There is no box

thinking out loud about technology, education and life

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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

Category: Commentary

  • VDI: These Aren’t The Desktops You Are Looking For

    One of my presentations at CETPA last week was “1,000 Desktop View” and it was all about how I’ve inherited a 1000 VDI desktop environment running VMWare View. At some point I may write a longer post on the topic but for now here are my slides from the presentation and if you’re a school…

  • Continuum: Putting The SciFi Back Into SyFy

    I just finished watching the first season of Continuum and man, do I miss good SciFi. Set aside the fact that the basic plot for the show revolves around time travel (paradoxes be damned!) and I’m reminded of how good science fiction can be at exploring the social issues of the day. Continuum is a canadian produced…

  • Citizen Schwab

    This weekend, I’ve been recovering from last week’s CETPA annual conference in Monterey. I made it through my four presentations on Wednesday and managed to spend a good amount of time perusing the vendor floor Thursday. What struck me most was the ever so subtle shift of perspective happening in the community. BYOD and 1:1 is just around the corner.…

  • I Just Submitted Two Sessions For The Annual CUE Conference

    Over the last few years I have presented at pretty much every regional CUE conference in central California; from the SV, CC, CV and Fall CUE events to the CUE Rockstar Teacher Tech Camp, I’ve lead sessions on saving IT costs, how to start a podcast and using Google Apps in the classroom to name just a…

  • #GTAMTV

    As I watch my friends and colleagues share out their Google Teacher Academy application submissions, I’m reminded of my first and second applications to the GTA. Both times I didn’t put much effort into my Video and both times I didn’t make the cut. On the third try I focused almost entirely on my video and by…

  • No iPhone 5 For Me! Why I’m Sticking With The 4S For Now

    This time lat year, I traded in my iPhone 4 for the 4S and I remember the difference being significant enough to have been totally worth it. Primarily the improved camera speed and not having to use a case to make a phone call were the big wins for me. Forgetting for a moment that…

  • Nation’s Report Card Implies Students Are in Trouble Come 2014

    I read this article today and what jumped out at me immediately was this passage: However, the percentage of eighth-grade students rated as proficient declined significantly. In 2007, the last time the writing test was administered, 35 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient or above, compared with 27 percent in 2011. However, the proportion of 12th-graders proficient and…

  • Google Apps for Education: Pros & Cons From An IT Guy

    I’ve been recommending schools go Google since 2007. Below is why, with some issues I’ve run into along the way. Pros: No more Outlook to Install. Ever. Web based, works with all browsers, even IE (not IE 6 though but you really should upgrades those. You know who you are) Real-time doc collaboration. You must…

  • I’m Not A Webmaster, I Only Play One On Squarespace

    My school district has a parcel tax renewal on the ballot this November and I gladly volunteered to do the web page for the campaign on my personal time. I started by building out a site in wordpress but quickly realized that while wordpress was a great blogging platform, for the uninitiated web designer, it was probably not…

  • Would Captain Kirk Ever Use A Rubric? I Think Not!

    Just when I thought I was done, they pull me back in. To the LEC Admin Boot Camp course that is. But that’s the wrong movie reference. More on that later. After having received an email titled Final Grade Update with all 3’s (the highest possible score) for my portfolio assignments, I was dutifully informed today that my final…