MCSD Strategic Plan

2007-2013

Approved by the
Board of School Directors
September 27, 2007

Educational Technology Report

Table of Contents

Pennsylvania Department of Education

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
333 MARKET STREET
HARRISBURG, PA 17126-0333
 

Educational Technology Report
Friday, September 28, 2007

Entity: Mifflin County SD
Address: 201 Eighth St - Highland Park
Lewistown, PA 17044-1197
Phone: (717) 248-0148
Contact Name: Douglas Cunningham

Table of Contents

IV. Educational Technology Report

We envision an innovative, stimulating, and exciting school community where all participants are actively engaged in learning in a safe and secure environment.

We offer an excellent educational opportunity where each student acquires the skills necessary to maximize potential and enhance creative thinking.  Each student is challenged and prepared to become a lifelong learner in a global society.

We commit to continuous growth and utilization of best practices in assessment and instruction and in the application of technology.

We model the "Twelve Traits of Character," embrace diversity and demonstrate responsible citizenship.

We believe:

Academic achievement for all students is the district's compelling purpose.

The district must provide all students with the opportunity to maximize their talents and abilities.

Research-based assessments must be included to identify student potential and to drive instruction.

Differentiated instruction is essential for all students to progress in their learning.

Students learn best in a safe and secure environment.

High expectations are the collective responsibility of students, parents, educators, and community members.

Strong character directly and positively affects performance and success.

An effective educational system anticipates, plans and acts in response to a changing world.

Sound financial management is necessary to support education.

Our existing technology infrastructure covers 8 Elementary Schools, 3 Middle Schools, 2 High Schools, a Maintenance Building and an Administration building.  We also oversee the technology at our local Career and Technology Center.  We have approximately 1600 computers and 30 servers.  All but 3 district buildings and the Career and Technology Center locations are connected to the Administration Building through a 1 gig fiber connection.  The Administrative building houses the entire server infrastructure except for the buildings that are not connected to the administration building through the fiber channels.  Those 4 remaining buildings are connected through T1 lines or frame relay. 

The Technology Department researches telecommunication services to improve on connectivity and costs yearly.  The district is utilizing the E-Rate program to aid in the cost of these services.  Currently all district telecommunication systems are different models and supported by different vendors.  The Technology Department is exploring Voice over IP as a possible solution in the future.  This would be an excellent addition with the established and future improvements on 1 gig fiber connections between buildings.  This would also allow the district to meet the goal of installing a telephone in every classroom by greatly reducing the wiring cost. 

 The District utilizes cellular services to communicate during emergencies and throughout the school day to conduct business.  The cellular service also delivers data to individuals such as e-mail and network alerts.  This permits the Technology Department to increase responsiveness to network outages.

The 1600 computers that the district currently has range from 1- 7 years old.  The district replaces the systems on a rotating basis as funding becomes available.  We would like to establish a schedule to have computers replaced every 5 years.  Currently, we have computers established in all but a few classrooms and offices.  We will continue to place a computer in every classroom and office as the need arises or as funding becomes available.

 Servers are on a replacement schedule of 5 years when they reach End of Life with our vendor.  The Technology Department is implementing new VM Ware servers which will allow us to enter the virtualization world.  The district will continue using physical servers but will virtualize servers when the application permits.  Also, being implemented is a SAN to do electronic archiving and backups.

We see wireless technology as being a benefit to the district over the next several years. The district would like to establish wireless laptop labs in some schools to offer additional computer lab time to teachers and students.  Students and teachers have already greatly benefited from the wireless infrastructure and laptop lab at the Lewistown Area High School.  Plans are already in place to install a wired/wireless infrastructure at the new Indian Valley High School.

The data closets throughout the district connect to the network backbone by 1 gig fiber in the majority of our schools.  The Technology Staff is moving the data closets over to a single vendor as necessary.  This will allow us to move to complete 1 Gbps switches and PC NICS once costs are more reasonable.  The desktops are connecting at 100 mbps or 54 mbps wirelessly where available.  The district is researching ways to get the remaining 4 buildings at faster connection speeds back to the Administrative Building once funding becomes available.  The Administrative Building delivers the filtered 10 Mbps Internet connection to each building.   

The Technology Planning Committee, made up of Administrators, Teachers, Outside Business Personnel and student input, has recognized the need for some additional LCD Projectors, Color Laser Printers, and Interactive White Boards in district schools.  While the district does have several LCD Projectors and Color Laser Printers throughout the district, the committee felt that the input from staff and students is guiding us to establish a plan to increase the number of both per school.  Currently, multiple inkjet printers are being replaced when needed by one network color laser printer.  We are also researching the interactive whiteboards to see how they could be utilized in the classroom when funds become available to purchase them

Mifflin County School District is mainly a Windows and PC shop but does have some Apple based products.  We are working on replacing all Windows 2000 computers so that we will be on one operating system, Windows XP SP2.  The district uses Microsoft Office 2003 and XP versions with the goal to move to Office 2007.

Mifflin County School District maintains an Intranet.  We use the current website to post announcements to the district and community.  MCSD uses Parent Connect at the High School and Middle School levels to inform parents of the progress their child is making. 

The student information system in use is SASI.  This is used for multiple purposes and is utilized to provide reporting to the state.  Integrade Pro is used in the classrooms by teachers as an electronic grade book.  Plans are being made to introduce this to the elementary level during 2008-2009 school year.

Faculty and Administration all have their own e-mail accounts with access from within the district and at home.  Each faculty member, administrator and student have individual logins at all levels.  They each have their own personal folder on the network with security and backups implemented.

Curriculum software is chosen by each department.  The software is installed and maintained by the technology department to ensure proper use on the network.

Conclusion

Goals and Strategies