Monday - Office
Tuesday - Texarkana, Etherscope
Wednesday - Texarkana, Etherscope if needed
Thursday - Office
Friday - Office
Last week (March 19-23) was Spring Break. I was out of the office the whole week, though I worked during that time on a couple server issues. I also worked on moving TIE modules from the "old" PDF format to the new Moodle format.
March 5 - Visited with Prescott regarding NETS/ISTE Tech Support Index.
March 6 - Arch Ford Co-op for state section meetings, tech coordinator meeting
March 7-9 - Work on network security and monitoring.
March 12-15 - Continue network security and monitoring, meet with staff.
During that week, I also made two trips to Lafayette ECH to work on computer issues.
Showing posts with label tie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tie. Show all posts
Monday, March 26, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
January 30 - February 3, 2012
Monday - Office
Tuesday - Office
Wednesday - Saturday - TIE Conference - Technology professional development
Monday's notes:
Monday, Monday, Monday...
Man, the advantage to focusing most of my attention on one project is that I got a bunch of it knocked out. Still a long way to go and a short time to do it (oh, I know what you THOUGHT I was gonna say). Converting revamped technology training modules into our new Moodle format. Whew!
Looks like overtime will be calling my name tomorrow evening! At least I should be able to finish things up from the house.
Why "most of my attention?" Spent the day swapping emails and phone calls with Sharon and Cari on various tech issues. CRAZY DAY! Despite it all, I am very glad to be employed! Oh yeah, and Verizon's area-wide blackout didn't help. Haha!
I helped Sharon at Blevins with various Tech Plan questions, E-Rate questions, and a few other technical issues.
I helped Cari with Exchange issues - her server ran out of drive space, so we freed up space and remounted the Exchange Store. We also worked thorough some Active Directory problems as well. We also covered E-Rate bids, RFP's, and other technical issues.
Verizon had a major network issue with their wireless network in our area this morning, so I spent some time on the phone with their support folks.
I am working on the Co-op's Tech Plan and the State Tech Coordinator Grant Proposal as well.
So, what'd YOU do today?!
Tuesday - Office
Wednesday - Saturday - TIE Conference - Technology professional development
Monday's notes:
Monday, Monday, Monday...
Man, the advantage to focusing most of my attention on one project is that I got a bunch of it knocked out. Still a long way to go and a short time to do it (oh, I know what you THOUGHT I was gonna say). Converting revamped technology training modules into our new Moodle format. Whew!
Looks like overtime will be calling my name tomorrow evening! At least I should be able to finish things up from the house.
Why "most of my attention?" Spent the day swapping emails and phone calls with Sharon and Cari on various tech issues. CRAZY DAY! Despite it all, I am very glad to be employed! Oh yeah, and Verizon's area-wide blackout didn't help. Haha!
I helped Sharon at Blevins with various Tech Plan questions, E-Rate questions, and a few other technical issues.
I helped Cari with Exchange issues - her server ran out of drive space, so we freed up space and remounted the Exchange Store. We also worked thorough some Active Directory problems as well. We also covered E-Rate bids, RFP's, and other technical issues.
Verizon had a major network issue with their wireless network in our area this morning, so I spent some time on the phone with their support folks.
I am working on the Co-op's Tech Plan and the State Tech Coordinator Grant Proposal as well.
So, what'd YOU do today?!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
January 16-20, 2012
Monday - CLOSED
Tuesday - AM - Office (Meetings), PM - Bradley
Wednesday - Office (Meetings)
Thursday - Office (TIE projects)
Thursday - Office (TIE projects)
Friday - AM - Office (Conv w/ Debbie Coffman), PM - Moodle (Facilitator Training)
Tuesday - Meet with USAble, TIE Meeting, then Bradley in the afternoon
Wednesday - Work on TIE Projects, E-Rate, etc in AM then travel inservice at 3pm
Thursday - Work on TIE projects, then other projects as time allows
Friday - 9-12 Conversations with Debbie Coffman, then Facilitator Training (Moodle Course) and other projects in afternoon
Monday, January 9, 2012
January 9-13, 2011
Monday - Office
Tuesday - State Tech Meeting
Wednesday - Office/Open
Thursday - Office/Open
Friday - Office
Monday: I spent the morning working on several projects. First, I helped get our bookkepper's office back in order after the floor waxing over the weekend. Yes, I did that last Monday, too. Only this time, we had a different set of rooms to set back to rights because the floor guy didn't realize his key would open all the doors. I started working on our Moodle server to add content (create a course). During that, my Director came in and wanted help with her iPad2 - FaceTime, accounts, etc.
I went back to Moodle to finish creating the course I am working on. We are moving the TIE program modules from word/pdf handouts to a mixed-mode enviroment for in-class/asynchronous professional development. Basically, the courses are taught in a classroom setting and we use Moodle for content delivery and online discussion during the course. The State requires 6 hours of "seat time" for professional development, so this is a way to get the physical requirement taken care of while letting the participants have the freedom to complete many of the tasks at their own pace. During the course of the day (most are 1-day sessions), the facilitator brings the group back together for in-class discussion. This is the first time we are trying this arrangment, and I'm anxious to see how it all plays out this summer.
While working on the Moodle course (we will have dozens uploaded/modified before a February meeting), I met with our Early childhood coordinator about Apple Volume Licensing. We bought some vouchers, and now just have to wait for them to be delivered before we can redeem them. Seriously!? In today's age of full-on electrnic purchasing, why on earth does Apple may you buy phyiscal vouchers to redeem!? Ugh.
After that was done, I returned to the Moodle module. One area of concern raised up as forums and discussions. As it turns out, "Guest Access" is not available for those sections. There are two solutions: 1) Require each user to sign up for access, or 2) do not hold online discussions and make them in-class only. We're not sure which route we're taking yet. The whole state has several statewide Moodle-based rollouts, and requiring participants to register on each of the Moodle servers is a bit much, in my opinion.
Oh, I forgot, I also worked on a user's Google Calendar. The events would show up on her phone, iPad, etc, but not in the online calendar. The problem? It was hidden online. In "My Calendars," the user has de-selected the default calendar. I reselected the box, and everything showed up. Awesome!
Now, lunch break and the rest of the afternoon (for Monday)!
While working on modules for Moodle, I encountered a few .pages files that were created on a Mac. I am using a PC and my MacBook doesn't have Pages on it, so I was a bit stumped as to what to do (short of asking the author to export them as PDF). Instead, here is a solution: change the extension to .ZIP and open the files with Winzip or whatever. Inside there, you will find a folder called "QuickLook." Inside Quicklook, you will find a PDF of the .pages document! Bingo! Copy and paste the content, and you should be good to go.
Tuesday - State Tech Meeting
Wednesday - Office/Open
Thursday - Office/Open
Friday - Office
Monday: I spent the morning working on several projects. First, I helped get our bookkepper's office back in order after the floor waxing over the weekend. Yes, I did that last Monday, too. Only this time, we had a different set of rooms to set back to rights because the floor guy didn't realize his key would open all the doors. I started working on our Moodle server to add content (create a course). During that, my Director came in and wanted help with her iPad2 - FaceTime, accounts, etc.
I went back to Moodle to finish creating the course I am working on. We are moving the TIE program modules from word/pdf handouts to a mixed-mode enviroment for in-class/asynchronous professional development. Basically, the courses are taught in a classroom setting and we use Moodle for content delivery and online discussion during the course. The State requires 6 hours of "seat time" for professional development, so this is a way to get the physical requirement taken care of while letting the participants have the freedom to complete many of the tasks at their own pace. During the course of the day (most are 1-day sessions), the facilitator brings the group back together for in-class discussion. This is the first time we are trying this arrangment, and I'm anxious to see how it all plays out this summer.
While working on the Moodle course (we will have dozens uploaded/modified before a February meeting), I met with our Early childhood coordinator about Apple Volume Licensing. We bought some vouchers, and now just have to wait for them to be delivered before we can redeem them. Seriously!? In today's age of full-on electrnic purchasing, why on earth does Apple may you buy phyiscal vouchers to redeem!? Ugh.
After that was done, I returned to the Moodle module. One area of concern raised up as forums and discussions. As it turns out, "Guest Access" is not available for those sections. There are two solutions: 1) Require each user to sign up for access, or 2) do not hold online discussions and make them in-class only. We're not sure which route we're taking yet. The whole state has several statewide Moodle-based rollouts, and requiring participants to register on each of the Moodle servers is a bit much, in my opinion.
Oh, I forgot, I also worked on a user's Google Calendar. The events would show up on her phone, iPad, etc, but not in the online calendar. The problem? It was hidden online. In "My Calendars," the user has de-selected the default calendar. I reselected the box, and everything showed up. Awesome!
Now, lunch break and the rest of the afternoon (for Monday)!
While working on modules for Moodle, I encountered a few .pages files that were created on a Mac. I am using a PC and my MacBook doesn't have Pages on it, so I was a bit stumped as to what to do (short of asking the author to export them as PDF). Instead, here is a solution: change the extension to .ZIP and open the files with Winzip or whatever. Inside there, you will find a folder called "QuickLook." Inside Quicklook, you will find a PDF of the .pages document! Bingo! Copy and paste the content, and you should be good to go.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
January 5th, 2012
Spending much of the day working on email and phone support. Also working on the grant evaluation for my position. I am presently reworking a TIE module as well. Met with the Director regarding a weird heating/hvac issue and regarding a new pricing plan for our cellular phones. Did some troubleshooting regarding the fax machine in the main office, and helped with various small tech 'fires' in general - iTunes, burning video to DVD.
The 2nd half of the day still awaits!
I had a user with a file that had a WPD extension. Normally, this would be a WordPerfect file that could easily be opened in Microsoft Office or Open Office or a myriad of other programs. Nothing worked. Instead, all we got was jibberish. I even tried zamzar.com to convert it to Word, and that produced garbage.
After searching the net, I found a program called "Wintext!" Wintext will take ANY file and extract any viable text from it. With that program, I was able to pull out the text the user needed.
The file can be had from here:
http://www.softoxi.com/download-wintext.html
The 2nd half of the day still awaits!
I had a user with a file that had a WPD extension. Normally, this would be a WordPerfect file that could easily be opened in Microsoft Office or Open Office or a myriad of other programs. Nothing worked. Instead, all we got was jibberish. I even tried zamzar.com to convert it to Word, and that produced garbage.
After searching the net, I found a program called "Wintext!" Wintext will take ANY file and extract any viable text from it. With that program, I was able to pull out the text the user needed.
The file can be had from here:
http://www.softoxi.com/download-wintext.html
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Moodle Monday
Phoebe asked me to generate a list of TIE modules with their authors/editors as we move into a new phase for the TIE program. The modules will be retooled for a hybrid environment using the Moodle CMS program.
Last Friday, I installed Moodle on a server we have and then I spent time on Monday working out kinks. The main one being mail delivery (or the lack thereof). I installed Moodle on a Windows server. The included mail subsystems with Moodle would not play nice with our Google Apps account. So, I finally managed to get that working after quite a bot of tinkering with ini files and php configs. I do need to make a couple of tweaks for security, but that should be a simple doing compared to the hoops I had to jump through in order to get mail working.
I suppose there are more effective ways to get mail delivery working, but my way works and I could not find a comprehensive solution online. I wrote up my solution and posted it to our locally held techblog: techblog.k12.ar.us
I also made a tech support visit to the early childhood program in Hope. Not sure what was going on, but they had intermittent Internet connectivity issues. Possibly weather related.
Tuesday, I have a presentation project to finish for Phoebe. I also have a phone call with George Lieux scheduled for the morning regarding the new direction of TIE, and possibly a call with Harry Dickens and Kevin Honeycutt regarding the upcoming AESA conference.
The offices are closed Wed-Fri for Thanksgiving.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Recapping... 10/19-10/26 and 10/31-11/13
In addition to daily duties, these are the highlights of days gone by:
*Note: At various times during this period, I was out sick. I have emails confirming this, as well as emails detailing some tasks not specifically outlined here. i will happily share any of that information with personnel in authority as needed/requested.
10/19 - Participated in the Prescott Schools Technology Committee Meeting.
10/24 - Worked with Blevins to get printers working at the district. Turned out to be an issue with wireless access points handing out "bad" addresses on the network. Resolved all but one a/p issue, but that a/p could not actually be physically located. Resolved issue in software, rebooted workstations. Set up reservations in dhcp. Then traveled to Fouke to work on various Server 2008 issues, tech plan items, and other issues.
10/31 - out sick
11/02 - Went to Txk ECH to work on laptop. Ended up bringing laptop back for complete factory restore.
11/03 - Lewisville ECH and Bradley Schools - Went to Lewisville to troubleshoot computer problems. Resolved settings in Adobe in order to make SEAS work via web browser. Also installed/set-up SmartBoard. From there, went to Bradley in order to resolve connectivity issues. Like Blevins (above), we found wireless access points handing out "bad" ip addresses. Evidently, a power surge over the previous night had reset the access points to hand out ip addresses. in one case, we resolved an ongoing issue (thought it had been an infected machine, but turned out to be an access point handing out ips). We also looked at other server issues, worked on e-rate (specifically BEAR form info), and took care of local work orders.
11/04 - Returned the Txk ECH laptop to the classroom, reinstalled the printer and tested everything. Looks great.
11/08 - Talked with Paul Glen, CEO of LeadingGeeks regarding communication differences between "techies" and "non-techies" for a book he is writing with a partner. The interview/conversation lasted about an hour. I also evaluated Xirrus and AeroHive for enterprise wireless solutions in our main building. Evaluated a couple quotes for Crestron installation of a control panel system for our conference rooms.
11/09 - Met with Lindy and Phoebe regarding several tech issues and topics. Ultimately decided to table the Crestron/automation project and move forward with AeroHive.
11/10 - Monthly Board meeting. Presented "app of the month." Covered FlipBoard and "This Day in History."
11/11 - Met with Lindy, Phoebe and Trish regarding TIE schedules and meeting agendas. Installed CWT on iPad and iPod for workshop. Worked on Operations Guides for various presentation rooms at co-op. Ordered parts to help clean up the wiring in the main conference center.
*Note: At various times during this period, I was out sick. I have emails confirming this, as well as emails detailing some tasks not specifically outlined here. i will happily share any of that information with personnel in authority as needed/requested.
10/19 - Participated in the Prescott Schools Technology Committee Meeting.
10/24 - Worked with Blevins to get printers working at the district. Turned out to be an issue with wireless access points handing out "bad" addresses on the network. Resolved all but one a/p issue, but that a/p could not actually be physically located. Resolved issue in software, rebooted workstations. Set up reservations in dhcp. Then traveled to Fouke to work on various Server 2008 issues, tech plan items, and other issues.
10/31 - out sick
11/02 - Went to Txk ECH to work on laptop. Ended up bringing laptop back for complete factory restore.
11/03 - Lewisville ECH and Bradley Schools - Went to Lewisville to troubleshoot computer problems. Resolved settings in Adobe in order to make SEAS work via web browser. Also installed/set-up SmartBoard. From there, went to Bradley in order to resolve connectivity issues. Like Blevins (above), we found wireless access points handing out "bad" ip addresses. Evidently, a power surge over the previous night had reset the access points to hand out ip addresses. in one case, we resolved an ongoing issue (thought it had been an infected machine, but turned out to be an access point handing out ips). We also looked at other server issues, worked on e-rate (specifically BEAR form info), and took care of local work orders.
11/04 - Returned the Txk ECH laptop to the classroom, reinstalled the printer and tested everything. Looks great.
11/08 - Talked with Paul Glen, CEO of LeadingGeeks regarding communication differences between "techies" and "non-techies" for a book he is writing with a partner. The interview/conversation lasted about an hour. I also evaluated Xirrus and AeroHive for enterprise wireless solutions in our main building. Evaluated a couple quotes for Crestron installation of a control panel system for our conference rooms.
11/09 - Met with Lindy and Phoebe regarding several tech issues and topics. Ultimately decided to table the Crestron/automation project and move forward with AeroHive.
11/10 - Monthly Board meeting. Presented "app of the month." Covered FlipBoard and "This Day in History."
11/11 - Met with Lindy, Phoebe and Trish regarding TIE schedules and meeting agendas. Installed CWT on iPad and iPod for workshop. Worked on Operations Guides for various presentation rooms at co-op. Ordered parts to help clean up the wiring in the main conference center.
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