PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY PLAN
November 2015 Holy Rosary School Technology Committee Michael Go Jon Barker Mary Jo McFaul Ted Mohrbacher Contents Executive Summary 3 Security 24 Budgetary & Funding Considerations 4 Device security; School software security; Backups; Policies for 3rd party vendors Technology Fee; The Technology Budget; Setting a realistic Technology Fee or How (i.e. online credit card processors for activities such as Auction and Magazine to Fund New Technology; Past budget vs. actual spending historical data; Prioriti- Drive); Online tuition and other school payments; Privacy policy zation in light of budgetary considerations; Expected device outlays projected out Ecological Considerations 26 for 5 years (to be updated every year) Laudato si - using technology in a responsible way; Disposal methods for surplus, The Technology Coordinator 8 obsolete, or broken technology Role; Duties: Daily; Duties: Strategic; Duties: Ongoing; Continuing Education Ethical Issues 26 Technology Infrastructure 9 Intellectual and academic honesty in technology - use of properly licensed technol- Internet connectivity; Physical Network; Wireless network; Server Room; Domain ogies; Statement on Internet plagiarism, proper citation and acknowledgement of name; DNS (Domain Name Service) records sources, proper grant of permission for usage of copyrighted material Communications/Information Channels 12 External/Extracurricular Technology-related Activities 26 Information Director; eFC (Electronic Family Communications) Newsletter; Email Lego Robotics FLL (First Lego League & Junior First Lego League); Seattle App via broadcast or e-blasts via Google Groups; Email system; Texting; School website; Academy; Harnessing the Mindcraft phenomenon; Harnessing and incorporating Classroom, specialty websites; Social media (Facebook, Twitter); Telephone (POTS - the Maker Faire movement into the curriculum including Raspberry Pi and Arduino Plain Old Telephone Service); Phone Broadcast Calls platforms as well as 3D printers Administrative/Staff Software 19 Keeping the Plan Relevant 27 Specialized School Software: Powerschool; Administrative Software; Cloud Comput- Identifying relevant trends in technology ing Software The Technology Advisory Committee 27 The Cloud: Server-based Storage 20 Membership; Technology Teacher Subcommittee Students; Teachers and staff Technology consultants 28 Meeting (and Exceeding) Standards 20 Use Common Core; OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction); STEM Other Issues 28 Technology Curriculum 20 BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) Policy: Preschool; Kindergarten; Grades 1 & 2; Grades 3 & 4; Middle; Junior High; Desktop Students; BYOD: Staff; BYOD: Parents & Families; Social Media: Keeping our stu- publishing, graphic design, web design; Yearbook Program; Robotics Elective; Mul- dents safe; Password policy for school’s systems timedia; STEM Programs; Computer languages; Keyboarding/Computer Input Master Technology Budget Spreadsheet Training 22 Master Technology Schedule, A. Technology Fee & Other Inflows, B. Computer & State of technology savvy; Continuing education; Intranet repository of training Hardware Detail, C. Maintenance & Consumables materials (including external links) School Technology Fixed Asset Inventory Procurement Process 23 Hardware; Software; Services Executive Summary This report will describe the state of technology in our school and our recommendations on how to advance our school’s state of technology as a vital tool to help educate our students. We make these recommendations based on the goals enumerated below. Goals 1. Promote appropriate technology as it relates to education. 2. Ensure that students are technologically prepared for high school when they graduate. 3. Educate students in the appropriate and ethical use of technologies. 4. Keep this plan updated as new technology arises. 5. Comply with Archdiocesan guidelines. 6. Comply with Common Core guidelines. 7. Be environmentally responsible technologically. Laudato si. Since technology covers as vast area, we tackled this by breaking it down into logical categories. For each category, we assessed how we were, then, we identified where we wanted to go, and how we planned to get there. This plan will help us identify current problems and issues as well as prescribing ways of fixing them. We also tried to ensure we have or will have the infrastructure to support these initiatives. Highlights 1. Institute a 1:1 device/student ratio in the upper grades in 3 years. 2. Purchase Chromebooks for the 5th and 6th Grades in the current school year. These 5th and 6th Graders will use these devices until they graduate. 3. Purchase a new set of Chromebooks for each incoming 5th Grade class. 4. Upgrade the school’s network infrastructure to accommodate these new devices. 5. Extend the lives of the existing computers and devices. We will be expounding on these and other technology categories in the pages that follow. WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE BUDGETARY & FUNDING CONSIDERATIONS Sources of funding 1. Technology Fee Aside from the Technology Fee, the Annual 2. Annual Fund Fund had provided stopgap funding for tech- nology the past few years. 3. Centennial Campaign The Auction Fund-an-Item, which had been 4. Grants a tech funding mainstay, will not be available as that will go towards balancing the school budget. Mr. Hofbauer anticipates that the Centenni- al Campaign will be the main supplemental funding source for Technology (he is expecting about $100-200 thousand for Technology). That may be pared down if necessary towards balancing the school’s budget. Facing these conditions, it becomes increas- ingly important that that this plan stretches the funds we have available. It will be neces- sary to extend the lives of current equipment, to curtail unnecessary costs, and to examine each and every technology purchase proposal as closely as possible.
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BUDGETARY & FUNDING CONSIDERATIONS Technology Fee The Technology Fee was initially set up on or The Technology Fee was intended to fund the around 2006 after the last Weigand Grant as replacement of the Technology Lab computers a sinking or replacement fund to fully fund every few years. It is now supporting the Lap- replacement computers and software for the top Cart, the one-to-one iPads in the 3rd and Computer Lab plus a classroom computer as 4th Grades, the iPads in Kindergarten through they become obsolete or have reached the 2nd Grades. At its current annual rate, this is end of their useful lives. The Technology Fee not sustainable. Actual technology spending was intended to fund capital expenditures in during the 2014/15 SY was nearly $77,000 equipment and software. It was not intended combining both capital and operational ex- to fund operational (day-to-day) technological penditures. expenses. Increase the Technology Fee to cover increas- Currently $85 for 2015-16 SY for a total of ing costs of replacing technology especially $31,200. Will go up $5 every two years. when the school acquires a different category or block of technology. The fee has remained the same since its inception in 2006. During that span, the school has acquired two sets of laptops and one-on-one iPads for 3rd and 4th Grades. In subsequent years, the Technology Fee (as set in Mr. Hofbauer’s White Paper) will be: • 2015/16 $80 • 2017/18 $85 • 2018/19 $90 • 2019/20 $90 • 2019/20 $100
5 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE BUDGETARY & FUNDING CONSIDERATIONS The Technology Budget Currently, the Technology Budget lumps to- We recommend that the Technology Budget gether both operational and proposed capital account be separated into two components. expenditures. 1. Operational expenditures 2. Capital expenditures (computers, tablets, equipment). Carry forward any unspent portion of Technology Capital Expenditure into the succeeding year in a reserve ac- count (already done). We recommend reserving or setting aside a fixed percentage of the Technology Fee for capital expenditures as a sinking fund towards the purchase of technology devices that have reached the end of their userful lives. This ratio should be set by the Finance Com- mittee in consultation with the Technology Committee and the School Principal to ensure that School Technology is adequately funded.
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BUDGETARY & FUNDING CONSIDERATIONS Setting a realistic Technology Fee or How to The current Technology Fee was instituted In addition to acquisition and software costs, Fund New Technology in 2006 with the intent of creating a sinking introducing new technologies into the school fund designed to replace the computers in the have other attendant costs such as the cost Computer Lab and classroom computers. It of replacement as all equipment have finite was never designed to fund additional tech- useful lives. nology expenditures such as the purchase of We propose that when new technologies are laptop carts, the SmartBoards, and iPads, nor introduced into the school, the school has to was it intended to fund the technology opera- decide whether that technology has to be re- tional expenditures. placed, assume a realistic lifespan, and device a plan to replace it. For instance, it could add the cost of replacement into the Technology Fee. It is only through this that we can have a viable and sustainable Technology Plan for the school. Past budget vs. actual spending historical data 2014/15 Actual: $76,869 If past history is any indication, we will once 2013/14 Actual: $70,924 again exceed our Technology budget this school year. (Source: Spreadsheet provided by M Simpson) Prioritization in light of budgetary consider- Investigate ways to extend the life of our cur- ations rent devices. For instance, we can extend the useful lives of our laptops and desktops by re- placing their hard drives with SSDs (Solid State Drives) and increase the amount of computer memory (RAM). If we need more devices, consider purchasing refurbished or used computers. Computing power is at the juncture where computers that are a few years old are more than adequate for most tasks. We do not need to purchase the newest or the shiniest device. In terms of software, the staff and the school have become adept in finding software or web- sites that are free or low-cost.
7 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE BUDGETARY & FUNDING CONSIDERATIONS Expected device outlays projected out for 5 See Master Technology Schedule Spreadsheet. years (to be updated every year)
THE TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR Role The school’s Technology Coordinator has a As this is no longer a teaching position, we catch all position in all things technology-relat- need to redefine the work hours of the Tech ed. As of the 2015-16 School Year, this posi- Coordinator. tion is a non-teaching position. We recommend that this position become a normal 40-hour workweek on a normal vaca- tion policy standardized to other administra- tive positions in the parish. We also recommend the Technology Coor- dinator also assume the role of being the school’s Information Officer (see“Communica - tions/Information Channels” on page ).12 Duties: Daily The coordinator provides tech support on a daily and ongoing basis. He maintains the school’s technology infrastructure. Duties: Strategic With the Technology Advisory Committee, he/ she identifies areas in technology that have applications to education. With the Technolo- gy Committee, he/she determines the feasibil- ity of inclusion into the Technology Plan.
Duties: Ongoing Maintains that the school technology infra- structure. Pinpoints and addresses potential areas for improvement or addresses areas of potential failure.
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THE TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR Continuing Education The speed of technological change continues One of the Technoogy Coordinator’s task is to unabated and at an astounding rate. keep abreast of technology through continual education. It is also his/her task to dissem- minate new advances to the staff, conduct regular briefings and discussions with the Technology Teacher Steering Committee (see The Technology Advisory Committee), and where appropriate, educate the staff on new developments.
TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE Internet connectivity Through Comcast Business Cable. We have While it is physically difficult, the parish could 5 static IPs. One IP is assigned to the school save some money by combining the two Inter- router while another is assigned to a UW seis- net subscriptions into one. The parish could mograph in the KA storeroom. Another one is simply take one of the available static IPs. reserved for a potential server while the other two are open.
9 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE Physical Network Category 5 Ethernet network. Cat 5 cable is 1. Replace router with a more robust appli- rated up to gigabit Ethernet speeds up to cer- ance tain distances. The physical network provides 2. Segment network by traffic patterns to de- coverage to the main school building, a por- crease congestion, increase security tion of the gym, and the Parish Center. 3. Modify the subnet to increase the number The school added a firewall appliance device of hosts (devices) - (Completed) to route network traffic and to filter Internet traffic. It moved from a Class A to a Class B Longer Term: network to increase the number of address- 1. Increase the number of Ethernet ports per able network hosts. room to increase access to more devices and to mitigate impending WiFi congestion. 2. Upgrade or supplement all Cat 5 wiring with Cat 6 to address potentially increased bandwidth demand. While the school’s physical network is ade- quate in the near term, it is inevitable that we will only see increased usage and bandwidth which will only continue to tax the current in- frastructure. The last network wire was pulled in the late 1990s during the School Seismic Retrofit Project. We should applaud the fore- sight of those school administrators to have had a network that has lasted this long.
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TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE Wireless network Meraki APs - 1. Increase mobile devices coverage by de- Issue: iPads in classrooms have problems con- ploying more wireless access points includ- necting to the Internet. We believe the access ing Lanigan Gym. points are getting overwhelmed beyond their 2. Segment iPad and tablet mobile devices to capacity. The school added additional Meraki their own VLAN since they do not require Wireless Access Points to address the prob- access to the server. They only need Inter- lem. net access. Appendix 2. Map of Wireless Access Points Longer term: 1. Create a rolling replacement schedule for wireless access points (looking at a 5-year life) to take advantage of increased WiFi speeds and bandwidth as well as help ad- dress increasing airwave congestion. Server Room The Server Room houses some old school 1. Upgrade local server servers as well as the network rack. 2. Set up purchased OS X Server for network storage, and as a cacheing system for downloads (to save bandwidth and hasten download times). Domain name holyrosaryws.org is registered with Network Solutions. Domain will be up for registration on
11 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE COMMUNICATIONS/INFORMATION CHANNELS Information Director Assign an Information Director to be charged with keeping the content in all channels con- sistent, cohesive, and complies with School and Archdiocesan guidelines. Because of budgetary issues, we recommend that the duties of Information Director be asigned to the Technology Coordinator. eFC (Electronic Family Communications) The school publishes an eFC newsletter every Newsletter week during the school year to provide par- ents and families with timely information on school-related activities. Publication is an- nounced through an e-blast. The eFC can be read on the website or downloaded in PDF format. The website has PDF archives of all eFCs published since 2006. Email via broadcast or e-blasts via Google Families and parents are encouraged to sub- Groups scribe to the school email (HRS Families list). This system employs Google Groups and is used in conjunction with the school’s email system (see next entry below). There is no financial cost to the school. Email system The school uses GMail as its email host. Nearly all staff members have an email address. Links to the email addresses can be found in the dedicated classroom/specialty class website, or in the staff directory on the website. As a non-profit educational entity, this service is available at no financial cost to the school.
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COMMUNICATIONS/INFORMATION CHANNELS Texting Texting is not employed as a communications Explore feasibility of employing texting as channel. another emergency channel tool (such as to inform families of lockdowns, of school clo- sures, etc.). While email may be adequate, we are becom- ing mobile as cell phones become increasingly ubiquitous. In this mobile world, texting and instant messaging bring about an immediacy not available in other media. School website The school website caters both to parents and 1. While the site is hosted off site, it is still the community at large. It is driven by system advisable to create a backup plan for the called WordPress and is hosted at a 3rd party website. Wordpress has backup plugins that server. HRS staff post the website content. allow us to automate the process. Readership metrics are unknown. 2. Develop a website content style guide. Need to get feedback from the community at The guide will have rules and procedures large to see what’s working, and what isn’t. regarding the posting of content. It should have guidelines for posting of 3rd party commercial content (to avoid the appear- ance of conflict-of-interest). For instance, any compensation the school and staff receives might have to be disclosed. 3. Create procedures on how to take the site offline in the unlikely case that is is hacked and/or defaced. 4. Deploy an analytics app to gauge website activity. We recommend using Piwik (piwik. org) over Google Analytics. Piwik has a Wordpress plugin. Classroom, specialty websites Each classroom or specialty class has its own dedicated website. Lower class levels depend on the classroom websites far more than the upper class levels.
13 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE COMMUNICATIONS/INFORMATION CHANNELS Social media (Facebook, Twitter) The school has accounts with Facebook and Twitter has a facility where we can send text Twitter. messages to cell phone numbers that are sub- scribed to the school’s Twitter feed. This may be a low cost way of sending text or instant messages. Telephone (POTS - Plain Old Telephone Ser- The school is part of the Parish Rectory tele- vice) phone system. The Rectory takes care of the service requirements. Local phones in the school is in certain locations such as the School Office, the Principal’s Office, and other offices. Phone Broadcast Calls The school used to employ the services of a With mobile becoming ubiquitous, texting and automated phone calling company to help email messaging are more cost-efficient ways dessemminate information on such events as of accomplishing the same task. school closures and other emergencies. This was discontinued because of the high cost of the service.
COMPUTERS & COMPUTING DEVICES Computer Lab: iMacs The iMacs are in quite good shape and will As we push towards a 1:1 device/student ra- probably give a few more years of service. See tio, this will be the last generation of desktop Appendix for current inventory. computers. To lengthen the useful lives of these comput- ers, we recommending increasing computer memory (they currently have 2 GB apiece) and replacing the hard drives with SSD (Solid State Drives). See Master Technology Schedule Spreadsheet.
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COMPUTERS & COMPUTING DEVICES Portable Lab: MacBooks MacBooks (mid-2010) are in surprisingly Similar to the desktop computers above, we decent shape. Battery life is quite decent at can squeeze more life out of these by install- around 5 hours. ing more RAM and replacing the hard drives with SSDs. We should continue retaining a cart of Mac- Books for classes that require more comput- er resources (such as Yearbook and Graphic Design). Should there be a need for larger screens, we can purchase inexpensive LED panel monitors to meet that need. See Master Technology Schedule Spreadsheet. School-issued staff computers Some teacher MacBook computers are getting Establish replacement schedule for note- quite old. Some of these date back to 2006! books. Most of the staff notebook computers See Inventory of School Technology Equip- already have added RAM. We recommend re- ment placing the hard drives with SSDs to get more years out of these units while slowly replacing the older units on the schedule prescribed in the Master Technology Schedule Spreadsheet. See Master Technology Schedule Spreadsheet. Mobile Lab: iPads iPads are deployed on a 1:1 ratio in the 4rd We have placed the iPads on a replacement and 4th grades. 2nd grade has a 2:1 ratio. Kin- schedule. dergarten and 1st Grade each have 14 iPads. See Master Technology Schedule Spreadsheet. Mobile Lab: Others Microsoft Surface tablets (pilot program)
15 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE COMPUTERS & COMPUTING DEVICES Mobile Lab: Chromebooks Chromebook cost $200-$300 each. They are definitely underpowered and are dependent on an Internet connection. Aside from access- ing the Internet through Google’s Chrome brownser, they use web applications such as GoogleDocs and Microsoft’s Mobile Office suite (may require a subscription). Because of they are relatively inexpensive, Chromebooks will help ease budgetary pressures. We recommend a two-tiered notebook sys- tem. Chromebooks should be utilized for most web-based computer learning tasks while the MacBooks will be relegated to higher, more computer-intensive applications such as graphic design, yearbook, and other applica- tions that demand a more substantial comput- er. Chromebooks will be introduced into the 5th and 6th Grades, and eventually to 7th and 8th Grades. However, we also recommending evaluating the results of having Chromebooks in the 5th & 6th grades after the first year of their deployment to gauge the durability of the devices as well as their effectiveness as educational tools. We highly recommend evaluating this new program at the end of each school year. Because of their inexpensive nature, we are uncertain whether these devices will have the longevity and durability of the MacBooks. Google Apps for Education FAQ:https://sup - port.google.com/a/answer/139019?hl=en See Master Technology Schedule Spreadsheet.
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COMPUTERS & COMPUTING DEVICES
Printing Monochrome laser printers are so inexpensive Most monochrome printers (even the inex- they are becoming more distributed across pensive ones) have a duplex printing feature classrooms. that allows printing on both sides of a sheet of The school shares one color laser printer lo- paper. To save on paper use, we recommend cated in the Computer/Technology Lab. always purchasing a printer with this feature. Also, we need to continue emphasizing the need to conserve paper use. (See also Consumables: Paper.) Multimedia (includes digital cameras, video The school has a bevy of digital and video cameras, etc.) cameras available for students to use on their projects. Platform support The school supports primarily Mac OS X and With the introduction of Chromebooks, the iOS devices. school will support 3 operating systems. Since we only have one Technology Coordinator, we recommend limiting the computing platforms supported to this number.
17 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE COMPUTERS & COMPUTING DEVICES Do desktop computers still have a place in While a lot of their functions are being sup- See “Computer Lab: iMacs” on page 14. education? planted by mobile devices such as notebook computers and tablets, the desktop computer does still have a place in education. Its relative durability compared to notebooks means it has a longer lifespan than notebooks (which by their nature are much more frag- ile). Also, desktops are generally faster than notebooks of the same era. The school’s iMacs also has larger screens which makes working on them far more productive for such tasks as yearbook design and composition. Finally, there is a plateauing of CPU power requirements. Aside from video, most appli- cations can be capably run on the school’s iMacs. SmartBoards, Elmos, etc. Expected lifespan of Smart Boards and Elmos We are assuming a 10-year life for the Smart- 7-8 years, 10 yrs with replacement parts Boards though they may last longer. 2017-19 are critical years as most of our SmartBoards will be a decade old and may have to be re- placed. We recommend replacing any Elmos that have died out with used units that are available at a small fraction of the cost of a new one through eBay or other sources. See Master Technology Schedule Spreadsheet. Projected Hardware Outlays & Costs (including See Master Technology Schedule Spreadsheet. costs for maintaining & repairing hardware) Consumables: Paper Each student is asked to bring a ream of paper Require students to bring 2 reams of paper at at the start of each school year. the start of each school year (for grades 4 and up).
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COMPUTERS & COMPUTING DEVICES Lease vs. Outright Purchase Guidelines We had leased our current MacBook note- After discussions, we opted to not pursue the book cart and purchased it at the end of the leasing option primarily because of the 14.9% lease. The lease rate was 14.9%. lease rate. Instead, having the 5th Graders “own” their devices into 8th Grade will help keep our de- vices fresh and continually updated. We wish to acknowledge Chris Henggeler for his help in allowing us to discern the differenc- es between leasing versus outright purchase of equipment.
ADMINISTRATIVE/STAFF SOFTWARE Specialized School Software: Powerschool The school uses Powerschool, an integrated Powerschool has a feature which allows student database application that stores regis- parents and families to amend and/or update tration information, grading data, attendance, their information. Changes We recommend among others. activating this feature to lessen the tedious Previously, the school had hosted Power- data entry task of updating family informa- school inhouse but with rising server and ad- tion. ministrative requirements, it decided to join a local Catholic schools consortium run by Steve Deibert of School Data Power Solutions, LLC. Parent and teacher have online access through an encrypted connection. The annual cost to maintain Powerschool is between $8000-$11,000, depending on what additional services we request. Administrative Software 1. Microsoft Office 2. Adobe Creative Suite Cloud Computing Software 1. Dropbox (free version) 2. Google Docs
19 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE THE CLOUD: SERVER-BASED STORAGE Students Google Apps and USB flash drives. Six months- fter a student graduates, the Technology Coordinator deletes the student’s Google Apps account. The six months allows the time for the student to offload files stored in the account. Teachers and staff Google Docs, Dropbox, and USB flash drives, While out long-lived server has proven its plus an antiquated local server. resiliency, we should not tempt fate and plan on moving the server to a newer machine (al- ready purchased) as time and priorities allow. However, having inexpensive options in exter- nal cloud-based storage (such as Google Apps) makes this less necessary than it has in the past. The advantage of having a local server stems from the speed in uploading or down- loading large (such as video) files.
MEETING (AND EXCEEDING) STANDARDS Common Core With this current Technology Plan, we an- OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public ticipate that the school will meet or exceed Instruction) Common Core and OSPI standards. STEM
TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM Preschool Kindergarten Grades 1 & 2 Grades 3 & 4 Middle Junior High
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TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM Desktop publishing, graphic design, web de- The Adobe Creative Suite CS3 is 3 versions old. Because of the excessive cost of replacing this sign The new version is costly. The current version piece of software, we recommend continuing has all the basic features and still works in the to use the CS3 suite. It has most of the func- most current operating system versions. tionality of the latest version. Students who use this version should have no problem using the latter versions. There are less expensive alternatives to some of the applications in the suite. Yearbook Program The Yearbook program continues using Adobe See above. Creative Suite CS3. Robotics Elective The Robotics Elective class will be on its sec- Establish a stipend to allow students and ond year. The program has two Lego Mind- teachers to attend more meets. storm kits and 16 students this year. The class plans to attend the Archdiocesan Robotics Extravaganza early in the spring. Multimedia STEM Programs For the 2015-16 school year, the school pur- Evaluate and iterate. chased materials to start the STEM program. Among these: • The Finch Robot http://www.finchrobot. com • Engineering is Elementary EIE http:// www.eie.org/engineering-elementary/ our-EiE-curriculum-products • Snap Circuits http://www.snapcircuits.net/ products/product_sub/educational_ver- sions=NzM • Carolina Kits http://www.carolinacurricu- lum.com/GEMS/Kits/K-5.asp Computer languages Having the Chromebooks will allow the school Keyboarding/Computer Input Keyboarding used to be taught but has not opportunities to teach computer languages as been for a few years. well as keyboarding. 21 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE TRAINING State of technology savvy In order to utilize the technology we have at To use the technology we have or will have, our disposal, teachers and staff have to be the School needs staffmembers to know how know how and when to use the technological to use all these technologies! resources at their disposal. We recommend: However, the state of technological knowhow 1. Encouraging staff to learn more about tech- among staff and teachers are mixed at best. nology. Some staff members are not technologically savvy. From the survey sent out to teachers 1. Send staff who need it to training. and staff, there is a thirst for more training to 2. Have a computer boot camp at the start of not only know the basics but to get the most each year. use out of the technologies we have in the 3. Have regular mini in-services. school. 4. Establish a peer mentoring system among Basic skills baseline: staff members where more tech savvy staff • knowing how to navigate a computer’s file members can serve as mentors. or folder system 5. Create a local intranet resource with curat- • basic Microsoft Office knowledge ed links to free YouTube and other training videos. Continuing education Resources: • Puget Sound Educational Service District http://psesd.org • Bureau of Education & Resourceshttp:// ber.org/ • National Council for Computer Education http://www.ncce.org/ • NCEE Tech Conference will be held in Se- attle from Feb. 24026, 2016http://www. ncce.org/attend
Intranet repository of training materials (in- See above. cluding external links)
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PROCUREMENT PROCESS Hardware Establish a procurement protocol Software 1. Establish a threshold value where the pro- Services curement protocol kicks in. We suggest a threshold value of over $1,000. 2. Solicit quotes from at least 3 companies (if possible). 3. Companies connected to parish families must be fully disclosed to avoid any appear- ance of a conflict of interest. 4. Choice of vendor and manufacturer would be a mix of price, reputation, service, and compliance with EPEAT or similar environ- mental standards. 5. Recommend to the Parish Finance Commit- tee that the parish establish a Purchase Or- der/Voucher system to facilitate purchases. Currently, staff members are reimbursed for purchases they make on their own personal credit cards. 6. For computer hardware, consider alterna- tives such as refurbished or used comput- ers. Also, where possible, practice opportu- nistic purchasing.
23 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE SECURITY Device security While MacBooks and iPads are less suscepti- Increase staff awareness to and educate them ble to malware, they are not totally immune. on vectors for malware, including: • phishing emails. Emails supposedly from banks, government authorities, credit card companies trying to compel recipients to enter their login names and passwords into bogus sites. • Trojans. Compelling a user to install a mali- cious app in their computer. • drive-by website infections. Some websites infect just by being visited. Vectors include but are not limited to Flash, Java, and Javas- cript. • infections may also turn computers into zombies to become part of botnets • Social engineering. Fooling someone into granting a person access to their account(s) or computer(s). School software security Powerschool access is encrypted. However, • Avoid weak user (staff/teacher) passwords weak passwords may be a problem. • Avoid password sharing. Create a new ac- count/password combination instead. Backups Staff computers back up to a central Network Backup policy for vital school systems (i.e. Access Storage (NAS) system. PowerSchool) as well as less crucial devices such as individual computers and devices. Ensure that all devices back up to a school NAS system. Lost data is difficult or impossible to get back.
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SECURITY Policies for 3rd party vendors (i.e. online cred- The school does not a written policy. We recommend setting written policies for it card processors for activities such as Auction how to securely deal with 3rd party vendors and Magazine Drive) as well as safeguarding school data entrusted to us as a result of these activities. Parent Administrators. Password sharing and weak passwords are two common practices that should be discouraged. 3rd Party Vendors. Ensure that vendors meet or exceed industry standards to safeguard school data and information. Online tuition and other school payments The Rectory uses Vanco Services and is re- We are moving to FACTS next year. FACTS will sponsible for this area. give the school a more comprehensive look into what funds are coming into the school, from what sources, and other pertinent infor- mation that the Vanco system was unable to produce. Privacy policy The school does not have a written privacy The school should have a written privacy poli- policy. cy that shows what data is collected, how the data is used, and how and whether it is shared with other parties. It should serve as a frame- work on how data now and in the future. While we strongly feel that the school (and the parish) should have a privacy policy that safeguards the privacy of the students, this is beyond the scope of this Technology Plan since it is a schoolwide, parishwise, and possi- bly, an archdiocesan-wide issue.
25 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE ECOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS Laudato si - using technology in a responsible Pope Francis has called upon all of us to as- We should choose technology through the way sume our roles as stewards of Creation. filter of environmental stewardship: • worker wellbeing • manufacturing processes • expected device lifespan • energy usage • recyclability Wherever possible, we should look into ex- tending the useful lives of technology by ret- rofitting and repairing rather than replacing. Disposal methods for surplus, obsolete, or Complies with Washington State Law on prop- broken technology er disposal of technology
ETHICAL ISSUES Intellectual and academic honesty in technol- The proliferation of content on the Internet As a Catholic school, it only follows that we ogy - use of properly licensed technologies has led to a cavalier way of “borrowing” con- hold ourselves to this high standard of re- tent such as photos, images, music, videos, specting the rights and property of content and other content without any consideration creators and refuse to succumb to what “oth- to the rights of the ones who created the ers are doing”. content. Statement on Internet plagiarism, proper cita- Extend intellectual dishonesty policies to tion and acknowledgement of sources, proper explicitly encompass Internet and other digital grant of permission for usage of copyrighted content. Attribute and cite where attributions material and citations are warranted. Ask permission where it is required. We respect.
EXTERNAL/EXTRACURRICULAR TECHNOLOGY-RELATED ACTIVITIES Lego Robotics FLL (First Lego League & Junior We had a Lego Robotics after school program Nurture more parent volunteers and mentors First Lego League) for the past two years. Changes to the volun- to fill need and interest. teer parent coordinator’s job schedule this year has unfortunately mothballed this pro- gram. 26 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE
EXTERNAL/EXTRACURRICULAR TECHNOLOGY-RELATED ACTIVITIES Seattle App Academy Seattle App Academy has after school classes available in their facility two blocks south of the school campus in Jefferson Square. Harnessing the Mindcraft phenomenon Kids are wildly interested in Mindcraft. Devel- opers have taken advantage of this phenom- enon to teach computer languages utilizing Mindcraft. https://medium.com/coding-kids/teach- ing-with-minecraft-8e6156272fcd http://minecraftedu.com Harnessing and incorporating the Maker Faire Convert the Technology Lab into a Maker Lab. movement into the curriculum including Rasp- berry Pi and Arduino platforms as well as 3D printers
KEEPING THE PLAN RELEVANT Identifying relevant trends in technology Mostly done through peer consultations from Formalize the process through the Technology other schools, periodicals, and other informa- Advisory Committee. tion sources, consultations and conversations Re-evaluate the plan every year to make sure with parents in the tech industry. that elements continue to be relevant. Analyze, review, and iterate. Repeat.
THE TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE Membership The membership of this committee should be a mix of teachers and parents interested in how technology empowers the education process. Members will work with the Tech- nology Teacher Subcommittee to renew this Technology Plan.
27 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE THE TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE Technology Teacher Subcommittee Appoint two or three teachers with a tech- nological bent who will help identify new horizons in education from a technology and education standpoint. Identify new devices, software, apps, and training. Institutional Memory Holy Rosary School has a wealth of institution- Utilize institutional memory to avoid repeat- al memory in its staff, parents, and families. ing the mistakes of the past. Should we codify what we know for our successors? Should we encourage those who “graduate” to become founts of wisdom?
TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANTS Use There are instances where the technological Continue to employ technology consultants knowledge of the committee is found wanting. when the expertise required is beyond the In the past, the school has used consultants to scope of the Technology Coordinator and/or bridge that knowledge gap. volunteers cognizant of the fact that this will tax the Technology Budget.
OTHER ISSUES BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) Policy: Consult Family Handbook. Students BYOD: Staff Use guest WiFi unless there is an official need to be in the school network. BYOD: Parents & Families Unless there is an official need (i.e. Fundrais- ing activities) that require access to the school network, parents’ and families’ devices should be relegated to the guest WiFi network. Social Media: Keeping our students safe Topic is touched upon in the Technology and Pertains particularly to middle school and Library classes. junior high students. Reach out to SPD Com- munity Officers to have an annual seminar to keeping safe online.
28 WHERE WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE
OTHER ISSUES Password policy for school’s systems Require that along with the Tech Coordinator, the principal also have the master password for all of the school’s systems. We cannot stress the importance of security and redun- dancy enough.
29 MASTER TECHNOLOGY SCHEDULE
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 SUMMARY
PROJECTED TECHNOLOGY INFLOWS
From Technology Fee (Schedule A) 33,280.00 35,700.00 37,800.00 37,800.00 42,000.00 42,000.00 42,000.00 270,580.00
Annual Fund 0.00
School Budget 0.00
Auction 0.00
Centennial Campaign 0.00
Bequests/Estate 0.00
Others 0.00
Total Inflows 33,280.00 35,700.00 37,800.00 37,800.00 42,000.00 42,000.00 42,000.00 270,580.00
PROJECTED CAPITAL EXPENDITURES
A. Replacement of Existing Technology
Lab iMacs (Schedule B) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
MacBooks (Students) (Schedule B) 0.00 3,836.00 23,016.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 26,852.00
MacBooks (Staff) (Schedule B) 9,644.80 16,878.40 0.00 1,205.60 0.00 0.00 9,644.80 37,373.60 iPads (Schedule B) 0.00 0.00 3,485.28 27,882.24 30,786.64 0.00 0.00 62,154.16 iPad minis (Schedule B) 0.00 0.00 14,609.68 471.28 0.00 0.00 0.00 15,080.96
Interactive Whiteboards (Smart Boards) (Schedule B) 0.00 0.00 10,960.00 16,440.00 38,360.00 0.00 5,480.00 71,240.00
Refurbish Old Computers (SSDs, added RAM, etc.) 8,987.20 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 8,987.20 (Schedule B)
Others
Reserve Account (to account for lost/damaged equipment)
Total Replacement 18,632.00 20,714.40 52,070.96 45,999.12 69,146.64 0.00 15,124.80 221,687.92
0
B. Purchase of New Hardware 0
Lab iMacs 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00