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K-12 Superintendent, reformed IT guy, educator, 1:1 evangelist, life long learner, father, husband, geek, ex self-propelled field artillery turret mechanic, GCT, CCTO, INFP

Random Thoughts on SBAC Preparedness

Just a random thought exercise. By no means definitive.

  • Internet Bandwidth – 100Mbps per 10,000 kids. (SBAC Tech Specs)
  • School WAN connections to the District Office – 250Mbps-1Gbps (more is better)
  • Campus Backbones – 1Gbps, 10Gbps if you can (again, more is better)
  • Bandwidth Shaping at the Firewall
  • A Wireless Access Point in every classroom. 4-5 in the Gym/Multi-Purpose Rooms
    • Look for low cost, high value, easy to setup and support, should not require a certification in wifi to manage
  • An online, platform agnostic collaboration suite. Preferably free – I’m partial to Google Apps for Education
  • Devices for teachers – See “In A Perfect EdTech World“
  • Student Devices (Goal should be 1:1)
    • 1:1 Take Home – iPads. Management overhead in a shared cart model is problematic.
    • 1:1 Classroom Cart Model – Ubermix 11.6″ Notebooks  or Chromebooks
    • Shared Classroom Cart Model/Library/Learning Labs – Chromebooks
    • 1:1 Take Home With No Internet – Ubermix 11.6″ Notebooks
    • K-2 Learning Environments and Special Ed – iPads
    • 3-8th SBAC (Cal-MAPP) testing – Chromebooks or Ubermix 11.6″ Notebooks
    • In A Perfect SBAC Free 1:1 World – A tablet or every student with Chromebooks sprinkled throughout the classrooms
  • PD – The Elephant In The Room, as Dr. Vollmert likes to say.
    • Basic Tech Skills
    • Online Collaboration and Creation Skills
    • Content Search and Acquisition Skills
    • Technology Integration Into Daily Instruction Skills
    • EdTech Departments – Need a Cadre of Instructional Support People to help teachers and administrators develop these skills
  • Tech Support – The Hippopotamus In The Room
    • Site Techs – One for every 3-13 sites isn’t going to cut it anymore
      • 1 Per Comprehensive High School
      • 1 Per every two Middle Schools
      • 1 Per every 3-4 Elementary Schools
  • Sustainable Funding
    • No more school by school technology purchases
    • No more “one time money” tech planning
    • Need scheduled refresh cycles – student devices have a three year shelf life
    • LCFF lets districts set priorities, make sure sustainable equitable access to technology is one of them

What did I miss?

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2 responses to “Random Thoughts on SBAC Preparedness”

  1. jgreenlinger Avatar
    jgreenlinger

    Andrew, thanks for the Joyce-esque stream of consciousness. I am like you, my mind is swimming with all types of junk getting ready for SBAC while still trying to stay true to our teaching and learning goals. As a former principal of a school that successfully fundraised A LOT for technology and current director of technology for the district, I am really struggling with the idea of one school having SMART boards and iPads, while others are still using Dell GX280s and CRT monitors. I feel a blog post of my own coming….

    Reply
  2. pop art Avatar
    pop art

    Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Chrome. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The style and design look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Kudos

    Reply

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