The Flaming Lunatic

I was working with the  Resource Director for the school in conjunction with a new avenue of computer based testing we have adopted for the Standardized testing. We have moved from the Stanford 10 to using MAP testing which is done several times a year giving you progress measures in time to really help your students make an improvement. One of our students has a pretty serious vision impairment that requires the student either be very close to the printed material or using a highly magnified screen on a computer. The MAP testing on the computer presents a bit of a problem because its layout tends to use small text for reading comprehension portions.

Now the tech part. We have been testing the use of several possible ways to help the student see the material better. In the past year magnification in Windows XP was used and dealt with to do the job. XP did not do the greatest job, but the student was able to complete the testing with added time and move through. Here is where I come in. I figure okay, newer tech should help with this right? I have the resource director try using Windows 7 because it claims better accessibility options for those with such issues. Well, the Windows 7 solution actually did worse on magnification of the screen and made it almost impossible for the student to see anything. In this case we had to go back to Windows XP and begin using a much larger screen to provide additional help to the student. Apple was not even an option in this case because the MAP testing environment apparently does not support the Mac OS.

Okay, rant time. Why would a company release a software in the name of better technology and not have cross platform support? Fussing about the MAP software here. I am in the process of releasing a who new online set of tools for our school and the entire package is so compatable it even works on mac and linux in the opera browser! You can’t get much more different than that. Okay, done with the fussing, but it you are reading this remember the results. The new and improved accessibility tools are not always new and improved as they claim. So in this case I have to place a little blame on the MAP people for not working with Apple, and a lot of blame on Microsoft for the lack of a really good tool set in Windows 7. I know Windows 8 is about out since I have the developer preview in a virtualbox on my laptop. Lets hope for improvement in this area. it is a big problem in the computer world without many good options for those who are visually impaired.

This is a user alert for all who are using Symantec Endpoint Protection for network antivirus. I ran an update today which was version 11.0.7 and suddenly lost all users USB devices. Keyboard, mouse, external drives, touch pad’s, and everything were gone. After a moment of panic I did a search and found a policy in the update that is a new application blocker. It seems it comes enabled by default and blocks all applications attempting to run the USB interface. I had one new workstation that did not have the update and used it to access the server and withdrawal the policy. Once I did that all the devices network wide came back to life. Watch that update if you are facing it soon.

Over the last few weeks I have been working with several different service providers in the evaluation of their online tools for our school. The one important thing I would like to point out is that I did look at tools like Moodle and other free open source systems, but the development time and our time frame for deployment just do not match. In the interest of our short time I had to look at systems with full support. I took time with all the big providers and major players in education only to finally settle on a fairly new player to the market. A system by a company called LearnAHolic who have developed a rival to them all. While the company is small compared to other LMS providers that small company means local service for us here in Singapore, and lower costs. Cost actually about one third the next lowest bid on the much larger providers.

The most important part about this local company and their system is that I am not sacrificing function for a lower cost. In fact I am gaining many tools that are simply not available on the bigger systems without huge changes. I realize this LMS may not work for anyone outside of Singapore, but here its an amazing tool. This company has a real gem that could take them global in a short time, but they want to keep the company small so they can work one on one with their clients.

Next time I will give details of the hardware we have chosen, and the new layout for our server configurations. Just in case any geeks like me want to know.

Today is just an update on the process of our technology plans. This last week I began forming official draft documents from all the masses of notes I have been taking and man do I have a lot to do! Also this week I have arranged for a loaner server to be delivered next week. This will start my process of updating the servers in the school from the older Windows Server 2003 x32bit to a newer Windows 2008 R2 x64 bit. This will be a process over the coming weeks, but I hope to have all seven servers up to date by the new year.

Also we have had a delivery of more demo laptops this week. This time Dell was the delivering company. After looking at them I realized the Dell machines are a generation behind the Acer machines in processors. An interesting thing since Dell seemed to be on the cutting edge of things in the US. Also noted by our schools production and media specialist who is a Mac user, the Dell sales rep was using an Iphone! go figure, no Windows phones on the PC salesman? Hmmmm, something to consider.

Another note is that we are viewing a Demo next week of an LMS system  that is pretty new to the market. I am looking forward to what they say it can do and will do a complete write up on it after the demo.

Finally, this week one of our parents who has a little pull in local business got the attention of Apple computer and it looks like we will finally be getting some attention on that side of the house. We still may go Mac yet? We will see how all this turns out.

The gang here at International Community School in Singapore shared a video with me the other day and I thought I would share it with all of you who follow my blog. This is Dr. Joe Beason who was the long time Director of ICS Singapore two school years ago. Our new Director Chris Herring is just as much fun. So for those of you who work at a stuffy or boring school after seeing this you might want to consider contacting NICS and working with all of us. Have a smile on our staff today.

In a high tech educational environment the use of laptops or mobile devices by the students and staff is only the surface evidence of what has taken place at the school. behind the scenes is a dynamic and likely cloud based set of tools that rival the best fully online schools. In my schools search for that perfect Learning Management System (LMS) I have been looking at almost every system I can think of or find. I have even been introduced to several new ones in the process.

The most common system I have seen in online schools is Blackboard. While this seems to be a good tool from the students point of view, after talking with several on the administrative and IT side Blackboard seems to be expensive and high maintenance which are two major strikes against it. Now in fairness I have not spoken directly to the Blackboard people yet, but that appointment is coming soon.

The second system I looked at was a SharePoint based system that custom developed For the Singapore National Service which is the Army in other countries. This system has an amazing set of tools, developed mobile connection apps, video streaming, wikis and all kinds of other toys. Not all those features work well in SharePoint from what I have discovered from my research so while this system seems nice, it requires further investigation before committing to it.

The third is more of an area that a specific system. I took a look at the open source world with software like Moodle that many US teachers and some schools are using. One of my teachers here is even using a moodle page. Moodle was dismissed as an option for us because of the in-house development time it would take to get a viable option running. We are a smaller school with just over 400 students so we do not have the IT resources to take on such a project. During my investigation a colleague of  mine who happens to work in IT and a US University recommended I take a look at a system called Canvas. Canvas is an amazing system and the company has taken it open source. Again I do not have the time to personally develop a system for our school myself so I sought help from Instructure who makes the Canvas system. At this point they do not support the product outside the United States, but I am dicussing that with them. Canvas is amazing and simple to use. If you are curious about it you can visit the company website and sign up for a free teacher page.

The final system I am looking at was developed by a programmer here in Singapore because of his frustration in using Blackboard. I have an appointment for a system demonstration in the coming weeks and will update on my impression. In the mean time if you wish to know  more about it his company is called Leanaholic and you can visit the website here.

More will come soon on my quest to find the best LMS for this school situation. Please keep in mind my mention of systems on this website do not constitute and endorsement for use of a system or a reason to not use a system. I am seeking the best system for this school in its current situation and this may or may not be similar to what you are facing. Thank for reading.

In the process of preparing for the laptop program at our school I have been evaluating potential laptops as well as LMS solutions. First I will address the laptops.

In looking for a laptop for a school one must consider more than the hardware being offered. Looking for an entire school and looking for yourself are not the same thing. You must consider customer service and support, warranties, and damage or theft insurance. Most of us don’t look at these things for our personal choices. We might consider the service of the company a little bit of an issue if we have trouble with the unit along with the warranty, but not much beyond that. Now consider you are responsible for a laptop for every staff member and student in a school! The companies willingness to support your school, and service provided and warranty become huge issues.  I have many brands of computers on my list to stay away from, but that list was formed while living in the United States. Here in Singapore it seems that list no longer applies. Acer was on the top of my list to stay away from, but here in Singapore they produce decent computers and their service to our school goes way beyond any other computer company I have worked with. On the flip side Apple which was great in the United States is horrible on customer service here. Each time I have  tried to get them involved I feel like I am listening to crickets chirp on the other end. This is a huge problem for Dell here as well.

Next in consideration is the tools students and staff will use to make it worth while to give them computers in the first place. We have many cool things in the classrooms planned like wireless upgrades for the projectors so teachers can move about the room and not have to be tied to cords, just as one thing. The major focus of a one  to one program also needs to consider web based or cloud based tools. We currently use Google docs to some extent, but not to its full potential. We are evaluating several LMS or Learning Management Systems to enhance the new program. The goal is an easy to use system for students and teachers that has huge power. I have been looking at private and open source systems. We looked at SharePoint, Blackboard, Moodle, and now the latest and most promising is something called Canvas. Canvas is impressive and open source. The company that makes the system cannot currently provide service to those outside the US so we will have to host it ourselves if we us it. Normally that would be a problem, but once we can figure out the setup and get our own test version running that may change.

More to come on things like server virtualization, server hardware, how to pay for the program, working with families and the board, and much more.

Last year I built a pilot class with High school students using Visual Studio and XNA game studio from Microsoft. The program was an awesome success, even though I heard lots of grumbling in the start. The students ended up loving the idea of making their own game and being able to upload it to an xbox or the web. This class was build on the curriculum resources available straight from MS themselves. The software can be downloaded free of charge through the DreamSpark program for qualified students and teachers. Additionally the books can be found here on Microsoft’s own site. I encourage you to check it out and even if you are interested in a personal project its a great place to start.

In the process of learning to be a K-12 educator over the last 5 years I have been able to incorporate more and more of my technology expertise in the classroom. Now I have been working with an international school in the development of a laptop program for students in the 8th through 12th grades. During the investigation of what makes a good laptop program work I have discovered some interesting things. In my lack of previous experience on this point the first place I began to explore was the age old question of Mac vs. PC. I son discovered this was the wrong way to approach the topic.

When exploring other laptop or technology programs I found one marked difference in those that succeeded and those that failed. the most obvious difference was the brand of computer. On the surface it appeared Mac was the way to go because the failure rate with PC was much higher. When I began to dig deeper I noticed the difference was not simply the brand of computer but the approach. The real difference was how the schools approached the programs.

The Mac programs approached the change with a focus on change in curriculum, training of educators, and service to the school. The PC programs were far more short sighted and tended to only focus on the hardware or laptop they were using. This difference was that most schools going Mac realized they did not know how to use the hardware and focused on training the teachers to use the new Macs. PC schools failed to recognize their teachers may not know enough to implement technology effectively in the classroom. They use a PC everyday so why train them right?

Schools need to remember the real focus of a successful program is training the users to make effective use. Change in curriculum and delivery methods in the classroom are a fundamental part of such a large change in technology. Computers in classrooms are tools to achieve an end, not the actual solution.

As my school faces for issues on this transition I will continue to post my observations and points for others to watch. I ask for contributions from others on this topic who have faced similar issues.

We had a really great experience on our bus into school this Monday. It was the first day of the week and I had been working all weekend. We were all tired and in general just dragging like many of us do on Monday mornings. We boarded the bus running  little late and a bit stressed about such a short weekend. Sitting there in our seats on the unusually quiet ride suddenly we head whistling. The bus driver was whistling a tune while driving along. The sound of his morning song made us all smile at each other and completely changed our tone for the rest of the day.

I challenge you today to whistle while you work. God can live in that little tune and change the day for someone.