SEMTEC Meeting Notes - October 14, 2011

[Bryan Berg]

9:30 - We welcome new face - XXXX from St. Charles!

 

9:40: Kim Ross - SEMNET Info Presentation.

 - Primary reason for SEMNET organizing in SE MN, which was in 2007, was to give the member schools access to the Minnesota Telecommunication aid package ("Telecommunications Equity Aid"). That Aid helps cover costs left over after eRate refunds. The law behind the Equity Aid program requires schools to be a part of a network "collaborative" in order to be eligible to receive those funds.

- Membership is $750 per year per district, with a portion of that is reimbursable via the Telecommunications funding (generally, smaller schools get more of that fee paid).

- optional fees - such as the Online Learning Collaboration & ITV Collaboration, with fees applied toward purchase credits that can be used for training and support services. Also eRate Consultive services are available.

- Also offer optional offsite backup services. Reduced cost for membership to SEMNET.

- Fees for optional services are also Equity Aid eligible. See Kim for more information.

- SEMNET also oversees the ITV network for the region.

- website: http://sites.google.com/site/semnet2

- contact: Kim Ross. He has an office at SSC. 210 Wood Lake Drive SE, Rochester, MN 55904. Ph: 507-429-6548. Fax: [phone]. email: [e-mail]. Also visit SSC's website: www.ssc.coop

 

 

 

[Bryan Berg]

Change on Kim's email : [e-mail]. The other one above will go to Dale, now!

[Bryan Berg]

Another update on Kim. He doesn't have an office at SSC anymore. The info on that SEMNET website is a little outdated! His office is now at his home!

 

10:00 - Discussions

- MCA Testing Discussion. New Secure Browser for testing beginning in November ; http://mnstateassessments.org

- RSchool calendar and website issues? What is the availabilty of other options? Google Calendar for activities scheduling? SharePoint? Dale mentioned possibility of getting together with rSchool and setting up a meeting. How do contracts with officials get worked out? Red Wing hosts their own servers (with 15% discount), and they expressed that things have worked. Austin mentioned that they used to host rSchools servers, but the customer support was not very good. Red Wing agreed on that. Tiff will be coordinating that.

- State salary survey - through TIES until Nov 1st. Will provide info below if I can get it.

- Moodle use - Parents can get access - Teachers can set keys to give them access so they can see their student's info (authenticated user method). Guest access can also be used, but grades can't be seen using that method.

- 1:1 questions. What has been the reasons for going that direction? Some phobias seen from staff in moving toward more use of online tools? Loren expressed that the goal for Stewartville and Dover-Eyota was to move to cloud computing. Both schools are utilizing GoogleApps, with a vision to include parents eventually with the use of Google Calendar. Big reduction in paper seen in Stewartville for sure. Hard to break some habits, such as traditional worksheet and testing via electronic methods. But that creates frustration for the students....they have more steps for the kids to try and do the old ways with the technology. Teachers need to find different ways to do things to eliminate those frustrations. Teachers do have an upfront amount of work to make those changes. Textbooks are still an issue, especially for home use, and also for some technical issues. Seeing some great things in surprising areas. D-E has a Woodshop teacher that has embraced the idea of online tools for Woodshop using Moodle for organization. He has seen a reduction in behavior problems, and kids are working at their pace and have been more engaged.

*Note from a recent report - Online Credit Recovery online has been shown to have more rigor than the traditional classroom method! But there has also been a report that was somewhat scathing on the MDE's handling of online courses, indicating that it isn't working the way it should be. Teacher and Parent support HAS to be a part of the equation.

 

* Interesting Textbook issues - what direction are publishers going? Not all "online" or digital versions have worked for netbook situations from what D-E has experienced with a Glencoe produced Biology Textbook.

 

* Question: in the end, is there going to be a difference in academic results? Is measurement done in an antiquated way? Do measurements need to change? What about skills? There is actually nothing out there that shows any improvement in acedemic performance...BUT there is results indicating improvement in skills in self-learning, high-level learning skills and becoming a life-long learning. Texas study did a comparison between two groups (free and reduced lunch) one with 1:1 computers. There was an improvement with the kids that had 1:1. Some niche groups do show academic improvement. BUT again, it's hard to truly prove that the computers made the difference. Too many variables complicates what the data could be showing. The feeling is that 1:1 - if done properly (teachers truly change how they deliver curriculum, the admin buys in and support is there from parents) can truly create a way to give the students a way to build the important skills for life.

- Congratulations for Jen Hegna and the Byron Math team - they rcently made a trip to Washington DC to receive their award.

[Jen Hegna]

Great information here and I appreciate the thorough notes!  Some thoughts on Textbooks. I would have your teachers check out the open textbooks from CK12.  They are available on most all devices.  Also - I HIGHLY recommend that teachers review the content on Moodleshare.  Most of the Lessons/Units/Courses modules have been developed by MN teachers. All can be reviewed and downloaded and installed on your moodle servers for free! 

 

Jen

[Bryan Berg]

Thanks, Jen!

Jen Hegna said:

Great information here and I appreciate the thorough notes!  Some thoughts on Textbooks. I would have your teachers check out the open textbooks from CK12.  They are available on most all devices.  Also - I HIGHLY recommend that teachers review the content on Moodleshare.  Most of the Lessons/Units/Courses modules have been developed by MN teachers. All can be reviewed and downloaded and installed on your moodle servers for free! 

 

Jen

[Bryan Berg]

I just realized I didn't get Mike Plass's name in the notes as being our new face from St. Charles! My apologies, Mike!

[Mike Plass]

It's all good man!  I'm glad I came up to the meeting and look forward to attending future meetings.  I'm in discussions now with administration to the district becoming a member.

Thanks for the invite Damon Lueck!  I did not know anything about the area tech coordinators meeting every once in a while and was thinking we should do this and almost started calling around.  So glad to see that effort has already been done.

As I stated, look forward to meeting again.

mp

Bryan Berg said:

I just realized I didn't get Mike Plass's name in the notes as being our new face from St. Charles! My apologies, Mike!

[Bryan Berg]

Thanks, Mike! Glad that Damon got the info and invite to you! We'll look forward to seeing you every six weeks or so for our meetings!

 

And let us know if there's anything you'd like to see at future SEMTEC meetings, or anything that you'd like to share as a presentation at a future meeting as well.

 

Thanks!

[Mike Plass]

Actually, desktop virtualization.  I'm having a colleague of mine out of Iowa put together a proposal for this.  It's something we are considering here at SCPS.  I'd like to see some other desktop virtualization products in action or maybe even some different pitches from people.  I know my colleague would be more than willing to come in to a meeting to make his pitch.  I like what he has showed me so far.

In an old post from 2010, I see there are a few districts that already have Ncomputing and Wyse in action.  I look forward to those discussions and anybody else that has went to desktop virtualization since that time.

Maybe it's something we don't have to worry about and not even put the money in to, as it seems like schools are moving more towards the BYOD and 1:1.  Just all around that topic would be good discussion, in my opinion.

mp

[Bryan Berg]

We shall see what we can come up with! Thanks, Mike!