I See the Light!

Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! After 5 years of planning and researching the various ways available for educators to incorporate technology, I have only scratched the surface. I have kept cost and ease of maintenance at the forefront of any recommendations and decisions. One solution appears to rise above the rest - Google Apps!

The most difficult part of the task lies before me - rolling this out to the educators and students at Woodland Hills Academy. Training a group of students to help with the transition will make a difference. I have set up a help desk to get teachers accustomed to using the Internet to get help with hardware, software, and networking problems. This site is maintained by one other teacher and myself. I am certifying students as they demonstrate ability to address some of these problems. Once certified to perform a particular task, they can then be sent out to assist the teachers. Some of the tasks they can be certified to perform are,  provide Google Apps training to teachers and students, update software (operating systems, anti-virus, java, adobe, etc.), troubleshoot Internet/Intranet problems, and connect peripheral equipment (printers, doc cameras, projectors, digital tablets, etc.).

I am trying to keep all of the resources "Google-friendly." I'm finding that isn't too difficult. The one problem, however, that keeps popping up is the inability to run flash-based programs on iPod/iPad devices. We don't have the funds available to provide computers to all of our students. If we want our students to collaborate during the school day, they need to bring their own wi-fi enabled devices. That can also prove to be problematic due to the fact that we do not have wi-fi access at school. Teachers who wish to allow Internet access to their students during class time need to purchase a router or access point to set up for their own and/or student use. I hear that the school will be wired for wi-fi within the year. Keeping my fingers crossed!

This past week I have been going through the Google Apps Training. There are many wonderful resources assembled by Google just for this purpose. Knowing this information has already been put together and is readily available gives me hope that this upcoming roll-out is manageable.