December+minutes

= MTAC minutes December 2, 2010 = MTAC team members felt that the 2 day content specific course was more helpful and informative than the 6 weeks online course. Although taking the course on a Moodle platform was helpful to note how courses are set up in Moodle.

Teachers are ready to create actual units in Moodle with student input. They would like to see how it really works with a class of students. All students are in Moodle now so teachers are encouraged to use it for practice. Getting student access to the computers is the problem now.

The Comet Connections technology unit using Moodle as the platform is now available for teachers to see an example of class lessons using Moodle. (Thanks to Ben Heckethorn!) This will give the faculty an example of what all of the freshmen learned about technology and internet safety.

Tina is creating a Professional Development class in Moodle. More information to follow later.

There will be a course created in Moodle to include all things related to Managing your 1:1 classroom. Time seems to be the missing ingredient in learning how to use Moodle. Time for teachers to incorporate their lessons into a Moodle format. One reason the technology session this summer was so helpful was because it provided time for the teachers to actually work on their classes using the technology knowledge that they had just learned.

There was brainstorming about how best to share information and best practices with other department members. The best method seemed to be sharing within each department. Many options were offered to help people “get on board” the technology train: · Carry a positive attitude about school technology wherever you go   · Schedule an informal floating evening event from 4-8 for faculty participation with technology · MTAC team members would be wearing the t-shirts that night (see below) and provide assistance to other faculty · Invite resistant people to participate · Provide pizza · Provide t-shirts upon completion of the evening o I’m on the bus o I’m under the bus o The Moodle bus is not a short bus

The media lab will be closing after school on Friday December 10th to reopen in January as the Help Desk. A maintenance crew will move tables and computers out and shelving in. The room will be rewired to enable work on @100 laptops simultaneously.

**Facebook** is open because we have an ACS Facebook page to communicate with the community. We have opened it as a trial basis. Students are not to be on Facebook while on the school campus unless directed to that site by a teacher. There will be more information regarding this at our faculty meeting next Tuesday. What are the consequences for **faculty** when they are accessing Facebook in class? What about before school, during class change, after school, during lunch…etc.? What are the consequences for **students** when they are accessing Facebook in class? Can there be uniform consequences for accessing Facebook during class? 1st time warning 2nd time ISS 3rd time Suspension

Laptops are scheduled to be delivered during Christmas break on December 28th. Everyone is invited to help – students, staff, community members, club members, etc. A sign-up schedule will be created and put on the web page. Email Tina Webster to sign up for a 2 hour time slot. Watch the main ACS web page because the delivery may not happen on the 28th – it might be later during the holiday.

Tina has been asked to create a repository of information and directions about various technologies: New FLIP cameras that need a converter for MP4.

Student laptops will have Smart Student software on them. Students will also be able to sync their laptops with the Smart Board which will eliminate the need classroom sets of Senteo’s.

We are purchasing Google Apps which gives the students a more secure email as well as many other options. When the student logs in, they will be logging in to Google. Can we change the teacher email over to this as well? That would allow teachers to search for students while in their own email. Will parents get access to NCWISE? Yes, that is in the works for next year according to Dr. Frost.

Network issues: Harold Blair explained that the 3 radio controllers that control our Xirrus radios reside on central03. Because it has been having trouble, we are having trouble. They had to turn the N network off yesterday so ACSMOBILE was the only one working. Because of Deep Freeze, the system could not process the student logins on ACSMOBILE. He says that once everyone has the same device that speaks to the N network, not the old G network, this will not be a problem any longer. We will also not have Deep Freeze, so N will not have a problem remembering who the students are and logging in will not be a problem.

The student laptops that we have now will be reimaged to look like the new machines so day users will have the same capabilities on their machines. All teachers will receive new laptops just like the students’. The lessons that you have created on the older laptops will be compatible with the new laptops.

At the last count, there was still @200 missing student laptop forms. Parental concerns were about the $50.00 fee for problems. Once they talked with Mr. Fitch, they were reassured and turned the forms in.

Please reassure your department members that we are all in this technology push together and we will make it. Just like we struggled to learn how to use the Smart Boards, we will struggle to learn how to make this work, but we will make it happen.

To enable your computer to only print at the copier when you punch in your code, please see Tina to have your machine thawed and the code entered. Mary Ann Church Lynn Fisher Owen George Jenn Hoover Faith Lowery Chandra Manning Jennifer McInnis John Phillips Larry Rice Carla Shinn Rhonda Washington Tina Webster Cathy Wray
 * Members present **