PROPOSAL International Conference on Learning and

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Using the local telephone service provider (NYNEX), we connect our eight schools, public library and district office to a potential 7000-node network. With 2000 nodes (computers) active, we have seen no degradation in performance as we bring more computers online.

All school servers reside in the district office. Two full-time staff members successfully manage the district's network, diagnosing and correcting problems as needed without bringing down schools, classrooms, or the network. We also use new software tools, such as Microsoft Systems Management Server, to enable the centralized, remote management of school networks and computers. Such software makes more efficient use of our limited technical staff's time and saves weeks of work that would otherwise be necessary to manage upgrades and maintenance of the network.
When classroom computers fail, teachers contact the central help desk. A technician in the district help desk diagnoses and corrects the problem, in most cases making the fixes over the network, without traveling to the classroom or office to fix the problem. Teachers now concentrate on integrating technology into the instructional program, not on what is wrong with the technology nor what to do while the computer is down. Teaches feel more comfortable with this approach and as one teacher says, "I like not having to worry about what is inside the computer. I'm a teacher, not a computer nerd." Another noted that "computers are supposed to be a tool, not a headache." Centralized management of the network relieves teachers of the need to fix their own computer and software problems and frees them to concentrate on teaching.
The school network uses a combination of 100 MB and Gigibit Ethernet to create eight nodes in each classroom. By providing direct, high-speed connections to each workstation, the district is prepared to deliver still more sophisticated educational resources to classrooms for years to come.
Every computer in the district has direct Internet access to 2 high speed T-1 connections. By providing continuous, high-bandwidth access from every computer, we avoid the slow, error-prone alternative: dial-up access via modem. This fast, direct connectivity along with presentation hardware enables the classroom teacher to use the Internet as a real-time classroom learning tool.

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FROM: Dr. Kenneth W. Eastwood
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Technology
Oswego City School District
120 East 1st Street
Oswego代写护理论文, New York 13126
(315) 431-5838
keastwood@oswego.org

Summary

Achieving the intentions of the vision statement (i.e., to create resource-rich environments for teaching and learning) required a unique network design, one that could deliver any educational resource代写医学论文, regardless of medium, to every classroom and desktop. We chose to assume that education will increasingly rely on access to information maintained on electronic servers and the Internet and that much of this information would include video. Maximizing student access to these resources was considered critical.
The selected network meets current needs and will also accommodate needs of the future by offering the following five characteristics:
C Stability We determined to Ado the right things right the first time@ and create the network once to avoid disruption of teaching and learning.
C Flexibility We identified standards for applications, platforms, protocols, and carrier services that provide for growth.
C Manageability We adhered to industry standards and committed to managing the network from a central location.
C Performance We designed enough capacity for growth and implementation of new technology and applications.
C Cost-effectiveness We built a single network for voice代写医学职称论文, data, and video.

The arrival of a new Superintendent of Schools in 1991 initiated a critical review of our technology efforts and pushed for a strategic plan for improving our schools from a technologic perspective. Drawing upon the expertise of Dr. Frank Betts of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the district began a process to forge a dynamic plan that looked at today's instructional needs and anticipated those of the future.
By the start of the 1994-95 school year, we had begun a process equivalent to turning the Queen Mary: a total restructuring of the district=s technology program. The district focused on the full integration of technology into all appropriate facets of our instructional program.
The result? Today, all students in the Oswego City School District learn in one of the most technologically advanced and resource-rich teaching and learning environments in the country. Three initiatives led to the district=s success:
C Charting a new course focused on using technology to improve teaching and learning
C Building a flexible, future-oriented infrastructure
C Developing technological skills among faculty and staff
Charting a new course

For more information on the Oswego City School District=s technology program, including the Oswego Model, visit the district=s web site: www.oswego.org.

C implementation of a deep program of staff development based on teachers' expressed needs.
C Infusion of appropriate and relevant software and hardware following the identification of instructional needs.

The Oswego City School District prioritized the often forgotten delivery system and staff development to create a resource-rich classroom environment. Equal access to any education resource from every classroom computer, combined with a trained teaching staff, allows us to meet the goals set forth in our Vision Statement and to take our students forward to tomorrow's demanding world. Our teachers are happy that "Technology keeps our kids engaged in learning while they are in the classroom; they aren't leaving as often for remediation, enrichment, or research."
Our experience as we have introduced technology into the classroom is that kids are the real players and real winners. Even our youngest elementary students quickly learn how to manipulate software and identify resource locations on Either the Internet or a CD to improve presentations or writing requirements. The richness and equality of resources available in our classrooms gives all students equal opportunities to excel, and they do just that.

Building the Infrastructure


By 1991, the Oswego City School District had to admit it: Despite well-intentioned expenditures to improve its educational technology, it was difficult to claim that the investment was paying off. Our teachers had little access to computer labs, recEIved virtually no training on using technology in the classroom, and reported little or no use of computers for instruction. Our students seconded that opinion, citing a lack of technological relevance. Employers and college admissions officers alike regarded our graduates as suffering from a lack of technology preparation. The Aelectronic doorway,@ if it indeed existed, certainly did not open into our classrooms.
What caused our district, like so many others, to go so wrong? Simply put, we had no strategic plan. Our investments in technology were little more than spontaneous reactions to a fear that our schools and students were Afalling behind.@ No sustained, systematic efforts provided continuity for any technology programs; the district focused more on getting computers into the classrooms than on using them effectively once they were there. In fact, despite annual technology Aimprovement@ expenditures of hundreds of thousands of dollars, we had failed to create resource-rich classrooms.

Cost Effectiveness

 

TITLE: Strategic Planning and Electronic Technologies Create Global
Schoolhouses (sub-theme items 5 & 6)

Over the course of three months of effort by more than 100 Oswego parents, teachers, students, business people, community leaders and school board members, a vision statement grew. Out of this Vision Statement, three primary objectives were developed for the first three years of the plan:
C construction of a fiber-based wide area network (WAN) infrastructure that would deliver any electronic resource directly into the classroom,

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