*01.12_January

1. Special Ed. Laptops (Carol) I am just curious what the question is with the Special Ed. Laptops and why it is being brought up? Has there been an issue? (Leanne) Two more students are using laptops. This brings the total to four that I know of. Three are IEPs, one is 504. My concern is that if we continue taking laptops from our mobile labs for individual student use, we may get to where there are not enough laptops on them for classroom use. I talked to Betsy and she agreed we should look at current usage and maybe look forward to what we might need in the future as we accomodate more student's needs with technology. Some ideas include having laptops and/or iPads in the library that may be checked out by teachers for student use as needed. Sometimes there is IDEA money left at the end of the year, and Katherine also sometimes has leftover money, so we might want to have a wish list ready. Betsy said she would like to attend the tech team meeting when we discuss.

Administration is who approved the need for the computers for the students I am aware of in fourth grade (Morono). That computer that is being used for a student is signed out of the laptops and is not going to be for ever. We specifically took the computer from a lab that had enough laptops to accomodate the need we have at this time. The teacher is well aware that if she needs to return it because there are not enough laptops that she will. The teacher needs it to actively communicate with the student when they are home on a daily basis in multiple places in the building.

The other laptop I am aware of that is being used in 4th grade for a student was bought through Jock I believe and I am not 100% aware of where the money came. Though, I do know SPED is involved in the whole process. Yes, I purchased that laptop last year when I was approached by the administration (Jock)

The iPads were bought with SPED money and have been used quite nicely in the school for the exact purpose they were intended. They are accounted for through the SPED department. It seems like more and more students with IEPs are needing laptops and they're being pulled from the mobile labs. We should work with the Special Ed department to plan for the future so that we have enough for our special ed students as well as the general population.

2. Can student digital portfolios start at the younger grades? Many students are doing wonderful work that could be showcased and kept in a digital portfolio? Is it possible to set up folders for all the students so that they are kept from year to year? I have asked this in past years but have been told no. But with the new technologies is there a way? (Leanne) I have heard of schools using Google Sites that way. Each student has their own Google Site and uses it as a portfolio to showcase their best work. This way it is managed by the student instead of the Tech. Dept. We kept students' digital portfolio folders over the summer last year (for the first time). We could do that with younger grades, too. I like the Google sites idea... We should talk more about that. (Jock) I totally agree with Carol for the middle school kids though they will still need to be managed by the tech department because it is a requirement for high school. I was asked to make sure this topic was put on the agenda for the next month. I was under the impression that google e-mail and thus then google sites was only going to be available for the middle school kids. I am wanting work from Kindergarten and up to be in a portfolio.

3. Tech Plan. We need to start looking at the tech plan and making sure we are on track. (Leanne) Carol, Jock and Leanne took care of this one day last week.

4. Tech Essentials. We also need to talk about he tech essentials per grade level and determine some goals. I am thinking this will have to be done yearly as to the ever changing technology and the abilities of the students. (Leanne)

5. Wireless password for students. I had a student ask for the wireless password for his iPod this morning. I think it's time to discuss BYOD (Bring your own device) again, and come up with a procedure for letting students access the network with their devices. (Jock)
 * Once w e give the password to a student, everyone will know it.
 * We should make up a form for parents and students to fill out for BYOD
 * Leanne will email some sample forms out the the tech team

6. Mobile lab signouts - Can we putting down what room the mobile lab is in on signout document? (if it's not the teacher's own classroom) Sometimes it's hard to track them down. (Jock) How often does this happen? This doesn't happen very often. Those of us who use the mobile labs in locations other than our own room will try to remember to make a notation on the signout form.

7. Google App accounts for students...


 * As students create accounts on other sites (which is one of the purposes of having an email that we control) what usernames should they use? If my in-school address is 12chamberlaind@hcsstudent.org should I use that? It has some identifying information in it (example, my last name and the school I go to). Should the usernames be something generic like student8004 (meaning 4th student in 8th grade)? Or maybe something a little more cryptic student81F (meaning 31st student in the 8th grade list -- in hex). We could then set the password to be their normal in-house username (which would fix the problem with adding # signs to the end) (Dave) We will still need the # signs added to the end of some passwords because the minimum password length for Google is 8 characters. I don't think we have to worry too much about students' names in the email addresses since we control which domains they can send and receive from (Jock)
 * What will the process be for adding new email domains (addresses that the student can send/receive from/to)? This is something that I foresee as needing to be changed right away. Example: I'm conducting a class and have my students sign up for an account at prezi, Prezi will send a confirmation email. I can't stop class and open a trouble ticket. (Dave) Let me know what domains you need added and I can do it in 5 minutes (If I'm free). We can also select 2 or 3 other people on the tech team who can have administrator access to the HCSstudent.org domain. I'm assuming most teachers would know at least 24 hours in advance if they're planning to have their students sign up for something like this (Jock)
 * Dave reports that the students he's used it with really like it and are thinking of lots of ways they can use it.
 * Dave also ran into problems when using it today with the older laptops. Problems with logging-in, creating documents, sharing, documents, etc.
 * Sharing documents: When students share documents with another student(s) they should always share that document with the teacher, first.

//Present at the Tech Team Meeting (Jan. 26, 2012): Leanne Chauvette, Dave Chamberlain, Jock Irvine, Carol Sweny, Stephanie Crowe//