http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ Not another expensive paperweight en Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:51:43 +0000 http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=24#post-95 Mon, 04 May 2009 15:34:40 +0000 admin 95@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>In an attempt to take a pro-active approach to the current economic crisis, the tech team wishes to undertake an experiment to see if the school can run all workstations and servers with license free, open source software. After doing some research I think that this is a completely plausible scenario to do without losing a bit of functionality.</p> <p>Who we are looking for:<br /> 1. People who feel completely comfortable with their work stations and troubleshoot on their own.<br /> 2. People with patience who understand that THERE WILL BE PROBLEMS at first.<br /> 3. People who believe that they can adapt to new software quickly.<br /> 4. People who can succinctly articulate specific problems with the software.</p> <p>No hard feelings if this is not you, but in order to gather data quickly the system will need to spend a lot of time being used. If you are interested in taking part in this experiment contact me or Joe Willis either in person or via email. </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=23#post-94 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:53:33 +0000 Anonymous 94@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>Hi,</p> <p>I've been digging around my classroom, and I've found a decent collection of CD's that contain educational software. Is there a central clearinghouse for this stuff? I'm sure there are redundant copies in the building, but it might not be a bad idea to have departmental program CD bins in the tech office.</p> <p>Thoughts? </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=22#post-93 Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:33:56 +0000 Anonymous 93@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>On Friday night, I did my best to put together 4 projector/speaker combos for use at the Activity Night. I learned the following:</p> <p>-While we have projectors in the building, they are hard to find and none of them were of the same make/model. Additionally, half of them didn't have an audio out port, making speaker connections a real pain.</p> <p>-We have very few functioning speakers. There are two dome-style speakers out of the tech office, and for all my efforts, I couldn't get them to work. I know the music theory lab has some terrific speakers, would we be able to pick up a few more of those for random functions that require portable audio equipment? </p> <p>I made it work last night, but only because I have some idea as to where things are hidden. </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=21#post-90 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:17:43 +0000 Anonymous 90@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>Hi,</p> <p>When I updated my website last week, I reset my counters. Since then, I have had 790 hits on my main page, 300+ hits on my calendar page, but &lt;15 for all other pages. I highly doubt that those are all people-driven clicks. How else could I be getting so much traffic?</p> <p>~Dean </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=20#post-86 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:48:17 +0000 jwillis 86@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>Hey everyone, I have built a new online work order system using open source software and a linux web server. The way it works is that if you have a problem, you just send an email to 'help' or <a href="mailto:help@m-ecs.org.">help@m-ecs.org.</a> From there I will be notified that there is a new ticket request. I have a web portal I can log into and assign category priority and status. Once a ticket is updated/changed the user who sent in the help request will be notified by email as to the progress of the ticket. I think this will be much easier for everyone and will not require any knowledge of the work order system. If you feel like trying it go ahead. I created a test user account if you want to see the back end. just go to <a href="http://172.17.195.176/ooz" rel="nofollow">http://172.17.195.176/ooz</a> and login as login:test password:test</p> <p>Joe </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=7#post-20 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:31:46 +0000 admin 20@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>The is mainly an informational update on the status of the Dell laptops that the teachers used before the Apple update. The information is that I don't know where they are! I see one every now and again when a teacher's laptop is out for repair, but other than that it is a gray area. I am hoping to get admin participation in this forum for some clarity in this matter. </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=19#post-80 Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:15:39 +0000 jwillis 80@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>Here is the pricing on the sentio's.</p> <p>24 pack with receivers and carrying case $1,499</p> <p>32 pack with receivers and carrying case $1,899</p> <p>Single receiver $699</p> <p>Single carrying case $59</p> <p>Depending on how we want to configure them for class room use, you can get an extra receiver and split up sets. </p> <p>how many do you think we need here at the High school, I will speak with heather at the elem and see what she thinks her needs are. </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=18#post-73 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:17:41 +0000 jwillis 73@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>I am putting together an order, is there anything that comes to mind in way of supplies to get us through the year, this is going to probably come from that hardware money Debra was talking about.</p> <p>Here is what I have on my list so far...<br /> Replacement Hard Drives, SATA (macbook) x 7, ATA-100 (dell d505)x7<br /> Patch cables, (3'x100) (7'x100) (10'x50)<br /> Elmo Replacement bulb x1<br /> Desktop Gig Switch<br /> Art Room inkjet and cartridges<br /> macbook power adapters x4<br /> macbook batteries x6<br /> dell power adapters.</p> <p>please add anything you think necessary. </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=16#post-64 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:18:39 +0000 Anonymous 64@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>So, what exactly did we accomplish? I forgot to take notes! </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=17#post-68 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:52:50 +0000 jwillis 68@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>How is this setup? do you have to have a login to view the forms. I don't know how much district info I am comfortable posting here. </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=5#post-18 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:25:31 +0000 admin 18@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>How effective are the small clusters in the classrooms? If you use them with your students could you describe how you incorporate them into your lessons. Do you feel that these machines could be put to better use in other arrangements throughout the building? </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=15#post-61 Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:42:09 +0000 Anonymous 61@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>Has any progress been made concerning these topics of discussion? </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=14#post-47 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:11:29 +0000 admin 47@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>Here is the poll </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=9#post-32 Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:25:39 +0000 jmccarthy 32@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>I am thoroughly enjoying using this format... a few moments a day, but not another meeting. However, I am starting to question the effectiveness, as there only seems to be three or four of us using it? </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=2#post-2 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:02:15 +0000 admin 2@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>Should students at our school have access to email? If so, how should it be managed? What are some of the concerns that come along with that privilege? Furthermore if students are given the right to use email at school, what can we do as teachers to use email in the classroom? </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=6#post-19 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:28:47 +0000 admin 19@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>How are the computer labs being used? If you or another teacher is using the labs please put down some of the exercises that you are using them for so we can share the wealth. What are some ways that we could make the labs more effective, i.e. equipment and layout of course, but also planning and activities. </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=3#post-3 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:09:27 +0000 admin 3@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>The internet filter has long been a public bugaboo of mine and the longer we subscribe to Xstop the worse it gets. The list of sites being blocked is getting longer and longer with virtually no accountability regarding what is being blocked. The law requires the school to filter pornographic sites, everything else is at the discretion of the district. In the past I have advocated a complete paring down of the filter to only what the law requires and putting more responsibility upon the staff to monitor student internet usage. A reasonable compromise would be for all teachers to have an override to the system. </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=8#post-23 Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:55:38 +0000 admin 23@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>RSS (really simple syndication) is a great way to manage all of the things you read on the internet. RSS uses simple code to let you know when something new has been added to the sites you visit. By clicking the subscribe button your browser will ask you how you want to read the RSS feed. There are a number of different ways to read the feed ranging from simple to complicated. Firefox has a built in RSS reader and feeds are treated like bookmarks. Google also has an excellent RSS reader. So if you want to know when something new has been posted to this forum click the small orange RSS icon. </p> http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=4#post-14 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:59:12 +0000 jmccarthy 14@http://www.edtechswami.com/bbpress/ <p>I am curious what the district wide plan is for updating the computer clusters or any computers that are primarily for student use? I know that the current budget crisis in the State and Nation are calling for budget cutbacks, however, I think that we have a need for updated hardware. We have outfitted our faculty with all of the technology needs one could ever imagine, but I have not seen an update to the clusters or computer labs for our students. In my recent experience many of these machines are slow, working poorly, or in poor worn out shape.</p> <p>Furthermore, do we know the status of the Dell Laptops that the faculty turned in almost two years ago? I remember being told that they would be turned into mobile student labs, but this has not happened. This might be one possible solution to our current lack of student ready machines? </p>