Integrating Technology: A Baseball Analogy

A quick post in honor of the St. Louis Cardinals, who pulled off a miraculous win in Game 6 of the World Series last night.

I've seen several emails and web sites that rank the 100 best iDevice tips or the 50 best web sites for education. Honestly, I have no problem with those sites and I've learned about several useful web sites and apps by reading such articles. I also understand that these sites want readers and articles that 'rank' various apps or sites can get a good number of page views.

My problem, though, is that it's tempting for instructional technology leaders to present these large blocks of resources to teachers as a method of assisting them with technology integration. If you are a teacher and are already overwhelmed with the need to cover content, manage student behavior, give periodic assessments, contact parents, develop lesson plans, grade assignments, enter all of this into a student information system, (and on and on)... you may be doing them a disservice.

When I was younger, I loved baseball. I wanted to pitch but didn't have the size, arm strength or accuracy to be a good pitcher. That didn't stop me from wanting to know how to throw a curveball, slider or knuckleball. I remember goofing off while warming up for a game and our team would throw (OK, try to throw) all of those pitches to one another.

Of course, most of those pitches aren't practical for the vast majority of aspiring young pitchers. Most of what you'll read about coaching youth baseball will tell you to focus on developing a fastball and a changeup. Why is that? Part of the reason is certainly about avoiding injury to young arms while trying to throw an arm-stressing pitch like a curveball. That isn't all of it, though. Even at the major league level, there are pitchers that can have great success while having only a couple of great pitches. One of the best relief pitchers ever has dominated hitters with basically one pitch. We know why, don't we?

A young pitcher with a good fastball and changeup has some great qualities. The mechanics of the two pitches are similar, with slight adjustments to grip style, pressure and ball position. Good coaches will work with them to know how to throw those pitches properly, where to locate them and when to use each pitch. Those decisions are based on the hitter you're facing and aspects of the ongoing game like the score, any runners on base, the number of outs, who's on-deck and things of the sort.

We should be using a similar strategy when helping teachers integrate technology in the classroom. Let's find the best resources that can be used in most any situation. We won't start with 50 or 100... let's start with a few. We'll work with teachers on those few resources until they're confident that they know how to use them. Once they know how to use the resource, a good teacher should be able to determine when to use each resource based on factors like the subject area, the particular student(s) involved, the time of day and year, what other activities are taking place in the school and community, and so forth.

In baseball, good coaches teach kids the basics and ease in to the more advanced concepts. Make sure you're doing the same with your technology integration strategies. There are some great pitchers out there that only have one or two superb pitches, so let's not assume that every teacher needs to be an expert on all of the technology resources available.

Managing hype as technology gets more affordable

I was thinking about dusting off the blog and making and entry and, lo and behold, one of my co-workers just posted a great blog entry about managing the hype in education technology. He makes several points that are worth stressing.

He references Moore's Law, which originally dealt with transistors on a circuit. Over time, it's been slightly altered to include power and price. The basic point is that we're regularly seeing the computing power double and the price points for technology of that power getting cut in half. Don't believe me? As of this writing, netbooks with 1GB RAM and 250GB HDD are under $300 and closer to $200-250 in some cases. Depending on how much processing power you need, a laptop with more RAM, disk space and screen size can be had for $500 (more or less, as I said, depending on processing power and some other factors).

As a matter of comparison, I found an old contract update from one of our state technology vendors. KY school districts, from state contract, could buy a Dell Latitude C840 in April, 2003. It had a P4 1.8Ghz processor and a 15" UXGA display (and also a 56k modem included, BTW). We got VERY good discounts from these contracts and this device, with 256MB RAM and a massive 30GB HDD, could be had for about $1600. Think about that for a minute.

Technology is getting more portable, more affordable and more capable. Not that many years ago, tech leaders were fretting that the device would have to have the right capabilities at the right price point before we would ever see a scenario where every student have a device for their own use. We are there.

So what do we do about it? As the originally linked article indicates, we manage the hype in a constructive fashion. We should be passionate about the possibilities and excited about what the technology can do. Rightfully so, we have to aware of the challenges and continue to lead in conversations about TCO and the need for proper staffing, professional development, infrastructure and management policies regarding the technology.

System Center Configuration Manager

We've had a good bit of discussion lately about Microsoft's Enrollment for Education Solutions and the potential benefits a school district might experience if they were to choose to enroll. My mindset is that the yearly cost could be worth it if a district had full intention of utilizing many of the products for which CALs are included with this agreement. One product with great potential for school districts is System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).

The potential benefits are listed on the linked page. With SCCM, districts could deploy operating systems (bare-metal imaging) which should lead to faster deployment. Software distribution would become completely automated. This should lead to a tool that can help you manage your IT hardware and software inventory much easier - "asset intelligence" is the buzz phrase here. In addition, the SCCM tool suite should allow for easier remote diagnosis and repair of machines. What's not to like, right?!?!

This is my slight beef and the reason for my post. I've talked to multiple districts that have deployed SCCM. I've spoken with a Microsoft contact about SCCM deployment. In virtually every case, the input I receive is that the product is wonderful but that it is a challenge to set up. One district outsourced the installation and initial setup, which may be advisable. When I asked another district if they set up SCCM themselves, here's a section of their reply:

...it is difficult. I will say I would not recommend it for an (inexperienced) district. It takes a lot of planning and it’s good to have a lot of experience with deploying Windows and applications. It’s a very big learning curve... It also takes diligent users to operate SCCM and understand how it works because it can be extremely dangerous if used improperly in an environment and I’m not using that word lightly. I do recommend it however and it makes everything extremely easy and it takes a huge load off of you after you set it up and get everything working.

All of that caution from a district that likes the product! Honestly, I get the caution about the power of such an administrative tool. I'm struggling with the difficulty of the setup. I see it as a huge barrier to adoption in my area. I'm certain I have districts that need to be using such a product. Some may even be convinced to spend the money to license the product either directly or via EES. With such cautionary tales of setup trouble and limited budgets to pay for configuration, I think some districts are being scared away from actually deploying a tool like this.

I'd like to see my districts using technology tools to make their lives easier. This seems to fit the bill, so I suppose the market is ripe for someone to come forward and bridge the gap between purchase of the tool and easy use of such a product.

TeamViewer

I have a district that swears by TeamViewer for a remote desktop solution. I won't say too much about it because I haven't used it first-hand, but I'm told that it's very easy to set up and begin using. It's often nice to have software that can do other things like file transfer and a 'presentation mode' where you show an end user (or users) YOUR desktop. The TeamViewer product seems to have that as well.

Their website and various reviews talk about cross-platform functionality and accessibility through firewalls and via a browser. It also has a "lifetime license" (e.g. you buy it, you own it) rather than a yearly subscription fee. Their advertised price for a business license is $749, though I'm not sure if an educational discount is available.

If you're looking for products in this space, you might give this one a look. As I said, one of my technical "go-to" contacts is very high on this product.

If you leave tomorrow...

I didn't begin this entry thinking of a way to link to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" or this version being played on a ukelele - suffice to say you can find anything on the Internet. I was actually thinking about the things you need to have available if you were to leave your technology position tomorrow. Too many of us get so caught up in our work that we haven't documented things in the event that someone else were to need to take over. What would be required?

* Passwords - Domain and/or local workstation and server admin passwords. Passwords for core network equipment, phone systems, security systems, web sites, third-party resources and the like. Think about the passwords you enter over the course of a month and make note of their purpose. Note the password and its purpose somewhere.

* Critical contacts - Who are your go-to people in terms of vendors and partners that you work with? Sure, you may leave your entire contact list behind, but who are you regularly working with to get your tasks accomplished? Who are your preferred vendors for various components that require service?

* Service contracts and agreements - What products and services are coming from your budget on a regular basis? When does the agree renew or need to be re-bid? If you left, would anyone else know about these arrangements?

* Management software - What products do you use to manage your environment? Do you have a list of basic processes along with instructions on how to perform basic tasks? We have much of that in our heads, but taking the time to document some of the basic steps might be helpful in the event that you leave on a temporary or permanent basis.

* Scripts and other automated processes - Will the next person know how to determine what you've automated? Does that script need to run for everyone or only certain users?

* Physical access - Do you have keys or codes to access data centers, outlying wiring closets, vehicles, buildings or other rooms that require restricted access?

* Access to critical files, both physical and electronic - I know that the federal E-Rate program requires documentation to be kept for several years. Is this somewhat organized and in a known location? If you're like me, you also have critical emails, documents and spreadsheets that your replacement might need. Are these organized and accessible?

I'm sure there are other items that I'm not mentioning. If you're fortunate enough to find a better opportunity, try to leave your position in a better place than you found it. Give your replacement more than you had on your first day.

Facebook or Google+ (or both or neither)

As of a week or so ago, I'm a "user" (if you want to call it that) of both Facebook and Google+. I don't know which is better or if you need either or both products, but I thought I'd mention a few of the biggest things I've seen thus far:

Facebook

Well, I guess the biggest thing is that everybody's already there, so don't assume that it's going away any time soon. Will users want to convert or add a second 'primary' social networking resource to their to-do list? There are also third-party apps that integrate with Facebook and that are used to post updates and interact with the Facebook environment. As mobile as everyone is today, this is a big deal and something that any competing product will need to implement soon. There are also games... I can't STAND the concept of logging into Facebook and seeing ads or requests from friends playing FarmVille or Mafia Wars, but I can't deny the fact that lots of people apparently do play these games and they aren't (as of yet) on the Google platform.

Google+

The biggest thing I've seen at first glance is that there's an effort to make sharing easier via drag-and-drop access to 'circles' that you create to group your contacts based on interest. If you don't want your quilting updates to interrupt your discussion of whether Aquaman felt like a fish out of water amongst the Super Friends, then you can create separate circles and update each of them individually. It's easy to manage right now, but it remains to be seen if this will remain the case when there are hundreds of people that need to be moved in and out of circles. The lack of games and clutter is an attraction to me but, as noted above, that may not be the case with other users and it may not stay this way forever.

Video chatting seems to be a big deal to both players. Google+ has its 'hangouts' feature for this and the recent Facebook/Skype announcement about video calling is a move in that direction. Personally, I haven't seen the need to use a social networking site to initiate video calls with others. I've been trained for years to believe that the whole concept of social networking is to create a ton of shallow connections with people that I may not be able to pick out of a lineup and have no interest in seeing in real-time video. :) The big players are developing it, though, so let's just assume there's a need.

Facebook lets you 'like' a product or 'become a fan'. The Google option has 'sparks' that allows you to pull different interests together in a way that suits you. The concepts are similar, I suppose, and I would guess that each will evolve as the user feedback grows.

It's a quickly-changing landscape and this post will be dated about as quickly as I click 'publish'. Facebook has taken some lumps over privacy concerns and their latest competition has had its own issues over what it does with search results and privacy concerns with products like Buzz.

Final edit: I can't even get 'publish' clicked before this take becomes dated. It's all about privacy per this article as well. **Sigh**

[Image: Library of Congress, 1865, Lincoln's 2nd inauguration. Old-school social networking.]

A word on browsers, GPOs

I'll give this the kiss of death and state that this should be a brief entry. Veterans will remember the days when Netscape was the browser of choice. AOL bought it for over $4B years ago! Then Internet Explorer made an appearance, was bundled with the operating system and lawsuits began. At some point, Mozilla Firefox became an open-source alternative and that's really where my search for browsers ended. I use Firefox and/or IE and they've served my purpose.

These days, there are other products on the market like Chrome and Opera. In fact, I've had one or two people tell me that one of those browsers is faster than IE or Firefox. That had me curious... not curious enough to download them and try them out myself (as of yet), but curious enough to search around for reviews. Sure enough, there's a good LifeHacker article that gives details on browser tests they performed. I'm sure there are other reviews out there as well.

Quick question, though - as an IT administrator in an enterprise, what do you need out of a browser? Here's my quick list:

* Functional (e.g. doesn't fail, renders pages properly, etc)
* Fast
* As best as possible, prevents malware/spyware from being downloaded
* Can be managed at an enterprise level

The last point is the one I'll mention. If you're interested in deploying something besides IE in an enterprise environment, you need to be searching for certain phrases. You'll likely need an MSI file, which is a Windows Installer file or Microsoft Installer file. This is basically an entire install package grouped into a single file. Admins can use MSI files in combination with Group Policy in a Microsoft environment to remotely install a product. Insuch an environment, you'll also want an ADM template or administrative template. These are used by the Group Policy editor to help you manage registry settings for a particular product.

I'm not advocating that you switch browser, but I wanted to use this as a chance to remind you that some of these popular open-source products have these features. Chrome has an MSI file available. A company named FrontMotion has customized a version of Firefox to be managed with Active Directory and Group Policy.

Just be aware of the terms to use and processes you'll want to implement if you ever consider deploying popular products in an enterprise environment. Browsers may be a dull topic, but it could be a relevant one if there's a product out there that will improve the user experience and/or cause less of a headache for you and your staff.