Technology Coordinator Duties 1. End user systems. I maintain ~1800 end-user systems (PCs, Thin Clients, Laptops, Netbooks, and iPads.) This includes daily troubleshooting and maintenance, upgrades, software changes, and yearly imaging. Every attempt is made to refresh all end-user systems yearly. Windows images are updated monthly to ensure new systems are as up-to-date as possible. A FOG server is used to image all windows systems. Base images are kept up to date on a VMware virtual server. NTLS servers are almost entirely virtual, utilizing VMWare ESXi, machines. All VMs are locally built with yearly OneNet funds from the state. The functionality of servers is segmented per machine so that temporary outages (and configuration changes) only affect single areas. All systems were built, configured, and installed in-house, providing significant savings for the district. Server functionality includes:
- Moodle. Moodle stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. It is an open source (free) alternative to Progress-Book, Canvas, and Blackboard. While it is free, and saves the district $5,000 - $20,000 annually over the paid alternatives. While it does require administration during the school year, that is minimal. Moodle user accounts are synced through the AD and are updated nightly through a PHP routine that I coded. Moodle runs on an independent Linux server. Our LMS is integral to our successful 1:1 in the district. 3. Network Infrastructure. I maintain and upgrade the network infrastructure. Since first arriving we have done several (state-funded) upgrades that have brought NTLS from a 10Mb network to a 10Gb fiber network that includes site-wide wireless access. The network is subdivided into 6 VLANs and a completely separate physical LAN for all security cameras. The 2012 Blended Learning Grant provided the funds for the high school to go 1:1 with managed wireless in every high school classroom. In August of 2015 we upgraded to the 10Gb backbone and are currently 802.11AC Wifi in every classroom and functional area, including sports fields.. This project was 80% federally funded through eRate. While all materials were supplemented with eRate, all actual installations and configurations were done in-house. This program is maintained through my advanced technology classes. Currently, all 5-12 grades are 1:1 with Windows 10 laptops. Laptops are i5 (or better) machines with Solid State Drives (SSDs.) The only local costs have been the SSDs and the carts for the middle school classes. High School students take home their laptop issues and laptop bags were purchased with a local constituent grant. All classrooms have a overhead projector, digital whiteboard, USB microphone, and document camera. Technology tools available to teachers helped significantly with the move to virtual classes in 2020. Digital whiteboards include Smartboards, Mimios, Smart Slates, Mimio slates. I strive to find and bring new teaching tools into the district to give teachers new options to connect with students and enhance their subject matter. As part of this, I attend the yearly Ohio Educational Technology Conference (OETC,) the yearly ITIP Ohio Google Summit, the Technology Coordinator Summer Summit, the Technology Integration Leaders of Ohio (TILO) regional meetings, and other occasional leadership meetings. In addition to "Tech Tuesday," I started an annual "Technology Skills Inservice" in 2008. This annual event has been extremely well received and gives staff the ability to choose from a large variety of sessions to enhance their personal skill set. This was modelled after OETC and we take 6-8 staff annually to OETC to help teach these session. |
I received the Regional Technology Director of the Year twice and the State of Ohio "Technology Using Administrator of the Year." I also received the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) "Making it Happen Award" for Ohio and was recognized at the national ISTE conference. |
Note: While the duties of Technology Coordinator are a large responsibility, I also teach several high school technology-related courses. These classes are aligned to state standards and are intended to give students additional scheduling options while allowing them to assist in the maintenance of the district computers. A vast majority of the systems throughout the school were repaired and deployed by NTLS technology students through one of these classes. |