07/27/2011

Wednesday morning, helped get workshops up and going. At 10am, I met with rep from Howard tech regarding Xirrus wireless solutions and Extron speaker/control solution for our new facilities.

Spent afternoon at Blevins, mapping out the rollover from Netware to Windows. We plugged in the Windows server and ran around releasing and renewing IP addresses on the machines currently in use. also set printers to static IP addresses and reconfigured the software on machines that print to those printers.

07/26/2011

Spent the day in Bradley again. We worked on several issues including the computers and a network printer in the middle school lab.  We worked on computers in the elementary school, too.  One of the video systems had a power supply go out in it, so we found a replacement from another computer and swapped the PSU.  We spent quite a bit of time examining the new DL room to be outfitted with CAT5, etc.  They also got a new phone system installed this week, so we took part in some of the informal training going on. 

07/21/2011

Last Thursday, I taught a session on Internet Ethics in the morning and a session on Social Networking for the Classroom in the afternoon.

After the workshops, I hooked up digital pocket cameras for a workshop on Monday. The cameras needed to be charged and the software needed to be installed on the Macs for use in the workshop the next week.

07/25/2011

Drove straight to McRae Middle School to deliver several boxes of binders and books for a workshop taking place there today.

At the office, I talked with the presenter for a pocket camera workshop and we needed to update the software on the cameras being used. So, me and the DL coordinator and the presenter fired up Windows in Parallels and installed the correct software.

After that, Trish (DL Coordinator) and I headed to Bradley. in Bradley, we connected a new swicth and media converters to the video network in preparation for new equipment coming through an RUS grant. Once that was done, we went to the closet where the fiber terminated to install another media converter and switch. This allows for the video system to come online and for 24 computers to be installed in the new dl room.

After that, we went to an extsing dl room in order to disassemble a video system in order to reconfigure the hardware arrangement. The remote for the system would not work because the equipment had been installed backward in the podium. We fixed that, ran a couple test calls, and tied up loose wires, etc.

In the next dl room, we tied up loose wires and verified that things were working. The touch panel is having issues and we may need to update the software in both the codec and the touch panel this year.

There were three netbooks giving the local tech fits, so I helped get those situated and joined them to the domain.

I am scheduled to return on Tuesday with a Windows 7 DVD to reinstall software on a laptop and to run cabling for the new dl room.

July 20, 2011

Started by installing flash and firefox on macbooks in the distance learning lab.

One macbook has dead battery. ordered new one from apple.

Began work on moving active directory from 2003 schema to 2008 schema for new server. original plan was to virtualize everything, but i dont think that will be necessary at this point. I am leaving hyperv running on the server in case i decide to move that direction in the future. found a nice step-by for this: http://www.anitkb.com/2010/03/preparing-your-active-directory.html

Well, actually, I started my work day at home - I had to convert a segment of video on vhs over to dvd so that our math specialist would have it for her workshop.

yesterday, the vendor had to reschedule for the wireless walkthrough.  instead, i met with the folks at uacch regarding bids for the new video systems several area schools will receive as part of an rus grant. also, bcs came and installed our new voicemail module. turns out we went from 2 open ports for vm to 8 open ports! this will help should we ever move to an automated attendant system.

if this headache and sickness in my stomach doesn't go away soon, this may be a short day for me. ugh.

July 19, 2011

Installed GEOGEBRA on Macs in lab.

Talked to DIS about our connectivity issues - they have a possible solution but need to discuss with ADE.

Tested WAN connectivity while dialed into a video conference - no measurable difference.

New voice mail system should be installed today.

Scheduled to meet with Howard Technology and Xirrus to do a site survey of our building - looking at better coverage solutions.

Offered suggestions to help a school get started with Facebook:

I would create a page instead of a group. People can LIKE the page and get
updates that are posted there. Some schools create one page for the
district and then separate pages for each building. Then, assign "admins"
to oversee the pages (you do that in FB). Once the page is created, spread
the word and have people LIKE the page(s). Actually before that, I would
ask a couple folks (non page admins) to LIKE it and make sure they are getting
any updates being posted. Once you know everything works, spread the
word. In the page settings, you can set who is or is not allowed to post
new contect (pictures, posts, etc). I believe anyone can respond to an
existing post, no matter who posted it though. A couple schools I have
talked to about this had early issues with inappropriate content, but that was
handled with the person/people specifically and the content removed by one of
the page admins. I think it is a great way to reach out to parents,
students and community members because you are PUSHING the info to them. I
One school used theirs a LOT during the bad weather for closures, etc. Yes,
they still did the TV thing and the radio thing, but the word spread much more
quickly through FB than any other manner. They even have a phone system
that calls folks but people knew about the closure from FB long before they got
that phone call!

As a side note, I had someone ask me how one would tie Angry Birds into classroom lessons. i just happened to have saved this page that offers up some excellent ways to do just that:
http://thislooksgood.poste​rous.com/using-angry-birds​-to-teach-math-history-and​-s

July 18, 2011

I spent the day teaching iPad Apps for Education to a group of 25 participants.  I will edit this post later and put in some of the apps we covered.

7/12/2011

I have to go back and post Monday's work info.

Tuesday, I taought a six-hour workshop on Arkansas Ideas portal. It went VERY well (after we fixed a few logins) and the participants loved the online courses available to them. Many said they would take classes outside of required credit hours just for the knowledge and info alone! Awesome!

July 7, 2011

Aside from helping to get a couple workshops off the ground and locking the digital thermostats, I spent the entire day cleaning up and cleaning out the tech closet attached to my office.

Just more than a year ago, we packed up everything from the old building and moved it to our new facility.  Among the packed items: lots and lots (at least a dozen if my memory serves) of boxes with random "stuff" in them.  Some of the boxes had cabling (network, RG6, Composite, Component, unknowns, etc) while several had software piled in them: some in boxes, some on spindles, most just tossed in loosely.  I went through each box and if I did not recognize the software (i.e. it was unlabeled), I put it in the computer to see what it was - was it worth keeping, in other words.  I threw away all kinds of junk and duplicate copies of various restore discs - seriously, do we need 30 copies of Dell 755 system recovery discs!?  I threw out software from 1996. Seriously? Why keep this stuff?  I chunked anything that no longer applied to the hardware we own or the software we use - recovery discs from computers we no longer have, etc.  It's amazing what we keep in the name of "We may need that one day" or, even worse, "do you know what we paid for that!? In 1994!?"  Nope, and I don't care.  If we're not using it, it found its way to the circular file (or the literal recycle bin for some things).

During the day, I also met with Lindy and Phoebe regarding different projects, discussions, etc.  For the most part, though, I spent the bulk of my 10-hour day cleaning and organizing.

July 6, 2011

Started the morning by installing the new switches in the first floor closet.  Once they were done, I started playing with VLAN configuration.  It did not go well.  Off and on throughout the day, I played with various settings, eventually spending more than an hour on the phone with SMC and about 30-45 minutes on the phone with DIS.  At 5:15pm, though, it was up and running!  Turns out to be a multi-step process not readily explained in the help guides.  Ultimately, though, it boils down to to creating the VLAN number you want, assigning the proper ports, then going into an additional setting and assigning the port(s) to the specific VLAN you want those ports to use.  Frankly, that seemed like doing double duty since I had to already assign a port to the VLAN, but whatever.

Now, we can connect a videoconferencing unit to ANY network jack in the building and with a few clicks, have it on the state video network.  Previously, I had to go to the closet, move patch cables around for the duration of the conference then move them back when it was over.  Now, I can do it from any machine on our network. Sweet!

When I wasn't trying to figure out the VLAN, I finished installing software on a new employee's laptop and cleaned another employee's computer from a major infection.  Thanks to Combofix, though, I believe it has been wiped off the machine.  I also ordered some new equipment for various employees (and a voicemail upgrade to replace the dying one we currently have).  We've got a lot of Act 1747 (etc) stuff that needed updating, so I made several changes to a couple of the sites we host from SWAEC.

Those are the big-ticket items I can recall right now.  Of course, as always, there was answering tech support calls, answering emails, etc.

Starting a New Year

This is the first post of my new work year. Hopefully, keeping up with my daily activities will go better this fiscal year than last.

We were out Monday for the 4th of July holiday.

Tuesday (up to 11:35am) - Swapped out core switches in upstairs closet. Downstairs closet will be completed once I receive the missing rack mounts from the manufacturer. After that, I began work on a laptop that has Windows 7 Home Premium installed. I tried to update to KMS code we have for the co-op. That did not work at all.

I purchased a Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade from Microsoft. The license number works, but the upgrade itself failed several times with no helpful error at all (just says failed). I decided to download/install any outstanding updates to see if that has any bearing on the update at all. once of the updates is Win7SP1, and I have a feeling that might be a prerequisite for the upgrade. Who knows.

During this, I have been talking with our early childhood director about moving a smart board from one school location to another district.

12:15pm - Update on Win7 Upgrade: The Service Pack 1 install seems to have done the trick. Following the SP1 install, I tried the Anytime Upgrade and it eventually siad, "downloading 2 updates" which it had never said before failing before this. After all that was said and done, the machine rebooted a couple times as it installed/updated various files, etc. After that, though, Windows 7 welcomed me with the "Windows 7 Professional" script at the bottom of the logon screen! Tip: Make sure you are at Win7 SP1 before trying to Upgrade!

I met with a couple techs from Prescott for lunch. After lunch, I spent the afternoon running COMBOFIX on every computer in the distance learning lab and in the APSCN lab.  Some machines had infections, most did not.

I am still having a VERY frustrating issue with my network jumping from 3Mbps down to 28k then back up again.  So far, I can't find any rhyme or reason for it, but according to DIS, the problem is local.  I'm not sure that's true. I cannot help but think this is a telco connectivity issue. Until I can prove it, though, I have to keep plugging away.