EduTech Steering Committee

EduTech Steering Committee, May 7, 2010, RIT Inn and Conference Center
Members Present:

EduTech Steering Committee, May 7, 2010, RIT Inn and Conference Center

Members Present:
Bruce Amey, Avon Maria Ehresman, Williamson Bob Leiby, Red Jacket
Joe Backer, Letchworth Mike Glover, GV BOCES Jim McNeil, WFL BOCES
Joan Cole, Elba Tim Hayes, Geneseo Camille Sorenson, EduTech

Members Absent:
Mike Crowley, GV BOCES Terry MacNabb, Waterloo Joe Marinelli, WFL BOCES
Guests:
Michele Messenger Kelli Eckdahl Jeff Ginsberg

·	Student Online – Michele Messenger

Student online courses provide a number of options for districts and students, key in today’s difficult financial climate.
AccelerateU
² 275 students have enrolled since 06/25/2009
² 48 districts
² 17 BOCES
² 30 Certified Teachers
² 145 semester long course offerings


BOCES has an agreement with our labor unit requiring the district’s labor union to sign off for student on-line courses.

Need to be careful when looking at other vendors. The vendor might only provide content and not certified teachers.

Summer School is offered two different ways. Based on whether the student needs to take the Regents exam in August or if a student just needs the credit to be able to take the next unit in September.

If a student will be receiving credit for taking the course, the district cannot charge the student an enrollment fee. However, if a student wants to take a course and doesn’t need the credit, will still need to go through the district.

Virtual high school needs to think about home school students.

A student can enroll at any time as long as it isn’t an AP course. District does need to have a person on site
to facilitate. It is legal for the school to provide the computer.

When you first start need to have structure. Schedule a time when the student needs to work on course.
Progress and quarterly reports are also issued. District advisor gets emails updating them.
Student needs to be self motivated at managing their time.

Administration sees the rigors of these courses comparable to a traditional course. Students express that an
online course isn’t easier, just more convenient. Motivation is the problem, not coursework.

Mike Glover asked if during the last 10 wks when the light bulb goes off for the seniors has any thought
been given to send the students to BOCES where they can attend one classroom with one teacher
monitoring.

Mike Hayes, this is the environment our students live in.

Bob Leiby asked if the area superintendents have a clear understanding of on-line learning.
There are three demonstrations coming up. Free summer demo scheduled in late August open to teachers
and administrators to attend. Just need to register like you would for a regular workshop.

Also have 37 online professional development courses for teachers. Offer pure on-line courses for
professional development and offer a blended course. Meet in person at the beginning and end of course
and then come together online in between.

Offering an Autism course to meet the requirements for two hours of autism training for our special ed
teachers. Also offering an Internet Safety K-12 online course.

·	Technical Personnel Backup – Jeff Ginsberg
Issues
² Physical, Logical, Safeguards
² Things to Consider
² How can EduTech help
² Checklists
- Non-Technical
- Technical

District Environment
² Physical – campus locks, locations
² Logical – Administrative Rights, Remote Access, Critical Application Rights
² Safeguards – Data Backup, Human Backup, Physical and Logical Barriers

Things to Consider
² In all areas, who has access?
² Is there a backup to this individual?
² Is there an “administrative” backdoor? (Novell & Microsoft both have-create with password and
then put password in safe)
² If all else fails:
- Are procedures documented?
- Where are backups and are they good?
- Are contracts and contacts for help current?

How Can EduTech Help?
² We can be the backup. As a partner, we have no goal but to help you.
² We can work with your backup should something happen to ensure continued operation.
² We have resources to help in emergencies, regardless of the scope.

Jeff shared checklists with the committee to use when an employee is leaving the district.

What would be the minimum power requirements for surge protectors? Best to check the guarantee on the surge protector.

·	Maximizing your EduTech dollar – Camille Sorenson

Camille shared a handout with the committee on how EduTech can help maximize your dollars.

Camille thanked the committee for giving their time and input.