Tech Update 10_05_08

Teachers,

This Tech Update consist of information on the following topics:

• Technology Intern: Moe M.
• Digital Citizenship: Set the example
• Tech In-Services: Going Digital - Dates 10/10, 1/16 and 2/6
• Internet Connectivity: Bandwidth, Blackboard and Video Downloads
• Spam Email: Expect to have a few daily and delete without opening
• Hardware and Software:Upgrade and additions this year
• Personal Software Use on School owned laptops: Inventory control
• Technology Program Report: Curriculum Committee Report
• What's Happening at other International schools: JOSTI Blog
• Technology Plan Revision: You input welcome.
• Technology Overview: Notes

For more information on these topics visit our Tech Update Blog October entry at http://wbaistechupdate.blogspot.com/ or read below. Please let me know if there is a topic you would like me to address in a future Tech Update.

Technology Intern: We are fortunate to have Moe M. joined the Tech Team as our 2008-09 Technology Intern. Moe comes to us with previous experience in data systems management and looks forward to expanding her experience with hardware, software and multimedia in the educational environment. Moe has taken the lead in managing the check-in and out process in the MS laptop program. You will also find her working with Gintas on some help items, facilitating computer labs and exploring how to assist teachers and students with multimedia projects. Welcome Moe!

Digital Citizenship: As we continue advocating this concept it is important to remember that the best teaching method of Digital citizenship is the example we set as teachers using digital tools. If you did not get a chance to read the series of article the tech team published in the school news letter you can read them on our Tech Talk Blog at http://wbaistech.blogspot.com/

Tech In-Services: Theme - Going Digital, Dates 10/10, 1/16, 2/6 For more information visit our In-service planning page. Information here changes often but you will get our most recent efforts in planning the Technology in- services this year. http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddkhkgjs_425gj6d55fc

Internet Connectivity: Bandwidth adjustments have been made to give us 3 MB of download speed and 1 MB of upload speed based upon status of our current usage. We will continue to monitor our bandwidth use as we explore additional solution to increase our connectivity speed. Blackboard continues to be slow on campus in a multi-user setting. Home use seem to perform as expected. I recommend you avoid planning multi-user use of blackboard on campus at the same time. Teacher projection and a 2 to 4 student connected from the same location at the same time should work fine. I'll have an update on Blackboard connectivity following our regional meeting later this month. Please avoid downloading or streaming videos during school hours. This is know to be a primary cause of network slowdowns. This includes You Tube. If a video is needed as part of your instructional program I suggest you download it to your hard drive in advance and play it from there.

Spam Email: Expect to have a few daily, just delete them. I am looking into the cause for some users email address being spoofed by spammers.

Hardware and Software: High School technology upgrade includes 19 new desktops in the publishing lab, Adobe CS3 Master Collection site license to meet the publishing, media production and graphic/photo editing needs of HS courses for 3 years, 3 new Art Computers and new projectors and Smartboard to be installed soon. Middle School technology upgrade includes laptop program extended to grade 8 students, new projectors and Smartboard installation in progress. Elementary School technology upgrade includes 5 new projectors and 5 Smartboard installation in progress. Class set of student laptops is planned.

Personal Software Use on School owned laptops: Software inventory control is a challenging and important part of the Tech Departments responsibilities. It is important that we are mad aware of any software added to school owned computers. If you have added any non school licensed software to a school owned computer please make sure it is legal and notify the Tech Department of its installment on school computers.

Technology Program Report: Interested in finding out more about the technology program, feel free to read the technology program report that will was presented to the Curriculum Committee on Sept 23. You can find an online version of the report at
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddkhkgjs_424d7dx2qc7

What's Happening at Other International Schools: Check out Kim's JOSTI Blog for notes from this pass summer's Jefferson Oversea Schools Technology Institute. http://jostitime.blogspot.com

Technology Plan Revision: This year we will be revising our technology plan to guide our future integration of technology in all areas of the school. Feel free to contact a Tech Team member if you have some suggestions or would like to be a part of this process.

Technology Overview: Notes from our begining of year technology overview can be found at
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddkhkgjs_420f4pp7cd4

As always Kim, Susie, Fred, Gintas, Moe and myself are ready to provide you with any assistance needed. If your have any questions or topics you would like addressed in future Tech Updates feel free to email me at sroberts.

Keep Computing!

Steve

Your Friendly IT Guy,
Steven Roberts
Technology Coordinator
Walworth Barbour American International School

"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator." by ~Ralph Waldo
Emerson~

Tech Update 8_11_08

Welcome Back Teachers,

Below is a brief Technology update. Please note I have delayed SmartBoard type device purchasing.

High School Computer Lab B: New computers have been install.

MS and HS Lab C: Computers from Lab B have been moved to upgrade lab C.

Smartboard and Similar Devices: Purchase of Smartboads or similar devices have been delayed while I look into concerns with projection glare for the Memio and the possible option of a flat screen alternative to the Smartboard. I apologize for the delay this will cause in receiving and installing the devices in classrooms this year. I just wanted to make sure the devices we get are safe and the most up to date solutions for interactive learning visuals. I have prioritize this on my to do list.

PowerTeacher GradeBooks: while your PowerTeacher login and grade books are available not all schedule changes and student enrollment is complete. Changes may still be made. Please check with your division principal for finalized schedules and class list.

Projectors: Brackets for upstairs classroom projectors are being installed

Network Connectivity: We are closely monitoring network connectivity to assess Internet speed on the two direct lines we moved to at the end of May.

If you have any topics you would like me to cover in future tech updates please let me know. I hope you all have had a great summer.

Keep Computing!

Steve

Your Friendly IT Guy,
Steven Roberts
Technology Coordinator
Walworth Barbour American International School

"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator." by ~Ralph Waldo
Emerson~

Tech Update 5_14_08

Teachers,

This Tech Update consist of information on the following topics:

• Network Slowdown: External Dedicated lines being installed
• Digital Citizenship: Content Filtering
• G-Drive Clean-up: Server folders getting full
• Equipment Care: Please monitor use of equipment and report needed repairs immediately to the tech department so we can get history of the damage
• 1 to 1 laptop program: A Student Centered educational initiative. Learn more about this initiate and the strategies for addressing our growing need for computer access in ES, MS and HS are given.
• Teacher Technology Integration Needs: What would you like us to look into at JOSTI, PowerSchool University and Atlas Curriculum Mapping Education Center this summer.
• AUP: Editing our Appropriate Use Policy. Your suggestions welcome
• Tech Tips: Sites and Tools to check out

For more information on these topics visit our Tech Update Blog May entry at http://wbaistechupdate.blogspot.com/ or read below. Please let me know if there is a topic you would like me to address in a future Tech Update.

Network Slowdown: Once we identified our lack of dedicated lines we began researching the possible effect this was having on our network. While we are not 100% sure dedicated lines will solve our slowdown it is a step to better handle our increase network use. We will also be able to better monitor our Internet traffic. We are now waiting for installers to connect us to the dedicated lines so we can configure the new external IP addresses and begin testing connection speed. This is scheduled to begin on Thursday May 15th. we will see. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Digital Citizenship: Check out our upcoming newsletter article focusing on content filtering. Please remind all users of "Appropriate Use" anytime you have an activity using digital tools. Use the "LARK" acronym and make sure behaviors are Legal, Appropriate, Responsible and Kind. For more details on "LARK" visit this url http://docs.google.com/View?docID=ddkhkgjs_367f2nnr6cv&revision=_latest

G-Drive Cleanup reminder: Our school data server ("G" drive) is getting overloaded. Although student folders are limited to 100 MB and staff folders are limited to 200 MB there is extensive use of G\classes and G\WBAIS. These two folders are getting too full! This is common for this time of year. However we need to do some spring cleaning and make space for current files. Some files are a few year's old. Instructions on how to do so have already been sent out. This may also be a good opportunity for you to do some spring cleaning of your teacher folder also.

Equipment Care: As the end of the year approaches equipment care and security becomes a concern to the technology department. Please make sure you have a current inventory of all your digital tools and that they are in working order. We don't want any surprises of missing or damaged items at the end of the school year.

1 to 1 laptop Project: The 1 to 1 laptop project is becoming a school wide initiative with a focusing on Digital Literacy, Digital Citizenship and enhancing learning opportunities that multimedia and collaborative communication bring about. It is a student centered educational program design to use digital tools in the learning environment while meeting our growing demand for student access to computers. Students are learning to receive, organize, produce, communicate and submit course materials, learning tools and school assignments digitally. If you have any constructive suggestion for this initiative feel free to email them to me. For more details on the 1 to 1 laptop visit the Fequently Asked Question page at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddkhkgjs_360g29p3svr statements on laptops in the high school and elementary school can be found near the end of the document. Also you can view my notes on this laptop initiative at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddkhkgjs_414gfd4hmds This is a work in progress so information may be added and changed.

Teacher Technology Integration Needs: Kim, Susie and I will be attending JOSTI, PowerSchool University and The Curriculum Mapping Learning Center respectively this summer. What would you like us to look into for you. Email us any Technology Integration topics, PowerSchool grade book and report topics and curriculum mapping topics for which you would like information or training.

Appropriate Use Policy: I will be editing our schools AUP to include statements on Cyber bullying, computer use off campus that effects our learning program and the use of handhelds, cell phones, ipods, iTouch and other emerging digital tools at school. As our students continue to explore the growing number of digital tools it is important we address the ways they are use in the educational environment. Feel free to let me know of other hot topics that may need to be address in our AUP revision. My working draft can be viewed at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddkhkgjs_413vvd883g4

Tech Tips: This tip comes from Atomic Learning.

One of the common problems with many computers is unnecessary and unwanted applications and inefficient file storage. With a few simple steps, as shown in the following tutorials, you can create valuable space on your computer.

Uninstalling Unwanted Applications
http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/almovie?key=25015

Using Windows® Disc Cleanup
http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/almovie?key=25016

Keep Computing!

Steve

Your Friendly IT Guy,
Steven Roberts
Technology Coordinator
Walworth Barbour American International School

"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator."
by ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Internet connectivity speed tech update update - Next steps

In this update

• Internet connectivity slowdown Issue - Next Steps
• Use Firefox Broswer for PowerSchool - Reminder

More information below

Internet connectivity slowdown Issue - Next Steps
Just to keep you in the loop, here are our next steps to find a more permanent solution to our Internet speed slowdowns are:

1. Complete the registration on all computers using the WBAIS Network.
2. Run a packet sniffer which is used to analyze network problems once all network devices can be identified.
3. Check and reconfigure (if needed) the topography of lines in and out of the firewall to the DMZ. (DMZ is a separate area on our network designed to allow the outside to view and access Web services we manage locally.)
4. Increasing our bandwidth to accommodate our increase use. Options are now being looked into.

Use Firefox Broswer for PowerSchool
As a follow up to my email on browsers use. One of the problems with trouble shooting our network slowdown is that some slowdowns may not be network related. For example, in my last email on browser use I recommended using Firefox when accessing PowerSchool. I'd like to repeat this as it has been our experience that Firefox loads some PowerSchool pages quicker than other browsers. This is not an issue of slow connectivity. It has to do with the development of the browsers.

As always if you have topics you would like me to address in future updates just let me know.

Keep computing!

Steve

Your Friendly IT Guy,
Steven Roberts
Technology Coordinator
Walworth Barbour American International School

"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator."
by ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Internet Connectivity update 2/14

Just to keep you informed.

Today, primarily during C block, we experienced an inconsistent slowdown increase and slowdown of Internet connectivity speed. Our Network administrator and I checked our download speed and firewall throughout the day. At any given time we have seen between one and two thousand active Internet connections (Browser windows or tabs) on our network. Our download speed changed from over 600 kb to under 100 kb per second. One significant discovery we made while taking a snap shot of our network activity was a user downloading a 1 GB file which I'm sure contributed to our traffic problem. We know it was on WBAIS Guess and have some other information that will help us identify the user once all laptops are register. WBAIS Guest was established to provide Internet connectivity quickly while we continued transitioning our technology after the opening of school. We can now begin to better monitor our network by requiring all users to register with the Technology Department. We plan to disable WBAIS Guest after MUN which will give us the ability to identify all computers connected to our network and remind the user to follow proper protocol as stated in our AUP. While this is not a final solution to this slowdown issue it will be a step in the right direction.

Thank you for your understanding and patience while we continue to work on a lasting solution.

Keep Computing!

Steve

Your Friendly IT Guy,
Steven Roberts
Technology Coordinator
Walworth Barbour American International School

"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator." by ~Ralph Waldo
Emerson~

Tech Update 2/08

Staff,

This Tech Update consist of information on the following topics:

• Internet Connectivity: Update
• Your Help Needed: Monitor Internet connectivity
  
• No Network Connectivity: Not Internet related
  
• BlackBoard: Slowdown Update

More information on these topics visit our Tech Update Blog Dec. 18 entry at http://wbaistechupdate.blogspot.com/ or read below. Please let me know if there is a topic you would like me to address in a future Tech Update.

Internet Connectivity: Last week we work our redundancy connectivity to the Internet. If you logged your Internet activity last week and feel it could be helpful send it to me. We discovered that one line was not functioning properly at all times and the other's speed was below that contracted for. These two issues have been resolved and we have been provided with a way to test download speed to our provider. We try to test the connectivity speed of both lines daily.
I will keep you updated on this connectivity issue until it has been resolved. I believe it is centered around our firewall and outside cable connections. We continue testing different possibilities and need your feedback.

Your Help Needed: To help us with the Internet connectivity issue you can monitor your connectivity this week during high use times. Let us know when the speed seems slow by emailing help@wbais.org with a subject of "slow Internet connectivity." Include in the body of the email the Internet activity you were involved in, number of student users, the location and time. This will all help us determine if it is a traffic issue, campus wide or limited to a specific location and time.

No Network Connectivity: If you experience no connectivity, (cannot connect to G drive) this is not an Internet connectivity issue. It could be a need to adjust your access location profile when you move around campus or go from a wireless connection to a wired connection. This occurs occasional when moving from home to school. Restarting your computer, checking your location profile and checking your Internet cable is firmly connected (lights blinking) can sometime solve this issue.

BlackBoard: We continue to have connectivity issues with Blackboard. Our test today showed that while speed to out provider is OK downloading from Blackboard times out. This indicates the connectivity to Blackboard is a separate issue and we will follow up on it by first contacting our provider to see if there is any assistance they can provide us, determining if it is related to traffic at a specific time of day and informing the project coordinator of this ongoing issue.

Thank you for your assistance.
Keep Computing!

Your Friendly IT Guy,
Steven Roberts
Technology Coordinator
Walworth Barbour American International School

"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator."
by ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

WBAIS Tech - two blogs with 2 purposes

The tech team presently has two blogs online. This one is for you to view and comment on Tech Updates that were sent to the staff. The second one highlights newsletter articles that were published in the monthly newsletter and it is shared with staff, parents and students in the WBAIS community. You can view the "2nd blog" at: http://wbaistech.blogspot.com/

Tech Update 2/2 - Network Slowdown

Dear AIS Staff,

The administration and technology team members recently met to discuss the work we have been doing on our Internet connectivity issue and to review the plans we have in place. I'm sure many of you are reaching our frustration level with this issue so it was felt that we should share with you our work to date and include you in the next steps we will be taking. I'll try to limit the tech jargon ...

Below you will find a description and Internet connectivity history of our new network along with steps we've taken, our next steps and how you can help.<>

Netwwork Description
Our LAN network consists of a variety of active and inactive, old and new equipment. For example, we have integrated active equipment (servers, switches, etc.) from our old network to our new network and we have added a phone system and security system to our network. On our old network, we had contractors and staff who were very familiar with the sensitivity of our network, and we controlled traffic by limiting the access to sites like You Tube and Yahoo Instant Messenger. On our new network, we have contractors with no familiarity with the active equipment we brought with us, and we opened access to high bandwidth sites at the request of teachers. These all result in changes in the use, the traffic and the time it takes to troubleshoot issues on the network, including the slowdown we are currently experiencing. Each item we check and change has to be monitored one to two days to collect data before we can move on to the next item. The process is long but I'm confident we will find a solution. On the up side it's the quickest way to become familiar with the workings of our new LAN and will assist in handling future network issues.

History
We have experienced at lease five different issues involving Internet connectivity this year. Our first was wireless access points at the beginning of the year. This issue could be resolved only by the contractor who could only come on certain Sundays because they needed to take the network down from time to time. Sometime in mid-October we were able to sign the contractor off because all the access points were correctly configured for our user base, and we could then manage them ourselves. Since then access points have been working well with the exception of location profiling on some of our laptops. Our second issue was connectivity to Blackboard. At the NESA conference we discovered that the slow connectivity was experienced by other schools in the region. This indicates that part of the problem is our external Internet speed. We began sharing data about our connectivity and will send a trace of our connectivity jumps. So far, the project coordinator has not resolved the issue entirely. Third, we have experienced a few isolated lapses in Internet connectivity since school opened due to power shutting down, the DNS server not restarting, modems going bad, etc. These issue are common and quickly address because they are the first items we check when we have Internet connectivity issues system wide. Fourth, there was a period of no Internet connectivity during which we spent two days checking our systems only to find out that our provider had reset the configuration to a back-up dated before we were added. So while our systems should have had outside access, our connectivity was denied because we weren't configured in the system. They then corrected this. During the pass few week, our fifth issue with Internet connectivity escalated. We noticed what we thought was a consistent slowdown from around 1-3 pm which we began investigating. These past few days our slow connectivity was compounded by the storms that effected the connectivity of many users in Israel. Please note that PowerSchool and e-mail have really been pretty stable throughout this time. Do not confuse network connectivity issue with the functionality of these programs.

Steps So Far
Here are some of the general steps we've taken to work on our current slowdown:

1. We contacted our Internet service provider and obtained the assistance of our Web Server Administrator, TKOS, to check external connectivity. This checked okay.
2. We notified staff about potential bandwidth wasters, requesting they avoid streaming music and video, chatting, and downloading large files.
3. We called in TKOS to check devices that are common causes of slowdowns: modems, DNS server, firewall, etc. This resulted in a focus on our firewall.
4. We collected data on network traffic, which was very inconsistent, making it difficult to isolate the problem.
5. We began comparing access speed through our LAN to access speed using a direct ASDL connection. We are continuing to monitor the differences.
6. We updated the software on our SonicWall firewall.
7. We have disconnected our redundancy LAN line, which has been an issue in another organization. After two days we will switch cables and monitor the result.
8. We have contacted Bynet the contractor who installed our active equipment, for assistance. Their first two suggestions we had already done: check external connection and firewall.

Next Steps

1. We have downloaded a sniffer and will work with Bynet to identify activity on our network that may be causing the problem if our monitoring of the redundancy and the firewall doesn't show any positive results.
2. We are requiring that all private computers/laptops connecting to our network be registered with us by February 12 for access.
3. We are considering returning to a more controlled filtering process to better control network traffic. Please bear with us if sites like You Tube become temporarily unable to students. We will work at allowing access to these sites on teacher laptops.
4. We will then explore software possibilities like spyware, viruses and network-based applications if we exhaust the possible causes within our hardware.

How you can help?

• Please keep a running log of your and your classes' web activity and speed by block. Let us know at the end of the week, February 8, if you see a pattern in decrease or an increase in speed.
• Remind your students to avoid using potential bandwidth wasters during school hours.
• Remind your students that all computer/laptops, including your own, need to be registered and configured with the tech department to connect to our network. Make sure you know how to connect to AIS-User.

As always I am open for suggestion on this and any technology issue we are experiencing. If you are ever curious as to what is happening in the tech department, feel free to contact me. I am more than happy to share the efforts of this hard-working team and address any curiosities you may have. I will try to send Tech Updates at lease once a month and I invite you to visit our Tech Update Blog to review previous updates and related information: http://wbaistechupdate.blogspot.com

It's not quite ready --I'm still working out viewing preferences -- but it seems an appropriate time to make you aware of it. Please bear with the text running into the margin on some entries.

Keep Computing!

Your Friendly IT Guy,
Steven Roberts Technology Coordinator
Walworth Barbour American International School

"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator."
by ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Tech Inservice January 18, 2008

Notes and Links

Opening Session:

• Tech Integration

Technology integration is no longer an add-on. It is an expected part of the daily educational environment. Teachers of all subjects should plan digital lessons that are developed and used by students as part of their regular learning activities. Keyboarding is an option given to students in place of handwriting to produce artifacts for assessment. Accessing up-to-date information through digital resources is replacing opening books as the classroom standard worldwide.

Atlas Rubicon

(Once you log into Atlas, click on "References" and then "Technology/Library Icons" under "Curriculum Mapping")

• Mobile Computing

Computer labs are disappearing as 1 to 1 digital assistance becomes a required tool of every student. OLPC is not a laptop but an educational program. It's about accessing the most current information and resources anywhere anytime to manage, develop, produce, and evaluate in constructive and problem based learning activities. It applies Blooms Taxonomy in some of the most efficient, organized and motivational way possible.

One Laptop Per Child

• Changing Role of the Tech Team

Computer teachers are becoming integration coaches and unit development resource people for teachers. Librarians are becoming specialised in the use and creation of digital media. One of my roles as Technology Coordinator is to make sure WBAIS is aligned with other American International Schools in its use of digital tools.

Atomic Learning Site

(username and password available through our library webpage )

• Simulation Exercise/Discussion: You've just been informed that the entire school is going paperless. Many laptop schools have done away with printers and copiers, and we are following suit. All students have access to laptops, and connectivity is great. The school has provided all teachers with a laptops for a number of years so the potential use of this digital tool is something you've had plenty of time to explore. What can you do right now to meet the challenges of this paperless environment? What would you like to do in the future to adjust to this change in the learning environment?

Video clips meant to show change and help introduce the simulation:

• Monk opening a book

• Office Show (watch from minute 10:00 to 11:00 ONLY!!)

Small Group Sessions - Notes and Links

Food for Thought from the Tech Team

• Many tools are available for doing work, turning it in and checking it digitally
• How can we find a balance between digital and non-digital work in school?
  
• What is the best way to find the best tool for each task? Is the best tool different for each student?
• Does accepting different modes of work (digital and not) from different students encourage differentiation?
• Is it a student's or teacher's right to decide how work is done and turned in?
• Do we have a responsibility to continue requiring transcribing/handwriting skills K-12?

General notes from group discussion

K-3 Group

More difficult with this age group as they can't keyboard yet but they're good with one finger and small tools like cellphones. They may do well with handhelds and a stylus..also idea of touchscreen.

Which digital tools can we use now to move towards a paperless environment k-3?

• Going Paperless Page
• Rocks and minerals - kids take pictures and create Powerpoint
• Brainpop videos
• Audacity - kids reading their poetry - recording modern language/ELL lessons
• Library week-kids made podcasts
• Clicker
  
• Point and click interactive programs
• Starfall reading program
• Virtual trips to museums

4-8 Group

Concern:

1. What does the student lose when you go to a paperless environment?
2. What skills are lost? Motor coordination?
3. We are now swamped with paper.
4. Wireless holds the potential for students to become more organized.
5. What affect does paperless have on teachers, ex. eyes?
6. Everything in moderation, including computers.
7. Some students/parents "don't get" need for computers at home.

Which digital tools can we use now to move towards a paperless environment 4-8?

• Problem now with security in turning in papers, only the student can see the paper and can not change the grade
  
• What options are there to paper?
  
• SmartBoard: Handouts/research are on the board (not paper) and it becomes interactive -- kids like it.
  
• Uses iGoogle as a homepage and posts documents online. Assignments, to do list, and notebook, etc are all
• Documents with corrections on G drive, not that hard once every student has a computer.shared. It is very "share" friendly. Ability to bookmark resources.

9-12 Group

1. There must be verification to show that students accessed and submitted materials online.
   
2. What about the differences between handwritten and computers in terms of authenticity?
3. How do we replace connection between mind and hand in terms of learning?
4. Is the ability to multi-task worth it?
5. Technological issues: connectivity, language-enabled

Which digital tools can we use now to move towards a paperless environment 9-12?

• Think about "handwriting" on computer-screen tablets.
• Give feedback digitally -- use verbal and visual recording tools to give comments.
• Need to consider classroom management for a room full of laptops.

Topic Ideas for Discussion

• Smart Board use

• iGoogle

• Google docs

• Track changes Word Processing

• Peer editing Blackboard

• Wikis - on Blackboard and elsewhere
  

• Digital Presentations

• Digital Publishing

• Discussion Boards

• tablet Presentation

• Digital Drop Box, Google Groups/Share

• Collaborating

• File Management Docs/email/

• Digital Storage

• File Transfer

• Power Teacher tools

• Mobile Tools

Network Connectivity - your assistance needed

Dear AIS Personnel,

As many of you know we are experiencing network slowdowns during the school day. We have discover by cross referencing some network user data provided by our firewall, DHCP server and IP address data base we can begin to identify high bandwidth locations and the sites they are accessing. It has come to my attention that some users are streaming music and large movie files during the school day. These can eat up band width and contribute to the network slowdowns we are experiencing.

PLEASE AVOID STREAMING MUSIC and MOVIES, VIDEO CHATTING AND DOWNLOADING LARGE FILES during the school day. We need to dedicate our network bandwidth to student academic activity during the school day. Before and after school hours are best used for these activities when needed for academic reasons.

Please pass this message on to maintenance staff, guards and other
extended staff that uses our network but may not be on our email system. Our AUP policy can be viewed at http://www.wbais.org/nonpublic/AUP/AUP.htm

Thank you for your cooperation.

Keep Computing!

Your Friendly IT Guy,
Steven Roberts
Technology Coordinator
Walworth Barbour American International School

"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator." by ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Password security reminder

All Staff,

As we approach the end of the semester I would like to remind you that it is a good idea to change your passwords from time to time as a security measure for system with sensitive data. The known cases of unauthorized access to systems like PowerSchool for "up to no good reasons" has been from "shoulder surfing" the passwords and usernames of teachers, administrators and technicians (looking over your should as you log in) or using a staff members computer that has been left logged in or has the Password and Username set for automatic log in. Passwords are best a combination of letters and numbers and not obvious like your name or the name of a relative or pet.

Keep Computing!
Steve