Re: [info-tech] Batteries
I will repeat what Jeremy said, we go to the vendor or ebay. -- Experts claim that 72% of all statistics are made up on the spot. -- Lance L. Lennon District Technology Director Eagle Grove Community School District 515-448-5143
Re: [info-tech] Venting and question
I tell them to get it approved by the principal, and then tell the principal it's a bad idea. -- Original Message -- From: Lance Lennon [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:58:40 -0600 So I am getting machines ready for public sale (these machines have been replaced). Now every teacher (okay not every, but quite a few) is asking why I don't place them in the classrooms. They all need more computers and feel that they should get these prior to them being sold. I explain that these machines are old and that we have a replacement policy in place and if I keep placing older computers in rooms, then I will eventually have to manage some 50,000 machines (yeah that is an exageration, but give me some artistic license here). So I am asking all of you, how do you handle this type of request (Other than Want in one hand and spit in the other) Do any of you have written policies on computer replacement, public auction, computer to student ratio. I am just battling the staff on this and am very frustrated. One staffer has a close relationship (spouse) to a board member who is now raising a bit of a stink even though that said board member voted to okay the sale. UGGHHH! Pulling out the remainder of my hair, please send any info. Thanks -- When I die I'm going to leave my body to science fiction. ~Steven Wright -- Lance L. Lennon District Technology Director Eagle Grove Community School District 515-448-5143 --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by the schaller-crest.k12.ia.us server.] --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus on the server aea8.k12.ia.us] - Archived messages from this list can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us/ -
Re: [info-tech] Venting and question
I don't believe I actually have anything in writing as far as policy-- I do have a 7 year plan in place as to ideal replacement, replacement costs, where the replaced computers will go, etc.I share it administratively for informational and budgeting purposes. But I do work along the same idea as you--we replace them for a reason. There are some who believe this is mine because it was in my room. And then believe they should be able to place it wherever (which I sometimes agree with place it wherever). As I do my replacements I have struggled with that, although it's gotten better the last few years. I have administrator support, though, that we don't leave old machines around just because we have them. (Isn't that why we're replacing them?) I have also learned to replace as much as possible over the summer so I can fully execute my replacement plan. Or over a weekend. ;-) I have a spin off question, though--I have a decent number of computers sitting around that I have thought about selling to clear them out. I haven't really done much more than the thinking stage-- but do you usually get board approval to do so? Wiped clean and free to do so? How much do you typically charge for older machines? Licensing problems? OK, maybe more than one spinoff question. On Feb 14, 2008, at 8:58 AM, Lance Lennon wrote: So I am getting machines ready for public sale (these machines have been replaced). Now every teacher (okay not every, but quite a few) is asking why I don't place them in the classrooms. They all need more computers and feel that they should get these prior to them being sold. I explain that these machines are old and that we have a replacement policy in place and if I keep placing older computers in rooms, then I will eventually have to manage some 50,000 machines (yeah that is an exageration, but give me some artistic license here). So I am asking all of you, how do you handle this type of request (Other than Want in one hand and spit in the other) Do any of you have written policies on computer replacement, public auction, computer to student ratio. I am just battling the staff on this and am very frustrated. One staffer has a close relationship (spouse) to a board member who is now raising a bit of a stink even though that said board member voted to okay the sale. UGGHHH! Pulling out the remainder of my hair, please send any info. Thanks -- When I die I'm going to leave my body to science fiction. ~Steven Wright -- Lance L. Lennon District Technology Director Eagle Grove Community School District 515-448-5143
Re: [info-tech] Venting and question
We have had sales each of the last three years. Public submits bids to the supt. office and highest bids get systems until all sold. Guess what? We only sold about three systems each year. Nobody wants these old computers. It is easy now to explain to my faculty why they don't want these in their rooms. Manson Northwest Webster-Home of the Cougars! Brad Kruse (`-''-/).___..--''`-._ Tech. Coord. `6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.`) 1601 15th St.(_Y_.)' ._ ) `._ `. ``-..-' Manson, IA 50563_..`--'_..-_/ /--'_.' ,' 712-469-3919 (li),' ((!.-' Fax 712-469-3131 Lance Lennon [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2/14/2008 8:58 AM So I am getting machines ready for public sale (these machines have been replaced). Now every teacher (okay not every, but quite a few) is asking why I don't place them in the classrooms. They all need more computers and feel that they should get these prior to them being sold. I explain that these machines are old and that we have a replacement policy in place and if I keep placing older computers in rooms, then I will eventually have to manage some 50,000 machines (yeah that is an exageration, but give me some artistic license here). So I am asking all of you, how do you handle this type of request (Other than Want in one hand and spit in the other) Do any of you have written policies on computer replacement, public auction, computer to student ratio. I am just battling the staff on this and am very frustrated. One staffer has a close relationship (spouse) to a board member who is now raising a bit of a stink even though that said board member voted to okay the sale. UGGHHH! Pulling out the remainder of my hair, please send any info. Thanks -- When I die I'm going to leave my body to science fiction. ~Steven Wright -- Lance L. Lennon District Technology Director Eagle Grove Community School District 515-448-5143
Re: [info-tech] Venting and question
I get board approval, restore to a clean base image and base price on what they are going for on ebay, first come first serve, cash and carry. No support after the sale. All items sold as is -- If you put tomfoolery into a computer, nothing comes out of it but tomfoolery. But this tomfoolery, having passed through a very expensive machine, is somehow enobled and no-one dares criticize it. ~Pierre Gallois. -- Lance L. Lennon District Technology Director Eagle Grove Community School District 515-448-5143
RE: [info-tech] Venting and question
Lance First we don't put any computers on public sale for two reasons: first we did this 10 years ago and every one that bought one then thought the school was their tech support and called us many times about things that were wrong with them - of course things were wrong with them - that is why we didn't use them. Secondly, we seriously do use them until they die - we then scrap them for parts such as hard drives, CD-ROM, monitors, keyboards, etc... If a computer is just too old and slow to go on the network or will still run but not our programs - we will part it out if possible, if not, we send EVERYTHING to recycling. We do let teachers have some OLD ones in their classrooms - trust me when they start to use them and they are very very slow and don't work good - they will not keep asking for more. Kevin Richardson, Technology Director Estherville Lincoln Central Community Schools Estherville, IA 51334 -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Murray Gafkjen Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 9:49 AM To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Subject: RE: [info-tech] Venting and question I'm assuming they're macs, can they all run 10.4? (let alone 10.5). I tried surfing on one running 10.2, I think it was truly laughing at me. If I still had to support win95 to 2000, that would be crazy. When teachers wanted to keep the IIe's and then later the powermacs, we would not provide tech support, and once dead, it was sent to recycle. Speaking of such, we will have a lab of imac (400 mhz) this summer for any interested party. We intend to add another mobile lab in its place. Remember your significant other Murray Gafkjen Clay Central Everly From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lance Lennon Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 8:59 AM To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Subject: [info-tech] Venting and question So I am getting machines ready for public sale (these machines have been replaced). Now every teacher (okay not every, but quite a few) is asking why I don't place them in the classrooms. They all need more computers and feel that they should get these prior to them being sold. I explain that these machines are old and that we have a replacement policy in place and if I keep placing older computers in rooms, then I will eventually have to manage some 50,000 machines (yeah that is an exageration, but give me some artistic license here). So I am asking all of you, how do you handle this type of request (Other than Want in one hand and spit in the other) Do any of you have written policies on computer replacement, public auction, computer to student ratio. I am just battling the staff on this and am very frustrated. One staffer has a close relationship (spouse) to a board member who is now raising a bit of a stink even though that said board member voted to okay the sale. UGGHHH! Pulling out the remainder of my hair, please send any info. Thanks -- When I die I'm going to leave my body to science fiction. ~Steven Wright -- Lance L. Lennon District Technology Director Eagle Grove Community School District 515-448-5143
RE: [info-tech] Venting and question
Lance- We had a district garage sale 3 years or so ago. We did sell computers on it, but they were computers that no one in the District wanted. It went well, and they all went. Prices ranged from $10 to $50, depending on what they could do. Machines were wiped clean, and IF we had a system restore, we back to factory settings. Since then, machines die and we just part them out. Then send everything else to the recyclers. As for machines, our current replacement cycle is about 12 years. So, when (maybe I should say if) computers make it the 12 years on the replacement cycle, no one would want them anyway. We still have old iMacs, iBooks and Win98 machines scattered across the District, and serving their purpose. In most of those cases, though, they do mundane things that a new computer would not get used for anyway. Good luck!!! Jeremy From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lance Lennon Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 8:59 AM To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Subject: [info-tech] Venting and question So I am getting machines ready for public sale (these machines have been replaced). Now every teacher (okay not every, but quite a few) is asking why I don't place them in the classrooms. They all need more computers and feel that they should get these prior to them being sold. I explain that these machines are old and that we have a replacement policy in place and if I keep placing older computers in rooms, then I will eventually have to manage some 50,000 machines (yeah that is an exageration, but give me some artistic license here). So I am asking all of you, how do you handle this type of request (Other than Want in one hand and spit in the other) Do any of you have written policies on computer replacement, public auction, computer to student ratio. I am just battling the staff on this and am very frustrated. One staffer has a close relationship (spouse) to a board member who is now raising a bit of a stink even though that said board member voted to okay the sale. UGGHHH! Pulling out the remainder of my hair, please send any info. Thanks -- When I die I'm going to leave my body to science fiction. ~Steven Wright -- Lance L. Lennon District Technology Director Eagle Grove Community School District 515-448-5143
Re: [info-tech] Accelerated Reader
We just switched to AR online version this year, NOT the enterprise version no money. THe transition has gone very well. You can set up a block of IP numbers to allow access from so you can eliminate testing from home. We switched to the online version because we also use the Accelerated Math, and Star Math all from the same company. The Web based interface for controlling all the stuff has been great. We also have them host everything, so I really have little to do with making it work, which for me since the network version was such a pain, makes the money we pay for hosting well worth it. You are correct about the tests not being transferable or combinable, which is a BIG problem I have with their licensing structure. We pay a district amount to be able to use the software in our district and them we pay building level fees for each piece we use. If you have any further questions I would be happy to answer them. Karl H. Hehr Technology/Curriculum Director South Hamilton CSD www.s-hamilton.k12.ia.us 515.827.5418 (W) 515.209.9767 (C) 515.827.5368 (F) On Feb 14, 2008, at 1:35 PM, Jackie Fonley wrote: I received some information regarding Accelerated Reader and the Enterprise version recently. I noticed it's web based, with access to ALL quizzes available (no more $3/quiz), along with vocabulary and math skill building available as well (and to all lower levels). Currently, our 4-5 building uses it, as well as our 6-8. The 4-5 is set up using a network based approach, the 6-8 is stand alone on a few extra (older) computers set up in language art rooms. This was all set up before me time, and I am now interested in either combining the databases, going web based, or other options available to me I don't know about. Unless we merge buildings, I was told I cannot combine the databases. (And it appears as if the tests are specifically coded for each building.) The 6-8 teachers are fearful of a web based application because they want kids to only use it on the computers in their room. Both use it as a part of their reading curriculum (from what I understand). We also purchased SuccessMaker several years ago to use with our non proficient and special education populations to build on reading, vocabulary and math skills. This is a network set up, but needs the OS 9 to boot up--which they are no longer supporting--in which case we will need to upgrade as we replace computers with newer ones. I'm just curious as to what others are using in regard to Accelerated Reader, and any advantages/disadvantages to any of the options mentioned above. If the Enterprise has Math, Vocabulary, Reading software, and is part of the AR already being used . . . It seems silly to support multiple vendor based programs that do the same thing in essence (maybe). Esp. is stuff is web based. Also, is anyone using the Scholastic Read180 software instead? I know their doing their demo at the end of the month, but again, just looking for feedback. Thanks in advance for any info, and stay safe and warm! -Jackie --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus on the server aea8.k12.ia.us] - Archived messages from this list can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us/ - --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus on the server aea8.k12.ia.us] - Archived messages from this list can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us/ -
RE: [info-tech] Accelerated Reader
We use AR web-based (Renaissance Place) in our MS. Kids are only allowed to take tests in certain LArt's classrooms. You can configure it to only allow approved IP's to access your RP website (like your ext. firewall ip) which we did and you can also set a time range when kids can login to the website like 8-4pm, etc. It works good..you can import student demo data, login names/passwords, and advance grades, etc. Has only gone off-line once in the last 2-3 yrs. because of an internet outage on their end and it was down about a 1/2 day. - Tim Buenz Director of Technology Jefferson-Scranton Comm. Schools 204 W. Madison Street Jefferson, IA 50129 (515)386-9256 Fax (515)386-3591 http://www.jscsd.org Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future -John F. Kennedy -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jackie Fonley Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 1:36 PM To: Info Tech Subject: [info-tech] Accelerated Reader I received some information regarding Accelerated Reader and the Enterprise version recently. I noticed it's web based, with access to ALL quizzes available (no more $3/quiz), along with vocabulary and math skill building available as well (and to all lower levels). Currently, our 4-5 building uses it, as well as our 6-8. The 4-5 is set up using a network based approach, the 6-8 is stand alone on a few extra (older) computers set up in language art rooms. This was all set up before me time, and I am now interested in either combining the databases, going web based, or other options available to me I don't know about. Unless we merge buildings, I was told I cannot combine the databases. (And it appears as if the tests are specifically coded for each building.) The 6-8 teachers are fearful of a web based application because they want kids to only use it on the computers in their room. Both use it as a part of their reading curriculum (from what I understand). We also purchased SuccessMaker several years ago to use with our non proficient and special education populations to build on reading, vocabulary and math skills. This is a network set up, but needs the OS 9 to boot up--which they are no longer supporting--in which case we will need to upgrade as we replace computers with newer ones. I'm just curious as to what others are using in regard to Accelerated Reader, and any advantages/disadvantages to any of the options mentioned above. If the Enterprise has Math, Vocabulary, Reading software, and is part of the AR already being used . . . It seems silly to support multiple vendor based programs that do the same thing in essence (maybe). Esp. is stuff is web based. Also, is anyone using the Scholastic Read180 software instead? I know their doing their demo at the end of the month, but again, just looking for feedback. Thanks in advance for any info, and stay safe and warm! -Jackie --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus on the server aea8.k12.ia.us] - Archived messages from this list can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us/ - --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus on the server aea8.k12.ia.us] - Archived messages from this list can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us/ -
