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March 07, 2008
From the Director of Technology 3-7-2008
March 7, 2008
by Greg Beuthin
As you know, Russ and I will be leaving at the end of this school year. Russ will return to Los Angeles and continue his studies, and I will move to France with my wife to be closer to family who need care. As excited as we are about our new ventures, it is bittersweet, since our time at PHS has been marked by growth, challenges that have made us rise to the occasion, and great memories.
I'm in the middle of looking at job applicants to replace Russ and me, and interviewing people over the phone (and in person in the next couple of weeks). While I often wish Russ and I could have done more during our time here, it's during this new hire process that I realize just how much we actually have accomplished. We standardized student login, upgraded and maintained a sophisticated mail and calendaring system, and, this year, moved it in-house which saved us a lot of money. We acquired new hardware in the form of new computers for faculty and staff. We bought projectors, color and high-output black-and-white printers, and (finally) 6 student laptops.
This last is a small step towards the full classroom laptop cart that has been a dream at PHS for almost a decade, according to some teachers who have been here long enough to know.
We've introduced and supported a lot of new technology. The Filemaker database was just being implemented when I came aboard, and I've figured out that we increase our use of its features in leaps about every three months. We enroll students, print directories, take attendance, and reports grades with the system. Our use of the fundraising tool has expanded this year, and has made Namrata's reporting to the board easier and more reliable than ever. We're using, or introducing, several open-source applications, including Gallery2 for our image server, WikiMedia for our upcoming PHS History Wiki, and Drupal for our website revision.
We've focused on the basics, such as the infrastructure and daily use of technology, mainly because you cannot build an educational technology program if the technology doesn't work. We are in great shape now todevelop a supportable technology curriculum for the classrooms. So my focus for the new hires is to see what educational technology background they bring with them, their experience developing curriculum, and supporting teachers and students with tech projects in the classroom.
I see three roles that support the technology at Presidio Hill. The firstis tech management, making smart decisions about the technology priorities at PHS. The second is educational technology support, including supporting technology in the classrooms and the development of a technology curriculum.
The third role is tech support, maintaining and fixing the computers. No single person will be an expert in all three, and so we will have to identify which candidates are well rounded enough to do a great job with the skills they do have. Russ and I will put in a lot of effort during the slow tech period towards the end of the year (after Spring Break) to document and build-out a robust transfer plan for the new Director of Technology to ease the transition.
It's been a fantastic two years at PHS. I feel like I've learned as much as I've been able to contribute to the school. This is an amazing community, and I am as moved and touched by the students as the teachers are. I want all my TechSquad students to sign my PHS yearbook, for sure, and I know Russ wants their signatures too. I know that seeing the eighth grade graduation will make me cry. I've developed some deep friendships I know will continue past my sojourn here. It's not over yet, but so long and take care.
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