Tech Director Chat

This week we answer ALL the questions! Well, just about all of them, and what a varied bunch of questions they were. From blended learning and basic tech help, to some deeper questions about evaluating IT and what to do as we look at the future of DVDs, there's a little bit of something for everyone in this episode. Pete has a moment of silence as he contemplates an interesting question from Jeremy on Twitter about how the Technology Department can be more connected to the classroom and get better feedback, Ben talks about how he's embraced the cloud when it comes to video, and we even touch upon some ways to safely dispose of older technology (hint, the Michigan DEQ has a database of locations in each county to call for Hazardous or eWaste collections or more information). Pete also gets to share his favorite acoustic guitar maker, Volbrecht, as he catches a break from last weeks near guess.Timestamps for this week's questions:1:09 What has Pete been up to today?1:42 Is “borked” a professional IT term?2:21 W

This week's episode focused on some more practical issues of web browsers, operating system upgrades, and hinted at Pete's upcoming involvement in helping the Village of Mattawan get some truly high speed internet as opposed to the slow speeds residents currently suffer with. We addressed a good question about Google Chrome vs. Firefox, but discovered after we recorded this that not all recommendations are good, as we learned the hard that our student information system is bet not used with Google Chrome at the elementary level for many crucial functions. Firefox is the go-to to make sure everything works as well as advertised.Outside of the browser issues, we chat about new teacher laptops, the hype around the Apple Watch, and Pete gets stumped!Timestamps for this week's questions:1:03 What has Pete been up to today?2:40 Is Pete helping the Village of Mattawan get “real” high speed internet?5:25 Someone would like an explanation for using Google Chrome instead of Safari.6:45 Ben thinks there are probably one

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.You asked, and we've delivered! This podcast is full of a bunch of non-tech, off the wall, "spying on Pete's personal life questions! Alright, so maybe that's being a bit hyperbolic, but Pete and Ben did have a lot of fun answering your more personal questions, and after the mess that Ben made losing the first recording, we thought the second go around wasn't too bad. Have a great Spring Break everyone! BONUS: Click here to watch Pete jamming with "Big Head Todd & the Monsters!"Timestamps for this week's questions::52 Yes, Ben accidentally lost the first recording of the podcast this week.2:03 What has Pete been up to today?2:13 What is the morning Tech Dept. meeting all about?4:35 JW wants to know, what’s the best thing Pete did on his vacation?5:11 Why doe

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.March is now in full swing, the weather is warming, the sun is shining, and we couldn't be more excited to share talk about technology grants, and how we're approaching new teacher laptop upgrades! We also spend some time talking about how to make technology run more smoothly in your classroom. Pete tackles the technical side, and Ben shares a technique that served me well for introducing new applications or websites to students; and helped me learn alongside the students!Timestamps for this week's questions:1:00 What has Pete been up to?1:35 How is Pete doing with his ongoing chats with teachers?2:30 Pete is repairing iPads?4:45 Nancy wants to know, are there any technology grants out there to apply for?8:00 Ben finally gets around to answering Nancy’s question

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.This week we answer a host of Chrome and Google Drive related questions (pro tip, when in doubt, don't delete the file from Google Drive!). We also tackle a new Chrome user's anxiety over switching browsers, and share some advice that Google would rather not hear....here's a hint; stick with Firefox if it's working for you! We also chat a lot about the nervous energy surrounding our 4th grade student tech day happening on March 6th! 300 4th graders, a lot of technology, and some excited educators hoping we can pull it all off! And for a special treat, we wrap things up with a little guitar from Pete.Timestamps for this week's questions:1:05 What has Pete been up to today?3:00 What are your thoughts about the upcoming 4th grade technology day?5:50 What is Pete go

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.Technology in schools is driven by many factors; flexability, accessibility, and cost are just a few of the considerations, although cost quite often has a larger role in what school choose to implement. Pete and I chat about some really excellent questions posed by teachers in his small conversations regarding the direction of technology in the district, including how tech staff engages with teaching staff, how to properly "outfit" a room with technology, and spend a good deal of time talking about Chromebooks, the low cost computing sensation sweeping across school districts.Timestamps for this week's questions:0:50 What has Pete been up to today?1:30 Pete shares some of the conversations he’s having with teachers.1:50 Why don’t we outfit classrooms with techn

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.In this week's episode, the State Department of Education comes calling about feedback for the TRiG program for technology, and Pete admits he may be losing his mind (just a bit). We talk about avoiding the "spinning wheel" of death on Macs, which side of the "graphics card wars" we fall on, and spend a good amount of time talking about the need for Curriculum Directors to be thinking about technology; how important is it to their roles in the 21st century?Timestamps for this week's questions:1:13 What has Pete been up to today?3:01 Someone from the state Department of Education came calling?3:43 So what is TRiG, and why is it important to Michigan schools?6:23 Do you see teachers getting more admin rights for technology, or control shifting to a centralized loc

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.Technology Directors don't always make the decisions we feel are best for our students. All of our classrooms have unique challenges, opportunities, and realities, and it's incredibly easy to get caught up with the idea that everyone is ready for the change you need in your classroom. It's not always popular to "lead from consensus" but you may find that being patient and working closely on building positive relationships will lead to manageable change. This week's episode speaks to that reality; many school districts continue to separate student and teacher digital learning environments, as well as block access to certain tools and abilities that many feel students should have access to. Finding balance is key, and difficult. But the conversations are necessary

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.This week Pete shares a bit about his latest attempt to stay connected to the teachers he's serving. He's holding conversations with small groups of teachers from around the district to get feedback on what to improve upon and what the Tech Department is doing that "works." Some of it is good, some of it is challenging, but we decided one thing for sure; we'd love to host any conversations with teachers that feel comfortable doing so on the podcast. We also address some practical tips for keeping your computer running in tip top shape, Pete addresses a question from a tech-savvy Twitter user, and Pete is stumped with a ridiculously difficult question about Al Kaline. Seriously, we need help with this answer!Timestamps for this week's questions:0:49 What has Pete

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.This week Pete dreams a bit about the tech utopia he'd love for us all to live in, while Ben shares some apps and services for those seeking to feel a bit more secure with their digital lives. We take a break from Twitter questions, and answer "in house" questions from our teachers and staff about bond dollars going towards technology, Pete's dreams of being Captain James T. Kirk, and even leave you with a quick musical Christmas treat at the end!Timestamps for this week's questions:1:06 What was today like, the last day before break?3:00 Do you think it’s necessary to run virus protection on an iPhone or iPad?3:13 Is it possible to run virus protection on an iPhone or iPad? Ben shares Avira Antivirus for iOS, Intego VirusBarrier for iOS, and McAfee Mobile Secur

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.After last week's episode in which we talked about "locking it down," we dive into another hot button issue around how Tech Directors and other IT professionals make users feel about their technological competency. We chat about improving our own skills, when we actually record this podcast, and we introduce everyone to "Mr. Microphone!"Timestamps for this week's questions:0:53 What has Pete been up to today?2:35 Jonathan asks, what skills are you having to develop to provide a quality service to your district?4:00 Ben asks, do you think people feel “dumb” about technology, or do stereotypical attitudes of IT professionals makes them feel “dumb?”6:05 Would you rather have a tech support staff that is highly skilled in repair skills with poor people skills, or gr

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.We're back! After taking a week off for Thanksgiving, we get a question from Ian that sets up one of the BIGGEST questions that Tech Directors always have to wrestle it, "why do things have to be locked down?!" The answers isn't always the most well received, but it can shed light on what sort of trials, tribulations, and headaches a Tech Director is willing to endure in order to maintain a vision. In addition to addressing the big questions about control, Paul sets us up for another deep conversation about "whole technology learning" vs. "smaller task learning." We touch on updates to our district's teacher laptops, and finish up with an age old question about Tootsie Pops.Timestamps for this week's questions:0:50 How was Thanksgiving break?1:10 What’s your fav

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.This week sees a small turn of events, with Pete posing a question to Ben, and giving him a chance to feel what it's like in the hot seat! Pete answers questions about "big picture" use of technology in a teacher's classroom, what a new ideal elementary building would look like, and more issues about filtering pop up in this episode. Deep questions about whether most technology use in the classroom will ever move passed substitution for paper and pencil activities have Ben scrambling to put on his "future glasses" and Pete gets a break from his weekly musical trivia to share his opinion on possibly a divisive issue; who should be bestowed the "grandfather" of rock and roll, Chuck Berry or Jerry Lee Lewis?Timestamps for this week's questions:0:56 What has Pete be

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.In this week's episode, Ben gets a little carried away with his technology metaphors, in an attempt to translate Pete's technobabble into regular English for the rest of us. We spend a lot of time talking about being behind the "8" ball with Help Tickets this Fall, and why we really can't do much to improve bandwidth for students (or teachers) at the moment for our school district. We compare the internet to a pasta dish, potential plans for a "one size fits all" technology solution for classrooms, and we stump Pete once again!Timestamps for this week's questions:1:11 We didn’t have a snow day today?1:34 Does Ben know how to read a calendar?2:30 What’s our normal Help Ticket load at the start of the school year?3:15 Why has it taken us longer to get ahead on the

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.We passed the bond! Our community came together and said "yes, we want to build some amazing new learning spaces for our students!" This week we're a bit excited about the new possibilities that the bond will afford, but we keep things in check with questions about 1:1 computing, new buildings, and projects that have been "on hold" for the past few years as we grew our stable of laptop carts throughout the district. Nicole checks in from Twitter with a great question regarding students' abilities to weigh in on blocked sites and apps, while Jeff and Angie both contribute some great questions about new buildings and life, the universe, and everything!Timestamps for this week's questions:1:17 We passed both our bonds? YAY!1:53 What has Pete been up to today?2:58 D

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.This week we follow Pete as he jets sets around to globe to Prague, where he is attending an Institute for Innovation in Education Gathering (iiE for short). We talk about potential changes to lighting, presentation technology, and other "wish list" items that teachers have regarding technology in their classroom, and touch briefly on why Pete doesn't listen to a podcast that he participates in weekly! Thanks to an excellent question from Joe via Twitter, Ben and Pete both share their thoughts on the definition of "21st Century Classrooms" and Ben even goes so far to share his more luddite-friendly version of "21 Things Every 21st Century Teachers Should Do and Keep Their Sanity" based on Carl Hooker's tech-heavy blog post of the same theme. And of course, liste

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.This week's episode involves questions of a philosophic nature about whether technology is truly necessary in the classroom, and we wrestle with the scourge of every educator trying to install good digital citizenship habits within their students, the Yik Yak App. We answer a few questions about our bond issue, Ben sends some early Halloween shivers down your spine, and we introduce our very first regular segment, "Stump Pete!"Timestamps for this week's questions::48 How's it going today?:59 What's up with this Yik Yak App that hit the district last week?4:50 When the bond passes, will each new classroom have some type of interactive whiteboard and a sound system?7:50 Does Ben sound too creepy when whispering into the microphone?8:41 Do school districts send hom

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.This week we focused entirely on questions from our school district, including some seriously geeky responses from Pete about RAM, cache, and how to best avoid the "beachball of death". We even make a recommendation for Memory Clean, a Mac App that will help you regain some "snap" in your Mac's step. Once Ben gets Pete back on track we attempt to tackle some big questions about the direction of technology in our school district, and Pete is completely stumped by a musical trivia question about the Beatles.Timestamps for this week's questions:1:30 What has Pete been doing at his big conference?2:03 So this conference you were at is seriously techie?4:30 Any tips for people to get their Macs to run faster?5:28 For non techies, what does Cache or RAM stand for?5:58

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.We have a record number of questions this week; seven! I know, I know, that seems pretty low, but for a podcast that one day hopes to be under 20 minutes, that's a lot to cram into one episode! Pete answers some tough questions about whether Tech Director's have the ability to say "yes" and answers some burning questions about the quality of paper that regularly jams up the photocopiers. We also had some great questions from Twitter! Thanks to Sherri, Rob, and MASSP for asking some tough questions that I'm sure aren't always the same in every school district. Timestamps for this week's questions::49 What has Pete been up to?1:15 Why did Pete's day go sideways?2:30 Seven questions is a lot for us?3:02 Why do the printers keep breaking down, and can we remedy the

A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.In this episode Pete and Ben talk about some of the "fun" projects that he gets to be involved with, as well as confronting the reality of dealing with vendors, sales people, and others hoping to offer a solution to school's technology problems. We also address a number of questions from teachers including local network issues with our Apple TVs and tackle a question from Sarah on Twitter about the biggest obstacles to bringing new technology into a school or classroom.Timestamps for this weeks questions::40 Pete isn’t certain about who he is anymore1:26 What has Pete been doing today?2:14 Why was Pete on the roof of the high school?3:19 What sort of projects are you working on most of the time?4:40 What is a wireless survey and why are we doing it?5:40 When wil