December 2011
4 posts
24 tags
A look back and forward...
Taking a look back in review for the year as things have really heated up where I work. It’s always good to take a moment and see what you have accomplished and where you are headed.
Probably the biggest trend that we have seen over the past 6-months is a major rise in the demand for iDevices. We are nearing 300 iPads and have about 10 to 15 iPod Touch and about 20 iPhones in our system now...
Standing on third
Day three of TETC. Just left a session on Digital Citizenship that was presented by twitterites @martypark and @2footgiraffe. Check out idrivedigital.com.
Now watching a teacher observation app presentation called Randa TOWER from www.randasolutions.com. This is a paid app from a Nashville-based company. It sounds as if the tool is customized for Tennessee standards but can be modified for other...
5 tags
Virtual Schools... a discussion
Sitting in on a roundtable discussion about virtual schools.
www.openhighschool.org Utah’s open high school project.
4 tags
Take me down to the paradise city... e-rate
I suppose you never truly get too much information on the e-rate program. So I am sitting in on a session hosted by the person who handles e-rate for Metro-Nashville Public Schools. I assume his requests are a bit larger than mine.
He includes his service providers on any PIA Review of the 471 Application.
He responds one last time once the review process is over and requests confirmation that...
November 2011
7 posts
3 tags
Session Full
Seeing lots of “Session Full” signs. I found myself in a session that is sharing online resources that can be in the classroom. I know a lot of these but what I am looking for are trends. I want to see common tools and/or themes across these tools that I may incorporate into our forthcoming new web portal. I am also watching others in the room and seeing their reactions to these tools.
Symbaloo...
3 tags
TETC
Firing up a new app called MOApp’s QuickTumblr to add this post to Tumblr. I’ll be posting what I find at the Tennessee Educational Technology Conference over the next three days… stay tuned.
on a merry go round...
I am in a meeting and we are talking data… pure chaos.
We have been asked to ensure the accuracy of data in various silos so that data from one silo can be moved to another. Easy enough, right? We move files and data all of the time… NO PROBLEM.
After 30 minutes of a chaotic discussion with different stories from different districts I think a few things are very obvious.
1. No one...
Fly...
Teaching Physics… Using Angry Birds.
http://m.good.is/post/atlanta-teacher-uses-angry-birds-for-physics-lessons/
Down Goes Frazier!
It’s an Apple device morning here at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville.
I am currently listening to a very quick overview of Lion Server and the built in Profile Manager. This is actually iPhone Configuration Utility built on a web server which allows you to push settings to a device over the network… iOs or Mac. If you are neck deep in iOs devices, you really need to look into...
Apple Education iPad Learning Resources →
... continuing on with iOs management
… just more notes from the meeting.
There may be some support in the future for in-app purchases via the VPP program. E-mail Todd Wellman with verbage of why we need this feature.
Listening to benefits of iCloud but these mostly benefit a device per person.
Minor reference made to the fact that most of us are deploying iOs devices in a shared environment rather than a 1-to-1 environment....
September 2011
2 posts
Another Application Flies
Just a quick check in.
I am sitting in on the initial viewing of our finance system sandbox environment. This is an initial look at our migrated data to the cloud hosted MUNIS Financial System. It has been a weird route to get here as many had to shed their fears of their data residing somewhere outside of our district.
Once live, we will only be working inside the system, not maintaining the...
8 tags
Moving forward...
Within the next year I am looking to tackle quite a few projects. Thinking out loud and looking for third-party input to maybe help me see things I haven’t thought about. All while sitting in on a meeting of technology directors talking about the future.
My largest school will have their technology refreshed and the amount of access will grow and lost likely at a fairly large rate.
will...
July 2011
3 posts
Nothing is "Safe"
We spend countless hours and tons of money trying to make our data safe. In the end, if “they” want it, “they” will get it. Essentially all we can do is try to make it as inconvenient and unimportant as possible in hopes that they will give up trying. Right now as I type, and as you read, someone is very close to getting something about one of us… feel better?
From...
3 tags
Samsung Windfall: All of South Korea's Textbooks... →
“South Korea will redefine primary school education within three years while creating a massive market for home-grown electronics.”
While the talk is ALL about “more technology” what is totally missed in all of this is what there will be LESS of. Get ready printer industry, you’re becoming an afterthought. It won’t happen a day too soon either. From cheap...
June 2011
1 post
Find value... innovate
It’s so easy to get lost in the sea of new technology gadgets, sales folks pitching software that will make all your students the smartest kids in the world and the daily break-fix routine. There is so much blowing around that wants to latch onto our attention… and dollars that sometimes we get lost in that frenzy and forget our basic premise as technology leaders in education; adding...
February 2011
2 posts
Mobile Devices at Work
I am sitting in a car dealership waiting on a friend who is closing the deal on a new vehicle. During the process I have been watching the car dealer operate with his iPhone. He has used the Internet, used what looked to be the Kelly Blue Book app which, my friend also used so… Touché! He also used his calculator and of course his phone.
My, my, my how things are changing so quickly. Here...
November 2010
3 posts
3 tags
App Review: Inventory Scanner
I may be on a roll here as I am now posting for the second day in a row which hasn’t happened in a long while. It’s another iPhone App today that I think is available for the Android as well. It is also another app that will save you money.
X07Brainiac’s Inventory Scanner is a free app to download and install on your device that allows you to scan barcodes and add custom...
5 tags
App Review: MotionX GPS Drive
Uhhh… I think the GPS market just saw the bottom drop out. For $0.99 you can have a full-featured GPS on your iPhone (or iPad)… yes that’s 99 cents! Well……. kind of. There is a $25 yearly subscription fee but after a few trips with this device I think I am sold. I still have a couple of weeks to think about it as that is when my initial 30-day free trial runs out but...
1 tag
October 2010
2 posts
Think about this...
I saw this from cnn.com today
“If you needed more proof that texting is on the rise, here’s a stat for you: the average teenager sends over 3,000 texts per month. That’s more than six texts per waking hour.”
More wired than we imagined
I want to say up front that I am as attached to being attached to a network and the rest of the world as anyone. Thus, if you see me without my iPhone then I am in the act of looking for it.
Yesterday while at Six Flags in St. Louis I stumbled past a group of about 20 Asian kids ages 15-20. They were all lined up along a stoop resting their feet a bit from the back and forth between the...
September 2010
6 posts
7 tags
AT&T 3G Network in Western Kentucky
I have been doing a bit of research on the future of the AT&T Cellular Network and their plans for 3G upgrades in western Kentucky. What I found has surprised me a bit. According to Howard Forums most of the work to upgrade a large portion of western Kentucky to 3G is complete. The hangup goes back to the days of Cingular. Here is what is posted on one of the forums:
… “When...
Around the Web
Well, well, well… there was more going on today on the ol’ Internet besides the unveiling of Google Instant and the new iPhone OS release (which I haven’t upgraded to yet). No sense in wasting time, let’s get rolling.
Adobe has been taking it on the chin of late and today was no different. The software company released a warning that there’s malicious code on the...
June 2010
3 posts
Hello from Boston
I am in Boston for a few days… actually I am in Dover, MA. My brother lives here. I was able to get into Boston for a few hours yesterday and do some street hiking. That was until the rain started… and I wasn’t prepared. By the time I made it back to Back Bay for the train out to Station 128 I was pretty soaked. It was fun though… I love exploring. I hope to get back into...
Digital Citizenship at IFL Conference
Marty Park is a member of the Kentucky Educational Technology System and a former CIO in a Kentucky public school district. Yesterday, at the Innovations for Learning conference in Fayette County (KY), he presented on digital citizenship and how schools can create an environment that fosters great digital citizens. Some of the highlights are listed below.
Change versus Improvement - Be willing to...
World in My Pocket Presentation
Here is the Google Presentation that I used to present at Fayette County (KY) IFL conference. Thanks folks for being a great crowd and for sharing your apps!
The World in My Pocket
http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=d9gzjkh_48f7krf3g5&invite=CPiM9vYM
May 2010
2 posts
8 tags
Live@edu: Notes from the end-user training
Sitting in Alexander Hall watching the end-user training for our upcoming migration from our in-house MS Exchange environment to a hosted Live@edu cloud service. This is a HUGE project as the entire state of Kentucky public schools will be moving to this service.
We have seen a few of the administrative training sessions and today we focus on the end-user portal service. With the new Outlook...
iPhone App: AD HelpDesk
I had posted about the AD HelpDesk iPhone app a few weeks ago… then we were bogged down with some major issues and projects at work and I am just now getting back to this. AD HelpDesk may be more promising than anything at this point. It does what it says but with more development this could become one great app for AD network administrators. The door is open and now let’s see where...
April 2010
3 posts
Dell Systems Management
- Louisville, KY. An overview of Dell Systems Management.
At this moment we are looking at the management console piece. These types of devices have become the norm but it appears that with Dell’s flavor du jour it’s the gateway to some hefty tools. Lots of management tools here even for non-Dell devices.
Definitely will be looking into this further. The basic tool is a free...
Active Directory iPhone App... YES!
Just stumbled across this app for the iPhone. Man, another tool for me! Will be trying this little baby out later tonight. Free to try and $4.99 for the full version.
VIDEO: Learning to Change, Changing to Learn
Just a video to give you something to think about.
March 2010
11 posts
TED Talk: Tim Berners Lee and Open Data
At TED2009, Tim Berners-Lee called for “raw data now” — for governments, scientists and institutions to make their data openly available on the web. At TED University in 2010, he shows a few of the interesting results when the data gets linked up.
Here is the TED Talk video “Tim Berners-Lee: The year open data went worldwide”
Lansweeper, A Great Inventory Tool
Our district has struggled with computer inventory for years. We just never could get the right process in place for the actual inventory of fixed assets. I was determined to find a free or very inexpensive automation tool that would help us with our task.
We tried Spiceworks and loved it… absolutely loved it! However, every time we would hit about 1200 to 1300 devices our server would bog...
8 tags
Gibson Learn & Master Guitar App
If you are a guitar player and an iPhone owner then the Gibson Learn & Master Guitar Application is for you! There is a lot packed into this app and to get what this app has to offer could cost you $5 or more with other apps. Gibson steps up and gives them all to you for free. I just downloaded it yesterday morning and I’ve been tinkering with it ever since… and loving it!
This...
8 tags
Book Recommendation: Grown Up Digital
I just want to jump in for a moment to make a book recommendation and share some resources. Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott is an incredible read that I recommend for anyone. If you want to better understand the youth of today then this book is a vital resource. Educators, human resource professionals, marketers and simply anyone who wants to understand better the demographic group consisting of...
8 tags
What Was I Waiting For? Air Mouse Pro
I have seen this app in the iPhone app store a hundred times. I have seen review after review that heralds its ability. So why did I keep putting off buying it? I don’t know but I now wish I had purchased it a long, long time ago.
I bought the Air Mouse Pro app today and have been using it in place of my optical mouse which has been causing me grief of late. I was instantly hooked with the...
5 tags
A Few Thoughts About Ed Tech in Kentucky
Fresh off another great KySTE Conference in Louisville, KY I wanted to share a few thoughts about technology in our state.
In Kentucky we do a lot of things as a team, statewide. We have state contracts for purchasing computers, network connectivity, networking hardware, printers, some software, technology surplus, and telephone systems. This helps districts with controlling costs but it also...
Shared Apps From the World in My Pocket Session
There were lots of apps shared from those who attended the World in My Pocket Session. Here is the list of those that I was able to get down in my notes. If you want to share more you can do so by leaving a comment below.
USA Free
Iheart Radio
USA Today
Trapster
iAssociate
hipstamatic
Echofon
Appshopper.com
Slydial
CBS Sports
TextFree
Faces Lite
Cardstar
Text Plus
Ispeak
Dish...
Thanks!
The presentation went fairly well yesterday. We had a full, SRO crowd who not only came to learn but also to share which apps they love as well. Thanks to everyone who came and I will be posting the list of apps that were shared a bit later. Thanks again!
9 tags
The World in My Pocket: Productivity
pro·duc·tiv·i·ty
The quality of being productive.
Economics The rate at which goods or services are produced especially output per unit of labor.
Ecology The rate at which radiant energy is used by producers to form organic substances as food for consumers.
“productivity.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin...
14 tags
The World in My Pocket: Reference Tools
Image via Wikipedia
Having information at your fingertips at all times is probably the greatest advantage of any smart phone. Anywhere that you have cell signal then you have access to information. What makes the iPhone so great is not the device itself, it’s the apps. There are tons of resource apps available for the iPhone and here is a sample of the ones that I use.
Analytics Lite...
4 tags
World in My Pocket: Imaging
I have to admit that I am not a huge “photo” kind of guy but I do take some photos with my iPhone and I have a few apps that help me take and edit photos… even though we all know the iPhone camera is one of its weaker offerings. So, here we go with the 5 applications that I use that can be listed under an “imaging” category.
CameraFlash ($0.99) - When you take a...