Videoconference- Not very Distant and Not very Educational

A friend emailed me about a “humorous” situation with the videoconferencing machines in his district. He can dial any school within the district since those addressed have been pre-installed in the videoconference machines. He can only dial out to another non-district school when another teacher gives him her IP address. He cannot have other classes dial in. He has been told it will take hours to enable the dial-in feature. Apparently he is only to videoconference within the district, he should forget “distance learning”. Furthermore, he was told that he should only attempt a videoconference when a technician is there.

The question is who has the “control” in this situation? The teacher? The technician? The teacher probably will not want to pursue videoconferencing if it is such a hassle. On the other hand, the district is screaming because these expensive videoconferencing carts are not being used by the teachers.

Does the technology and technicians in your district support your educational learning experiences or do they serve as roadblocks? Can you quickly and easily set up and use your school’s videoconferencing unit or is it kept under lock and key? Can you videoconference with a school any place in the world or are you forced into videoconferencingly only within your own district?

© Harry Grover Tuttle, 2007

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Locked Down Laptops: Technicians vs Educators or Both Win-Win

A friend told me that his child goes to a 1-1 laptop school. He bought the computer for his child but the district locked it down when it installed the school software. He could not add a driver so that the child could print out at his office.

I borrowed an office laptop.  I do not have admin rights to change the printer so I cannot print in the office nor at home. I have to email the materials to myself and then use my wife’s laptop to print out the material.

A teacher bought the same laptop that the district has so she could use it in her classroom.  The district will not let her put her laptop on the district network.

I think the district technology director, technicians, and end users should sit down and have a healthy discussion about locked down laptops and other technology.  I understand security issues, viruses, management issues, and network concerns; I also understand the teachers or students desire to use their laptop for maximum teaching/learning.  I tend to go with technology supporting learning as opposed to technology blocking learning.

So how has your district provided both technicians and teachers/students with a win-win solution?