Re: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing
Brad, Sentral outsources to the Foundation for Educational Services (FES) and use their product SOCS (Simplified Online Communications System). Cost for Sentral is $1350/year (varies according to school size). Different rights can be assigned, etc. so that anyone can publish given the right clearances. FES is a partner of the Iowa Educators Consortium, the Iowa Association of School Boards and a member of School Administrators of Iowa. You can get more information at http://socs.fes.org/ . If you go there you can see examples of several of their templates and/or you can view our site at www.sentralschools.org. Arthur W. Pixler, Superintendent Sentral Community School District 308 310th Street Fenton, Iowa 50539 Phone: 515-889-2261 x100 Fax: 515-889-2264 [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Brad Kruse To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:24 AM Subject: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing Is anyone outsourcing their district website? I would like to hear the good and the bad if anyone has done this in the past and also the name of the business that is used. Currently, I have some independent study students that help me along with a few coaches and secretaries that do their part. We have a publications class here but they only work with the newsletter and yearbook. We are constantly relying on the website for more each week and it is really becoming a burden. I really would like to add more features but I don't know enough and don't want to know enough to do it properly. Also, there is always a worry about a student author publishing something that should not be published! Thanks. 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
Re: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing
SOCS is the BEST! product I have ever used. I can put things on my guidance page it 30 seconds. STigges - Original Message - From: Art Pixler To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 12:08 PM Subject: Re: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing Brad, Sentral outsources to the Foundation for Educational Services (FES) and use their product SOCS (Simplified Online Communications System). Cost for Sentral is $1350/year (varies according to school size). Different rights can be assigned, etc. so that anyone can publish given the right clearances. FES is a partner of the Iowa Educators Consortium, the Iowa Association of School Boards and a member of School Administrators of Iowa. You can get more information at http://socs.fes.org/ . If you go there you can see examples of several of their templates and/or you can view our site at www.sentralschools.org. Arthur W. Pixler, Superintendent Sentral Community School District 308 310th Street Fenton, Iowa 50539 Phone: 515-889-2261 x100 Fax: 515-889-2264 [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Brad Kruse To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:24 AM Subject: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing Is anyone outsourcing their district website? I would like to hear the good and the bad if anyone has done this in the past and also the name of the business that is used. Currently, I have some independent study students that help me along with a few coaches and secretaries that do their part. We have a publications class here but they only work with the newsletter and yearbook. We are constantly relying on the website for more each week and it is really becoming a burden. I really would like to add more features but I don't know enough and don't want to know enough to do it properly. Also, there is always a worry about a student author publishing something that should not be published! Thanks. 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
RE: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing
Brad, We use NCN out of Havelock. It's a fairly simple webpage. Teachers at the high school have been using Class Server/Sharepoint Server which is hosted by Broad Education out of Mpls. Murray Gafkjen Clay Centraly Everly From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brad Kruse Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:25 AM To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Subject: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing Is anyone outsourcing their district website? I would like to hear the good and the bad if anyone has done this in the past and also the name of the business that is used. Currently, I have some independent study students that help me along with a few coaches and secretaries that do their part. We have a publications class here but they only work with the newsletter and yearbook. We are constantly relying on the website for more each week and it is really becoming a burden. I really would like to add more features but I don't know enough and don't want to know enough to do it properly. Also, there is always a worry about a student author publishing something that should not be published! Thanks. 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
Re: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing
Hi, All our school building websites are hosted in DSM by Visionary Systems. They are all administered via a web interface and you can assign different rights/access to users. We are very happy with the services provided. http://www.visionary.com/sdrdm.php Another one you may want to check out is: http://socs.fes.org On the IEC website at:http://www.iec-ia.org/vnews/display.v/ART/4509a23192c63 -- 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 ...if we teach today's students as we taught yesterday's, we rob them of tomorrow. John Dewey On Thursday, February 8, 2007 9:24 AM, Brad Kruse [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Is anyone outsourcing their district website? I would like to hear the good and the bad if anyone has done this in the past and also the name of the business that is used. Currently, I have some independent study students that help me along with a few coaches and secretaries that do their part. We have a publications class here but they only work with the newsletter and yearbook. We are constantly relying on the website for more each week and it is really becoming a burden. I really would like to add more features but I don't know enough and don't want to know enough to do it properly. Also, there is always a worry about a student author publishing something that should not be published! Thanks. 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 --- [This E-mail Scanned For Viruses By Declude Virus Scanner] [This E-mail Scanned For Spam By Declude JunkMail] --- [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] School Website Outsourcing
Brad, We publish to an offline site where the student's info is reviewed before publishing to our live site. I think everyone is having the same problem of trying to do more on our website and not having the time or expertise to do it. If anyone has tried to maintain a website, they soon find out that it is time-consuming and not everyone has the design talent to do it properly. If schools want an effective website, they need to realize that it is not free. George From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brad Kruse Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:25 AM To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Subject: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing Is anyone outsourcing their district website? I would like to hear the good and the bad if anyone has done this in the past and also the name of the business that is used. Currently, I have some independent study students that help me along with a few coaches and secretaries that do their part. We have a publications class here but they only work with the newsletter and yearbook. We are constantly relying on the website for more each week and it is really becoming a burden. I really would like to add more features but I don't know enough and don't want to know enough to do it properly. Also, there is always a worry about a student author publishing something that should not be published! Thanks. 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
RE: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing
I agree George. Teachers and coaches don't have the extra time to keep current even if they get their pages started. Then, what happens when they leave the district! I just looked at Tim's solution. I like it and there are probably more out there just like it. I am going to call them today. But, will the Board and supt. want to spend. It may, however, allow them to appreciate what we are able to do currently! 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 George Tuttle [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2/8/2007 10:08 AM Brad, We publish to an offline site where the students info is reviewed before publishing to our live site. I think everyone is having the same problem of trying to do more on our website and not having the time or expertise to do it. If anyone has tried to maintain a website, they soon find out that it is time-consuming and not everyone has the design talent to do it properly. If schools want an effective website, they need to realize that it is not free. George From:[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brad Kruse Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:25 AM To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Subject: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing Is anyone outsourcing their district website? I would like to hear the good and the bad if anyone has done this in the past and also the name of the business that is used. Currently, I have some independent study students that help me along with a few coaches and secretaries that do their part. We have a publications class here but they only work with the newsletter and yearbook. We are constantly relying on the website for more each week and it is really becoming a burden. I really would like to add more features but I don't know enough and don't want to know enough to do it properly. Also, there is always a worry about a student author publishing something that should not be published! Thanks. 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
Re: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing
Don't Forget SOCS and I think it is on the co-op On Feb 8, 2007, at 10:20 AM, Brad Kruse wrote: I agree George. Teachers and coaches don't have the extra time to keep current even if they get their pages started. Then, what happens when they leave the district! I just looked at Tim's solution. I like it and there are probably more out there just like it. I am going to call them today. But, will the Board and supt. want to spend. It may, however, allow them to appreciate what we are able to do currently! 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 George Tuttle [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2/8/2007 10:08 AM Brad, We publish to an offline site where the student's info is reviewed before publishing to our live site. I think everyone is having the same problem of trying to do more on our website and not having the time or expertise to do it. If anyone has tried to maintain a website, they soon find out that it is time-consuming and not everyone has the design talent to do it properly. If schools want an effective website, they need to realize that it is not free. George From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:info-tech- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brad Kruse Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:25 AM To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Subject: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing Is anyone outsourcing their district website? I would like to hear the good and the bad if anyone has done this in the past and also the name of the business that is used. Currently, I have some independent study students that help me along with a few coaches and secretaries that do their part. We have a publications class here but they only work with the newsletter and yearbook. We are constantly relying on the website for more each week and it is really becoming a burden. I really would like to add more features but I don't know enough and don't want to know enough to do it properly. Also, there is always a worry about a student author publishing something that should not be published! Thanks. 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 -- The secret of creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. ~Albert Einstein -- Lance L. Lennon District Technology Director Eagle Grove Community School District 515-448-5143
RE: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing
We run our own web site here. I teach a web page class, and the students create most of the pages, which are reviewed before they are published. Another teacher on staff is the one who oversees the page and uploads everything. It's worked well for us, although the bigger and better we get, the more demands placed on us from both people on staff and from parents. We're lucky, because our site evolved from a talented and gifted project 10 years ago, into a course project, into what it is today-A very gradual growing process. Of course, now administration is talking about adding more administrative things to the site which creates the same problems you're talking about: who, when, how, and how many hours are there in a day?. I can guarantee that we won't pay to outsource here, and I very much like the local control. However, it all takes time and expertise which becomes VERY frustrating at times. Sarah Sarah M. Freking Technology Coordinator/Computer Education Bishop Garrigan Schools 1224 N. McCoy St. Algona, IA 50511 phone 515-295-3521 fax 515-295-7739 _ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brad Kruse Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:25 AM To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Subject: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing Is anyone outsourcing their district website? I would like to hear the good and the bad if anyone has done this in the past and also the name of the business that is used. Currently, I have some independent study students that help me along with a few coaches and secretaries that do their part. We have a publications class here but they only work with the newsletter and yearbook. We are constantly relying on the website for more each week and it is really becoming a burden. I really would like to add more features but I don't know enough and don't want to know enough to do it properly. Also, there is always a worry about a student author publishing something that should not be published! Thanks. 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
Re: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing
Brad, We are now in the Web Hosting business as well. I have currently 3 districts using our solution and a few more getting ready. We are using an Open Source solution called 'Joomla' joomla.org. It is a Content Management system that will run on any platform that supports Apache, PHP and MySQL. We host it here for $20/month, but we can assist you to install it at your district as well. Take a look at the following sites for examples www.algona.k12.ia.us www.sioux-central.k12.ia.us www.titonka.k12.ia.us www.nwia-e2t2.k12.ia.us I am working on a demo site that has most of the components but not completely finished yet. http://207.28.111.100 For better or worse it does not use any traditional web editing software to maintain. The good part is that pages can be added through a wysiwyg application through the web site. There are different levels of security: Content Creator, Can create/edit their content Content Editor, - Can edit their content as well as others Publisher, - Can make content Live on the web site Administrator - manages user accounts Super Admin - Full Control of site. It is fairly simple to create a template that your web site will follow. I recommend choosing an existing template, then modify a few graphics and CCS entries to customize to your district. Joomla's features can also be extended with additional components. Currently there are over 1200 add-ons for Joomla. The sites above are using add-on components Event Calendar - A Multi-category calendar Lunch Menu - Specifically written to show school lunch menus Photo Gallery - Organizes photos User Home Pages - A component that allows a simple way for instructors to create and manage their pages Contact List - Displays staff contact information and provides web based email submission Local Weather Display RSS feeds If you are interested feel free to contact me and I can answer any questions. - Original Message - From: Brad Kruse To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:24 AM Subject: [info-tech] School Website Outsourcing Is anyone outsourcing their district website? I would like to hear the good and the bad if anyone has done this in the past and also the name of the business that is used. Currently, I have some independent study students that help me along with a few coaches and secretaries that do their part. We have a publications class here but they only work with the newsletter and yearbook. We are constantly relying on the website for more each week and it is really becoming a burden. I really would like to add more features but I don't know enough and don't want to know enough to do it properly. Also, there is always a worry about a student author publishing something that should not be published! Thanks. 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
