At 7:00am, I left my house and traveled 15 miles to the Blevins School District. There, I met with the Superintendent briefly to discuss the school's web site situation. He informed me that they were looking into a hosted scenario, most likely going with a particular vendor as the host. We also discussed an upcoming staff development in which a shared folder was needed. I left the office and sought out the school technology coordinator.
At approximately 7:20am, I met with Mr. Allen at the Blevins High School in order to locate the Technology Coordinator (turns outs he had an appointment and would not be in). We talked about the shared folder and the Windows 98 machine that currently runs the ConsoleOne software for adding users, etc. The floors were being waxed, so I did not have access to the appropriate room.
At approximately 7:30am, I met with Mrs. Lee in the Elementary building to discuss the school's potential new web site host. We talked about the teacher who had started to redevelop the site and Mrs. Lee let me know that she would tell the teacher of the impending changes.
Around 8:00am, I left Blevins and drove 15 miles back to Prescott, as I would be presenting a workshop on the school's new Sharepoint-based web site. During the drive, I spoke with the Blevins Technology Coordinator and filled him on my site visit. Since I arrived back in Prescott early, I helped the local technology coordinator with several issues on their web site. I also researched various ways to connect Outlook to their Sharepoint site.
At 9:30am, the Prescott Tech and I walked to the Elementary School to troubleshoot a fiber connectivity issue. Though we could not resolve the issue, we did manage to eliminate possible reasons for the problems.
At 10:00am, the tech and I headed to the lab to conduct the workshop with teachers. During the training, teachers learned how to post announcements, pictures, assignments, etc to their individual pages. They also learned how students will be able to turn in electronic assignments through the web site.
At 12:00pm, I drove from Prescott to Hope (our main office). When I arrived at approx 12:30pm, I helped the various CIV programs get underway, performed a cleanout of the SPAM quarantine system, and met with Phoebe regarding several building-related issues (re: new building).
Throughout the afternoon, I answered phone calls regarding tech support, answered email re: the same.
At approximately 2:15pm, the Supt for Fouke came in and we visited about his technology improvements rolled out this summer. I offered assistance and will be visiting the campus once our office move is complete. While meeting with him, the principal from Genoa came in and we began a discussion regarding podcasting with video. The plan is to have two or three teachers record their lessons as they teach them. After approximatelt 4 1/2 weeks, the teachers (or techs or students, depending on who will do final editing) will be trained on editing the video for distribution. The most likely channel will be Arkansas iTunesU. Both the Supt from Fouke and the Principal from genoa left satisifed with our visit.
From approx 2:45pm - 3:00pm, I wrote out this documentation. The time from 3:00pm - 5:00 (our summer office hours) will be added to this post later in the evening.
3:00pm - 3:35pm, checked email, answered several phone calls and discussed various building-related topics with Distance Learning Coordinator.
3:35pm - 3:50pm, I talked on the phone with Asus tech support regarding an ongoing issue with a 1201N laptop we have. After explaining the various steps (not to mention length of time - in WEEKS) I have taken, the tech agreed that the unit should be sent in for warranty work. While on hold for RMA, I restored the unit to factory specs (thus removing any work-related information). At the completion of the call, I emailed my boss to let her know the status.
Around 4:00pm, I talked with the teacher at Blevins regarding the web page changes, hosting etc. We talked for about 5 minutes and had a brainstorming session. It went pretty well. There is much to do on that front though.
At about 4:05pm, the High School Principal from Bradley met me (along with other personnel) and said she appreciated everything I did and do for her school! Wahoo! It was a wonderful compliment! We don't always get the "atta boys" and I am not one who seeks that kind of thing out, but it's nice to know that people notice what we do!
From 4:15 - 4:25, I spoke with Mrs. Lee at Blevins regarding their choice for web hosting, and I was very pleased with sample sites I had seen. factor in the post e-rate pricing, and I saw it as a win-win all around. I think the teacher that had already created content could easily copy/transfer the info into the hosted solution if they go with it.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Next week should prove to be quite full. I understand there is a meeting with the general contractor about elevator inspection and at the end of the week, we move our data and phone lines. I am very nervous about it as I have never done anything like this before.
