Welcome Back
Welcome Back to the 2017-18 school year. We hope you are getting settled and things are going well as you prepare for the student return on Monday. We wanted to share a few things with you about our summer projects and dates to put on your calendar.
As of July 1, the Technology Department is now part of Operations, the Digital Learning team has been moved to Academic Innovation and the Information Services is now part of Communication and Engagement. Although we are not in one department anymore we are still working closely to make sure you are support in all that you do at the school level so feel free to continue to reach out for emergencies through the Help Desk (helpdesk@johnston.k12.nc.us) - ext 1011 or enter tickets though SchoolDude for assistance when needed.
Thank you for your patience as we are doing our very best to get to all tickets in a timely manner.
Over the summer there were several projects that you might want to be aware of:
- We completed a Data Center Refresh (this completed the fixes from the hurricane last October)
- We deployed new servers at all Middle and High Schools and two elementary schools
- New school equipment installation and setup for SwiftCreek Middle and Innovation Academy
- We assisted with switching from Sharpschool to Blackboard as our website host
- Just a reminder all accounts are provisioned and your tech contacts should have rights to see staff and students in google as well as reset passwords for AD if you don't let us know so we can check your account OR help you get the training to get rights
- We also had some analytics done on our Google settings and have made a few adjustments to better align our settings with COPPA and CIPA compliance standards.
- We will no longer update the Digital Learning tools blog including the Web 2.0 Wednesday, and Google Tips. However, you will find similar posts on the new blog for Academic Innovation and you are encouraged to subscribe: http://thejocoreal.blogspot.com/
- Google has made 2 updates over the summer, so all chromebooks need to be updated using the small update arrow at the bottom right of your chromebook. You might have to do it twice to get to the latest version of Chrome. This arrow will offer to "Update and Restart" so it should be done when there is not an urgency to use the devices as it might take a few minutes to complete.
Meeting Reminders Please mark your Calendars!
BOY Media & Tech Contact Meeting*
AG Glenn Team Room
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
4:15-5:30 pm
EOY Media & Tech Contact Meeting*
AG Glenn Team Room
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
4:15-5:30 pm
*Both meetings are required to gain/maintain CTA rights. If you cannot attend, a rep from your school should be present.
Here is the Technician Schedule for 2017-18
If you need training of any kind please bring those needs to the BOY meeting so we can work to get a schedule together. (Resource Manager/Inventory, Coding, CTA training, etc)
If you are offering any training be mindful of the new Digital Learning Competencies. We are still working on a plan to we will insure our teachers and administrators get credits as needed in this area, but they are NOT tech tool trainings and you can not give credit for updating your website that is associated with this "type" of credit. It must be focused specifically on one of the 4 areas and centered on instruction.