Oct 18

Written by: Michael MacNaughton
10/18/2011 1:30 PM 

I attended the DISD presentation to the Information Technology Focus Group at Thomas Jefferson High School (Ed Conger, Principal) last evening from 6:00pm to 10:00pm.  There was a quick power point presentation and related handout that roughly prioritized I.T. projects; new organizational structure in the department; and a list of goals and objectives.  I have requested all of the documents and related research from both DISD and the vendors present and will post them here if and when I receive them. Here is the hand-out used in the exercises.

In general, the I.T. department under Gray Salada seems energized and excited.  They are faced with monumental problems at a time when we are not out of e-rate "jail" so cannot really count on a cost of 12 cents on the dollar for infrastructure projects yet.  DISD has no choice but to move forward but must do so carefully.

After the presentation we broke into 3 groups of about 10 members each to choose from a list of DISD goals to organize by priority (internet safety? Infrastructure? Computer refresh rates? LAN/WAN? Etc.)  I was at a table with one mom (in the computer industry) and 5 librarians and teachers.  I asked them to rank their priorities without my vote as they are the ones that have to use this stuff daily.  The folks that participated were genuinely engaged and engaging and are trying their best to provide meaningful input.

The ranking of the priorities was interesting but essentially an exercise in futility - taking a survey of the mostly uninformed using jargon and rather vague definitions of objectives was an exercise in "feel good" with little valuable takeaway.

The second exercise was more interesting - "What didn't we see on the list that we would like to add?"

Our group came up with (1) How does this move the needle on student achievement?  (2) What problems are you really trying to solve? (3) How are you going to measure the efficacy and effectiveness of the vendor programs you are purchasing? And (4) Who is going to train the teachers; train the students; and integrate this into the lesson plans?

Each table had to present to the group and our teachers received a good round of applause.  I had a long conversation with Gray afterwards; thanked him for his outreach; and urged him to think outside his department to the "whys and hows" of his objectives and goals.  It was evident that the projects will keep the I.T. department busy and employed but to what purpose?  The devil is really in the details.

The building of the optical cable network is plausibly the best solution but several members of other groups did not think so.  $38M over ten years is supposedly cheaper than what we are paying now for connectivity but there are ripple effects that may bite DISD later.  ATT cannot be happy that DISD is using a private company to build out this network.  The new digital classrooms are the same whiteboard and clickers that have been installed and used in other private schools for the last 11 years.  Here I have some insight. At my daughter's old high school there was initial adoption of the technology tools and an excitement that eventually waned giving way eventually to a lack of use of bits of the system (the microphones and clickers)  after just two years.  The shininess of the new toys wore off.  The overhead projectors and whiteboards are probably a good idea but the vendor representative said that he will be the one to train the teachers and principals how to use the new technology.  The "research" provided by the vendor supposedly says that this is good for the students when integrated into the daily curriculum. Who is going to integrate this into the curriculum?  Oops, another detail set to the side while everyone plays with the new toys. The administration allowed principals to cut librarians and the librarians are the ones who teach the kids how to use the hardware, software and to evaluate information on the web.  That is a serious mistake that must be corrected.

All in all we need to move forward with core infrastructure modernization; data normalization and stewardship; classroom computer upgrades and white boards. Internally, management needs lessons on contract and license negotiations and an ability to see the final goal clearly - moving the needle on student achievement in a meaningful and quantifiable way.