Archive for October 3, 2008

Hiring database specialist

Position Title: DATABASE SPECIALIST
Department: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Reports to: DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Start Date: January 5, 2009
Full-time, Exempt

Catlin Gabel School is located in Portland, Oregon. Please apply at http://www.catlin.edu/employment/

Catlin Gabel School extensively and ambitiously incorporates technology into its academic environment as an education tool. Designed to continually pursue excellence in the development of student ability, individual creativity, and the enhancement of teaching practices, the Catlin Gabel technology program supports approximately 900 employees and students as they use 700 computers throughout campus. The school employs a team of skilled IT professionals and implements enterprise systems to support its operations. Catlin Gabel teachers and staff form a supportive community of professionals dedicated to individuality and lifelong learning.

POSITION SUMMARY
Administer the deployment, support, and maintenance of schoolwide database systems. Coordinate the use of database systems across campus. Provide database training and communicate professional development opportunities to administrative staff. Provide direct, general technical support to faculty, staff, and students.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES
•Manage schoolwide database systems and applications (primarily Blackbaud but also including Ceridian, AuctionPay, Follett Destiny, Nutrikids, open-source web applications, and others);
•Coordinate schoolwide database use with other staff members, especially the Schoolwide Education Edge Coordinator, the Development Services Manager, and the Admission Data Coordinator;
•Configure reports, exports, imports, and queries in response to division and department requests. Develop custom reports using Crystal Reports;
•Keep database systems up-to-date with latest patches and updates as appropriate;
•Maintain database integrity and security, including backup;
•Install and uninstall client and server database applications as needed;
•Assist users with data cleanup primarily through queries and search/replace;
•Support efforts to link web site and school database systems;
•Design data entry standards and monitor users’ adherence to them;
•Design and provide training to users of schoolwide database systems;
•Facilitate and encourage user access to third-party professional development opportunities;
•Create strategic plan for the evolution of database systems at Catlin Gabel;
•Evaluate new database technologies for their potential to support Catlin Gabel school operations;
•Integrate different database systems with an eye toward efficiency and practicality;
•Write and assemble documentation and training materials for the use of database systems;
•Troubleshoot and solve routine technical issues that faculty, staff, and students face;

SCOPE OF WORK
Manage schoolwide database systems, primarily interface with school administrative staff.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
None

INTERPERSONAL CONTACTS
Daily interaction with faculty, staff, students, department colleagues, volunteers, and vendors.

SPECIFIC JOB SKILLS
•Strong skills and direct experience with Microsoft SQL Server essential. Familiarity with mySQL for Linux, and FileMaker Pro desirable.
•Application of best practices to database design and maintenance.
•Prior experience with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge, Education Edge, and Crystal Reports highly desirable.
•Productivity applications including Microsoft Office. Ability to troubleshoot and resolve common Windows software and PC hardware issues. Ability to design and provide effective training to colleagues.
•Ability to articulate technical concepts and solutions to a diverse range of users;
•Capacity to cultivate collaboration and buy-in to schoolwide standards and practices;

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from an accredited college or university, or equivalent experience. Training in computer programming, systems analysis/design and/or management, with a minimum of five years of database management or equivalent experience. Experience with Blackbaud applications highly desirable.

WORKING CONDITIONS
Daily interaction with faculty, staff, parents, vendors, trustees, and volunteers. On-call for problems. If a mission critical job in the school is jeopardized by a system or network malfunction, the problem must be resolved as quickly as possible. This could take place during non-business hours.

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Catlin Gabel School believes that each employee makes a significant contribution to its success. That contribution should not be limited by the assigned responsibilities. Therefore, this position description is designed to outline primary duties, qualifications and job scope, but not limit the incumbent nor the organization to just the work identified. It is our expectation that each employee will offer his/her services wherever and whenever necessary to ensure the success of our endeavors.

Catlin Gabel is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce.

Student notes system

Teachers make dozens of observations daily about students but have little time to share them with their colleagues. Students benefit when teachers have detailed knowledge of their talents and needs, yet often students exhibit different patterns of study and learning in different classes. How may teachers use technology to share their day-to-day student observations with each other? Doing so deepens the personalization of student instruction, a distinguishing feature of independent schools. It becomes invaluable during teacher-parent conferences, when teachers summarize the student experience for parents and simultaneously collect so much new information. A school that emphasizes awareness of student learning profiles needs such a system, because

In a web-based world, the core functionality of such a system is pretty straightforward. We even piloted this functionality in Moodle using a standard discussion forum and restricted course enrollment. The system needs a database to store the comments and a front-end for posting and viewing.

student notes

The fun lies in configuring the details of such a system. We have so far added the following features.

  • Notes follow the student from year to year, so that institutional knowledge is retained.

  • Blog-like format — notes post in reverse chronological order.
  • Student and teacher lists pull from school database, so they automatically stay up-to-date.
  • Limit access to adults who currently have contact with student.
  • Flag student learning profile information so that it’s easier to find.
  • Expire sensitive posts shortly, so that teachers may share urgent information with lower risk of exposure.
  • Add second layer of password security so that system is not vulnerable to one lost password.
  • Require SSL to protect information from packet sniffers.
  • Each post generates an email notification to teachers, except when the teacher disables it or conferences are taking place.

Last year, we used such a system with two grades. Having declared the pilot a success, we have expanded the system to eight grades. Greater participation in the system has generated new, insightful teacher questions. Should we more narrowly define what kinds of information we post to the system? How does it alter the school’s legal liability to permanently store information in a mySQL database that was previously either shared by email or not recorded at all? How much additional structure should we add to the system to keep notes organized as they accumulate? Is limiting access to current teachers too strict, considering the other meaningful teacher-student relationships that exist?

I am excited to continue to study and modify

Sharing 340 Flip videos?

I am spending a little bit of time trying to find a way to convert Flip video files into QuickTime or FLV format for posting on our web sites. This is not really a how-to guide, but rather a snapshot into my (limited) progress with this task at this moment in time. Perhaps I will make more progress later, or one of you fine readers will post a comment detailing a more helpful solution!

Our seniors spent a morning at the pumpkin patch with their first grade buddies and took twelve Flip Mino video cameras with them. They captured 340 video segments!

video files

How may I produce one or more useful movies from these using the least possible effort? I don’t want to simply post the videos directly to a site like YouTube, because some of the content is likely to be private or exceed their posting limits. I also don’t want to require teachers to create YouTube accounts just to facilitate this conversion process.

Flip records in AVI format using 3ivx compression. If we go to QuickTime, we will want to convert into MOV format using H.264 compression. If we choose Flash video, then we will convert into FLV format (what does Adobe call their compression codec?).

Two issues are making this process more difficult for video than for audio. For one, Adobe and Apple can’t seem to get along — neither QuickTime nor iMovie has a FLV export feature, and I’m not about to insist that all of our teachers and students own a full copy of Flash to do this work. While some people suggest FilmRedux (formerly VisualHub) or FFMpegX, I have found these applications either too arcane for the average user or incompatible with either the import or export portions of this process. Is it possible that VisualHub used to have FLV export, but the SourceForge hosted version lacks that component?

QTAmateur
QT Amateur (converted files but can’t handle nested folders)

FilmRedux
FilmRedux (wouldn’t read 3ivx AVI or m4v files)

FFMPEGX
FFMPEGX (too many dependencies to foist on our users)

iMovie
iMovie (successfully reads 3ivx files, allowing users to edit first)

QTAmateur looked to be a good option to batch convert the files into a usable format before starting editing work, but then I found that it took a long time to convert files in QuickTime format, and QTAmateur was not able to reach into subfolders to convert files located in there. Since I have twelve cameras, many files have the same name and must be stored in subfolders as a result.

Good news: iMovie ’08 can use the video files straight from the Flip camera, once I have installed the 3ivx decoder that comes with the Flip (the software is stored within the camera memory). Given this, it may work best to do all of the clip selection and editing work in iMovie and postpone the task of format conversion to the end. This way, we are applying the time-intensive task of format conversion to the shortest length and fewest possible number of clips.

It will then be simple for a teacher or student to use iMovie’s built-in Share tools to export to QuickTime, YouTube, or iPhone.

share menu

What about posting a FLV file to one’s own web site? I don’t see a straightforward way to do this that would be easy for other users to follow. If it has become difficult to build FLV conversion into desktop software, then let’s push that task to the web site software, as YouTube does. This way, we won’t burden users with that problem.

Drupal may fulfill the role of YouTube in this case. I will have to remind myself what modules provide on-the-fly conversion of uploaded files to FLV (Video, FlashVideo, FFMPEG wrapper, what others?).

Windows users may have more options.

How fragile is the new MacBook?

Update January 3, 2010: It’s been over a year since the unibody MacBook was released, and I am pleased to report that they have held up very well! We have seen far fewer instances of case and hard drive damage than with the white MacBook model. Good work Apple, and please remember this in future redesigns!

I continue to wonder at the gulf between the needs of our student laptop program and Apple’s recent laptop releases. No kidding, they have won the heart of our kids, what with 80% of incoming ninth grade students choosing Mac over Lenovo both this year and last. At the same time, we have seen hardware repairs go way up, as kids drop the Macs, and they crack, dent, and break. I am a solid Apple enthusiast, but I also run a school technology program with pretty reasonable needs.

In recent years, we have cautioned parents and students away from the Aluminum MacBook Pro. Aluminum is a soft metal (it makes great foil and not so good jewelry). Most of our students (and teachers) who have the aluminum laptop have suffered dents and warps, some of which have increased stress on internal components and caused them to fail.

Now we have no plastic Mac to sell (at least once Apple’s inventory of white MacBook is exhausted). I recognize that the new aluminum case is cut from a solid piece of aluminum, but how will it withstand impacts? Will it still dent and ding? Will the hard drive, located right at the corner, take the brunt of the blow? I want to see crash test ratings!

The new glass screen face is another point of concern. We already experience cracked plastic screens, and now it’s covered by a layer of glass?

glass screen

Let me be clear. This is not our students’ fault, but their families get to foot the bill. If I had to move my computer from room to room ten times a day, mine would probably also get dropped or stepped on as well. Congrats to Apple for producing a machine likely to win the hearts of home users, graphic designers, and college students. That’s not enough for our students. We need toughness, too. Why won’t Apple produce a school-appropriate laptop?

Our “Mac tax” is currently $300. Families pay that much more to purchase a MacBook compared to a similarly equipped ThinkPad T61. The ThinkPad is more solid and comes with both a four-year warranty and accidental damage protection for the price. For the MacBook we start with a higher base price, pay a premium to get a four-year warranty that you can’t buy in stores, and then charge another fee to fund a limited, school-sponsored accidental damage protection program.

As the economy tightens, families are not going to accept this different much longer. We may end up with two tiers of laptop purchase, a Mac for those who can afford it, and a ThinkPad for those who want a tough machine for the money. I’m glad that my son is only in first grade.

Planning International Collaborations

Our middle school spanish teacher and I met with two staff members from Mercy Corps today to lay the groundwork for collaborations between Catlin Gabel students and schools in El Salvador and Guatemala. It quickly became apparent that we have at our disposal so many different options for how to take the first steps in that direction and subsequently deepen the relationships.

Spencer in Guatemala
Spencer at the Centro Educativo Maya Ixil in Chajul, Guatemala.

Despite our experiences working with schools abroad, we mostly have questions at this time.

  • When will a satellite-enabled cell phone or laptop modem become affordable enough that we can bring internet connectivity to a remote village in a developing nation and leave it there when we depart? When will video Skype become a standard feature on mobile phones?
  • When will the numbers of kids in developing countries who are online in social networks reach a critical mass, so that appreciable numbers from an individual school can spontaneously connect with our students? What happens when we realize that students have far more developed competencies for social networks than do the adults?
  • When should we choose to set up a teacher-teacher professional development relationship with a school rather than going student-student?
  • Is a highly organized, teacher-led, curriculum-based instruction still the best model for global school-school partnerships? At what point can we turn the leadership of the relationship over to the students, for example by setting up a private social network for the exchange and then letting the kids go at it?
  • What language-social studies teacher partnerships can we leverage within our school in order to provide both meaningful learning experiences for both second language acquisition and study of world cultures?
  • How far into our school’s core curriculum does a school’s global education program have to penetrate in order to be successful?
  • Most of our global relationships are due to the passion and commitment of a single teacher. How does one broaden responsibility so that the school owns the relationship, and it continues after the original teacher departs or alters his/her priorities?

    Spencer adds:

    I would add one piece to the last comment about broadening our commitment and having the school steward the relationship as opposed to the individual teacher. I really like the model of individual teachers creating and fostering these international relationships, but we do need some oversight on the bigger picture of how many relationships we can sustain and to which we can dedicate ourselves wholly. Some relationships will naturally form and also end in time. I think this is ok and logical.

  • Many quality ed-tech conferences this year

    I am excited to recruit more teachers to attend terrific ed-tech conferences, especially those focused on learning and located nearby. I sent the following list to my colleagues today in an effort to build interest and make plans.

    This year sees an unprecedented number of quality national conferences in educational technology both locally and further afield.

     

    K12 Online Conference
    October 13 – November 1
    100% Online
    http://k12onlineconference.org/

    This free, fully online conference marks its third year in October.
    Speakers record presentations in advance and then participate in online
    discussions on a predetermined schedule. All the presentations are
    archived for posterity. Most of the leading international figures in
    educational technologies have a hand in this one. Now all you need to
    do is to carve out some time to watch and participate.

    EduCon 2.1
    January 23-25, 2009
    Science Leadership Academy
    Philadelphia, PA

    http://educon21.wikispaces.com/

    SLA is a public school in Philadelphia with a progressive educational
    mission and many thoughtful uses of technology. Their principal, Chris
    Lehmann, has established a national reputation as an effective school
    leader, education technology blogger, and school reform authority. The
    school enjoys a partnership with the Benjamin Franklin Museum and
    enrolls an ethnically and socioeconomically representative sample of
    students from the city.

    EduCon is the school’s groundbreaking "unconference," where teachers
    and theorists facilitate participatory discussions rather than giving
    conventional presentations. They also took the groundbreaking step of
    broadcasting the entire conference via uStream last year, making it
    possible to attend and participate "virtually."

    Northwest Council of Computer Educators (NCCE)
    February 17-20, 2009
    Oregon Convention Center
    Portland, Oregon
    http://ncce.org

    This leading regional conference usually takes place in Seattle, so we
    are fortunate to have it in our own backyard this year. The conference
    boasts dozens of sessions and features nationally-known presenters. If
    you have an idea of what you are looking for, this conference is likely
    to offer it — new technologies from all of the main vendors, and
    teachers sharing their strategies.

    PNAIS Spring Teachers Conference
    April 20, 2009
    Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s School
    Salt Lake City, Utah
    http://pnais.org

    Imagine the fall teachers conference that many of us attend annually.
    Now imagine the entire thing organized around the role of technology in
    education. Keynoted by Ian Jukes, the day promises to focus on 21st
    century learners.

    Association of Computer Professionals in Education
    May 6-8, 2009
    The Resort at the Mountain
    Welches, Oregon
    http://acpenw.org

    This is the leading annual conference for computers in education in Oregon. Geared to technical professionals, this conference nonetheless contextualizes our work firmly in the context of teaching and learning. It offers an excellent opportunity to network with Oregon schools and build relationships with local vendors.

    PNAIS TechShare
    June 28-30, 2009
    The Resort at the Mountain
    Welches, Oregon

    TechShare features practitioner sessions from our peer schools in Oregon and Washington, including Lakeside, Northwest, Evergreen, Overlake, Billings, Meridian, FAIS, OES, and Seattle Academy. The participatory format and small size encourages lots of informal conversation and networking with our colleagues at other institutions. Participants stay at the resort for three days and two nights, and the sessions encourage your participation and ideas. The conference is divided into two strands, "teacher" and "geek." This year’s theme is "Small World," an exploration of tools and techniques that put our students in touch with peers and resources globally.

    Building Learning Communities (BLC)
    July 27-31, 2009
    Copley Plaza Hotel
    Boston, Massachusetts
    http://novemberlearning.com

    In 2008, Alan November succeeded in focusing this conference primarily on teaching and learning in a technologically-rich world. The best sessions were led by educators creating remarkably student-centered learning environments with technology. Student-led instruction, international collaborations, and social learning were all on display.

     

    Learning from our peer schools

    I spent a day and a half in Seattle to visit Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences and attend the PNAIS Teacher Conference. I got to spend a good chunk of time with Vicki Butler, who graciously toured us through the Seattle Academy campus and gave us an in-depth look into their Moodle installation.

    Seattle Academy has deeply leveraged Moodle to organize assignments and track student progress. Every teacher maintains homework assignments for every course. Teachers and students thereby benefit from Moodle’s aggregation features — each person has a meta-calendar that shows all of their outstanding work program-wide. In additon to built-in features, staff have installed optional modules and written custom code to more effectively track student progress. On their course home pages, teachers can easily view what assignment submissions remain to be graded and advisees who are falling behind on their homework. Advisors can quickly view overall course progress of their students. The school is experimenting with Mahara e-portfolio integration. I hope to learn from their use of roles and permissions in order to create a way for our parents to view course content without having to enroll in each one.

    I am most interested in using Moodle to create immersive, social learning environments for students. Vicki showed me several examples of students maintaining glossaries, posting science videos, and holding discussions using Moodle’s activity modules.

    After checking Michael Thompson‘s keynote on boy education, I soon settled in with my colleagues from Lakeside, Billings, Meridian, Evergreen, and Seattle Academy to plan the PNAIS TechShare conference, scheduled for June 28-30, 2009 in Welches, Oregon. We selected a theme, “Small World,” an exploration of global education and social technologies. This should lead to sessions on GIS, trip planning, international collaborations, global education, Skype, Drupal, uStream, and more. We are also hoping to walk the talk by coordinating live, international participation in the conference through uStream and Skype.

    We speculated that it might be particularly effective to put a single person in charge of the remote participants in each session. Instead of occasionally reading out remote contributions, the backchannel facilitator could arrange Skype connections with remote participants and pull them into the discussion.

    I also added Billings and Meridian to my list of schools with Drupal-powered public-facing web sites.

    Can you imagine how much richer our daily professional life would be if the staff from all of these schools blogged?

    Academic Computing in Africa

    A former student recently asked whether I could point him in the direction of resources on the effects of computing on schools in Africa. As the academic computing activities of an entire continent are far too diverse to capture in a single response, I collected a few links to identify some activities that might help provide some insight.

    AfriGadget While not specifically about academic computing, AfriGadget uses grassroots reporting to collect stories of technical ingenuity under conditions of extreme resource limitation. AfriGadget best captures everyday Africa.

    Konrad Glogowski: South Africa, A Reflection Konrad visits Cape Town to help teachers learn to integrate Web 2.0 tools into their instruction. He grapples with the relative modernity of South Africa and the huge differences in access to resources within the country.

    dvGarage in Zimbabwe: Alex Lindsay teaches Zimbabweans professional 3D animation and compositing techniques. He seeks to create a PixelCorps of media developers worldwide for the new economy.

    One Laptop Per Child Africa: the heavily scrutinized ubiquitous computing project has several test sites listed on this page. (Go to the parent page to find the link to South Africa.)

    Ndiyo: a different approach to ubiquitous computing, developing a new thin-client, Linux desktop for community technology centers and schools.

    In the mid 90′s, I was involved in academic computing initiatives in Botswana secondary schools. This Google search result suggests that some academic papers exist on this topic, though most require membership to access.

    Teacher Creativity

    Provide teachers with technology tools, and they will invent the most remarkable uses for them.(first grade caterpillar study)