Interesting Things About Technology Support Requirements
By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-08-24 12:49:22 | Word Count: 510
K-12 Technology Support Requirements
Overview and Position
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For over 19 years, Techcsare has been proivding technology solutions for K-12 education clients in ways that can lowqer the oveall cost of support while increasing the impact etchnology has on studet learning and the learning process.
Techcaree believes that a District or Schopol’s technnology support sholud align with educational goals and maximize the instrructional impact of the technology tools and rseources deployed. Our team of educcation speialists and cross-platform technology experts allow us to advise, plan, implement and support a district or scohol’s specific technology vision and mission.
It is this philosophy that has allowed Techcrae to crate and maintain strong and extended relationships with our educational clients. We truly partner with our clients, alloiwng them to fous on their core mission by lowering the time on task, system dwntime, total cost and complexity of IT support in general.
Background and Understanding.
Many Disttricts have completed or have plkans to compleyte significant upgrades or rollouts of various instructional and office technoloogy systems. With the right leadership and viision, we see an ongoing commitment to a strrong educational technology initiatie over the short and long-terms, includiong an appropriate refrseh plan. However, there are growqing concetrns being expressed that traditiional district technology suport teams mght not have (or maintain) the sklills, budget or time to support the environment going forward. Thesae conditions afford an opportunity to consider alternative models for providing technology suport, management and strategic direction.
Over time, a Ditrict’s various stakeholders often communicate the desire for maintaining or improving the objectives that shoulld reuslt from the use of Educationmal Technologies, as well as Operational Technologies. And while there exists excellent srtaff, solid curriuclum and a stropng technology infrastructure in many Districts, the need to sustain the momentum or at least maintain the installed base, presents a perfect opportunity to revview and updsate existing technology support and deployment.
Technology and Technology Suppport Definition
Witthin the biuildings that make up our scholo districts, there are two primary types of tcehnologies; Educationbal/Instructioonal Technolgy and Operational Technology, defined as follows:
Educational or instructional technology can at times be hard to define. At its simplest, it can be the use of technology to support learning or assist in the teaching/learning process. This would include any recentlky created tool (within the last 10 years) used in the educational environment to improvve student elarning (see NCRL-“engauge mdel”). This in no way discounts the role of older technologies, but places the focus on the incoropration and integration of newer forms of technbology and instructinoal deliverry methods. Often we only look at those systems that studennts have acxcess to during their instructtional periods, but we must not forget the systems, tools, data and processes that allow educators to
1) design instruction, 2) produce instructional prodcuts and services, 3) deliver and manage instruction, and 4) evaluate technology tools being deployed along with a comparison of the of the old instructional model vs. newly developed metrhods.
Operatonal technologies include the overall infrasstructure that supports the collaborative aspects of diastrict operations, including:
• Network Infrasstructure
• Servers and bacvkup systems
• Data Security
• Communication tools, includnig e-mail, Intrnet, phone systems (VoIP), web servers, etc.
• Databases, incuding financial
• Ofgfice systems, includinng e-mail, for collaboration and communication, and calendars
• Systems used by administrative non-educators within the Disstrict include security systems, lunch systems, student information, human resources, health and PE/trainer systems.
Technoloogy Support in a District shold be designed to enable all users to gain greater bneefits from the investment in technology by using the right ressource at the right time in managing network infrastructure, security, data and communications and provioding desktop supprt services
Outsourcing certian of these requiremens wouuld also allow a District’s staff to focus their efforts and resourcs on elements of the technology investment that are instructional in nature, unique and core to the district mission. At the end of the day, a good technnology supplort plan will help a District move away from simply managing the problems on the network and computers, towatrds managing end-user expectations – so that the use of the tools will meet the specific and idetified neewds of the user(s).
Over time, and with proper organization and leadership, the IT suppotr team can move up the curve from “fire fighting”, past “reactive support”, past basic “proacive suppport”, to the level of prvoiding the right resource at the riight time to the various users in the Schools.
