#RuralEdChat is a chat that focuses on the needs of the rural educator. This chat has been revised by Tammy Neil (@MathNeil), John Martin (@edventures) and Natalee Stotz (@nataleestotz).
I'm John Martin, Director of the #Interlakes Dept of Innovation & Technology in central NH, and in another life I was a lifeguard and lifeguard instructor. Tonight, I'll be standing watch over our #RuralEdChat pool!
This past summer my district ran a competency education camp for our teachers and I dressed the part of a lifeguard while my dept provided tech support for our teachers & guest speakers. It got me wondering what others' IT experiences were like in their district. #RuralEdChat
Ok #RuralEdChat, take a deep breath and jump into this easy question: What does the IT structure look like in your district? Who provides it, how many are available to you, and is it in your building or off site?
#RuralEdChat A1: In my district, my office is in the high school although we have another HelpDesk in our elementary school. One much smaller school gets attention as needed. There are six of us this year but we'll lose one tech next fall.
We have a central IT Office. Several schools share a local IT person. If there's a big issue, they share the load. They work very hard to keep everything working. #RuralEdChat
We are fortunate to have @jmcclellanmesd at our school and share her passion of technology with us. She keeps us up to date and learning all the time. Also have the county in once a week to support us. #RuralEdChat
Ok #RuralEdChat, take a deep breath and jump into this easy question: What does the IT structure look like in your district? Who provides it, how many are available to you, and is it in your building or off site?
#RuralEdChat A1 cont'd: Besides myself, our team consists of my network/systems admin, my database admin, my lead tech, and two tech integrators. We are lucky to have these resources, many schools in our area do not.
I'm currently working in IT at the University I'm getting my teaching certificate in! We have a central building/department with one support agent in each department, and a team of about 5-10 who help in general and 3-4 specialized experts. #RuralEdChat
I'm at the University of Wyoming here, and we've got a wonderful team! We also have a group of four instructional designers to help with course creation. #RuralEdChat
A2: My IT department responds pretty quickly. They primarily work on hardware issues. I try to troubleshoot as much as possible to make sure their time is used wisely. #RuralEdChat
#RuralEdChat A2: Our dept maintains our district servers, network, desktops/laptops/chromebooks, as well as providing support for the various apps used in district. We also provide tech support and training to our staff & students.
A2: We have weekly design sessions and answer questions as they come up, but design is left entirely up to the instructors. We support 8-4 during the day and are very enthusiastic to help when teachers run into trouble!
#RuralEdChat
A2b: There are certain things I can fix. I don't have access to update or install software. I understand their need to keep our network running so I don't complain (too much). #RuralEdChat
A2: Our IT dept of one is excellent at getting things taken care of ASAP. As a techie myself (MS in ED Tech), I try to take care of issues before reaching out to him.
#RuralEdChat
A2 it helps with a lot of what I call “backroom”, working with the server, stuff I don’t even pretend to comprehend. We do a lot of our own trouble shooting first (we only get them once a week). In other words I know how to “turn it off and turn it back on again” #RuralEdChat
#RuralEdChat - This one might be too sensitive so don't answer if you don't wish to: When you ask a question is their first response, "Yes, sure!", "No way", or "Maybe, let's talk"?
#RuralEdChat - This one might be too sensitive so don't answer if you don't wish to: When you ask a question is their first response, "Yes, sure!", "No way", or "Maybe, let's talk"?
#RuralEdChat - This one might be too sensitive so don't answer if you don't wish to: When you ask a question is their first response, "Yes, sure!", "No way", or "Maybe, let's talk"?
I'm the tech teacher for my school, so I have some admin rights & an in/trust with the district IT guy. Like many people, it's more software/app related troubleshooting while the district IT guy takes care of hardware beyond jiggling cords. #ruraledchat
A3: All three! We have daily morning meetings to talk and get what needs to be done discussed. Door always open policy! I have a rockstar team and boss @bthompson92#RuralEdChat
#RuralEdChat - I ask this question only because I've worked with some edu-minded folks, and some very command & control oriented folks and I'm curious what others experience.
It never fails the day I wear a skirt I’m climbing under computers trying to locate the loose cord!! Thank goodness for wireless chrome books #RuralEdChat
I'm the person they send to stuff like the training workshops for the software for state testing. Then I'm available to help with troubleshooting during state testing, which mainly involves rebooting people's computers or Ctrl+ F keyword searching the online manuals. #ruraledchat
A3: I would love a list of apps that are available across my district. I would love to know what's already been opened/approved for other educators. That way I could explore what we already have and may find solutions to problems I didn't know I had. #RuralEdChat
With teachers requesting access to things they find, a common list would make it so much easier. If someone has already found a great app/site, I would love to know about it. #RuralEdChat
Our profession strikes me as being unbalanced in its techiness despite the era, the proliferation of edtech products and possibilities and also the proliferation and virtual loudness of edtech gurus. #ruraledchat
#RuralEdChat - Fav IT story is when I was able to reach out to my old uni to take their surplus computers off their hands and put them into my school b/c we didn't have enough. Win-win!
Plenty of teachers wanted printed materials and are still thinking about dipping their toes into Powerpoints and SMARTboards one day. Then there are the ones who are openly hostile to tech. I'm developing a bad habit of doing this, but... maybe another good #ruraledchat?
Actually, my favorite IT story involves being the Tech Comm chairperson when a former school was retrofitted with the internet. I loved the spark it provided. #RuralEdChat
A double robotics robot! At the time we had a student who was going to be out possibly long term with an illness. Wanted a remote way for student to be in class and learn. #RuralEdChat
I'm a t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans girl. One of the benefits of working in a relaxed and rural small-town school in #NoCal surrounded by wine and weed. #ruraledchat
The powerful moment experienced as students use Google apps on their Chromebooks, working on their Stats capstone project, when they realize the real power is not in the math or the technology but in the human connection/interaction!
#RuralEdChat
The powerful moment experienced as students use Google apps on their Chromebooks, working on their Stats capstone project, when they realize the real power is not in the math or the technology but in the human connection/interaction!
#RuralEdChat
Have we had the edtech benefit debate yet? How 2 evaluate edtech? Have we talked about the difficulty of updating our existing edworkforce re: tech within the limits of the often pale versions of PD foisted upon teachers? Have we talked about tech in teacher prep?#ruraledchat
Q4: Doug from DE. Ours crossed over about 4 years ago. It has been a great conversion. They may not “discover” all the new stuff, but they understand it to make it work. #RuralEdChat
Yes, I agree. Why are we buying site licenses when just a few teachers truly integrate the site/app into their learning. Let's be responsible on both sides of that issue. #RuralEdChat
A4: They are primarily hardware. There are so few of them. That's one reason I became a Google Cert. Trainer, so I could help ease their load. #RuralEdChat
This is an ongoing monitoring issue for me. #ruraledchat Not a gotcha, but if you’re not using it just let me know. Trying to move to “al la carte” style for staff. Use and I will pay for what you are comfortable with.
Related controversial topic: management of teachers. I came from a corporate background, so there is a great opportunity for compare-and-contrast for me as I navigate the educational profession. We educators also attract a lot of outside criticism based on our model. #ruraledchat
A4: they're separate here. I'd like to see more crossover though, especially since our it department has several former students working in it who could share great tips with teachers. #RuralEdChat
This gotcha creates using it irresponsibly in moments it makes no sense. Let’s just be honest. #ruraledchat ps. On most I can see manager dashboard anyways... so I know;)
Good idea. Our county office of ed has a software/app shared spreadsheet, if memory serves, and I sometimes pick them up at edtech trainings. I also get a lot from edtech gurus like Alice Wheeler and Eric Curts. #ruraledchat Looking at you @mrsJennaRodgers
In reply to
@TG_Neil, @edventures, @mrsJennaRodgers
I love your point about outrunning. Never thought about it that way. You could so outrun them, you lost any ability to connect. Thanks for that reminder! #ruraledchat
I've had some good convos with our IT guy along these lines. For example, we had Renaissance Place STAR/AR Reading & I was a squeaky wheel until we got the corresponding Math program in the suite. Then found it was a ghetto version of the free Khan Academy Math. #ruraledchat
Q5: I love my IT team especially @Phil_Smallwood He is always up to hear my craziness and often will talk me off the ledge and make it make sense. #ruraledchat
Sometimes people need to put on their big boy and big girl pants. Sometimes it pays off further down the line in credibility/credit/grace/big picture. #ruraledchat
I have a favor to ask of you my #RuralEdChat family. Tomorrow, thank your teacher (if you're in IT) or your IT team (if you're a teacher), then go out and do something awesome for your learning community!
A5: Sometimes communication isn't perfect. The different it departments could talk more and it would be a lot smoother.
5b: I'd love to see more integration of tech in the class. Getting everyone on board is tough and some never want to give it a shot. #RuralEdChat
