But in reality, if you are a Techie in an Educational Institution you responsibility is to assist your Teachers to use the Technology to teach with. Yes we need to protect our networks, but what is the point of having them if they are not usable by the end users.

When working in a school, the stake-holders, the people we need to care most about, are the students. This therefore includes supporting the Teachers in their role. It’s as simple as that. And yes, I go in to bat with our Director of ICT Services, on behalf of our K-12 ICT Learning Coordinator when she needs something done. Unfortunately, we don’t always win, and that is sad considering all I’ve talked of previously.

TFTs last blog post..Middle School Technology

No papers to fill out?

No justifications as to whether it’s educationally sound?

No business cases to prepare?

No red tape?

Your IT department does rock!

Scott Eliass last blog post..Sabbatical

Exactly!!! That’s why we have the structure we currently have in Prairie South… an expert from the curriculum/education side in Dean (others are VERY innovative as well, but Dean is a leader in this area… not only in our division but in North America and beyond!!! Boy his head is going to swell LOL) and experts in th IT Department. The trick is working together and not against each other… being open and honest enough so that the entire organization benefits. I find it hard to beleive that your IT Department can even question educators on tghe value of software hardware??!!?? There are no endless budgets either, but I wouold assume any project/innitiative would have to go through an approval process/sign-off by someone in senior administration. I also assume that the process would include consultation with the IT Department (and perhaps other stakeholders) to get feedback/input as far as TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and/or a cost/benefit analysis on costs, tech support required, etc. Anyways, great thread here everyone!!

I am also looking to use Skype and Ustream for some group meetings possibly. We will have to see if that works out.

Dave Birchers last blog post..1

First of all I would like to echo many of the comments already made here by saying that building relationships and “bridges” are the way successful/innovative organizations (whether education, buisness, whatever) work day-in and day-out. I am the I.T. Manager that is lucky enough (I actually like to think that I have an eye for talented I.T. staff… my motto… “Hire Well!”) to have the kind of staff I do and to be involved with people like Dean on a daily basis. Leadership starts at the top and I have to give credit to our Board and senior administration that empower and support people like Dean, myself and the entire organization. I am NOT an educator (although my first year of university was in education) and after 26 years in the IT industry (health sector, government Crown Corporation and private sectors) consider myself to be an I.T. professional. I am also VERY frotunate (although at times I question this thought LOL) to have a wife that is a long time educator and whom now works as a consultant in our division to “ground” some of my thoughts when it comes to technology in education. I also agree with my Network Analyst, the infamous “stinndler” (aka Ryan Stinn) when he says that the IT Department should be run by IT professionals who have skill-sets that most educators simply don’t have. Please DON’T take this as a slight… my entire staff has huge respect for the work and challengesthat our education and curriculum support staff face on a daily basis… ever changing curriculum, diverse student needs, ever reducing funding, etc. trust me when I say that we know we could NOT do your job… we simply don’t have the education background or skill-sets that educators do. To have the technical education/skill set AND also an educational background would of couse, be ideal. I’ve posted my thoughts on some of Dean’s blogs before so to some of you this may sound like a broken record. There is more than one side to technology in education. There is the education/curriculum side which is our primary function as an organization and is what we get paid for, but there are also the business and government/legal (local, provincial/state and federal) sides that we cannot ignore. Here is a simple example I’ve used before to hopefully make my point:
A teacher asks for a port/site to be opened for educational purposes. The port/site is a known security risk and this is communicated to the teacher. The teacher insists an eventually the port/site is opened up. A student within the school brings in a music CD that they want to use in a PowerPoint presentation. Unknown to the student, the CD contains a day-zero network virus which is undetectable by the virus software on the local system(s). The virus takes out a law firms network (could be a DOS/DDOS attack, whatever) for a period of time. Upon investigation the ISP and local athourities discover the attack came from within the school. The law firm launches a law suit nameing the school division, the school division Director, the school, the schools principal, the teacher, the IT staff (or whoever) that opened the port/site, the student and the student’s parents/legal guardian as defendents… basically the “shotgun” effect… sue everyone thus ensuring maximum return on the suit. This scenario HAS happened… who is ultimatley responsible? There are other scenarios that could occur if professional IT staff didn’t do their due-dillegaence in protecting their networks and associated systems. Anyways, it still comes back to respecting areas of expertise and the personal associated with those areas. I will admit however, that IT professionals have a well earned reputation (this is a bit of a generalization of course) for being a tad aloof and controlling when it comes to “their territory”. That does NOT work in an educational environment. If you have those people… they may need to be reminded who their primary clients are

Mark Carlss last blog post..Two days of Tech Connect & interesting post from Will Richardson

Thanks for spreading the word

Chris

Chris Harbecks last blog post..The Unprojects are coming

Amy Bowllans last blog post..1

That’s partly my point, we need more stories of effective and positive environments. They need to be told. Craig, I think having been a teacher obviously is huge. Many/Most districts have IT managers/directors that have little or no educational background.

Our IT manager does not have an educational background. Fortunately he’s married to a teacher and has better insights into the educational aspects of technology. In addition, he’s very much a team player as is all or most of our central office which is a culture we’ve been very deliberate in developing.

Please take the time to read my blog post about how we work with teachers -
http://stream.minot.k12.nd.us/blog/craig/?p=7

Craig Nansens last blog post..1

This is a case where a solution was found that works for everyone, and it’s exactly the same solution that we use in our district. But unfortunately, there are lots of situations where there isn’t a way to enable access to the technology while still protecting the network and its users.

Keeping communication open, maintaining respect for the perspective of the other side, and recognizing that there isn’t always an easy solution go a long way toward improving the relationship.

And yes, Sharon, food helps too
John Schinkers last blog post..1