- Take a look at this PowerPoint on Critical Management Issues - please alert me if you are unable to view PowerPoint.
- Of the issues listed in the PowerPoint and from readings (as well as any you feel are important), what do you
- consider to be the top three in your school/district
- how would you address them.
- Security - An issue within our district is staff logging on to their computer stations and then walking away from them and leaving them unlocked. One reason they may do this is because they do not know how to lock them. To help remedy this probelm we would use staff meeting time to visit the computer lab and teach the staff how to lock and unlock their computers. At this time we would also introduce our "Computer Czar" who would randomly visit unoccupied classrooms to check to see if computer stations are locked.
- Email - Filtering, spam, inappropriate use of email, using a child's name within an email, not clearing out email, leaving email open throughout the day, etc...Again, an inservice-possibly multiple inservices-would be a way to train staff in email etiquette and use.
- Software - Many of us have no idea what is available. Creating an organized inventory of programs/software available on the network or within the school would be the first step in helping to alleviate this problem. Offering small one-hour inservice training on available programs would help teachers to feel more confident in using and integrating these programs into their classroom and curriculum.
Carl, Rob, Bob, Kim, Lisa (3 Horseman+2)
THUNDER (Jamie Beckman, Jim Nelson, Paul Pulvermacher, and our newest online celebrity Dan Simonson)
- Copyright - Whether or not sources are cited correctly, using music wtihout permission (10% rule). We believe that a lot of teachers are not aware of the rules / laws. Solution: We would have a specific in-service regarding these issues / policies. We would encourage the use of royalty free images, music and video. We would provide resources for teachers to online.
- Email is a huge concern for all our districts. Now that email is being held for 7 years on average, we as public employees have to be smart and protect ourselves and our students. Think about this, the emails we are writing right today will not be destroyed until 2014! We, (Thunder), can't remember conversations we had yesterday let alone 7 years from now. Solution: We would address this to staff via email, reminding them to NOT use student names in email, especially concerning behavior issues. Emails need to be completely professional.
- Acceptable Use - as stated above, email is a big concern. Not only is this an issue regarding students, but teachers need to use email for educational purposes only. This past week in one of our districts, teachers were emailing back and forth about after school activities. A single invitation may be acceptable, but this invitation was sent district-wide. Secondly, teachers hit the "respond all" button and sent even more emails to all district employees. Besides social events, teachers need to avoid selling personal property / side business deals via school email. Acceptable use of the internet is an issue as well, however because of web content blocking software, this isn't as big of an issue anymore. Staff members should use the internet for school use only however. Solution: This information can be done at staff meting and department meetings. Reminders may be done via email as well.
When considering the three concerns of the district our team decided to break this up a bit so all of our environments are represented.
When reflecting on the face to face environment in Waukesha, Angie noted the key technology problem facing the district was the implementation and use of administrative software. A primary concern of the implementation process is the implementation timeline. Because staff is not adequately trained before the software goes live, both inputers of data, and those who need to access the data, struggle.
In Peg’s district of Mukwonago the key problem is also administrative software. In a very short frame of time the district has switched grading software three times, leaving all involved confused and lacking a feeling of mastery.
Anna noted one of the primary technical problems facing the online school in Waukesha is filtering issues. The district issues each student a computer. The challenges facing the school are to provide students enough access to successfully complete their work, but not so much access that their school computer is a source of distraction rather than a tool for learning.
These issues should be addressed. In the case of administrative software, careful planning and realistic implementation timelines that value the learning process of the users could resolve many of the problems. Filtering problems would be a bit more challenging. We do not want to disable the computer’s capabilities, but we do want students to focus on schoolwork rather than Iming, Garage Band and the like. Having the staff explore stronger filtering options that could be administrated remotely.
APA- Angela Jurisch, Anna Lardinois, Peg Meddaugh
Critical Management Issues
Amanda Wagner, Rosanda Green, Penn Uribe
Copyright
In terms of technology-related critical management issues, the first concern that our school district encounters is that of copyright. Our school district has a standard copyright policy in which all building administrators are required to “review” with their staff each year. We use the term “review” loosely in that the manner in which this information is distributed varies widely across school buildings.
Some administrators have the school librarian distribute this information in the form of a copyright training inservice whereby faculty members must sign a waiver upon completion of their “training”. In other building, the copyright policy is placed in the “faculty handbook” and teachers are instructed to refer to the handbook for questions or concerns. We provided these two extreme examples to illustrate the inconsistencies of our district in distributing copyright policies in our district.
Even greater inconsistency is demonstrated in how students are instructed in the appropriate use and application of copyright and citation policies! This seems to be more evident at the secondary level. Some secondary language arts teachers do not even require that their students use citations in their research or written work, contributing even greater to the ongoing cycle of copyright offenses. Furthermore, the penalties for students who violate copyright policies are usually not strict. The penalties for these infractions vary from building to building as well as from student to student. As English teachers we have received countless plagiarized papers, and in each case the matter was handled differently by administration.
The solution we propose for this problem is the development of a standardized district handbook (requiring signature upon review) which incorporates the most recent and updated rules for MLA and APA citation. This handbook would be distributed to all students and staff in conjunction with a copyright inservice provided by a selected committee. We acknowledge that there is not a single solution to this widespread issue, but this is certainly a great beginning!
Filtering
The next critical management issue that warrants discussion relates to the significant inadequacies in our district’s filtering system. Unfortunately, it is commonplace for SDW students and staff to receive a bombardment of pop-ups while on the web. Even more frightening is the number of R-rated pop ups that suddenly appear. Obviously our district filters are ineffective. Teachers are constantly bombarded with junk mail from everything to Rolex watches to Viagra- as if we don’t have enough emails to view.
On the other hand, teachers have had to request permission or submit written rationales for accessing certain educational web-based resources (U-Tube) that are subjectively blocked by the district’s technology “royalty” department. In many cases, this is a tedious and time consuming process which most often causes even more segregation and discord between technology personnel and classroom teachers.
Another example of our defective filtering system revolves around legitimate Email accounts. Many times students’ Yahoo and Hotmail email accounts are randomly blocked, preventing them from accessing papers and other documents they have stored.
This has been an ongoing controversy that has made little to no progress over the last several years. Even more complicated is the likelihood of an effective solution. Sadly, filtering is not deemed a priority item in the minds of our current technology department’ furthermore, our solution would require a drastic transformation in our technology staffing configuration. From there, a new and powerful and more effective filtering system would need to be implemented.
Network Functioning
Last, but certainly not least, is the issue of the district’s overall network functioning. While many of the larger schools were reconfigured with their own servers during the technology overhaul phase, there are still too many documented incidents of network and building server crashings. Imagine the state of panic! A standard plan of action or protocol must be implemented so that schools are better prepared to deal with these inevitable situations. This “plan” could be distributed at faculty meetings and/or new staff inservices.
Editorial
Many secondary teachers have proposed that our district provide their students with personal email accounts via the school network, to be used mainly for school purposes. While this would be impossible to regulate, it would be a definite improvement compared to our current state of functioning. Our current network tends to spontaneously delete students’ saved documents from their H-drives causing panic and frustration for students, parents, and teachers.
Christopher See, Brian Yearling, Heather Slosarek
Copyright
One of the primary issues that surfaces with the use of technology is adherence to copyright rules and regulations. Although every school district provides some information on copyright policies, the enforcement of these policies are not consistent throughout the buildings and primarily throughout different content areas in the high school. Similar to the group above, we too see plagiarism on a consistent basis in our English classrooms. While book reports used to be a standard in English curriculum, teachers are now moving away from assigning formal book reports because students' constant use of websites like Sparknotes. While some teachers have become strict enforcers of copyright policies created by the school district, others are completely unaware or choose not to put in the "extra effort" to find whether information has been plagiarized or not cited correctly. This inconsistency runs from a simple use of an uncited picture on a locker sign or hallway poster to an entirely copied essay on the major themes of Hamlet.
How to Address This Issue:
Create a staff development inservice or online video podcast informing teachers of the school's copyright policies, answering any frequently asked questions on acceptable use of music, pictures, and text, providing tips on catching plagiarism (Googling key phrases, etc.), and offering information on various MLA and APA citation guides (Citation Machine, etc.). While a handbook would be handing for reference, the inservice or podcast would be more captivating to an audience.
Filtering
The use of Internet and email filters is often necessary to ensure safe and secure learning environments. The main questions posed to many school districts include: "How much filtering is too much filtering?" and "How can we adapt the filters to let some blocked information in, while blocking some of the information that seeps through the filters?" Not all filters are perfect. While some provide administrators, teachers, and users with the ability to "teach" filters to block certain items, there is always something that gets passed the barriers. Nowadays, creators of vulgar emails or inappropriate websites are getting smart by adding an extra space between letters or purposely eliminating a letter just to slip through Internet and email filters. On the flip side, using a stronger filters often filters some educational material out. For example, one of our school districts has a strong filter that will not allow students to use Google images or access online video podcasts (the school has provided teachers with the ability to bypass the filters using a username and password).
How to Address This Issue:
One way to address the issue of filtering is to survey the staff on their filtering concerns. By assessing the information wanted and the information unwanted, the administrators will be better able to choose a filter that meets the needs of the teachers and students. Additionally, having an appropriate bypass system set up for the teachers can allow teachers the ability to use podcasts on YouTube in a classwide presentation, but still ensures the safety of students by limiting their exposure to inappropriate videos on the Internet.
Acceptable Use Policies
Developing and enforcing acceptable use policies are also extremely important in schools. The acceptable use policy not only provides rules and regulations on technology and Internet use, but also establishes a consistency from building to building and class to class. As the PowerPoint stated, it is respectively important to connect accetable use policies with the disciplinary policies provided in the school. If a student uses technology inappropriately, it should be aligned with the same discipline as a similar non-technology offense. Additionally, teachers and students need to be aware of how they can use the technology provided to them, because not all programs are provided with an open-use policy. Some districts supply email addresses to students, but their acceptable use policy only allows students to use the email for educational purposes. While everyone in the district signs a sheet at the start of their tenure at the school, it wouldn't hurt to remind students and teachers of the policies on a regular basis.
How to Address This Issue:
As stated above, occasional reminders in the form of emails and posted policies for students would provide more constant adherence to the policies. Additionally, it would be beneficial to address policies during a staff meeting or district inservice, allowing administrators to voice their concerns about policies being broken and also providing teachers with the ability to address issues and ask questions about the policies and enforcement of the policies.
Melissa Schuett, Kristin Hubmann, Kristin Haefke, Janet Yunker
The top three issues in our school/district we feel are; filtering, copyright, and acceptable usage policies. Filtering is addressed in several ways in our school district. Many websites are blocked based on context of the website. Also there are proxies students have discovered which allow them to get on websites, which are now being blocked. Student usage should be monitored and inappropriate websites reported so they can be blocked for students.
Copyright is taught in many different ways in a school. Teachers need to model proper copyright policies and use proper citations. They also need to check for plagiarism on students’ papers. Also requiring students to cite resources they have used to obtain their information.
Acceptable usage policies help to enforce what is expected of students while using the computer. Students in our district are required to read and sign before being able to use a district computer. The students’ parents are also required to sign the form.
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