|
Computer Literacy
 The
2006-2007 school year presents the first K-8 Computer Literacy
Implementation for Judson ISD. In an effort to promote Computer
Literacy across the district, middle school computer literacy teachers
and interested elementary classroom teachers met in June 2006 for a
weeklong collaborative curriculum writing session. During these
sessions, these teachers reviewed state adopted computer literacy
programs to develop a standard implementation plan for each
campus. Read
Full Article
New Technology Personnel
Technology Services is pleased to have three new staff members on our team:
John Pron is our new Network Administrator and David Neill is our new
Desktop Technician. Soon to join us will be our new Applications
Coordinator, John Orona. In our spring newsletter, Technology Services
will have several more new personnel to announce.
GradeSpeed ParentConnection
 ParentConnection
is live for the new year and allows parents to view their child’s daily
grades and attendance. Parents can view notes and comments
entered by the teacher in GradeSpeed. ParentConnection is a great
tool for communicating with parents. Please be sure to update
your GradeSpeed grade book weekly as instructed by your campus
principal. A handout for parents on the ParentConnection is available here.
Technology Has a New Home!
Or at least the servers have new homes. For the past
eighteen months, Judson ISD has been working on a project to
consolidate servers within the district to three locations called
Network Operating Centers or NOCs. Over the past few months we have
been consolidating most servers in the ERC to one location. Read
Full Article
Securing Your Computer and Protecting District Data
 Private
and sensitive data exists on all computers on the JISD network.
Never share your password(s) with any other users. It is the
responsibility of all users to lock or log off of their computers when
they will leave them unattended. Leaving a computer in an
unsecured state can expose sensitive information such as email, grades,
student, financial, and employee data to theft and/or alteration.
In addition never keep any sensitive data on
laptops, thumb drives, external disk drives, or floppy disks, as these
items are the most commonly lost items and their loss can result in
your exposing private data to others. No one wants to be in the
headlines as the cause of a data theft or leak!
For details on how to lock your computer, see the Fall 2006 JumpStart computer user guide.
By The Numbers:
Technology Services has been  very
busy the past few months. Desktop Services and Infrastructure Services
have completed and closed over 1205 work orders from August 1 through
October 15. These numbers do not include the hundreds of Basic Services
work orders that were completed during this time or all the phone calls
for support to the Help Desk. We know that we need to improve our
service times and we will be working to do this throughout the rest of
the year.
|
|
|
• Board Approves New Acceptable Usage Policy
• H: Drive, the Way to Save
• Coming Soon to a Screen Near You
• Basic Services Update
• Staff Development Update
• Board Approves Department Changes
• Computer Literacy
• New Technology Personnel
• GradeSpeed ParentConnection
• Technology has a New Home!
• Securing Your Computer and Protecting District Data
• By the Numbers |
| Board of Trustees Approves New Acceptable Usage Policy |
The district Technology Services Department strives to handle the  needs
of an ever-growing, ever-changing population of users in a way that
will benefit the district as a whole. We accomplish this by
looking at the needs of all users and building a technology-based
structure that addresses as many needs as we are able to do both
financially and structurally. To that end, there have been
provisions put in place to make sure problems are minimized and
positive results are maximized. Read Full Article |
| H: Drive, the Way to Save |
 One
might ask “why do I need to save my documents in the H: drive?”
The H: Drive offers protection and accessibility. By
saving
your documents here they will be protected from being lost. When
documents are saved on the computer itself, or in "My Documents", there
is chance your documents can be lost if the computer crashes.
Your documents stored in the H: Drive can be seen from any computer you
are logged into and are stored on a server that is backed up on a
regular schedule. This gives you the freedom to work from any computer
in the district with assurance that your documents are protected on the
network. |
| Coming Soon to a Screen Near You |
The Desktop Services department will soon be rolling out a small
addition to your computer screen, so don’t let it catch you by
surprise! This small area that will appear on the bottom right
side of your screen will be useful when reporting problems with your
computer to the JISD Helpdesk.
It will give you information about your computer we need when reporting
a problem In addition, the JISD Helpdesk number is always at hand
for your convenience. |
For the first time in history, Judson ISD teachers have access to
standard instructional technology tools. The Technology Services
Department has completed the first phase of the Basic Services Project
which includes upgrades to campus libraries, computer labs and
classroom computers. As teachers returne d
to their classrooms this fall, they had access to refurbished computers
and new network services including networked printers and file storage.
The standard software upgrade package includes Windows XP, Office 2000
with Publisher, and a re-image of the CPU for a fresh start. Windows XP
provides an updated operating system that allows for remote assistance
and more security than previously prevalent Windows 98 and Windows 95.
File services provide the ability to utilize “paperless” communication
as teachers and students exchange information and complete assignments
electronically.
The Desktop Services and
Instructional Technology departments collaborated together from October
2005 through September 2006 to clean, upgrade and install software on
over 4000 district computers. Many hundreds of computers that were
"beyond economic repair" were recycled for parts or sent to auction. |
|
Instructional
Technology had a very successful Super Saturday, September 9th with
over 220 teachers and other staff attending classes. Thanks to all who
attended for making it such a big success. Due to numerous requests
from both teachers and staff, the Instructional Technology Department
will be offering various technology classes after school to accommodate
both elementary and secondary release times. These trainings will be
designed to give Judson ISD employees the tools and the confidence to
successfully implement technology into their job or classroom.
To search and register for these and other classes, log on to A-Train at http://atrain.judson.k12.tx.us/atrain/
or from the Employee page located on the Judson ISD web site. If you
need assistance, please contact Jennifer Schultes at (210) 945-5218.
There is one upcoming
dsitrict-wide class on Excel on 11/14 from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Many more
classes will be offered in the spring at campuses.
To explore training opportunities for your campus, please contact Beverly Ahr at (210) 945-5581. |
| Board of Trustees Approves Department Changes |
After a detailed salary report and presentation to the JISD Board of Trustees  on
September 7, 2006 by Sharon Fuery, Executive Director of Human
Resources, and Steve Young, Chief Technology Officer, the Board
approved a personnel and salary package on September 21, 2006 to help
Judson ISD stay competitive and move forward in technology. Technology
Services appreciates the support of the Board and will be adding the
following personnel in the near future to better server our customers:
- Programmer/Application Developer
- 2 Desktop Technicians
- 3 Campus Instructional Technologists
- Network Engineer |
Contact Technology Services:
Help Desk: (210) 945-JISD
Main Number: (210) 945-5562
Technology Services phone list and organizational chart in PDF format |
|
