Technology & Learning - September 2007 - (Page 25)

OLBIZ Districts can also benefit from tools that target a specific slice of their assets. For instance, Neoware’s Device Manager allows a technician to stay on top of thousands of thinclient devices from a single location. Other companies that offer specialized asset management include NetSupport, SchoolDude, Absolute, and Truistic Solutions. manage financing and create customized tech plans around solid business models. 3. Digital Age Performance Assessment “What gets measured gets taught” is a maxim in education, and it helps explain why 21st-century skills receive more lip service than systematic instruction. This applies to classroom instruction and to assessing the performance of students and educators. One company that’s taken a pioneering approach to solving this problem is the international certification giant Certiport. Says CEO David Saedi, “There is a gaping hole in our educational system for measuring those things that lend themselves less to immediate and direct measurement.” Two years ago, the company instituted a monthly feedback form. Each month employees complete a simple selfrating form that covers 19 criteria grouped under the rubrics of productivity and effectiveness, communication, coordination, and collaboration. Then employees meet with their manager to compare their perspectives and set goals. “Frequently, we find a huge tie between where people feel they’re at and where managers feel they’re at,” Saedi says. “This gives us the opportunity 12 times a year, for guidance, mentorship, and a proactive learning environment.” Additional digital assessment tools have been crafted by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the nonprofit WestEd, the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, and Pearson’s National Evaluation Systems. 2. Business Plan There is never enough money, so how districts spend their money is critical. “Schools are very silo-driven,” says Intel K–12 Education Strategist Eileen Lento. “This is our textbook fund, this is our capital fund, and so on. When you buy a laptop, it can come loaded with content, so now you have something that’s historically been thought about as a capital expenditure mixed in with curriculum.” Lento encourages districts to develop a new perspective on financing technology that supports the key concepts of scale and sustainability. “Traditionally,” says Lento, “you must have a textbook for seven years. Well, you’re not going to have a laptop for seven years and, really, a great deal of content is stale in seven years, so scale and sustainability can be two big points of failure.” Alabama’s Auburn City Schools is a good example. In developing its one-to-one laptop initiative, it painstakingly created a 10-year funding plan. “Sustainability was so important to us,” says Debbie Rice, the district’s director of technology. “We needed a plan, and a way to pay for it. One of the funding models we used was a spreadsheet that looked at everything. We spread costs over a 10-year period based on what we know today.” Auburn’s 10-year plan emphasizes scaling up in the first years, and then transitions to sustainability in later years. “Our board actually wants the vision enlarged,” says Rice, “so we’re already working with our city on a tax initiative to help fund it.” For districts interested in taking a business plan approach, both hardware vendors and ed tech funding companies like RedRock Reports, Quarter Source, Funds For Learning, Thompson, and Education TURNKEY Systems can help 4. Security Assessment When it comes to security, schools have the same needs as any business. They need to filter content and e-mail. They need to monitor secure files, and certainly ensure the physical safety of students and staff. The main difference is resources. “Within the private sector you typically have a dedicated staff of people who can evaluate your security needs, your security vulnerabilities, and have the expertise to implement solutions,” says Bob Kirby, senior director for K–12 education at CDW-G. “The needs are the same, but schools often do not have the budget or resources.” To help schools in this area, CDW-G developed the School Security Index. Schools rate themselves on 14 different elements such as data monitoring, network access, student online protection, IT breaches, building access, and physical barriers. These self-ratings yield two scores—one for cybersecurity and one for physical security—that can be compared to norms established in a nationwide study of Technology & Learning September 2007 | 25

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Technology & Learning - September 2007 Contents Editor’s Desk News & Trends Product Guide Reviews Getting It Wrong Cover Story: SchoolBiz School CIO Higher Ed Integration How To What’s New Bottom Line

Technology & Learning - September 2007

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