February 2006 — MacAdemic/Mac Educator

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Enter the Tech Director

by Larry S. Anderson

And after all that? “It’s my job to give them guidance and leadership as they complete the projects,” Reed says.

Back-End Backup

While a hands-on approach is invaluable, Joseph Morelock, director of Network and Information Systems for the Canby School District (OR), stresses the importance of building and maintaining the proper infrastructure to ensure that students and teachers thrive. By paying careful attention to back-end issues, Morelock works toward making in-classroom success becomes the norm.

“From kindergarten students creating PDF alphabet books using iPhoto to share with their parents at ‘School Night at the Apple Store,’ and sixth-graders involved in iMovie projects that highlight their research of the solar system, to high school students editing video yearbooks using Final Cut Pro, I’ve never ceased to be amazed at what’s possible,” raves Morelock.

AT the school and classroom level, technology directors help establish and maintain an environment of sucess through hands-on leadership, back-end support, or a skillful combination of both.

Meanwhile, Morelock monitors those key issues that demand not just technical expertise, but a decision-maker with direction. In his district, every building has Apple Xserve with authenticated logins for staff and students, offering them server space to store their work. While such tools make for enriching experiences, Morelock plays a vital behind-the-scenes role: ensuring that the entire operation all functions and remains scalable and manageable for student population growth, and that teachers can make certain that students stay on task in their studies.

To do this, Morelock uses Apple Remote Desktop, which enables him to assist staff when they run into problems by taking control of their machine remotely to show them a solution. He can also run inventory and informational reports on hardware configurations and software installations. And he can allow instructional staff, if they so desire, to monitor student computer use on all 50 computers in the library concurrently.

Mission-Critical Priorities

Hopkins School District 270 (MN) operates a successful 1-to-1 iBook laptop program for 40 faculty and 650 students in grades 4-6. Tim Wilson is the district’s technology integration specialist. While his methods combine Reed’s hands-on style with Morelock’s back-end approach, he never loses sight of the district’s overall vision and purpose.

“The first priority of a school district’s information technology department must be to support the district’s educational mission,” says Wilson. “That means choosing technologies that best support student learning while simultaneously building a reliable infrastructure.” With the right technology tools, Wilson sees a palpable release of student creativity in the classroom. This, he believes, goes a long way toward establishing and maintaining a level of intense, academic engagement that leads to improved achievement scores, in addition to meaningful learning experiences.