Page extensions available.  Mike questioned the percentage of up/down time using the BOCES server.  BOCES has purchased and installed a new server to address these kinds of issues.  No guarantees are being made.  BOCES now manages about 20 school district websites.  Classroom sites will also be housed on the BOCES server.  A question regarding web mail was posed to Megan.  She will be looking into alternate software packages for web mail services.  The ability to house DYNIX via the BOCES server was also questioned.  Megan will also look into that issue.  Megan reviewed the draft with the committee.  A data gathering report will be generated monthly which will indicate how people are accessing the site ­ what's being hit the most/least.  This will help in the management of the site on a regular basis.  Schools will keep their current sites.  There will be specific items that all schools will be required to include.  A new, BOCES-designed logo will be required on all school pages to show that the school is a part of the Niskayuna CSD.  Periodic checks will be made to ensure that school sites are being kept current.  Front Page will be used to design the site, however, there will not be a specific software package required to create and update school/class sites.

The Self-Assessment/Professional Development survey will be presented to the faculty in April.

Bits & Bytes will be distributed soon.  Paul had experienced some problems but will be forwarding it to Pat later today (March 5).

Mike attended faculty meetings early in the year giving information on staff development, district updates, and introducing iBooks and their capabilities.  There are currently 50 participants in the 4T program this year.  Tech Talk sessions have primarily occurred  at the middle school level.  They are small group, "how-to" sessions.  Mike is looking for someone to help take over the elementary buildings' Tech Talks.  They don't have to be held monthly.   Please let him know if you're interested.  Mike is developing "Tad hoc" -- a program to help teachers learn a program in a short period of time (almost an abbreviated 4T).  In-service credit will be given; however, there is no budget for this program this year.  

Staff development at the High School level was also discussed in light of the fact that there is no Educational Technologist at that level.  Charlie indicated that there are informal department and collegial level training sessions going on.  David suggested an introduction to high school teachers on programs like 4T.

   Carol advocated for the continued use of Model Schools.  Niskayuna pays a flat fee to BOCES for these courses.  These courses are offered for free to our faculty and staff.  Enrollment is high this year with Niskayuna teachers and staff taking the courses offered in the district (iMovie, XP Advanced, etc.).  

   Lynn indicated that Apple is giving iLife for free to educators via their website.  There is also an offer for iLife and Keynote together for $14.95.  iLife includes iMovie 3, iPhoto 2, iTunes 3, and iDVD 3.  Keynote is a presentation program.

   Pete requested that there be a site teachers could access to get program updates, patches, and freeware.  Paul thought that this could be accomplished automatically by logging into the network, similar to automatic updates that Windows and Mac OSX offer now.  Pete will talk to the network administrators and report back to CORE on the logistics of this issue.

   Charlie distributed and explained technology budget documents.  Software and supplies are not allocated by student numbers but by building.  Mike suggested that Tech CORE advocate for keeping the half-time technologist position.  David and Mike will work on a document, with Lynn's input, from CORE to the Board in this regard.  

   Charlie indicated that we signed a lease with NERIC for equipment.  We cannot continue to use bonds for computer replacement.   Building equipment that is not a CPU and expected to be used until they die was put into the budget for purchase.  Computer instruction equipment requests are slated to be leased in the 2003/2004 budget.  

Tech CORE Team Minutes
February 5, 2003

Standards:
David Crandall, Mike Greene, and Paul Favata made a presentation to the Board about the standards document. A few revisions were suggested as well as the math department wanting to include the use of graphing calculators. Directors and principals are aware of the document via the Instructional Council. In all, positive feedback has been received. Next step is to have Lynn Macan and Dr. Baughman work out how various stakeholders will take ownership for the pieces to be accomplished.

Evaluation piece of the technology plan was discussed:
Data collecting will be done by a responsible team using the Tech Core's philosophy but will have the freedom to collect data flexibly and easily. Agreement reached that a variety of evaluation methods should be used. Revisions were made in wording to state explicitly that people working directly with the students are an integral part of the evaluation piece. This part is now completed. Bill Edelstein mentioned forming building teams to discuss how technolgy will be used.

Presentation by Eileen O'Connor, SUNY computer lecturer and consultant:
Eileen provided some philosophy behind a technology program and moving teachers along. This should be based on a vision, what training needs to be provided and a decision on what is unique to our district. She showed examples of online courses she has developed which is a possibility for our district teachers. This could be another approach to staff development. She pointed out the benefits of useing online courses. Her cost is $1000 for a year trial for a site license. Eileen will send a link for previewing her courses. After the presentation we debriefed how our district would use some of the information she gave.

Bond issue progressing:
VA computers are set up Each middle school has a projector loaned by the high school. Tech staff moved to VA and jobs are being caught up. Charlie reported that the vacancy left by Todd's departure has been filled. Two part time 20/hour temporary people will continue until work is far enough along to go back to previous schedule. David suggested that everyone poll their buildings to make sure that tech support is not falling behind with this arrangement and report back at the March meeting.

The budget will be discussed in more detail at the March meeting.

Agenda for March:
Tech resource update How is VA doing? How are we doing in each building?
Revisit budget piece of the tech plan

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
January 8, 2003

High School Projectors:
The high school has a total of 60 projectors for classroom use. Twelve of them are large, high end models with a cost of approximately $1800 dollars. Forty-eight of them are portable projectors with a cost of approximately $1300 dollars. These projectors are table models, portable and some have carrying cases. This gives the high school a total of 60 projectors which cover the needs of instructional classrooms. These projectors were not in the original budget but rather with a mutual agreement by all parties replace the DVD/VCR combos which were in the budget, a portion being supported by a legislative grant. Discussion followed regarding possible plans for sharing the projectors or loaning them to the middle schools because they have none that currently work well with new computers. Some present felt their high school department needed all of their projectors and some felt that at least a few could be shared. Feedback from the highschool will be obtained with a hope of having high school teachers involved in a possible plan for sharing with the middle schools. Currently, the elementary schools have a limited number of projectors with poorer resolution but more will be obtained in the future. Also agreement was reached by all to either hire out or have our staff work to get the Van Antwerp Middle School up and running for networking.

Charlie's Budget Summary:
Charlie distributed 3 sheets of summaries regarding the budget. There was a: 3 Year Comparison Summary, A Contractural Explanation, and a Current Requested Forecast. Charlie described the figures and a discussion followed. Charlie also distributed a gold colored sheet called the, Technology Equipment Acquisition Sheet andSupport Planning. This sheet will be presented to the powers that be by Charlie and describes a systematic replacement plan for hardware. We can't do a 3 year replacement plan as does G.E. , however, we are looking at a 6 year replacement plan. Charlie invites us to have a lively e-mail correspondence regarding this part of his documentation. This cycle of replacement would cost 1/4 of a million dollars or 1/2% of the total budget. It was also noted that operating costs of the new pool would be the exact same cost of 1/4 of a million dollars. Charlie also shared the 2003-2004 computer instruction plan which he will also share with the district.

Apple Remote Desktop:
Mike demonstrated this software on laptop computers. The purposes of this program vary and are as follows: to send files, to monitor other machines (up to 4 at one time), to troubleshoot even a computer computer down the hall, to share a specific screen, (one who has done exemplary work or someone operating a computer who needs help or assistance), to help replace the lack of projectors so that a demo can be done from an adminstrator's machine, to use a text chat feature, or to take control of another's machine for teaching purposes. This could be used as a management tool in the lab for example. It is software that is on the new "i Books." Network Assistant is an older version of this software and it runs on operating system 8 & 9. Many TA's use this version. Mike is available for school demos. Mike also reminded the Team that has approximately 4 or 5 accounts for Blackboard. com, and online course production service.

Bits and Bytes:
Mike also reported that Paul will publish the newest edition soon. From now on, possibly a Tech Standard will be selected and a teacher example of how it can be accomplished will be highlighted. Maybe more examples could be placed on the web site.

Lynn's Survey and Discussion:
Possibly this document will be coming out this winter to all staff. The purpose of this survey is to ascertain levels of expertise by staff and areas where new staff development courses need to be set up. Suggestions were made to have the survey include similar terms and generic or general headings. For example, perhaps, it could be stated generally like "word processing" w ith AppleWorks and Microsoft Word with listd examples. Feedback may still be accepted. E-mail any feedback regarding any part of the document.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
December 4, 2002 

M. Greene - Show and Tell:

-"Apple Remote Desktop" will be demonstrated at our next meeting. It is used for monitoring and administering other computers, even in a wireless network environment. It is already available in the middle school computer labs, and will soon be available on new Mac iBooks.

-blackboard.com (blackboard.wswheboces.org) is an Web-based online course creation service. It can host regular class announcements, word processed documents, multimedia files, external Web links, etc. It also includes communication capabilities, such as the ability to "chat". Niskayuna has about 5 free accounts available for this school year through NERIC. Blackboard.com may be one possible solution for teacher web site creation. If interested in trying blackboard, contact Mike Greene. Mike will research the cost of hosting our own blackboard server in the district and provide that information via the listserv.

District Web Site:

BOCES is going to assist in the redesign and maintenance of the district's Web site. There is a need for more consistency and cohesiveness for the site as a whole, as well as a need to keep information/content current. Tech CORE will be asked to provide feedback on designs submitted by BOCES. There was discussion concerning the ease of creating and uploading of Web pages for teachers. It appears that FrontPage will primarily be utilized for this purpose, but there are some drawbacks associated with this software (e.g. needing to have it loaded on any machine used for development, lack of compatibility with Macs, etc.). The possibility of a server-based solution was discussed. This type of service creates some limitations on individual creativity. A variety of other html editors are available in different areas of the district (e.g. Netscape Composer, Adobe Pagemill, Adobe GoLive).

C. McCambridge - Budget/Bond:

-The high school network is coming along well. The wireless component is complete. The wiring closet in the area of current construction will have to wait a while. The majority of laptop computers have been distributed to high school teachers. The Foreign Language lab is operational, and drafting lab is partially completed. The Art lab is done, but the music component still needs to be finished. Middle school networking and media center PC configurations are behind schedule by as much as a couple of months. The purchase of new servers for middle schools was approved, but have not yet been ordered.


-It was suggested that more regular communication be established with faculty and staff to alert them on the progress of work and updating the original timeline. This could be accomplished through Tech CORE reps via email or hard-copy bulletins with information supplied by Charlie, but should probably go through building principals as well.

-Charlie also indicated that Todd Oberdick (network administrator & technician) will be leaving his position as of December 20th. A replacement must be hired through the Civil Service process. This creates limitations some limitations for the district. We are already strapped for technical support with ongoing needs and bond implementation demands. Use of high school students to assist continues, but their numbers, and time available, are limited.

Computer Replacement & Support:

-The Team discussed what should be currently considered an "acceptable teacher computer", as well as possible replacement scenarios for instructional machines. The cost of updating older machines is relatively high, however it was suggested that newer machines should remain powerful enough to last for a considerable period of time. Although it is a difficult budgetary time, Tech CORE should advocate for what it feels are necessary replacements for, and additions to, current computing hardware. Unlike in the corporate world, schools tend to hang on to older equipment even when "replacements" have been purchased. We may have to limit this practice to be able to maintain adequate technical support, etc. Unfortunately, due to the lengthened bond payoff schedule imposed by the state, we may not be able to depend upon bonding as often as we have in the past to replace aging equipment. CORE reps were asked to provide Mike with current classroom computer information so that the Team can determine what to recommend for upcoming purchase. Mike and David will analyze this information prior to the next meeting.

M. Greene - "bits & bytes" bulletin:

-The "bytes & bytes" publication is posted on Mike's Web site (in addition to being distributed in hard copy). Mike will email the Team the URL for this posting. Please pass along any possible articles to either Pat G. or Mike. This might include questions that teachers might have on educational technology that can be answered via the publication. High school reps were specifically asked to provide content concerning some of the changes taking place there, and teacher reaction to it.

District Technology Plan:

-The most recent draft was distributed, including the updated "Evaluation" section. The only portion currently missing is the budget. Charlie will determine what might be included in this section. The evaluation section and budget piece will be discussed at the next meeting.

District Staff Development Survey:

-Lynn will share a draft of this document via the listserv. Please provide feedback to her. It will be discussed further at our next meeting.

 

Tech Core Agenda
January 8, 2003

-Evaluation & budget sections of the tech plan
-Budget: discussion of purchase recommendations based upon building info gathered
-2003-2004 Budget Report - Charlie
-Review of Lynn's survey and feedback
-"bits & bytes" articles
-Show-n-Tell: Mike G.-Apple Remote Desktop & Bill E.-Math Program
-District Web site update (news from BOCES)

Tech CORE Team Minutes
November 6, 2002

1. District Tech Plan
Mike and Paul reviewed the history and purpose of the District Tech Plan for us newbies, prior to jumping into our agenda items. NYSED now requires such plans from districts.

-Evaluation Section: Much discussion and revision. Should a separate committee/subgroup be formed? (See revised version)

-Budget Section (We left this item on the agenda for the next mtg. in Charlie's absence)

2. Technology Standards:
Again, much discussion and comparison, including Lynn's previous conversations with Dr. Baughman. (see revisions) The revised standards will eventually be presented to various committees including Administration, an upcoming BOE mtg., curriculum mtgs., faculty etc.

3. Bond Update and Feedback from timeline document (also left on agenda for 12/4)

4. Show & Tell: Pete Melito shared two publications that he has found helpful: Technology and Learning (a K-12 resource), and Syllabus (a 9th -post high school resource). Both are available in print and on-line:
-Syllabus: http://subscribe.101com.com/syllabus/
-Technology and Learning: http://www.techlearning.com/content/about/tl_sub.html

5. Other
Handouts: Upcoming bits and bytes, Internet Safety Policy
Mike recommended blackboard.com as a resource and has 5 accounts for the district. If interested, contact him.

Next meeting, Wednesday, December 4, Dan Matthews and Christine Purcell are the "party animals" (refreshments)

December agenda items will include:
-Budget Section of the Tech Plan
-Bond Update
-Continuation of Standards reading
-Survey (which includes tech and other unrelated info for the district).

Tech CORE Team Minutes
October 2, 2002

Attendance: Victor Alcantara, David Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Paul Favata, Pat Gosda, Michael Greene, Lynn Macan, Dan Matthews, Charlie McCambridge, Pete Melito, Bob Michaels, Christine Purcell, Dali Santiago, Nancy Sieper, Nancy Todd, Leah Wertz, Maureen Woerner

Organizational Information:
Mike Greene and Dave Crandall will co-chair Technology Core this year. Meeting dates are the first Wednesday of each month, except for Jan. 8, as listed below. Refreshment providers are listed for each meeting. One of the refreshment people will act as recorder for that meeting. Meetings will be 8-11 a.m. in the Board Room at Van Antwerp.
November 6 -- Leah Wertz & Nancy Sieper
December 4 ­ Dan Matthews & Chris Purcell
January 8 ­ Victor Alcantara & Pete Melito
February 5 ­ Maureen Woerner & Cheryl Cufari
March 5 ­ Nancy Todd & Dali Santiago
April 2 ­ Pat Gosda & Paul Favata
May 7 ­ Mike Greene & Dave Crandall
June 4 ­ District Office

Mike will ask Todd Oberdick to update our listserv with the names of current members.

Newsletter:
Mike reviewed the history of the Technology Core newsletter. The goal of the newsletter is to share technology activities and achievements throughout the district. Last year the newsletter became a one-page bulletin bits & bytes, issued monthly. Paul will continue to publish the newsletter. Pat will collect and edit articles with assistance from Mike. The newsletter will include: Teacher Takes, the main article of technology projects; Ask the Techie; What's New; Our Favorite Things. Please notify Pat or Mike about technology news from your building.

Technology Bond Update:
Charlie distributed and reviewed a document summarizing progress on the technology bond work. This document will be updated and distributed to all staff next week. Suggestions included reordering the list of projects in chronological order and simplifying the descriptions of the work. Discussion included:
-- The need for schools to decide how to address implementation problems for new networking and computer utilization.
-- Efforts have been made to complete the technology work with minimal disruption of instruction.
-- Timeline needs to be established for operation of elementary laptops.
-- Sufficient software licenses are available for the new computers.
-- High school projection units will be portable, not fixed, due to cost considerations. This will be included in the information document given to staff next week.
-- Dates for completion of middle school computer set-ups were revised.
-- Information about middle school network speed upgrade in the document should reflect that the network cannot be used yet.
-- Temporary people may be hired to work on network wiring in order to free district technical staff for their normal technology support tasks.
-- Long-term support needs must be determined for the large number of new computers.
-- Equipment included in high school multimedia classrooms clarified.

Charlie will give Mike an electronic copy of the revised document prior to printing to share with Technology Core members so they are informed about the contents before the document is distributed to staff.

Show & Tell:
Mike demonstrated United Streaming, a collection of online educational videos available free to teachers this year. He recommends downloading videos to CDs or a hard drive. The collection is searchable by topic, grade or standards. Teacher guides and activity/question sheets are available for many of the videos. Mike will check if the license includes home use by students. Mike is also willing to train teachers about this collection at the building level.

Technology Plan & Standards:
Mike distributed the unfinished draft of the district technology plan and the district technology standards developed last year. Our goal is for teachers to be familiar with the technology standards and integrate them into their instruction. The standards need to be reviewed by teachers and administrators so responsibilities of grade levels and departments can be determined. Our immediate plan is for the superintendent to review the standards in October. The standards will be presented to principals and directors in November. An assessment is needed to identify what projects are already developed to meet various standards. Lynn uggested the possibility of in-service work to map the curriculum for technology skills.

Agenda items for November meeting:
-- Discuss the draft district technology plan, particularly the evaluation section. Budget section still needed.
-- Update on technology standards, including development of a timeline and further discussion of mapping technology skills.
-- Bond update and feedback from timeline document.
-- Show & tell: Email Mike if you have something to share.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
June 5, 2002

In attendance: Carol, Cheryl, Nancy, Mike, Maureen, Dali, Charlie, Paul, Bob, Dave

1. Meeting called to order, 8:05 AM

2. Brief discussion regarding the district's policy on computers in middle schools and high school. The current understanding is that:
At the HS, all administrative computers will be windows machines; the status of the portable clusters (platform and configuration) is still unclear.
At the MS, the platform decision is yet to be made.

3. Charlie disseminated annual expenses regarding technology, reported annually from 1998-99 through 2002-03 school years (Budget code: A2630.150)

4. The committee re-crafted the mission of the long-range technology plan's visions and goals.

5. Dave requests that all teachers serving on Tech Core report which meetings they have attended so that credit can be recorded accurately.

6. Next Meeting: July 25 at 12:30 PM, in the District Office Board Room. Refreshments: Dave. Minutes: TBA (we're taking volunteers).

7. Meeting adjourned: 11:02 AM

Tech CORE Team Minutes
May 8, 2002

Attendance: Nancy Todd, Bob Michaels, Pat Jenne, Maureen Woerner, Pat Gosda, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Sieper, Dali Santiago, Mike Greene, Paul Favata, David Crandall, Maureen Woerner, Dan Matthews, Charlie McCambridge

Review of Technology Integration Standards: Standards were updated and Paul Favata will provide revised additions.

Update on computer purchases: David Crandall indicated that there are administrative and management variables that may impact the decision at the middle level. The middle school ad hoc committee will wait to find out information regarding these issues. A discussion ensued over the value of platforms. As a guiding notion for our decisions, the tech core agrees that the computers should be for student use first. The discussion continued about multi-platforms versus uniformity.

Charlie explained some of the management variables that exist that might impact decision-making. He believes that the attendance function and grade book function will not be platform specific. He also explained that the State Education Department might be looking for information that may need to be provided via a wintel platform.

Mike Greene also provided the report that was created to analyze the platforms for the middle school bond purchase.

Academic Computing Replacement: Charlie McCambridge provided a draft matrix that demonstrated a plan for long-term computer replacements. Pat Gosda suggested the inclusion of Servers in the report.

Long Range Plan: We will ask that key technology questions be included on the District Professional Development approval forms. Charlie will complete the budget piece for the next meeting.

Sonic Wall: What will the process be to unblock sites?

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
April 3, 2002

Present: Pat Gosda, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Sieper, Dali Santiago, Mike Greene, Paul Favata, David Crandall, Maureen Woerner, Dan Matthews

High School Technologist Position: This position is back in the budget! If anticipated state aid is not committed, it may be still be in jeopardy.

iMovie and Digital Video: Paul shared some completed iMovies, including examples from foreign language and one that he developed concerning educational testing. There was discussion about the educational advantages of using technology such as digital video.

Computer Platform Decisions: Dave shared a memo from Briggs concerning the issue of computer platform purchases. At the high school level, most machines will be Wintel, with a few exceptions (e.g. Art, Music). The elementary will continue with the Mac platform. On the middle school level, there is still a question of which platform will be selected. There was discussion about the middle school level issue. The middle school committee that has been working on needs and purchases will be meeting again on April 8th.

District Technology Standards: The newest copy of the standards was distributed. The document was quickly reviewed and discussed. There was discussion on how these standards might be most effectively implemented. Teacher evaluators, such as principals and directors, should be approached about having teachers integrate these standards. Having an annual teacher goals that are technology related might be another approach. Continuing to include a technology piece in all new curriculum writing will be important. It was suggested that the draft be reintroduced to Leadership Team people for their feedback and hopefully their investment. We may want to wait until the Summer/Fall with all of the new directors that will be hired. David will discuss these issues with Lynn.

Project/Activity Sharing: David suggested setting up a system so that teachers can share successful technology activities. Both hard copy and electronic sharing was discussed. It was suggested that some type of incentive be made available to motivate teachers to contribute (e.g. equivalency credits). David will discuss these ideas with Lynn.

Internet Filtering: The American Cancer Society Web site was blocked by our filtering software. (It has since been unblocked.) One major problem encountered with our filtering system has been that if a host has even a limited number of inappropriate sites, ALL sites associated with that host will be blocked. The individual sites required need to be manually unblocked....

 

District Technology Plan: There was a review of the work done to date.

Tech Plan sections:

1. "Mission, Visions & Goals" - more work and consensus needed. (Will be included on next meeting's agenda.)
2. "Professional Development" - fairly complete.
3. "Assessment" - template form needs to be completed. (Media Specialists & Computer TAs will provide necessary info.)
4. "Budget" - Charlie needs to complete this. (Mike, Paul & David will communicate with him.)
5. "Evaluation" - preliminary work will be reviewed at next meeting.

The Tech Plan will be a priority for our next meeting's agenda.
Other items: Standards dissemination, Internet site unblocking/blocking protocol, report on computer platform purchase issue.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
March 9, 2002

Tech Plan: Paul, Mike, and David will piece together what parts of the plan have been compiled. Feedback will be discussed via the listserv. The parts include Mission, Goals, Staff Development (Mike with subgroup), Budget, and Evaluation (Paul). Our draft now needs to be aligned with the document format provided by the state. So far we have the following editing corrections:

Our Visions:

1. Adopting appropriate technology will promote learning anywhere, any time.

2. Technology will be integrated seamlessly into teaching and learning. (spelling of seamlessly corrected)

3. Students will utilize technology to become empowered to make responsible choices, meet personal challenges, achieve personal success, and contribute to a global society. (Utilize District Mission Statement)

Standards: An updated draft was handed out. Mike mentioned that he indicated areas that probably could be introduced at the elementary level rather then delayed to the middle school level. Paul also indicated he might want to add some items that could be introduced at the high school level. An implementation plans needs to be developed. Through Lynn's leadership, directors and principals should be instrumental in this. The standards will come from Tech Core as a statement with buildings under administrative leadership deciding how these will be met. Assurance that all children will have the experiences written within the standards is necessary. Tech Core can then gather data from buildings discerning gaps in standard coverage and have those gaps filled by integration of curriculum areas. Paul will talk to high school people about changes that need to be made. Final changes will be made and this document will be approved at the April meeting. These then need to be realigned with the exemplars. Paul will also bring a hard copy of the entire document.

Cross Platform Issue: Mike handed out a summary of a discussion he had with Dr. McAndrews concerning platforms to be used in the district as well as other technology options. He reviewed the issue and the meeting. Paul mentioned that Scott Walroth, head of the Art Department, and his secretary are experimenting with sharing files across platforms this year. In addition, Paul has been installing Conversions Plus at the high school so that file translation is possible. The issue seems to be more of a version compatibility problem than a platform problem. Using Word 2001 might take care of some of the issues. Paul mentioned standardization of software and Mike wants to include flexibility so that teachers can do the things they want to do. David recommended putting together a guide that outlines district protocol on compatibility, emailing, file sharing and saving. Lynn mentioned senior citizens being trained to man a help desk that would provide support to teachers. Dr. McAndrews would like a group of stakeholders to discuss platform issues possibly within the next few weeks.

Budget: A meeting was held for the Middle School budget which included the principals, Mike Greene, media specialists, computer TA's. A discussion about what technology program needs are required was conducted which resulted in a questionnaire to be distributed to the teachers. Ideas as to what to do with additional PC's need to be entertained. Each building needs to get what is needed for their programs. The feedback will be looked at and another meeting will be held including teachers to discuss the results and to plan or the future. The wiring at VA is a concern but Rich told Mike that this issue may have workable solutions. The main focus is to have equity between VA and Iroquois in order to meet the needs of each building.

Tech Bulletin: Paul's first bulletin received positive feedback about its layout and information. Some mentioned that they did not receive it so the next one will be sent to the attention of all staff. Paul would like to have more information from the elementary and middle school levels. The format will be the same for each issue with consistent components. Mike mentioned the TA's writing up some of the problems they have solved as suggestions might help everyone.

Filtering Protocol: A formal process was suggested when the need arises to either block or unblock a site picked up by Sonic Wall. The following was drawn up:
Teacher will communicate with a media specialist that a site needs to be evaluated in order to use it either for curriculum planning or professionally or because it is not appropriate to be seen. Media Specialist will look at the site and confirm or deny teacher's request. If a site is to be unblocked, it needs to have relevant resources and no objectionable links to other sites. Mike suggested the 2 click rule which means that if two more levels are viewed with no problems, the site is fine. If a change needs to be made, the media specialist will communicate to Todd and in turn Todd will communicate back when the change has occurred.

The Media Specialist will need a way to override Sonic Wall in order to view a blocked site. Charlie will be notified as well that a request has been made to implement a change. During the course of the discussion, the idea of creating a 3 part NCR form came up. The teacher would fill out a portion as well as the Media Specialist another portion approving or not a change. One copy of the form would be given to the teacher, one to Todd, and one kept by Media Specialist as a record of request, change, and action.

It might have the following format:

Sonic Wall Internet Filtering Change

Person Requesting:

Position:

Name of site to be blocked or unblocked:
URL:

Reason for change:

Check one or both:
Curriculum related. Explain:

Professionally related. Explain:

Media Specialist:

Request Approved

Request Denied

 

Other Business: David mentioned having a technology piece in Your Schools that would pertain to technology. Web filtering freeware might be an initial topic so that parents would have suggestions for their home Internet use.

Next Meeting Agenda:
 -Tech Plan - majority of meeting time
 -Tech standards discussion - final form drawn up by Paul
-Budget

Refreshments:David Crandall
Recorder:Mike Greene

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
February 6, 2002

Student Web Posting Policy: Question raised if opt out guidelines have been published; do not seem to be on web site or in district calendar.Need for consistency discussed; may present a problem if some teachers are cautious and send out an "opt out" letter and others don't.Dave recommended opt out guidelines be put on web site in a few places and information shared in each building.Guidelines include: elementary & middle: student's work with first name and last initial; high school student's work with full name.All levels: no name associated with any image of students.Dave, Mike and Paul will pursue posting on district web site and notify Briggs.

Newsletter: Mike suggested bulletins (every few weeks) that could go out with sharing and successes and policies/ information. Paul and Mike will work together on this. Discussion occurred re communicating by sharing existing resources such as on Mike's site-maybe print hard copies and have in computer labs and library. Mike will update his and work with Maureen to gather course handouts, "how-to's"from other CORE members.

Charlie passed out documents presented to Board of Ed on 2/4: Construction Bids and Awards of Contract, High School-Spaces/Connections Computer Network analysis as well as Prioritization of Projects. There is contingency money (to cover unexpected expenses) of ($425,000) included in the budget.Problem generated by bid opening: bid total was more than funds available, most noticeably for electrical/cabling contracts.Elementary and VA work will need to be done by district staff.There are no blueprints for wiring in elementary buildings and VA but Charlie and Tony B. has analyzed all existing connections and need for addition/revision in VA and shared info with engineers. Work needed in elementary buildings are minimal.Goal is for whole system to be done and done properly, that work in the middle schools is equitable. Charlie was also requested by superintendent and assistant superintendent to make reductions in equipment budget and reviewed this with team. Bob M. suggested that presentation of this information be modified (with equipment and construction separated) so it better reflects what our discussion highlighted.Pat G. expressed concern re district personnel being able to do the wiring in VA. Pros and cons of wired vs. wireless technology was discussed with hybrid of both a possibility.Dave C. suggested looking at equipment and when we can get it in with possibility of starting set up in Iroquois lab in June and freeing up his TA for summer.Other logistics include allocating old computers, transferring email accounts, etc. Charlie recommended a check list template for each computer indicating what needs to be done and where it will be going. Also, if elementary portables are delivered and set up by summer,this could free up elementary staff for summer at upper levels.Training needs as we switch from Mac to Windows were discussed.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
January 9, 2002

1. Mike Greene distributed adjusted district technology standards. Paul Favata will put it into chart format.

2. A listserv will be created for the CORE team. Mike will arrange with Todd to do this. Minutes will be posted there.

3. Dave Crandall initiated a discussion about a classroom listserv. This is a safe create an online forum. It has a limited audience and student work may be freely identified. A district web implementation tool will be investigated which would empower teachers to control their own web content.

4.District Tech Plan
Mike distributed amended District Technology Plan:

-Goals 1-4 had been added.
-The long range plan has a maximum of three years. Each year an additional year will be added. It will focus on the instructional aspects of technology.
-A redundancy phrase about file backup is needed.
-Consider changing the order of the goals. They will be sent electronically to Bob Michaels for him to review.
-The structure of the goals needs to reflect both student and teacher strands.
-The District Technology Plan will be sent to the new listserv for comment.
-Dave, Paul, and Mike will organize the goals for the next meeting.
-Everyone should look at the draft for the next meeting
-In the plan: items 1 and 2 - have draft; item 4 - Charlie will be contacted; item 5 - evaluation has draft; item 3 - implementation will be integrated with the goals
-For the next meeting, subcommittees will come back with more done to discuss and react. Most of the meeting time will be spent on this.
-This plan needs to be submitted to the state. It should be completed by March.

5. Platform discussion - Mike wants to provide input and information on places where a dual platform would work (ie art department, portables). Tech Core can provide feedback when asked for input. Mike will communicate with central administration about potential problems.

6. Next meeting: Feb. 6, 2002
recorder: Maureen Woerner
refreshments: Maureen Woerner and Pat Gosda

Tech CORE Team Minutes
December 5, 2001

1. Technology standardization

Mike Greene distributed information from Dr. McAndrews about his technology standardization recommendations. New computers will be PC platform unless exceptions are approved by administration. Paul Favata and Mike explained thin client technology.

2. Technology Plan

Categories to be included in the district technology plan are:
-Goals & Strategies for Use of Information Technology
-Professional Development
-Assessment
-Budget
-Evaluation

Mike distributed a draft of the mission statement and the staff development component from the subcommittee (C. Cufari, M. Woerner, M. Greene). Comments about this should go to the subcommittee.

The core team divided into two groups to work on the plan:
Goals & Strategies: B. Michaels, C. LaRow, P. Jenne, M. Woerner, M. Greene
Evaluation: N. Sieper, P. Favata, P. Gosda
These groups will continue their work and report back to the entire core team.

3. Unblocking/blocking web sites

Concerns about blocked web sites should be reported to building level library media specialists. Teachers should view the site before requesting that it be blocked or unblocked.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
November 7, 2001

Bond Issue and possible switch to PC platform: Dave announced that the Bond items are going out for bid this month and that Dr. McAndrews seems to be considering the option of replacing the Mac platform altogether in favor of the PC platform. A lively debate ensued about the merits and drawbacks of both platforms; many Tech Core members expressing concern that decisions were being made without the input of the CORE Team. The consensus seemed to be that different platforms were not necessarily causing the biggest problems; rather, it is a matter of age/generation of hardware and different versions of various software. Dave assured members that Dr. McAndrews was about to distribute a detailed memo outlining his plans (perhaps to include several options within a "plan"), and that the committee would be asked to respond to the proposal. There were concerns that we might not be able to give input to be seriously considered at this late a date; Dave stressed that our input was being solicited, even though we would not necessarily be asked to "brainstorm" about alternate solutions. Mike and Paul will revisit the specific items included in the Bond Issue; they are confident that the wording in the document is sufficiently generic and flexible to accommodate new technologies and/or shifts in platform philosophies/preferences

District Tech Standards: Mike explained that over the summer, several Iroquois staff members encountered confusion and/or difficulties as they tried to employ the Technology Integration Standards to plan curricula for the 2001-2002 school year. In response, Mike prepared a new document for review: "District Tech Standards, Revised 10/01." (A new copy of this will be supplied that reflects feedback from the meeting.)

Web Postings: Mike expressed concern about whether there was truly an official policy for web postings of student works & images; In the interim, what are teachers supposed to do (or not do) as they create their own classroom pages? Is each teacher expected to get explicit permission from every parent for use of names, photos, etc.? Mike will contact Briggs about this, as he had indicated previously that the policy would be communicated to the public from the district level.

State-mandated Tech Plan: Members revisited the basic components that need to be included in the Tech Plan:

Mike distributed a draft covering the Professional Development piece authored by a CORE subcommittee. Feedback is required for this. For those who missed the meeting, or had to leave early, this document has been posted on the Web at:
     http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/edtech/TechPlanStaffDev.html
Please review this document and be prepared to make any suggestions for improvement.

Concern was expressed that Tech Core seems to be "spinning their wheels" lately. What are the real priorities to be addressed? This discussion evolved out of the confusion about the district's "organizational structure" – specifically, the people: who does what, when, for whom? What is the path to be followed in specific situations to have problems addressed, solutions implemented, solutions communicated, etc.

Should an outside facilitator be hired to help us create a Tech Plan? To help us focus on our goals? By the way, what ARE the committee's goals/strengths/weaknesses? Based on that, we need to prepare a STRATEGIC, living, visionary plan – regardless of obvious day-to-day roadblocks (e.g., fiscal problems and other lack of resources).

Other thoughts/comments:
1. Instead of sending Tech Core envoys to departmental meetings, we should invite departmental reps to our meetings
2. School principals need to be exposed to our existence; also revisited, our intentions of reaching out to teachers, folks "in the trenches."
3. Concern that we are reacting too much to problems, rather than being a proactive group.
4. How can committee members stay in touch between monthly meetings? Paul will contact Todd to create "listserv".
5. Next month's topics: platforms, strategic plans, and brainstorming re items for faculty bulletins. Also, please read the Tech Plan Subcommittee's report (on the Web) and respond via listserv or email.
6. Did everyone get a copy of the snack/note-taker schedule?

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
October 3, 2001

1. Housekeeping:
-meetings will be held the first Wednesday of each month from 8 am to 11 am, except the January meeting which will be held on January 9th.
-send minutes as an attachment saved as RTF to Shelley's secretary, Terri Connelly (connelly.t@nisk.k12.ny.us)

2. Goals for the coming year:
I.Assist in implementing the technology portion of the bond (sub-committee of Dave Crandall, Pat Gosda, Mike Greene, and high school rep(s) to be recruited by Paul Favata).
II.To develop a district technology plan
-Professional development subcommittee formed (Mike Greene, Maureen Woerner, Carol La Row, and Cheryl Cufari) will work on goals 1 and 2 as they in part fall under professional development.
-This group will also work on visibility and come back with some ideas.

3. Technology Standards:
-Subcommittee formed (Paul Favata, Mike Greene, and other teachers to be announced)

4. Needs Assessment:
-Subcommittee formed (Paul Favata, Shelley Baldwin-Nye)

5. Print out the formal tech plan from web site for our next meeting.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
July 19, 2001

1. Opt- Out ----Dave will talk to Frank Tedesco about the original student Internet use opt-out letter and add a filtering statement.

2. Bond Update----No state approval yet

3. Filtering----An update on filtering recommendations will be sent to Briggs
* Note changes to memo --- see written notes --- the yearly fee of $600 a year after 1st year for filtering list subscription. New York State Contract 4100 includes the 1st year subscription, firewall, software and an unlimited client license. Safety features include: filtering on all computers, first time log on with approval of Media Specialist /TA / Principal, long term changes approved by building administrator to Charlies for change.

4. Discussion followed regarding filtering and the "Children's Internet Protection Act"
On Aug. 9th, there will be a meeting regarding filtering at BOCES. It is a half-day workshop which Charlie, and possibly Mike, will attend. Questions regarding filtering will be clarified. For example, "Do we need a written policy regarding filtering, is our current policy sufficient , or do we need to include filtering in our current policy? Does our Sonic Wall system monitor online activities? Should we check with our school attorney? If the new Regents policy passes, will all students activities need to be logged in? Will our acceptable use policy need a name change due to the Children's Internet Protection Act? See page 4 of our of the Children's Law document and determine whether we have included all bulleted items with our new program. Who will the power to disable the filtering system be given to? Will our faculty be affected? Will it be a principal's, Media  Specialist's ,or TA's job to determine appropriate sites, or will there be a clearinghouse committee set up?  Charlie or the Network Manager must be notified first if a site that is blocked is needed by a staff member. A new site should be approved within a 24 to 48 hour period if a teacher needs it and determines it is worthwhile. It will be determined if it is necessary to draft a statement about overriding power. Charlie will find out when the new plan must be submitted to State Ed.

 

5. Technology Plan

The New York State Tech Plan Primer was discussed. The first 5 requirements for schools were highlighted and it was determined that #1 and #2 were not covered by our long range plan,  #3 and #4 were covered by our budget info care of Charlie, and that #5 was covered but not extensively enough. The question is whether we have to be in line by Sept.? Do we need to re-do our entire plan by then? We have been notified by the state that our long range plan has expired. Charlie will determine what we need to do and when we need to do it by from BOCES. We need to brainstorm numbers 1, 2, and 5 as a group. Our plan needs to comply with tech standards. Some brainstorming occurred on these requirements.

6. Things to Do:

I. The Internet and Safety Plan
II. Goals and requirements for the State Tech Plan:


Goal #1:
1.   To implement new district technology standards
2. To integrate technology into the curriculum
3. Staff Development---integrate technology, increase amount of hardware, and software upgrading and expanding ( Bond Issue                               could be incorporated)
4. Re-examine the protocol for technology standards every 2 years
5. Evaluate on-going filtering system and technique for protocol system and evaluate on-going development criteria for evaluation.

Goal #2: The district professional development plan which is a new school committee which may apply and it involves Model Schools and a technologist on staff, plus CORE activities and Danielson etc. It will involve mandatory items for all.

Goal #5: The Tech CORE Team should be the evaluator group and Appendix #5 shows bulleted item examples. A feasible plan with budget restraints is needed, plus an evaluation process should involve this committee with peer review and with standards incorporated.

THE NEXT MEETING FOR TECH CORE IS SEPT.12TH (WED.)

Agenda:
1. Tech Plan
2. Bond Update
3.Information Update on Filtering Software
4.Tech CORE structure( small group or sub committee as proposed by Paul)
Charlie will e-mail us if we need to meet before this date, otherwise we will work on the Plan from Sept.-- Nov.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
June 6, 2001

1. Internet Filtering - The visit to Guilderland proved to be profitable. Those who visited had favorable reactions to Cyberpatrol. Members of our Tech CORE committee found it to be the least restrictive of all filtering systems seen thus far and the most liberal. Some "hot topics" like abortion and some author and artists were able to be accessed. This software allows an override at certain levels of access or with certain passwords. A new version of Cyberpatrol will soon be released with options available such as sports, but with a gambling block. Mike observed a pattern of some URL's being blocked due to objectionable wording such as: pregnancy, however, they may be valuable and useful sites. The bottom line is that there is no utopia regarding filtering systems. The cost of this one is under $3000 for the SonicWALL hardware and operating system plus Cyberpatrol software.

Paul discussed the topic of XML which is called "extensible markup language" which will soon replace html. Html is not as smart as XML which will actually understand the concepts of the page and be more discriminatory. Now the page builder of the page tags its contents. This will be replaced and may help with the filtering process.

Questions: Does the filter minimize our need for supervision of the computers while our students are online? Tech members felt it may help but not eliminate the need for supervision.

What level of access will everyone have? Mike felt eventually teachers will have the override capability but for now it will be limited to TA's, media specialists and principals. It will be monitored next year.

Summary: A recommendation will be made to Dr. McAndrews to purchase SonicWALL with a 1 year subscription to Cyberpatrol. SonicWALL hardware provides a firewall in and of itself so that after one year we may want to try another educational solution to filtering if we find we don't like Cyberpatrol.

Needs: Mike will be in charge of writing the proposal and include the purchase, the reasons why, the use of the software and we will be emailed with his summary and be allowed comments before it goes to Briggs.

  2. Bond Update: Charlie was absent from the meeting so an update will follow regarding some things such as multiple delivery dates of hardware, etc.

  3. Technology Plan: The State requires a more formalized tech plan (a new template for it is available and Charlie has a copy). Charlie will update us on the new plan. We need to become more visionary with our own plan and also meet new requirements.

  4. Mike's Musings: Mike had some problems initially with training regarding obtaining half-day subs and so, at times, 2 full days were used rather than 4-5 half days. Next year, Mike hopes to get some funding for subs by doing training through Model Schools which seems like a favorable arrangement for all. Intimate groups could still be workable with only 30% of the traininggroup coming from other schools.

Mike has done some email sharing of 5th grade technology integration activities this spring. Because of the positive feedback other grade levels will be highlighted next year.

  5. Membership: Dave updated membership for next year and with a little help from friends will fill vacancies from other buildings.

  6. Summer Meeting: Save July 19th all day (8-3) more info will follow regarding AM. or PM. Topics include:
- revise opt out letter for student internet use
- update tech plan
- bond issue work

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
May 2, 2001

Filtering Update:
Mike Greene reports that he has contacted Shenendahowa regarding the BESS product, N2H2 filtering software. The network administrator he spoke to liked it. He also spoke to a ninth grade English teacher who polled her students. Some of the students indicated that they had become frustrated and do much of their research at home. Students were doing reports on numerous topics that were blocked, including terrorism, ecstasy, Al Capone, hate crimes.

Discussion followed. Next steps for the filtering discussion: Visit Phoenix school district to see Sonic Wall and or a local district that uses Cyber Patrol. Mike will email Tech Core regarding a visitation.

Budget Update:
-More bandwidth for Middle Schools WAN connections from 384k to T1
-More bandwidth for the district internet connection from T1 to paired T1s
-Filtering and Firewall
-Added staff: Middle school TV & digital photo lab, Addition to existing HS TV position
-Equipment change from last year ($14,000), to this year ($56,000)

Bond Issue:
Charlie reports that a local district has obtained exceptions allowing for wireless networking and/or laptops. Mark LaPlante had a discussion with State Ed. regarding the same possibility. Mike Greene, Paul Favata and Charlie will write a request for exceptions that may enable the district to receive aid for portable computing devices and wireless connections. The Tech Core provided the following ideas for the request:

-Cost - $1500 x 10 to hardwire 10 machines vs. one connection for 10 wireless hookups for $1300 + one hardwire hookup and the added cost of laptops.
-Flexible instructional space - Media Center, High School courses, etc.
-Enables us to utilize large group spaces with computers
-Help teacher flexibility when they have to room share
-Wireless may be more cost effective given wiring problems in the high school
-Portability for fieldtrips at all levels.
-Portable computer lab

Greene Report:
-4T is wrapping up. Mike is sharing work with everyone via email.
-Mike has been doing a lot of ad hoc staff development work on websites. This is often done in large blocks of time. Mike will try to develop these opportunities within NERIC through the Model Schools program to potentially provide sub support.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
April 4, 2001

Bond: Charlie reported that first approval from SED for projects was received in February. We are still waiting for final approval. We can't bid the projects until we receive final approval.

Concerns: Late bidding may mean contractors and material will not be available; Difficulty completing projects before school starts. The district is trying to identify what work could be done this year. Most projects may be deferred to summer 2002. This means technology purchases might also be deferred.

Discussion: Advertise for proposals in anticipation of funds becoming available; Selection criteria in RFP could have time limit that could meet our school schedule; Modify school calendar to do work in winter; Extraexpense associated with rushing to get work done this summer; Technology purchases could be made after bids are awarded; Get computer equipment as soon as possible; Several smaller computer purchases rather than one purchase might be better in terms of storage and setup; Concern that funds would not be available for last wave of purchases if building costs are too high; Possible to defer delivery of purchased equipment until we want it (multiple shipping dates); Perhaps we could bid computer equipmentcooperatively with other districts to get a better price; More computers scheduled to be no longer supported by Apple (5200 models); Negotiations about state aid for laptops is continuing; Analyze electromagnetic radiation from wireless networks; Have more groups working in parallel to get construction jobs done faster; Possible network designs to minimize cost and maximize state aid; Should be able to install new telephone systems this summer; Create timetable and prioritization of all technology to buy as soon as we can make purchases; Staff availability to set up computers this summer; State aid issues about laptops must be resolved before equipment is purchased; Reference to previous discussion about building infrastructure is higher priority than purchasing equipment.

iMovie: Paul Favata and Mina Zarelli demonstrated Mina's iMovie presentations for foreign language and basketball.

Budget: Charlie reviewed the computer/technology areas in the 2001-02 budget. Software budget increases targeted for new computers to be purchased through bond. Discussion of ways to purchase up-to-date software to get maximum value for the money.

Filtering: Limited number of filtering programs that meet our criteria. The district lawyer reviewed the text of the new law to determine what we are legally required to do regarding filtering. Discussion of need to filter adult computers. Requirement of a public hearing about internet safety policy.

Mike distributed email communication he received from the Phoenix district about CyberPatrol. He is also considering visiting Shenendehowa to see the BESS program. Mike will check with Burnt Hills schools about how students use the district internet server from home.

Need to do: Review filtering criteria discuss in December and state them for community; Review district policy to include filtering; Decide what filtering software to recommend. Goal: to have filter in place for September. Pat and Mike will bring further information about filtering products to the May meeting.

Standards: Mike distributed the most recent draft of our technology standards. Some new exemplars have been added, some wording clarified, and format improved. Need to clarify where the district stands in terms of departmental requirements to meet these standards. Next step is to review these standards with the district office. Sharing these standards with this summer's curriculum writers would be a good idea.

The core team thanks Sue Seiffert for all her efforts for the team and wishes her well in her retirement.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
March 7, 2001

1. Demonstration of Palm Pilot by Marna Lehnert
Features mentioned were synchronizing files, uploading from web, hand writing on screen, saving as an image file, moonphase, happy days address book and calendar, jot and word completion.

2. Standards Update
The elementary level (including exemplars) is close to being finished. It will be reviewed one more time . Acknowledgments will be added. Dave will take the final product to Briggs McAndrews and Lynn Macan to develop a plan for the future of this document.

3. Web Posting
Our earlier plan was sent to the District Office last spring. Some concern had been expressed. A directory statement is a possibility. We will start with the original plan and adjust it if needed. The web posting policy will be reviewed with Briggs McAndrews and Lynn Macan.

4. Budget and Bond Issue
A 4th technical position may be added to Media Technical Services. Charlie reviewed new positons to be added to support the digital photography and television labs, leasing information and the software budget, In the bond, aidable equipment is still undecided. Mounts and mounting for TV/VCR units was discussed.

5.Greene Report
Workshops have been offered on web page design at each school. Mini-sessions will be offered to introduce Inspiration and WebQuest Generator. At Iroquois, Netscape Composer sessions are being offered. The 4T program is continuing.

6. Newsletter
There is one newsletter to go. Sue will ask for articles and they will be due March 21st.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
December 6, 2000

Four new community members were introduced and welcomed:
Larry Gallery, John Gritmon, Bob Michaels, Nancy Todd. Background was provided by Dave Crandall about the work of the CORE committee.

Bond/Budget:
A spreadsheet was distributed representing what is in the bond. Charlie McCambridge explained New York State's position on what is bond aidable. Some of the original items are now ineligible. The main issue is the portability of some pieces. The group discussed the spreadsheet of original bond expenditures to define what is eligible and what is not and any changes that have occurred since the list was first formed. Questions were raised about costs, engineering consultants, and architect advice on compiling figures and items; explanations were provided. A large degree of discussion took place on what needs to be completed. A subcommittee may have to meet in January to fix a new priority to the list before the plan proceeds.

Strategies to be considered for the above situation:
For the 2001-02 budget year, trade ineligible items in the bond for eligible items in the 2001-02 budget equipment code. Discuss the issue with a state representative(s). Contact Hugh Farley about the problem. Create a process of administrative control for portable equipment such as a secure self-contained unit or docking station

Standards:
Paul Favata sent out a draft and some changes were made. Further updates will be sent electronically and discussed at the February meeting

Upcoming Presentations:
Marna Lenhert was to make a presentation but could not attend the meeting. She will be asked to do it again at a later date. This offer was extended to everyone for sharing; Mike Greene mentioned that he had things he could present.

Filtering:
Pat Gosda and Nancy Sieper reported their findings, including information sent from neighboring districts using filtering software. Two spreadsheets were passed out with titles and comments about each experience. An article was also disseminated. Various programs need to be investigated to determine what would be best for our particular situation. Pat feels an override ability is essential. The following criteria were established for preview and decision making:

-Different levels of filtering for different user levels
-Multiple levels of access to software configuration features for various users
-Customizing options at network level for locked out sites that are actually needed
-On the spot overrides available at teacher level
-Server based, not client based
-Transparent interface
-Preference is access to entire internet with exception of filtered sites (as opposed to a smaller database of preselected/prescreened sites)
-Consideration of criteria for blocking sites (preferable e.g. contextual screening of text)
-Ability not to filter selected machines on the network

Other:

Dave Crandall went to PTO meetings about access to the web for posting student work. He will also bring this up at an Administrative Council meeting.

Digital photo lab for VA has been submitted as a Farley Grant.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
November 1, 2000

It was decided to have a Tech Core meeting on Dec. 6th, and to cancel the Jan. 3rd meeting.

Carol LaRow's Demonstration of Sound Companion and Digital Video:
* Sound Companion Software is PC/MAC compatible, and records layers of sound. Sound mixing, importing of sounds, copying, pasting and many other neat effects are possible. It appears to be fairly easy to use and the students will just LOVE it! Carol distributed price lists for the software.
* Digital Video - Apple iMovie 2 - this software is currently installed on the eTEC IMACs, and we have a digital video camera as well. You can take a video clip, re-record and overlay different sounds (from the Sound Companion software) words, transitions, and other effects over top of the video clip. A finished video takes up to 2 Gigs, so ideally you would transport it out to a regular VHS video tape, and perhaps archive the digital version somewhere for future editing. You can also export it to a QuickTime version, or compress it for a website.

Standards Update: Paul Favata & David Crandall
* Dissemination-the Technology Standards would be discussed at the next Directors meeting, and perhaps the Leadership meetings.
* Rationale-Paul Favata presented a possible rationale to the group, it was edited, and Paul will re-write with new input and present it at the next meeting.
* Exemplars-Paul let us know that he has electronic copies of various exemplars from each level (elementary, middle and high school) which will follow the Standards in the finished product. Paul will email everyone with the Standards draft, including the Rationale and Exemplars, prior to the next meeting.

Computer Utilization:
1. Written policy-varies from level to level
* HS uses an opt-in system- Shelley Baldwin forwarded a letter used by Chris Monahan and Joe Baciewicz in their classes. It was noted that many high school teachers and students may not be aware of this system. This form is not distributed by the school principal, it must be distributed by individual teachers.
* MS use an opt-out system- form is distributed by the principals at the beginning of the school year.
* Elementary schools also use an opt-out system similar to the Middle Schools.
2. Web-posting rules- Discussion about what our policy is regarding posting pictures and names of students. Currently our stance is that pictures of students ARE allowed as long as their names are not posted (unless parental permission is given). Middle and High School students' work may have their full names attached to the work, but for Elementary School students only first names should be attached. All documents that have been previously published in print for public consumption may be posted electronically in the original form (including student names and pictures without parental permission). The posting of "Your Schools" and "The Warrior" is an example of this practice.
The Web-posting policy will be disseminated to the schools by Mike Greene.

Community Tech Core Member:
Mike Greene shared the names of two community members who are interested in being involved in Tech Core. Mike will communicate to them what our meetings are about, and invite them to the next meeting.

Filtering:
Pat Gosda, Nancy Sieper, Paul Favata, Mike Greene and Todd Oberdick will
research filters and some important features of them, including:
* Teachers trying to lead the class
* Students trying to do research
* Management by network personnel
* Research several packages and see which ones work best
* Cost
* Local- or server-based control
* Defeatability by students
* Filtering process - by context or URLs
* Different levels of control for Elementary, Middle or High school levels
* Usability in conjunction with internet subscription databases Information will be presented at the January meeting. David will speak to Dr. McAndrews about budgeting some money for filtering for next year.

Farley Grant Update and Brainstorming:
Proposals for the grant included: Digital Photo Lab at Van Antwerp (to provide equity with Iroquois) or wireless pilot program

Upcoming Meeting Duties:
Dec. 6 Minutes-Cheryl Cufari Refreshments-Marna L& Dan M Demo-Marna Lehnert
Feb 7 Minutes-Cheryl Newman Refresh-Cheryl N & Sue Sieffert Demo-
March 7 Minutes-Nancy Sieper Refreshments-Pat Jenne&Nancy S. Demo-
April 4 Minutes-Pat Gosda Refreshments-Mike Greene Demo-
May 2 Minutes- Refreshments-David Crandall Demo-
June 6 Minutes-Pat Jenne Refreshments-Carol LaRow Demo-

Tech CORE Team Minutes
October 4, 2000

1. Mike Greene-
A. Staff Development -1) Model Schools booklets should be in all schools. Try to make staff aware of the offerings. Give Mike any names of possible trainers. 2). 4T is a go. Mike has presented at most of the Faculty meetings. 3). Paul & Mike have been working on "Nisky Wired". It will mirror and expand upon NY Wired with a more customized training. Details will follow. It would consist of 4-5 1/2 day sessions. Mike is talking to Kim Greiner as to possibility of a Model School umbrella. If a pilot is successful there could be a grant written. 3). There was discussion on state & district requirements of staff development. A new state mandate for new teachers would require 175 hours of credit in a 5 year period.
B. Internet Safety - a community internet safety committee has been meeting. There will be 4 public presentations: 2 at the elementary schools 10/10 Rosendale, 10/25 Craig and 2 at secondary schools 10/24 HS, 11/1 Iroquois. Detective LaVallee will show a Powerpoint presentation created by the state. Charlie and Paul or Mike will attend each presentation.
C. Community Representative - How can we get someone on the Core Team? The time schedule is often a conflict. We should approach the PTO's and retired residents.

2. Computer Use Policy-
Pat G. & Mike looked at suggestions for computer use policy from the State School Board Association and compared it to Niskayuna's policy. The Core team compared handouts of regulations from each and discussed the variations. Concerns were raised as to the philosophical approach of filtering software. The possibility of a combination of approaches as the number of computers increase. Dave Crandall suggested we send a copy to Mike of the letter that was sent to parents. At the Nov. meeting we'll discuss filtering, acceptable use policy and duties of the administrator. Charlie brought up protection by Fire Wall software. There was a long discussion of how to write a policy that cover's possibilities without stifling educational growth . No consensus was reached.

3. Charlie relayed information concerning the Bond equipment purchasesalong with a timeline

4. Technology Standards-
Core team adjourned to the edtech lab and looked at the technology standards. Dave suggested that the standards could be attached to curriculum project proposals. The projects that would be funded would have to coordinate with the standards. Paul envisions a Standards Book consisting of: Table of Contents, Rational Examples and Credits. We divided into groups according to levels and gathered examples to coordinate with the standards. At the next meeting we will work on the dissemination of the standards.

5. Newsletter - articles are due before the next meeting 11/1

6. Next meeting- Carol LaRow will present Digital Video and Sound Companion.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
August 10, 2000

Attendance: David Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Paul Favata, Pat Gosda, Michael Greene, Pat Jenne, Carol LaRow, and Sue Seiffert.

Meeting Schedule 2000-2001: Lynn Macan approved the tech core team meeting schedule for eight I/2 day sessions beginning in October and running through June with the months of Sept. and Dec. being eliminated. Our meetings will run from 8 A.M. to 11 A.M. A list of meeting dates follows:
Oct. 4th
Nov. 1st
Jan. 3rd
Feb. 7th
Mar.7th
April 4th
May 2nd
June 6th
*No meetings for Sept and Dec.

During the Oct. meeting, Sue Seiffert will take notes and be responsible for the minutes and Cheryl Cufari and Pat Gosda will do refreshments. During the Nov. meeting, Dave Crandall and Paul Favata will do refreshments and Paul will also be responsible for the notes and minutes. Please be prepared to volunteer and sign up for the other meeting dates at the Oct meeting.

Filters: Discussion centered on whether or not filtering should be considered for our district since it is possible that legislation centered on internet filtering will be put in place by congress according to an article shared by Pat Gosda. Pat sees a possible problem for the media centers as more and more machines become available and it may be hard to monitor all machines with only one media person present. Differing views were presented but consensus felt it was an issue that may have to be re-visited. Currently, we such controls as passwords, supervision. signed parent permission policies etc. Data bases such as Ed View or Ed Scope are also made use of but may be too limiting. This type of program is an inclusion not an exclusion program. It is a special database of acceptable sites. Some considerations for filters include: who will maintain the filter, how is it defeated and whose making the decisions or control and do we want someone or some other panel to take control away from us? Network assistant may be able to help make changes to multiple machines simultaneously. Also, we may want to consider filtering some machines and leaving some open.

Policy and Regulation Review: Briggs asked that we review this packet to compare and contrast our policies with those of the N.Y. State Board Association document. Pat Gosda and Mike Greene will form a sub-committee and present the core team with a two column review comparing and contrasting likenesses and differences. This will be reviewed at the Oct. meeting and recommendations will then be made to Briggs by the entire team.

Mike Greene Report: Mike discussed posting work on the web and Mike and Dave will check to see if parent permission must be given and whether or not names should be used.

Carol LaRow was identified as an Apple Distinguished Teacher and she is the only one identified for upstate N. Y.

The new Technology Skills Plan was presented by Mike and is divided by grade level with a scope and sequence chart and suggested activities. It is linked with Mike's web site also.

Technology Standards: Paul Favata broke us into groups and we discussed draft possibilities and a new category of "E" or "Extend" was added to our document. Now we have introduce, extend and reinforce as terms used in our standards. The letters I,E and R will be explained and correlate with the new skills plan. Basically, extend means something new is taught at the grade level.A skill isn't introduced more than once but rather extended.

A "black box" correction was made to read," Students will be provided experience and support in order to: ... " or "The Niskayuna faculty will provide experiences and support in order that students ..." Paul and Dave and Mike will discuss the standards with principals etc. and report back to us.

Charlie's Report: Charlie discussed some facility problems and some problems facing replacements for machines. Is the bottom line the # of machines or is it the pot of money available. Some problems involve space whether it be new or existing rooms.

Next Meeting: Oct. 4th
Submitted by: Pat Jenne

Tech CORE Team Minutes
June 7, 2000

1. Standards
The entire meeting was spent working on technology standards. Corrections were made on the rough draft regarding grade levels, introduction of a skill, reinforcement etc. Color highlighting vs. the letters I = introduced, R = reinforced were also discussed. Language was cleaned up and elimination of duplicate standards was also attempted.

2. Meeting Schedule for Next Year
It was the consensus of the group that due to the nature of our core team membership, it is not necessary to hire as many subs for our members to attend our meetings during the day. It is almost as costly to meet
after school and pay the TA's. Time wise it is better to meet during the day even if we are cut from 10
meetings to 81/2 meetings. This would give us a total of 24 meeting hours vs. 16 meeting hours by meeting after school. Many of our concerns will require extended meeting times which is optimal during daytime meetings vs.
after school. The topic will be discussed with Lynn Macan before a final decision is made.

3. Summer Meeting Date Set
It was decided to meet on Aug 10th from 9:00-12:00.- Board Rm. -District Office.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
May 3, 2000

I. Presentation:
Marna Lehnert demonstrated a web service called Net Floppy.com (http://www.netfloppy.com) which is essentially a floppy disk on the web. Beneficial when you are working on an iMac since these do not have floppy drives. Also helpful when working on files at home and at school - easily transferable. Signup is quick, your "floppy" holds 3 MB of space, and is fairly reliable. Several users on the team stated that they haven't lost any files.

II. Greene Report:
Mike has done various presentations at the schools for educators, and these have been received well. For some of these presentations, Mike has taken the new eTec portable computers, and people are very excited about them.

Mike states the advantage to the portables is that he can set up a training session anywhere as long as an ethernet connection exists within 150 feet of the room. This eliminates using the existing computer labs during the school day which takes the computers away from students who need to use them.

Some discussion ensued regarding the benefits and expansion of the airport system: wireless, reliability, movement around the room, costs, ease of setup, connection through the walls, ceilings and floors! Charlie mentioned that the district should be considering this for the future.

III. Presentation:
The eTec Training Room was introduced to the team. Eleven computers (6 iBooks and 5 iMacs) were used comfortably. The computers are networked and can be controlled by the trainer, messages can be sent back and forth between the "students" and the trainer - this was demonstrated. Also, a SmartBoard was demonstrated and used for the first time by a few core team members. Comments about the room were positive and generally team members appeared excited about the new technologies available.

Paul Favata will be emailing the team a web address regarding a web address on Niskayuna's Server that allows you to check and send email anywhere with internet access.

IV. Membership and Meeting Schedule for 2000-2001:
Administration has asked that all core team meetings take place outside of the school day (subs will no longer be paid for these meetings). Tech Core discussed briefly and came up with some options:
-bulletin board or listserve to keep up on information
-email information to one another
- short morning or evening meetings (3 hours once a month may be too long) The team decided to have a June meeting so we can decide upon the meeting times, and continuing/new members.

V. Standards:
Paul composed the Elementary standards and High School standards into one-page documents for review by the committee. Major changes made to format in order to combine all standards for the Elementary, Middle, and High School into one document. Members from each school are going to meet to create a draft and introduce it to the team at the June meeting. The intention is to introduce it to the District in Fall 2000.

VI. McCambridge's Musings:
Shared good news about teachers and accomplishments throughout the district.

This year's budget closed Friday - currently trying to transfer left over funds for software to next year's budget. Some difficulties in getting technology portions of the bond in progress by Fall 2000. Currently, looks like most technology will not be ready until Fall 2001.

VII. Model Schools/New York Wired:
Model Schools summer course offerings schedule should be out in May. NY Wired - all slots potentially filled for the rest of the school year and summer 2000.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
January 5, 2000

Educational Technology Training Center:

Mike and Paul discussed the progress on the training center providing handouts detailing its strategies for effective use as both a portable and/or fixed facility. They also provided a spreadsheet listing the actual and proposed purchases.

In conjunction with their report, Mike Layman from Audio Visual Sales in Albany demonstrated the capabilities of the SmartBoard, an interactive electronic whiteboard, which is under consideration for use in the training facility. Contact Paul if you are interested in further information on Smartboard.

Greene Report:

Mike noted that the 4T program is proceeding nicely, although there is a somewhat lessened involvement at the middle school level this year. He will be discussing some options for other types of support in the Middle schools with David and Tony. A number of the counseling staff across the district are especially active in 4T this time.

Paul's Report:

Paul reported that the response for 4T training from the high school staff was good. The music dept. has a designated computer with software enabling students to create original musical compositions. Paul is also conducting training classes in WebQuests which use role playing for problem solving techniques. The History web page is also operating with links to other social studies teachers' pages.

District Tech standards:

A subcommittee will be developing a list of technology standards for the district. A framework for these standards will be developed at the next Core meeting after reviewing other models that are in use.

Newsletter:

The deadline for the next newsletter is Feb. 2 (the next Core meeting). Sue would appreciate items being submitted no later than this so the newsletter can be published in a timely fashion.

McCambridge Report:

Charlie reported on the status of the high school TV station. Currently space in the media center has been identified for use as a control room. Student training will be offered during Regents Week. There are about 35 students interested in the station. Paul will be working with Patrick McGrath at Iroquois to learn about the practical operation of a TV station.

Charlie asked for recommendations on how to deal with the requested network extensions in the elementary schools and still stay within the budget. It was decided to increase the existing extensions in each elementary lab by 2 and to add AirPort (wireless) capabilities, and also to provide network access to those classrooms which do not already have connections. This should provide the necessary connections and fall within the budget limits.

Charlie also reported that the 5200 model computers designated for replacement need to be prepared for transport out by Jan. 15. According to Apple leasing, the new imacs are still "in transit" and the older models may be gone before the new ones arrive.

Charlie distributed information detailing media and computer services initiatives for 2000/2001 as well as other budgetary information for review.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
December 1, 1999

Farley Grant:
-$35,000 has been allocated for the Digital Photo Lab. A prioritizing meeting has already taken place, and planning continues. Charlie will check to see if we can use BOCES to purchase/lease some of the equipment, and to what extent this might benefit us.

-The Faculty Training Facility is still in the planning phase. Mike distributed a spreadsheet of current costs for a "hybrid" approach. This would include both portable and desktop machines. This configuration would allow for moving training to individual buildings, but also provide facilities for more advanced capabilities. Possible room modifications were discussed (e.g. electrical service and network connections). A "field trip" was taken to the facility and suggestions/concerns expressed. The plan will soon be passed along to Briggs and Mark. Alternatives to beanbags were discussed, including inflatable furniture!

Paul Favata:
-Paul has eleven 4T pairs currently participating at the high school. He shared some of the projects being worked on. He has funding to support 15 pairs, and will probably reach this number soon.

Charlie:
-Bond issue: A spreadsheet was distributed with updated figures. Network connection positions in the elementary buildings need to be identified prior to the holidays. Also, the specs for a fiber optic connection between Rosendale and Iroquois. There is a question concerning the timing for the purchase of elementary equipment, as the facilities work is being done this summer. The high school needs to determine networking connection locations, etc. by the end of the school year. It is hoped that locations can be somewhat standardized (rather than being customized for particular teachers), as teaching stations and personnel change over time. Talks have begun with vendors (e.g. Apple) about the possibility of bundling software with computer purchases so that state aid would be applicable. A question was raised concerning furniture required for computer placement. Concerns were also expressed about the logistics of machine delivery and setup.

-There has been discussion with a couple of community experts concerning the placement and deployment of the high school TV station.

-With the large number of computer purchases in the bond, increased connectivity needs to be addressed, both between buildings and to the outside. Possibilities: fiber optic connections via the cable company, Bell Atlantic solution, district-owned "between school" connections (Rosendale & Iroquois). These are being investigated, including possible wireless options (e.g. between VA & Hillside).

-Charlie distributed an updated list of Apple products that will no longer be supported, along with a list of machines currently in the district. Discussion followed concerning support of elementary equipment replacement. Craig's lab will be renovated and will become a full-class lab, requiring additional machines. Charlie will build a budget that would supply 120-125 machines on the elementary level to replace obsolete machines and provide the Craig lab with their computers.

Tech CORE Team Minutes
November 3, 1999

1. Farley Grant:

a. Digital Photo Lab: Dave L'Hommedieu gave a presentation on the proposed digital photo lab at Iroquois. He discussed the location, equipment, use of lab, curriculum use (technology, art, science, extra curricular/community projects), cost, and staffing.

b. Training Facililty: Paul and Mike passed out a packet with two proposals for a training facility with cost sheets and training center floor plans.

It has not been decided exactly how the grant money from Hugh Farley will be used. More discussions and meetings will be held and Tech Core representatives will try to find money to fund proposals.

2. Memo on curriculum proposals: Dave Crandall passed out the draft of a letter to the curriculum committee regarding the integration of techonology into curriculum planning. Some changes were suggested to clarify the document.

3. Greene report:

a. Web page standards: Mike passed out information on a disclaimer, copyright ownership and a statement of acceptable use policy for district-wide use developed by Joe B. Each schools' web site should create a link to this information. You may connect to it using

http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/disclaimer.html

b. Student publishing policies: We will develop a statement of guidelines which will be sent to attorneys and will be communicated to faculty and parents.

c. 4 T program is moving along well. All application forms are due back by Friday, November 12th.

d. eMates pilot program is happening. Pond life and language arts are integrated in this program.

e. Release time training has been done at Craig, and is scheduled for Van Antwerp, Glencliff and Birchwood.

f. Training Facility: Mike and Paul discussed objectives, scheduling, input about design and communication with teachers about their needs.

4. McCambridge's Musings

a. Charlie distributed information on State Aid increases.

b. The Bond architects timeline has a backlog. Bidding must be timed carefully. What is the optimal time to make purchases? How will we buy software? Locational issues must be discussed.

c. The Budget must be prepared soon. Where will we spend our money? We may want to consider staffing and curriculum proposals, and increased technological support (perhaps another technology support person on the second shift).

d. NY Wired training (level 2) sessions are not filled as yet. Let Charlie know of any teams that are interested. NY Wired and the Model Schools Program are exploring ways to combine and cooperate.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
October 5, 1999

Farley Grants: Senator Hugh Farley was able to provide Niskayuna a grant of $14,000 for an original submitted proposal plus an additional grant of $100,000 which came in August. Discussion occurred on ways to divide this additional sum to cover various technology projects. Establishing a training center was discussed including ideas for such a facility. This may be a permanent center at the district office, a movable center that could be set up in free rooms in buildings, or a combination of both. Various connectivity plans were discussed as well. Dr. McAndrews will be consulted as to his vision for the money as well as the facility. A subgroup comprised of Charlie McCambridge, Mike Greene, Nancy Furey, Paul Favata, and Carol LaRow will meet to look at the variables. By the next Tech Core meeting, they will have met and have more information so that a plan can be decided upon.

Greene Report:

1.Reminder of NYSCATE Conference in November in Buffalo. Mike Greene and Paul Favata are presenting.

2. 4T is coming along with faculty meeting presentations scheduled.

3. Release time this year will be with 4th grade and 6th grade teachers focusing on science including electrical circuits and topographical maps & use of databases.

4. Model Schools course list is out with just 2 catalogs this year plus a summer listing. Mike has made a quick reference guide on his web site as well as listing the courses.

5. E-Mate pilot coming along. Two Union College students are involved along with Ken Blom; Cynde Leder is the piloting teacher. The focus will be on enhancing science instruction; Mike made mention of the fact that the portable computing devices to be bought through the bond could be equipped with probes and software.

6. Frank Tedesco gave the Tech Core a copy of Hillside guidelines for publishing children's work on the school web site. Tech Core came up with the following recommendation:

middle and High School - text - full name will be published

Elementary School - no consensus - principals will be consulted

Post pictures without names at all levels unless parental permission has been given

7. schoolnotes.com - a way for teachers to communicate electronically with parents and students without having to have a self-created web site. Mike recommended previewing this to see if it would work for our teachers

8. Discussion on putting homework on the district homepage or link onto this site from the homepage.

McCambridge Musings:

1. Pat Gosda presented the media curriculum written by the Media Department over the summer, 1999. Copies of the curriculum were passed out and the Big6 research process was explained and its incorporation into technology.

2. Questionnaire was passed out with necessary information to be filled out and faxed to Charlie for e-rate.

3. New York Wired - Three teams of Level 1 training can be sent under this year's budget. Rosendale sent a second team this past summer. Six returning teams may also be sent. Second level training will require turnkey training in the district on the part of participants. Charlie will send out a memo to this effect to team leaders. Mike and Paul will follow up on the training.

Standards: The curriculum writing process was discussed and ways to ensure that technology will be incorporated into the summer curriculum projects. A technology strand should be included within the writing, and the technology issues to be addressed explained. An additional portion of money will be requested over and above the original curriculum project dollar amount to cover the cost of tech consultations. Additions to the proposal were brainstormed. Mike Greene suggested having the technology incorporated within the original proposal so that is did not have to be then revised with a technology component. Paul mentioned setting aside a definite number of hours or a percentage of the writing time to be given to technology support. Charlie mentioned the writers and the technologist talking to determine an estimated time and cost.

The November meeting will target technology standards.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
September 15, 1999

IN ATTENDANCE: Dave Crandall, Carol LaRow and Cheryl Newman (Iroquois), Pat Gosda, (VA) Cheryl Cufari (Glencliff), Pat Cardettino (Craig), Sue Seiffert (Birchwood), Nancy Sieper (Hillside) Michael Greene and Charlie McCambridge (District), Paul Favata and Marna Lehnart (HS)

PRIORITY: Attached you will find the meeting dates for the year and the schedule for MINUTES and REFRESHMENTS. Please note that at this point all the meetings will continue to be held in the morning from 8 to 11AM. If you were unable to attend, you were volunteered for a specific date, so please note. Also, please feel free to fill in any blank dates.

BOND ISSUE: The vote is October 5th. Please push at your individual schools the need for a YES vote on the technology section.

ELECTRONIC REPORT CARDS: Rick Evans (Craig) spoke to Mike Greene about the concerns the elementary teaching staff had regarding these report cards. Paul Favata will meet with Fran Marsh to discuss various possibilities to improve this usage.

4T PROGRAM: Will continue this year at the elementary and middle school levels. Mike Greene will be discussing this and various other technology issues at faculty meetings within the next month or two.

TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS: A list of technology standards will be coordinated for each level. The department chairs will need to be involved in these discussions to make certain when a new curriculum is written, these standards will be addressed. (Possibly the curriculum proposal form should be changed to include a section on technology). Paul Favata demonstrated how relevant the CDOS - (Career Development Occupation Standards) are to what we are doing and need to do in our district. These can be used as a guideline to develop our own set of benchmarks. The questions still stands: How do we evaluate the success of meeting these standards?

FOTS: The new chairperson is Ron Bucinell

NY Wired: Their budget was cut from $2 million down to $1.3 million. Therefore, Level 1 training will be offered to only three teams. Level 2 training will be offered, however, there is money enough for only half of the teams to attend. The Level 2 training may include more integration rather than actual software training. Charlie will be attending a meeting with NY Wired on Fri., 9/17 where they will be discussing budgetary priorities.

COMPUTER UTILIZATION POLICY: Briggs currently has the documentation and is reviewing for approval. Each level will then produce its own cover letter explaining how the policy will be implemented. So until that time continue with what was in place last year. The elementary TAs will forward a list of those 5th graders, who had opted out, to the middle school TAs.

HUGH FARLEY GRANT: A subcommittee will meet to discuss logistics of how the funds from this grant should be dispersed and utilized. The results of that meeting will be discussed at October CORE.

Tech CORE Meeting Dates:

MINUTES REFRESHMENTS

 

10/6        Cheryl Cufari Sue Seiffert & Mike Greene

11/3         Nancy Sieper Cheryl Cufari & Dave Crandall

12/1 Mike Greene Pat Jenne & Nancy Sieper

1/5 Cheryl Newman Cheryl Newman & Nancy Furey

2/2 Charlie McCambridge Charlie McCambridge & Pat Gosda

3/1 Pat Gosda Carol LaRow & Pat Cardettino

4/5 Paul Favata Paul Favata & Marna Lehnart

5/3 Marna Lehnart         Dan Matthews

6/7 Pat Jenne

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
July 13, 1999

1) Bond Update- Charlie McCambridge
a) At its June meeting, the Board of Education voted to present the bond to the voters in two packages - Renovations & Tech/Pool
b) Board's rationale for this decision was discussed
c) The date of the vote and the exact dollar amount of the bond are to be announced after the next board meeting.
d) Carol asked about the district's insurance liability with regard to the pool. Charlie suggested that this has been considered but that she could direct further questions to Mark LaPlante.
2) Long Range Plan- Paul Favata
a) Paul recommended postponing the public document version of the Long Range Plan in lieu of focusing on a document specifically related to the technology bond items.
b) Discussion involved how to most appropriately disseminate information to the public. It was recommended and generally agreed that Friends of Technology would be an excellent vehicle for this type of information. FOT should provide information relating to technology and the bond to Lisa Squadere.
3) NYWired Grand renewal- Charlie McCambridge
a) State Ed. Announced that the NYWired grant would be funded again next year, but the amount has not yet been determined. Estimates for refunding range from $1.3 to 1.7 million.
b) Discussion is underway as to how to best pare down the services of the grant to include as many districts as possible with the greatest amount of training.
c) 1998-99 budget is empty and trainers are currently on furlough. The training operation has bee shut down until further funding arrives.
d) Training can begin again immediately when money is awarded.
e) In 1998-99, 166 teams (800 teachers) were trained in addition to on-line news and courses.
f) In 1999-2000, there may be a change in focus from specific software packages (i.e.. PowerPoint) to technology integration.
g) It has been suggested that having at least one administrator on a team may increase the team's learning success and improve dissemination of skills upon return to the home building.
4) Future meeting dates- Dave Crandall
a) Next meeting will be on 9./15/99, from 8AM &endash; 11 AM
b) Tech CORE will continue to meet on the first Wednesday of each month, with the exception of 9/15.
c) The meeting times will alternate between morning and afternoon to accommodate sharing substitutes with IPS, pending agreement with Ellen Schultz.
5) Friends of Technology &endash; Paul Favata for Jim Kokernack
a) Jim plans to take over and promote the group, possibly along with Les Rubenfeld.
b) Jim's email letter was shared with the group as he was on vacation at the time.
6) Integrating technology in the curriculum- Dave Crandall
a) Dave sees this as the next step in fulfilling our Long Range Plan.
b) He suggested distillioing a set of standards for Niskayuna from ISTE, MST, CDOS and other school districts.
c) Paul recommended having Tech CORE ratify such a set of standards which can be promoted in the district.
d) Carol acknowledged the need for standards but emphasized the importance of "grass roots" growth.
e) A discussion followed regarding supplying a TechCORE representative assist on curriculum development projects funded by the district to see that Technology Standards are being considered and incorporated.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
June 2, 1999

NY Wired Update- Carol LaRow: Additional training possibilities for this summer were outlined. It may be possible to get one more team trained next year. New requirements for each elementary level team were explained per the handout... It was emphasized that all team members must be from the same building. Outlined ordering and receiving protocol for equipment ordered with NYWired money. Charlie assured us that Niskayuna orders were being placed properly.

Long-Range Planning- Stan Maziejka

All attendees reviewed the concise version of the Long-Range Plan as written by section and recommendations were offered. Jim K. Recommended refining the definition of technology as it is a broad term. Paul F. suggested that this definition might be made implicit by the pictures chosen for the publication.

Dave C. Recommended creating technology exit standards as benchmarks. Technology benchmarks were discussed and clarified, including a decision to review MST and CDOS standards as guidelines for the benchmarks.

Stan M. made a general announcement for anyone interested to attend the meeting for the next revision of the Long-Range Plan... date TBA.

Mike Greene suggested that all review the www.pageone.lightspan.com homepage.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
May 5, 1999

Friends of Technology - Is it extinct/endangered? Mike assures us that it lives on! But nothing to report at this time.

Technology Newsletter &endash; Sue Seiffert: Few articles have been turned in for this month's newsletter. Sue will put in NY Wired updates that she receives from those involved.

NY Wired &endash; Carol LaRow: Carol is going to St. Helens to assist them with software, curriculum ideas and planning. She is getting many calls from St. Paul to install software on their computers. In addition, she is working on the end-of-year reports to be sent to Charlie McCambridge and Mike Johnson.

Budget/Bond &endash; Charlie McCambridge: The new "Lionheart" (now called "Cheetah") is up and running in the Print Shop at the high school. Software is needed to be able to print to it... the old software will not work. Instructions can be obtained from Fran Marsh. Some departments are already using it (main office and Science dept. at the high school) and they have been successful.

The Social Studies department has expressed concerns about how the technology portions of the bond will benefit them. Tech Core suggested that perhaps we aren't getting the information out to our constituents as well as we could. Suggestions: 1) provide regular updates on Nisky web site; 2) provide a rep at department meetings to help disseminate information and answer questions; 3) add a form at the end of the technology newsletter for feedback &endash;"what kind of support/information do you need/want"

The only thing Niskayuna seems to lead (compared to comparative districts) in is teacher training. Another school district discussed was Guilderland, that has more computer labs (with 5 f.t. computer technologists), a TV studio (with 4 f.t. staff). A Guilderland budget newsletter was passed around... suggestion made to distribute these to the Board of Ed (and perhaps community?) so they could see how we rate. Guilderland's taxes have increased by about 3.8% each year, and their projected enrollment next year is about 5600. The comment was made that perhaps Tech Core is being too conservative with our requests in the technology arena for the budget, as well as the bond.

The Greene Report &endash; Mike Greene:

-Mike applied for a fellowship to develop interactive teleconferencing with knowledgeable people from museums, zoos, NASA, and many other places. Mike's application held a place for someone else &endash; Bryce Colby &endash; who has been accepted to the fellowship program which begins May 13th and continues into the summer. Carol LaRow expressed concern about spending money on video-conferencing / teleconferencing if it will only be used occasionally, or if the students are just watching someone on TV teach them. Mike explained that the purpose is to have an "expert for the day" in the classroom (via the videoconferencing) to interact with students.

-Model Schools is going well; thus far Nisky staff is offering 17 different courses for the summer. Due to the participation, Nisky is getting benefits such as money for trainers, aid for computers and aid for the salary of the Model Schools Facilitator. The summer catalog should be out by May 21st to sign up for courses.

-eMate pilot : Cynde Leder is using one on the 5th grade level, and will continue with a pilot next year. Special ed teachers from another district came for the course to discover their basic use, to learn about science probes, and to design activities. They gave positive feedback.

-4T program has gotten good feedback. Purchases have been made to use the money.

-Curriculum training: different requests have been made by 5th grade teachers involved and Mike is working with them to meet their needs.

Long Range Planning &endash; Stan Maziejka: A request for sub-committee members was made. Those wishing to commit should email or send a note to Stan within the next week. Meetings would be during the day (2 half-days).

High School Educational Technologist: Paul Favata is being recommended as the new Educational Technologist at the high school. This is a .5 position and Paul will continue to teach Biology as a .5 position. Motion was made to make Paul the Tech Core co-chair for next year in Stan's stead, motion was seconded and approved.

New / Old Business: Charlie gave an update on the cable modem situation: Road Runner will be available to us in 6-8 months (for the fall). This would include one free connection at each building and additional connections are available with a fee. He's currently looking for a long-term solution for our band-width problem.

Meeting adjourned at 10:50am.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
April 7, 1999  

Attendance: Pat Jenne, Charlie McCambridge, Stan Maziejka, Michael Greene, Nancy Sieper, Marna Lehnert, Cheryl Cufari, Dan Matthews, Sue Seiffert, Cheryl Newman, Polly Stahl, Paul Favata, Carol LaRow

Paul Favata Presentations:

Demonstration #1: Netscape Composer was shown by Paul to be a free downloaded piece of software that can help with web page authoring. It is similar to Microsoft Word and it has the Nets cape interface. The page from Wizard is like a template model for a web page design. User name and password for a Web server account would be provided by Joe Baciewicz and the district. This tool is only appropriate for a web site of 5 pages or less. It can provide you with a link or bookmark possibilities. Pagemill is better for management of more than 1 page websites. You do not have to be on-line to use this and it is an easy way to give access to many teachers for free who may be interested in web page design.

Demonstration #2: A Personal Response System was demonstrated by Paul that he has used in his class for review, quizzes, and testing. It is a small device that acts like a "Jeopardy" ring in device. After making a simple class roster of all tech team members' names we were allowed to ring in our responses to his questions and try it out. By using an overhead projector, Paul was able to see when we rang in, if we changed our answers (could be programmed up to 3 response tries) and what % got it correct or what % picked a specific response. The program demonstrated these results in a bar graph format. Each device costs about $40 and the high school has a class set available for sign out. Paul plans on using it for Regents review.

Newsletter: April 28th is the deadline for articles to be given to Sue Seiffert for the next publication. Please send them to Sue as soon as possible. E-mail or send them to her on disk.

New Copier: Charlie discussed the replacement of the Lionhearted copier along with plans for new machines in all of our schools. The new machines will be in place by this summer, and possibly beforehand. Instead of rebuilt hardware will will have new machines. The new copiers and new training will be provided by IKON. The cost of each copy is $.0086. It decreases as the number increases.

Budget and Bond: Charlie discussed the presentation last Monday night to the Board and how successful it appeared to be. The board is currently reviewing it . The Board will decide in Sept./Oct. by vote whether or not the entire bond package will be approved. Handouts were provided describing each building site and its slated projects. $2.63 million is the total technology budget proposition which is only a part of the 12 million dollar total bond issue (which includes a pool). The separate strands may be separated when it is presented to the public for a vote. Decisions on that issue have not as yet been made. The technology budget has increased because the Nisky committee wants to go beyond catching up to other districts and make Nisky once again state of the art and exemplary. Some examples of propositions include: 2 totally new computer labs at the high school. If the Board approves the technology strand, construction could begin to take place in the summer of 2000. At our next meeting we will brainstorm ways to help sell the new technology piece, and also how technology can help sell the rest of the projects. We will also decide how technology and the new projects can help provide the best instructional and teaching environment. Special thanks to Charlie and Mike for their support of the bond.

The Greene Report:

Discussion on security on the Internet was discussed. Library media people will address this issue while writing their new curriculum.

Mike applauds Paul's efforts to demonstrate a supplemental authoring program because more are needed. Claris Homepage and Pagemill do have licensing for home use. Powerpoint and FrontPage also do. Some programs require use on certain machines/operating systems (e.g. Pagemill 3 needs OS8 to run).

We need to discuss standardization of software and hardware on all building machines. Application programs need to be standardized for all so everyone can use them. Possibly 1 generation of computers could be phased out at any one time to be sure that utilized software can be supported.

Model Schools: Summer course proposals are due for the Model School courses soon. Early publication of the summer catalog will give people plenty of time to decide and plan for courses they wish to take. Summer courses are generally well-attended. Let Mike know by April 30th if you are interested in teaching a course.

Some things happening in the district include: possible use of eMates in Cindy Leder's class for Science. 5th and 6th grade training has been done for Social Studies and some 5th grade teachers have chosen to work on web pages, scanning and email features.

N.Y. Wired: Carol LaRow met with 2 teams from the high school. Carol felt that the meeting and sharing was very valuable. Some teachers working in the 4 T program are supported with in-service credit by Mike Johnson. Carol's reports that her role is different from other district's master teachers because Nisky teachers are very independent compared to others in the area. Carol passed out many handouts and met with several school contact people. Each team member must also fill out a tan sheet and return it to Carol by the end of April. Carol needs to respond to N. Y. Wired. N.Y. Wired expenditures must be done by May 15th.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes
February 3, 1999

Jim Kokernak, an assistant professor at RPI, was introduced as the new community member.

NYS Learning Technology Grant: Charlie informed the team that we were not awarded this grant again this year.

Newsletter: Sue announced that she has received articles from most schools. Those who have not contributed, please do so ASAP as she would like to get the newsletter out in the next week.

High School Internet guidelines & parent letter: Stan distributed a letter to Mike Johnson indicating proposed changes to the guidelines. He also shared a revised "opt-in" parent letter. CORE members read and discussed the documents, recommending minor changes.

Budget: Charlie shared updated handouts on the proposed budget. He discussed reductions in the various areas. Materials/Supplies is currently unchanged. There is a possibility of leasing software, along with the hardware, in the future. Dr. McAndrews is attending building faculty meetings to provide information on the proposed budget. Charlie also indicated that all photocopying equipment will be replaced in the district after this school year. Photocopying will be consolidated at the High School into one facility.

Bond Issue: Charlie shared an updated (1/20/99) handout of prioritized bond items. New items in the "critical" area were pointed out (e.g. multimedia classroom equipment, Art computers). The bond committee has been discussing the priority of infrastructure vs. desktop equipment. Also, there has been discussion on computer platform (Mac vs. PC). It appears that the High School television studio will be provided by TCI, the outgoing cable company. Stan questioned whether we shouldn't supply each room with a TV, considering the fact that there will be a school station. He also questioned where the TV studio might be located in the building. Charlie shared that there were suggestions to locate it in the backstage area of the Little Theater. The possible option of wireless networking was also raised by Stan. Charlie indicated the potential disadvantages of this technology over the current plan. There have also been thoughts of totally refurbishing the High School computer labs. This could cost as much as $255,000 (not including equipment). Paul raised some concern over the type of "portable" devices to potentially be purchased. He expressed his feelings that laptop machines would be preferable over desktop machines on carts for at least some departments at the High School.

Model Schools Consortium: Mike discussed the upcoming spring inservice session and the need for trainers. Focus will be on more advanced applications and curricular integration aligned to NYS standards. Reporting of participants' hours from BOCES has been a problem. BOCES has recently computerized this process and fall hours have been reported. Hopefully this will speed future reporting.

Farley eMate Grant: Mike updated the progress on the plan for a 5th grade pilot using the Apple eMates and scientific probes. Science CORE is assisting in the selection of the participating teacher. Mike will be offering training/inservice on the use of the eMate and probes.

4T Update: Good progress is being made by participants. Mike is currently having mid-program meetings with 4Ters. He is sharing participant successes and products via email. In addition to email communication, middle school memos are being provided as hard copies due to many teachers' lack of access to networked classroom machines.

Technology Innovation Challenge Grant: Mike shared the new application form for this grant. Charlie will communicate with Schenectady concerning a possible consortium.

NY Wired: There was discussion as to how NY Wired funds might be spent by teams in light of regular budget cuts (e.g. purchasing LCD projectors originally requested in budget). P.O.'s are now being accepted again by Schenectady for Wired purchases. Carol reported that there are 10 teams from Niskayuna, 1 from every building except the High School and Birchwood that each have 2 teams. Carol attended sessions with Craig, Hillside and Birchwood. She feels that "pretraining" sessions have been helpful for team members. Most of Carol's assistance for Niskayuna has been primarily via email. With other schools, she has tended to visit the sites. She is interested in working more directly with our own teams. She would like to arrange for support sessions at VA. She has 2 release days per month, but these tend to be used for NY Wired administrative meetings, etc. Carol requested suggestions on how to most effectively provide support. Discussion ensued. One suggestion included organizing a 4T-type mentoring program at the High School.

Network server folder use and configuration: There was discussion on the potential use of network server folders for the purpose of allowing teachers to more easily backup and transfer files. Mike will raise this topic again at the next TA/LMS meeting.

Web Site Standardization: Joe B. has offered the availability of assistance for school/classroom Web site creation. He has also expressed the need for a certain amount of standardization within the district site.

 

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

January 6, 1999

Newsletter - All technology news of note is due by 1-22-99.

Farley Grant - Mike Greene will be meeting with Science CORE to decide how eMates, ethernet cards, extra memory, and science probes will be distributed throughout schools. Mike also plans on two or three half-day sessions of training and hopes for full implementation by next year.

Staff Development - Mike Greene outlined the overview of technology use throughout the district. This handout of activities/projects was quite extensive and clearly demonstrated the high level of technology integration occurring throughout the district. The 4T Program is continuing to go very well. The 5th and 6th grade curriculum-based training is complete and the feedback from staff was very positive. Finally, the winter Model Schools program is a go, currently the Inspiration, PowerPoint and Web Design sessions are full.

High School Internet Letter - We reviewed the NAASP legal brief which advocated strongly for an Internet appropriate use policy, and not strongly for use of filtering software. The revised opt -in Internet use letter for the high school was discussed and will be formally processed at our February meeting prior to being sent to the Superintendent of Schools for a recommended policy change.

Computer Utilization Guidelines - We have recommended the deletion of "procedures" in the Computer Utilization Guidelines 4526-R. Tech CORE feels this statement does not accurately define appropriate use. Tech CORE has also made some additions to the prohibited activities portion of this document. These changes will be formalized at the February Tech CORE meeting and again we will be making a recommendation to Dr. McAndrews.

Curriculum Proposals - Tech Core reviewed nine curriculum projects which focused heavily on technology integration. Although all of the projects required specific hardware and software, none of the requests were beyond the scope of budgetary constraints. Much of the required software and hardware is already available within the district, could be acquired through our proposed budget, or could be purchased through NY Wired grant money. The only concern was that since there were a few proposals from V.A.that there would be a necessity to be flexible in scheduling lab use for fear of overuse of the labs. One point that Charlie McCambridge made was that we would have to transfer one site license for Geometer's Sketchpad from the high school to V.A. to accommodate the need for this particular program.

Budget/ Bond Referendum - Charlie mentioned that he and Mike have had weekly meetings with the committee dealing with the technology bond issue. The committee is very interested in how technology will specifically benefit instruction and learning. Charlie has been impressed with the salient questions this group has been asking, while they are supportive of the impending bond issue they want to be sure that we can validate our rationale for our technology needs. Finally, Charlie reviewed our 1999- 2000 budget which includes reductions in supplies, equipment, and software. We will be presenting the budget to the Board of Education in March.

Tech CORE Team Minutes

December 2, 1998

Members present: Paul Favata, Mike Greene, Sue Seiffert, Cheryl Cufari, Marna Lehnert, Cheryl Newman, Polly Stahl, Pat Jenne, Dave Crandall, Charlie McCambridge, Stan Maziejka

Budget and Bond Issue: Charlie shared work done by a subgroup of the Tech Core Team on recommendations for the 1999-2000 budget, the priority list for the bond issue, and a document listing computer acquisition costs and inventory. There was a discussion about bond issue item costs, what will happen to computers in the second round of leases, and extending Finance Manager's capability to each building (makes it possible to create purchase orders and inquire about budget balances electronically). Charlie distributed an article titled "Technology Planning for Successful Referenda" to ensure that we touch on all points in our preparation.

Greene Report:

1. Staff Development: there are 28 teams signed up for the 4T program. Fifth grade curriculum sessions have begun. Sixth grade fall session is completed. Course selections for model schools will be more limited for the winter program.

2. Thanks to the schools that returned descriptions of their technology activities showing effective use of technology funds and equipment.

3. I.S.T.E. technology standards for students have been published and are available in Mike Greene's resource folder on the high school server. They include skills required and sample activities.

4. The legislative grant proposal has been sent to Mike Johnson to review and will be sent to Senator Farley shortly.

5. The EdView program used in the high school media center to control internet use was not generally successful. Browse Safe seems to be unavailable for Macs.

6. Mike shared a list of author related Web sites from the NYSC&TE conference.

7. Mike asked for additions to his list of technology activities for the "Academic Highlights" district publication .

Newsletter: Congratulations to Sue on the newsletter. Items for the next newsletter are due by February 3rd. She would love to get them early.

New York Wired:Representatives from all districts attended a retreat in November. There were discussions on how kids learn, workshops and multimedia presentations. This will be held again in the spring. Carol LaRow will pass out needs assessments to all teams after they complete their sessions at New York Wired. Sue Malinowski has asked for our comments, evaluations and purchase plans.

Friends of Technology: There was a short discussion on the future of FOTS. This group could be involved in the bond issue. Mike Greene will link his FOTS Web site to the minutes of the Tech Core meeting also on his site.

New/Old Business:

This committee does not have a community member at present. A letter has been received from an interested community member and he will be invited to attend the next meeting.

We reviewed a draft of the Technology Core Team's support for a PC computer lab and recommendations were made for a final copy.

 

 Tech CORE Team Minutes

November 4, 1998

 Members present: Cheryl Newman, Nancy Furey, Patt Jenne, Cheryl Cufari, Mike Greene, Stan Maziejka, Charlie McCambridge, Pat Cardettino, Paul Favata, Sue Seiffert, Carol Larow, Dan Matthews, Marna Lehnert, Carol Lewis, Mike Johnson, Nancy Sieper, Polly Stahl

Legislative Grant Proposals: Three grant proposals were discussed. Holly Pierce spoke on behalf of the music department for equipment and software that would make computer composing possible. Cheryl Newman spoke about the digital photography proposal for Iroquois Middle School and how that program would be enhanced as well. Pat McGrath also submitted a grant to update outdated TV studio equipment for a total of $20,000. Cheryl Newmen mentioned that the digital photography would be a good tie in to this proposal. Mike Johnson suggested that everything be sent in; and if the money is received, the proper disbursements be made. Paul Favata will help Holly find some possible alternatives as well that might get the job done. Friends of Music was raised as a possible source of income. Music software needed might be purchased out of the software code. Cheryl Newman also had some ideas of what could be done for their proposal without the grant money. A subcommitte was formed to work on the proposal. Members are Cheryl Newman, DaveL'Hommedieu, Charlie McCambridge, Holly Pierce, and Mike Greene. It may be possible to form the 2 ideas into 1.

Newsletter: Sue Sieffert announced that articles still needed to be turned in for the November deadline. Other due dates are set for the February and May CORE meetings.

Friends of Technology: no report

1999-2000 Budget/Bond Issue: Charlie McCambridge and Mike Johnson passed out a draft of the budget work in progress. Final figures will be drawn up and a final budget will be done by the December meeting. The committee discussed the number and kinds of computers in the buildings and the figures are far from reflecting a1 for 1 replacement schedule. Charlie also passed out a cycle proposal to keep the hardware current. Quite a few questions arise from analyzing the figures:
1. Are all of the old machines being used? The TA's can check on this. How much money should be put into all of this? Some models are no longer supported and our policy should be no repair on these.
2. What is the goal of keeping equipment current? We are actually a long way from current. We received106 comnputers but 170 are needed per year to say current.
3. Should our purchases be based on what schools want to do?
4. Mike Johnson asked if the Tech CORE was on board with the plan and money needed to sustain the existing plan.

Paul Favata proposed replacing 213 machines and each year the budget could include a line item to replace 150 machines thereby keeping up with current equipment. After Mike Johnson's suggestion, a subcommittee was formed to formulate a fair process to meet priorities of the tech core. The committee will be comprised of Mike Greene, Charlie McCambridge, Mike Johnson, and Stan Maziejka.

The Greene Report: Mike Greene reported on the following items:
1. Farley Grant - Emates needed to fill grant were possibly found
2. Curriculum based training for 5th nd 6th grade teachers - space to hold the trainings has been the biggest problem; all training will be done by early December
3. Keyboard surveys- compiled and 60 were given out - 2 replies received back and were positive
4. District web page standardization - Joe Baciewicz suggested that all individual school web sites have a cohesive look possibly including a common logo and elements (i.e a calendar of events)
5. 4T - 27 pairs of partners are involved
6. Modem Mates - has been revived via a web based site (www.bhbl.neric.org and on that home page is CharltonHeights-Modem Mates) - remind teachers to visit in order to participate in some collaborative projects
7. Internet use - reminder to have everyone use On Guard and that an explanation of teachers using the Internet with children will be distributed again as a reminder of safety; EdVue and BrowseSafe are being piloted for surfing
8. Learning Technology Grant - Paul Favata was acknowledged for doing most of the writing after district representatives discussed ideas and implementation; if received, this will end up to be a collaboration between Glencliff, Craig, and St. Helen's.

New York Wired - Cheryl Cufari reported that all Niskayuna schools have teams that have been or are scheduled to be trained. Carol LaRow will be the Master Teacher for the district and a needs assessment should be coming for school teams already trained. She was asked to focus on the high school because that level does not have the services of an educational technologist. The dissemination plans for each team should be given to the Tech CORE. Charlie is going to ask Dr. McAndrews to send out a directive stating that grant money should be spent across building needs and not just for the individual team members attending the training.

High School PC Lab statement - no report

New Business -

1.Paul Favata announced the idea of forming a GIS (Geographical Information System) database service center at the high school on a web site. This would start locally bringing in county and school information. This would allow wetlands to be mapped out whereby others could download the information. Current maps could be modified. It could spread to counties, then state, then nation and could be something that could integrate into all areas. This would fit with an external existing global program. Friend of Technology may help, as well as funding from Tapestry Grant. This idea was formed along with Paul Scott.

2. Educational technologist position for the high school is on hold.

3. Mike Greene handed out a sheet to be filled in to document technology currently being integrated with students.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

October 7, 1998

Members present: Cheryl Newman, Patt Jenne, Cheryl Cufari, Mike Greene, Stan Maziejka, Dave Crandall, Charlie McCambridge, Pat Cardettino, Paul Favata, Sue Seiffert, Carol Larow, Dan Matthews, Marna Lehnert, Carol Lewis

The district is planning to hire a consultant to work with a subcommittee on the Long Range Plan and the upcoming Bond Issue if Tech Core is receptive to that idea. This will help with funding, finding grants, etc. A Board member believes that we should not look to support technology with bond issues, $$ should be a regular part of the budget. We need a consistent amount of revenue to support technology efforts.

Newsletter - please get items for Sue Seiffert by the November meeting for the newsletter. She will accept them electronically as an attachment (preferred) or on a disk.

Joe B. is accepting web pages, he has a homeroom that will be working on the web site and these students are available to help in creating new web pages. Questions were asked about these students being available to go to other schools to help younger students with making web pages. Stan offered to look into that.

Mike would like input on software for web publishing to update the software we have been using (Pagemill, Homepage). He is looking for something that would be easy to use for beginners with help in maintaining a web site.

NY Wired is a new initiative in conjunction with Sch'dy City Schools.Teams of 5 from various schools are being trained for 5 days. Models are used - an offering of software, Powerpoint and HyperStudio, using digital cameras and scanners. The staff are educators in residence - teachers with tech. backgrounds, supported by several companies with a director overseeing everything. Trained teachers become master teachers. There will be presentations available to download from a website. People trained will be used as inservice people, mentors, etc. in whatever way the district involved wants to use them. The facility is in the Twin Towers in Albany. The team that went from the HS was partially composed of neophytes who are now ready to take technology into their classrooms. All of the presentations done over the summer are available on the website to be downloaded. Teachers usually chose something in their subject area tfor their presentations. The site is www.nywired.org. The funding should last until the end of next summer. More grant requests are being processed right now to continue the program. The state is also increasing the amount of money for teacher training in technology to help with the new requirements for inservice. Each district school that sends a team receives $4500 to purchase technology related hardware for their school. Charlie will copy the list of items ordered so far so that we can see what will be available. If other school districts don't send their full complement of teams, another school can send an additional team to fill the empty slot. We only get 2 weeks notice so it's a good idea to have a team chosen and ready to go when a slot opens up.

Bond Referendum- Charlie handed out copies of packet that went to the board. The total of request comes to $8,240,330, but that amount will be pared down considerably before presentation to the public for a vote. Board member, Ed Baker, asked to take a serious look at dedicating a greater dollar amount for replacement of hardware so that we won't need to rely on bond issues to support hardware which has a relatively short life.

Charlie also provided copies of the current computer inventory list and several scenarios for replacement schedules of the current level of computers at each bldg.

Greene report- Fall Model Schools courses are out. There is a good response so far according to Linda Edwards. 50 Niskayuna people participated in 90 classes this summer. Something like the Bethlehem Camp during a week such as Feb. break is being considered; having lots of mini courses available in one place.

Farley Grant - Mike asked for $28K for emates with various probes. We received $15K but emates are discontinued. He is looking for a secondary source for the emates. This is a pilot program for a particular elementary class to do a pond study. The emates would also be available for others to use for various purposes. The money is there to be used. They want to use these devices to increase certain skills for a study in conjunction with a Union grad student.

Need ideas for use for another grant. Carol Lewis suggested Elementary music. A digital photography lab in the Middle School was also suggested. We would like to see proposals from both groups to make a better decision about which one to apply for.

Middle school keyboarding - There were a total 65 requests for keyboarding software from parents of Middle School students. FOTs were able to provide for 60. The software was shared almost 50/50 between VA and Iroquois. No actual feedback is available yet, but Mike will follow up.

4T program available again this year. 15 elementary (3 pairs from each school) and 10 middle school slots available (5 pairs from each bldg). Two Teachers with Technology work together, one who is familiar with technology and one who wants to learn with support from the Technologist. Mike also taught a pilot curriculum based technology training with 5th grade teachers at Hillside last year; a course very similar to NY Wired using HyperStudio. Concept now approved for all 5th grade and 6th grade Soc. St. teachers for two half day trainings for a similar project.

Charlie - Opt in / Opt out committee addressing parents who wish to have their children opt out of certain curriculum or activities. Some wishe for the parent to opt in to programs rather than opting out. In other words, parental permission required for the child to participate. This would impact our practice of allowing students to use the internet. This opting in/out question is generally concerned with Health classes and human sexuality. Parents would like more input on use of the internet. At this time, internet is on an opt out basis. The amount of paperwork involved to make this an opt in program would almost make this a nightmare for the district to handle. Communication with parents seems to be the key. High School forms were not sent home to the parents but given out in class by teachers using the internet in class. What happens when the student does not take it home. Also, the letter as written does not really apply to the High School because it is not logistically possible to supervise all students closely. Mike is still reviewing a couple of products, one is EdView and the other is Browse Safe. They only allow viewing of certain sites but are somewhat flexible. Various suggestions were made on web whacking and limiting students to an Intranet. A lively discussion was held about the need for open access versus restricted access.

A review from last year from Stan who passed out rationale for PC platform in HS from Tech Core. Questions- We would support the inclusion of a PC Lab but have concerns of hardware support (Mike G). Stan - We need to advocate for another support person. BOCES will supply tech. support for 3 years (Charlie). Set up and warranty was included in price. Emulated software on Mac is better with new machines. Charlie found a program to make a copy of a HD and copy to other HD. therefore cuts setup time to minimal time. The main idea to add to the statement is that we don't have the technical support for PCs. Apple sent a letter in August stating there would no longer be parts available for early Macs prior to LCII and earlier, as well as some inkjet printers and laser printers that are now in district.

The High School has received donations of Macs from parents and outdated items from Union College. Encourage donations from parents! We should be cautious about restrictions that might be placed on donations.

The Learning Technology Grant is due Oct. 30. Collaboration part has gone from 15% to 30% of points. The idea is to match up 5th Grade classes between St. Helen's and our elementary schools.

Long Range Planning - a consultant through the district and a subcommittee from this group would work on it and bring a report to the next Core meeting.

Mike - Northeastern Regional Information Center is having a Shared Learning Objective meeting Tues Oct. 20 by NERIC

Model School mini grants available - something that has already been done by a teacher or something new that a teacher would write up. It would go through a peer review and be disseminated. The teacher would receive $1000 for technology. Look for active teachers and have them look at past paper work to start working on it so that when the application is released the turn around time is short. 2/3 of the applicants received their grant.

Friends of Technology got a lot of PR from the keyboarding software dissemination from the summer. Dave and Mike will arrange for a general FOT meeting in the near future.

submitted by Polly Stahl and Sue Seiffert

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

July 16, 1998

Next year's CORE Team membership was discussed with consideration of what schools/areas are not yet represented. An attempt will be made to solicit another high school and middle school classroom teacher. Dave C. will contact a couple of teachers identified by the group. There is also a need for a new community member, as Barb Relles has resigned. Dave will email the FOTs group for possible community interest.

Next year's meeting schedule was discussed and morning meetings were agreed upon. Meeting days will continue to be the first Wednesday of each month, starting with October 7th. The October date will be a full day meeting. Dave & Cheryl N. will provide morning refreshments, and Polly & Sue S. will share recording responsibilities for the October meeting.

Use of Team funds for next year was discussed. The idea was raised to offer Joe B. at least a portion of the funds for school purchases he felt were most needed.

Long Range Plan & Teacher Training: The Long Range Plan subcommittee met just prior to this meeting. A major part of the discussion was on staff development. The possible use of the teams being trained at NY Wired was raised. Over $42,000 has been made available through this program for district purchases. One-fourth needs to be expended by August 31st. It was decided that $4500 would be provided for each of the 9 trained teams and that the remainder ($1736) would be made available to the Educational Technologist.

Technology training for new teachers was discussed. In addition to the summer new teacher orientation session, the idea of a technology inservice course for new faculty was raised. Such a course might be offered at a couple of different times to accommodate teachers at the various levels (e.g. 2:30 & 3:45PM). New teachers might also be linked with mentors later in the school year. There will be a meeting on developing this training on August 24th at 12:45PM in the HS Media Center.

Other ways to increase technology integration in the classrooms were brainstormed, including a Professional Growth Day with an educational technology theme (1999-2000 year). Other thoughts were to once again include technology in the goal setting process of teachers, and to increase communications with directors to encourage the use of technology in each subject area (e.g. highlight technology activities/initiatives at department meetings).

Bond Referendum: The statement developed by a bond subcommittee was distributed and discussed. Charlie presented a summary of recommended purchases and costs. CORE Team discussed each item, its priority and rationale. The question was raised on how machines purchased for the high school might be configured/distributed. Feedback will be requested from the subject area directors. The possible role of FOTs was discussed for receiving feedback on bond needs.

Keyboarding: Mike J. discussed a packet of handouts summarizing keyboarding skills. Dave C. and Tony B. will be following up with directors about how keyboarding instruction will be incorporated into the middle schools. High school instruction will be reviewed and possibly a summer curriculum proposal considered. Mike G. shared information on the keyboarding software offered to middle school families. Over 50 requests were filled for this software.

Internet Use and Filtering Software: The Tech CORE Internet use/filtering statement was distributed as a reminder of our policies. Information on the EdView Internet screening service was also distributed. EdView will be piloted in a couple of buildings in the district, including the high school media center.

The parent Internet use letters were discussed. Letters will be standardized by level and sent out at the beginning of the school year. Charlie will double check with Frank T. about the final version of the elementary letter.

There will be an "Opt In/Opt Out" meeting held on August 20th with an attorney discussing these policies for anyone interested in attending.

Submitted by M. Greene

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

April 1, 1998

Attending:

Stan Maziejka, Paul Favata, Mike Greene, Nancy Sieper, Cheryl Cufari, Polly Stahl, Nancy Furey, Pat Cardettino, Pat Jenne, Cheryl Newman, Barbara Relles, Charlie McCambridge

Next meeting's recorder will be Pat Jenne. Refreshments next meeting will be arranged by Polly Stahl.

 

I) BOE presentation (Charlie McCambridge)

-0.4 time educational technologist was approved in the budget for next year.

-Technology budget was reviewed with the board by Charlie.

 

II) Bond Issue (Charlie McCambridge)

-Regarding technology, the bond is already written to include electric power and networking in the HS building (approx. $0.5M)

-Other ideas suggested by those present:

-increase dial-up ability, mobile computing, presentation capability

-media center improvements including capability to dial into NHS library

-minimum of 1 workstation per teaching space with all connections to the -network and internet

-better management-academic connectivity from HS via VanAntwerp as, the current connection is heavily          stressed

 

III) Keyboarding (Mike Greene)

Mike raised the question as to whether this would continue to be an important skill as voice recognition software becomes more accurate and affordable.

He noted that currently keyboarding begins at grade 1 or 2 and is reinforced in the remaining elementary grades but is dropped at the MS and HS levels.

Discussed were the possibilities of making time in MS schedule for keyboarding, or else offering shareware to parents to reinforce KB at home.

Also suggested was to divide KB time among several disciplines during school time or to have a proficiency check point at the higher grades, then use flex time to teach those not meeting basic proficiency.

A "Your Schools" article was suggested in order to encourage parents to help their children develop KB skills at home

The possibility was discussed of using summer time to teach parents how to teach KB to their children and for disseminating software through FOT

IV) Staff Inservice (Mike Greene)

MS inservice opportunities have been taken advantage of, but are not completely full.

4T program' is not nearly full

Summer Inservice:

a. 7 people are offering courses including Mac basics, web design and advanced ClarisWorks.

b. BOCES collaborative is becoming very complex:

-many schools are interested in participating

-if connected to the Model Schools program (Lisa Squadere), it will cost an additional $3K for Niskayuna School Dist. to become a partner in Model Schools. This may make it more cost effective to "go it alone" unless we can benefit from being a Model Schools partner beyond just the summer inservice offerings.

Grade-level curriculum-based training at Rosendale is going slowly as it has been logistically difficult getting all the teachers together, but the program is proceeding anyway.

V) Newsletter (Sue Seiffert)

Articles for the next issue are due by the 5/6 meeting

VI) FOT

Next FOT meeting is not announced in "Your schools" but the email address request for the mailing list is in the next "Your Schools"

The next meeting of FOT is 4/29, it has been announced in various building publications and in local newspapers.

Keyboarding will be on the agenda for the next meeting.

Note to remember the Iroquois night on May 1, refer to the letter circulated for details

VII) Long-range planning:

The plan is to be re-evaluated for content before permanent publication, especially with an eye toward e-rate compliance

Stan will make copies of 11/97 revision for distribution to tech core members

Next core meeting will involve major review and revision of long range plan

VIII) New Business

Pat J. offered tips on grant-writing upon request.

Internet update (Polly Stahl):

anyone with a CRISNY account has been provided with a new Niskayuna account. Floppy disk/ CD development is proceeding to make new home accounts available to users

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

March 4, 1998

It was agreed that Tech Core will meet regularly in the morning.

Guest Presenter: Lisa Squadere from NERIC

Lisa provided an overview of the services offered by NERIC. Mike Greene introduced the concept of a summer institute to coorindate summer staff development with other districts. Teachers could attend coarse offerings at various locations. Lisa affirmed that other schools do want to coordinate. Schenectady is willing to share their facility and this is aidable. Mike Greene mentioned the courses we need. Model Schools will remimbruse teachers that come to our district. A meeting will be held to brainstorm what is needed and plan a summer program. Lisa will be contacted when we have lined up other district participants.

Lisa explained that BOCES is keeping district technology plans on file but are not approving them.

On April 6 and May 13 there will besoftware preview sessions at NERIC. Six people per district may participate.

Staff Development - Mike Greene

Mike commented that he thought the summer institute with BOCES could work and all could benefit from a variety of expertise involved. More independent modules could be offered for summer courses, including the possiblity watching training videos and having some sort of related summary, reaction, or project. Mike Johnson was receptive to this idea when approached. Schedule will be worked out as soon as possible for summer courses.

Middle School Internet class was cancelled due to lack of enrollment, but the ClarisWorks Slideshow will go.

CRISNY agreed to house Mike's Web site through May, as well as maintain his account. This attests to their community loyalty.

2T meetings are ongoing and seem relavant to those attending.

April 8, 1998 the 5th grade teachers at Rosendale will have a pilot technology training session focusing on integration of technology in parts of their curriculum.

Long Range Plan

Stan announced that, after Charlie's perusal, no major revisions seem necessary in light of the new NYS regulations.

Board of Education Presentation

The committee will meet on 3/5 to dscuss the presentation on 3/9. Time portion has been cut to 15 minutes with the possiblity of presenting a longer program later. NYS has mandated following a particular budget process, thus the reason for the time cut.

Newsletter - Sue Seiffert

Lionheart was used to publish the most recent issue of the newletter. Sue would like articles to filter to her as they arise. The newsletter will be on the Web site. Compliments to Sue on a job well done.

Friends of Technology - Dave Crandall

The group agreed to have a meeting at an elementray school addressing a relevant topic which might be Internet searching and structuring its use. Mike Greene wants to try a middle school program again. Paul Favata offered to compile a distribution list of school family email addresses in order to better communicate announcements of school programs.

Old Business

Ratings for the Learning Technology Grant were announced. We received an 89 by one rater and a 69 by another. A third rater seemed to be needed but was not assigned to decifer such a wide rating range. Charlie received a lot of feedback from State Ed.

The Legislative Grant has gone out for Apple eMates with science probes and equipment. Sen. Farley communicated that he will do what he can for us. Apple, however, may not be supporting eMates much longer, although the demand is still there.

New Business

High School SDM subcommittee is forming to develop a pilot program which will infuse technology into the classroom. It is in the beginning stages.

.Next meeting will be April 1, 1998 at 8:00.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

January 7, 1998

1. A new member to the CORE team, Paul Favata, a high school science teacher, was introduced.

2. Budget Update

Charlie distributed the budget and explained items on it, including the options for leases that are about to expire and requests for the coming year (AV purchases, computer purchases and computer leases.) Acquisition of leased items was discussed. Mike Johnson suggested that a subcommittee be formed to prepare a presentation to the board.

For internet use, 1000 dial-up accounts should be available by the end January. An installer program will be created for home machines. Present CRISNY software may only need some minor adjustments.

There was some discussion about the role of the Educational Technologist and the need for increased support and training.

3. Filtering

Mike shared a draft of the Tech CORE Statement on Internet Filtering.

Discussion ensued about personal passwords, teachers being able to bypass the filtering software, and keeping a record of sites visited. New software, Web Doubler, and On Guard may provide help in this area. A handout on Legal and Policy Issues Related to Internet Access was distributed.

4. Grant Status

Mike shared a letter about the Learning Technologies grant. The grant was not awarded to Niskayuna. There will be a follow-up meeting to find out about our score and how we can improve future proposals.

Charlie discussed information about the eRate discount on telecommunications. An application needs to be put together and sent in by the deadline which is 75 days after Jan 15th. A web site will soon be available.

Niskayuna, in a consortium of 22 schools, is involved in an application for a Title III grant request that focuses on teacher training. Those teachers would then go on to become teacher trainers.

Mike discussed E-Probes, new scientific probes for the E-mates. Mike is writing a state legistative grant request for a number of them, some of which could be placed together in an elementary classroom setting for an extended period of time, and some would be for use in the middle school.

5. Newsletter

VA needs a rep for the newsletter. Send newsletter articles to Sue Seiffert By Jan. 21st if possible. (size-12, font-Times)

6. Friends of Technology

The next meeting is Jan. 21st at 7pm. Parents will be invited to see some middle school technology applications at Iroquois. Press releases are being prepared. There may be a bigger presentation next year which could be a kick-off to a technology bond issue.

7. Staff Development

-Internet in the Classroom will be started by Cheryl Cufari January 7th, 1998.

-Web Whacking will start on Jan. 13th

-4T program will start in the middle schools

-Web searching course will be available in the middle schools

-Grade level-based teacher training will be implemented later this winter focused at the 5th grade level

-2T programs will start soon at the elementary level.

8. New Business

Charlie shared a handout titled "The Relationship of Computers to Mathematics and Science Learning" prepared by Ken Blom and Doug Lohnas

Next meeting: Feb. 4th, 1998 11:30-2:30

recorder: Charlie McCambridge

refreshments: Pat Jenne and Nancy Sieper

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

December 3, 1997

The first recent disciplinary issue dealing with the Internet was addressed recently at a superintendent's hearing. These issues will inevitably be a new part of our future.

Internet Filtering - Several local districts have been contacted regarding their filtering set-up. The consensus is even with a filtering system in place, close supervision is still needed. Mike and Charlie are going to draft a position statement regarding the use of filtering.

Long Range Plan - revised by Barb and Mike. Staff Development and Curriculum Integration were the major sections for revision. The format was altered somewhat to be more concise and manageable. Please look this over and jot down any comments and /or suggestions to be discussed at the next meeting.

Title III Consortium - Schenectady School District applied for the Learning Grant last year and was turned down. They are applying again with an additional number of schools participating. Another Consortium - 8 districts together decided to upgrade their management software (replacing PRIME). This new software would run on the server, but the catch is that the software company does not support MACs, so the district office is moving to a PC environment. This is scheduled to happen sometime during the 98-99 school year.

AMERICA ON-LINE & CRISNY Accounts - Accounts will stay active through January 31,1998. All existing accounts will be terminated on that date. One generic district account will be available for use. Also one high school, one middle school and one elementary school account will be available for specific uses. The charge is $300/account, per year.

Internet Access Memo - Mike's memo concerning Internet use with students will be revised and sent to each building rep to copy and distribute to all staff.

Pilot Training Session - Mike has a proposal for a release time district staff development opportunity that is more in depth, and based on the Learning Technology Grant which supports the 5th grade social studies curriculum.

Friends Of Technoloy - The next meeting is January 7, 1998 at 7:00 pm in Iroquois Computer Lab.

BUDGET - The first year lease items expire 12/31/98. We have three choices: 1. send it all back; 2. purchase items at residual value (money the company could get if sold outright). This price will not be decided on until 60 days prior to expiration. Estimate is 15% - 20% of original value. The total would be about $9,000 - $13,000; 3. Could lease for another year, but again it is not yet known what that % cost would be. With the leased items, you must buy all or none. There is no picking and choosing individual items. Other possible options: management buys the expired instructional leased items. This would satisfy the management needs and would free up the instructional lease money to upgrade those units; another idea would be to lease equipment through BOCES.

'98-'99 Year Budget

Hardware:

Lease @ $100,000.00

Purchase 25,000.00

 

Purchase of Year 1 lease $10,000.00 - 13,000.00

Cont. of existing leases Year 2 & 3 50,000.00

Curriculum 1,500.00

New Lab (HS Lab) 14,000.00

Total lease: $75,500.00 - 78,500.00

 

4T (Purchases) 10,000.00

 

Individual Bldgs:

@$40,000 to split between bldgs.

2,500.00 each elem. 13,000.00

6,500 each MS 13,000.00

High School 13,000.00

Staff Development:

Secondary Ed Technologist

Staff Release time (half day fall and spring for each teacher

to meet in grade level groups with Technologist) $5,000.00

TA for HS Computer Lab

Summer Institute

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, January 7,1998 in the VA Board room.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

November 5, 1997

INTERNET ACCESS: Building Principals are sending district Internet guidelines and "opt out" letters to all parents. Parents who do not want their son/daughter to have Internet access should return the sheet to their respective building principal.

INTERNET FILTERING: There was much discussion of the pros and cons of purchasing filtering software. Mike Greene and Charlie McCambridge will be gathering feedback from other districts who currently use filtering software to share with us at our next meeting. Administrative council appears to support the use of filtering. Our team will need to make a recommendation at our December meeting.

LONG RANGE PLANNING: A sub-committee was developed to begin revising our long-range plan. The team decided to make changes to the planning format. As a group we focused on four major headings: Curriculum integration, staff development, and partnerships & connections, and infrastructure. The sub-committee will report on their progress at our December meeting.

E RATE APPLICATION: Our district is eligible for federal money of40% rebate on all telephone services and networking. Charlie estimates this to be a dollar value of approximately $60,000-$70,000. The discount savings received must be applied to similar services and/or equipment. Our team agreed that the high school wiring should be a priority.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT: The 4T Program is off and running in every elementary building with at least two pairs. Clarisworks slide program had a half-dozen participants. The HyperStudio class is full. There is great interest in the Web search engine course. Finally, Mike Greene is planning "WebWhacker" sessions in January.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

October 1, 1997

Attending: Pat Cardettino, David Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Furey, Mike Greene, Mike Johnson, Carol Lewis, Stan Maziejka, Charlie McCambridge, Cheryl Newman, Sue Seiffert, Polly Stahl

Technology Newsletter - The deadline for the newsletter is Nov. 5. Articles should be given to Sue by that date.

Friends of Technology - The next meeting will be Oct. 29. The meeting dates will be publicized in the District newsletter.

Grant Information - The Learning Technology Grant is being finalized by the subcommittee. Other grants from KAPL and Discounts Grants from the Federal government will be investigated.

Infrastructure - The district now has direct internet access. A few machines per building will be set up and the media specialists and computer TAs will be trained to help configure other machines. Initially students will not get accounts. Security issues still exist and the Acceptable Use policy will be enforced. Crisny and AOL accounts will be discontinued. New AOL accounts will be available for those who need to access unique AOL sites.

Technology Survey - Data concerning types of computers, internet use, types of applications used, etc. will be collected by high school statistics class. Information gathered should help make our computers more accessible.

Long Range Plan - Team continued to review plan. The creation and use of the District's intranet /infrastructure needs to be included in the plan.

Other- Mike Greene has presented the 4-T program at all the elementary schools. He handed out information on some technical problems discovered in the 5400 computer models.

Mike distributed copies of email article from "Zillions" magazine. The article dealt with dangers on the internet and would be appropriate for MS/HS level. Mike will try to get reprint permission.

ClarisWorks Slide Show and HyperStudio inservice classes will be starting in Oct and Nov.

Access policy permission slips are being distributed. The high school will issue them through individual classes at the teacher's discretion. Middle schools are distributing with the mailed interim reports.

Budget recommendations will need to be reviewed soon.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

September 22, 1997

Members Present:

Pat Cardettino, Dave Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Mike Greene, Stan Maziejka, Charlie McCambridge, Barbara Relles, Sue Seiffert, Polly Stahl

1. Technology Newsletter items due at the November meeting. Any news regarding use of technology in the schools and such things as software reviews are welcome. Submit to Sue Seiffert in Clarisworks Times Font 12 .

2. Rich and Todd have been installing the new labs in Iroquois. New labs ready in VA. One of the computer vendors of leased machines dropped out. A new vendor was found and machines should be here soon. Wiring was done in 8 locations: 3 labs in High School, 2 labs in Middle School. High School Media Center partially wired. Installation of T1 carrier for Internet not yet completed. (state contract sole vendor caused delays with the hook-up). We will have our own address nisk.k12.ny.us - hope to be operational by next week. E-mail addresses will generally be: lastname.initial@nisk.k12.ny.us

3. CRISNY accounts from last year have been renewed temporarily. No new accounts will be set up. AOL accounts are still up in the air. People using AOL should notify Mike Greene if they still want to keep an AOL account.

4. Web site will remain with Wizvax. Discussed plans for schools to be able to send their web page updates directly to Wizvax rather than having to go through Joe Baciewicz. Don't want him to become overloaded.

5. Learning Technology Grant due October 10th. Looks similar to last year's. Need to change a few things to resubmit. Grant also available from Apple Computer. New Connections Grant due in February. Grant is not for money, but equipment.

6. Barbara Relles has agreed to be a resource for people who wish to apply for grants on a volunteer basis. She will not be writing grants but will provide information and assistance to those who want to apply for grants. She will be writing a column for the Tech Newsletter to make people aware of what grants are available.

7. Roadrunner Internet service available for schools provided by Time Warner in their cable service areas. We could be able to hook up with other school districts in the area.

8. IBM vs. MAC-- Board will be looking for justification to continue Macs. We need a sub-committee to write up our position on this. Need to be ready for November Board meeting. We will spend a portion of the October meeting to prepare this statement and should come to the meeting prepared with information to put into this--experience from other schools, articles from journals, newspapers, etc.

9. Long Range Plan - Need to identify key technology experiences and activities across grade levels. We should write a current proposal now to get it in on time for approval for the summer so that we can solicit teachers to write curriculum next summer. Need to ensure that all students have certain technology experiences. November 20 deadline for proposals.

10. Next Friends of Technology meeting will be October 29th at the Board Room in VA at 7:00 PM.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

July 17, 1997

Members Present: Nancy Furey, Mike Greene, Pat Jenne, Carol LaRow, Stan Maziejka, Charles McCambridge, Cheryl Newman, Barbara Relles, Nancy Seiffert and Polly Stahl

Barb Relles reviewed the status of the Learning Technology Grant. Last year's grant proposal received high grades but fell a bit short of acceptance. A sub-committee will be revising the grant and resubmitting it this year. Our group also discussed ideas for new funding opportunities and the need to reach out to those federal, state and private sector organizations to gather information regarding the viability of the grant application process.

Our group also discussed the notion of developing partnerships with other districts in the hopes of widening the scope of grant opportunities. (Grant opportnities will certainly be a major focus of our 9/10/97 agenda).

Mike Greene updated us on the flexible lab schedule. It is evident that there may be some resistance on the part of staff, however, if we do a thorough job of selling this notion to staff, openly communicating expectations and giving any needed feedback, this change process should perservere and continue to flourish.

Mike also commented on the success of sumer inservice programs. Both course offerings and enrollments are up from last year, a true testament to the quality of our teaching staff and program participants.

Charlie McCambridge updated the group on the status of our intrastructive improvements.

We purchased 84 new computers (69 instructional and 15 management). Both VA and Iroquois labs should be fully operational for the start of school.

At the high school both the labs and the media center were being rewired to enhance computer access.

Charlie also noted that the entire district would have internet access through a new carrier, Intermedia Communication, Inc.

Our group briefly discussed the need to develop a position paper relative to our rationale of maintaining Macintosh Computer rather than IBM.

At our next meeting we will organize a sub-committee to draft the document.

Finally! We outlined our Tech Core meeting schedule for the 1997-1998 school year. It is as follows: (All meetings will be at the District Office Board Room)

September 10, 1997 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
October 1, 1997 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
November 5, 1997 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
December 3, 1997 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
January 7, 1998 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
February 4, 1998 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
March 4, 1998 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
April 1, 1998 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
May 6, 1998 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
June 3, 1998 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

June 4, 1997

In Attendance: Pat Cardettino, Dave Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Fury, Michael Greene, Carol Lewis, Stan Maziejka Cheryl Newman, Nancy Noonan, Gloria Seymour, Polly Stahl, Sue Sieffert, Nancy Sieper,

Friends of Technology Update: Mike and Dave reported on Niskaday Activities, the information table. Many people stopped and picked up packets. Mike also mentioned the existence of the FOTS web page. No date has been set for the next meeting.

HyperStudio Presentation by Gloria Seymour: Gloria attended aHyperStudio weekend workshop which focused on integration into the curriculum. There was also information about integrating the program with the web.

Reporting out of committee work from last meeting:

Communications: Nancy reported on the work of that subcommittee and distributed a draft document with definitions, concerns and recommendations. It was recommended that the document be adopted and distributed with a few minor changes. Mike suggested putting it on the website and the Technology Newsletter in the fall.

Flexible scheduling: A draft document was circulated. This document outlined the philosophy of and need for this concept. After discussion, Mike would like to present a finished document to the leadership team. The Core Team accepted the draft.

 

Budget Report: Use of remaining bond issue funds for purchase of middle school computers was discussed.

Summer meeting date: July 17, 8-11am.

In-service course offerings: Most are ready to go. Minimum number of attendees will be under discussion. Mike suggested having mini demonstrations in September in order to generate interest in some of the undersubscribed courses.

Computer Utilization Policy: Will be disseminated next year.

Grants:

Middle schools received 15 computers each as a result of applying to General Electric.

Learning Technologies Grant that was denied in 1997 will be reapplied for next year. During the summer meeting a subcommittee will rework the application.

Mini grant was suggested by Mike. Classes might come up with a proposal for a color Quick Cam or other computer equipment. The committee recommended following up on the idea.

Submitted by: Barbara Relles.

 

Tech CORE Team Minutes

April 2, 1997

Present: Pat Cardettino, David Crandall, Cheryl Cufari, Nancy Furey, Mike Greene, Pat Jenne, Carol LaRow, Charles McCambridge, Cheryl Newman, Nancy Noonan, Barbara Relles, Sue Seiffert, Nancy Seiper, Gloria Seymour, Polly Stahl

Friends Of Technology: Howie Cohen and Dave Crandall will serve as co-chairs.
Activities:
1. Niska-Day Table
2. Tech Fair
3. Mission
4. Web Page

Nancy Noonan asked if there was any discussion about a science camp. Cheryl Newman indicated that the science camp had stalled due to an unequal level of support. Ideas were reviewed and Nancy Noonan proposed that Friends of Technology may want to investigate in the future.

Budget Update: All existing proposals as discussed last meeting are still in the budget. There was a question of how to better utilize the $4,000 allotted for grant writing. We would like to maintain a relationship on a per diem basis.

Flexible Scheduling proposal for media and computer lab at the elementary level: Mike Greene spoke about the importance of providing flexibility within the lab instead of a scheduled 30 minutes per week. This would enable teachers to truly integrate computers into their discussion. Pat Jenne indicated that most teachers at the elementary would not support this because of a loss of planning time. Mike Greene proposed that Tech CORE come to consensus on a statement of use.

Rich Savage Proposal: We have e-mail coming on already by this summer. We discussed the problems of e-mail, especially the volume We will have to discuss the issues further. Mike will thank Rich for his good thoughts if Rich ever calls him back. If you have any feelings regarding the e-mail issue, send Mike Johnson your thoughts.

Nancy Noonan proposed that we would use our next meeting to work on a number of issues such as flexible scheduling and e mail. This idea was warmly received.

Mike Greene explained:
- Talk with the Technologist program
- Student Technology Leadership Program

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