Questions

The following are miscellaneous questions posed for consideration and reflection.

Part 1 - Key School District Questions

Compiled by Miguel Guhlin; shared under CC-Sharealike-NC-Attribution

Budget

1. What is the District's free and reduced rate, or eRate?
2. Will the District consider using free, open source solutions (e.g. netbooks running Linux) in lieu of more expensive solutions? Response:
3. Would the District consider purchasing refurbished computers to save money?
4. How much technology money is to be found or available in other department budgets?
5. How did you deal with the budget shortfall? What programs were cut and did the District implement an incentive program?
6. What is the District's Purchasing Policy and/or process?
7. Does the District use Cooperatives?
8. At what level do you have to do a request for proposals (RFP)?
9. Does the District use BuyBoard, TCPN, and/or DIR?

Campus Support

1. Are there campus level representatives/liasons and, if yes, are they volunteer or do they receive a stipend?
2. Are there ongoing meetings for campus support?

Curriculum

1. How is technology used to support curriculum? (e.g. Read180, System44, Study Island, Education City)
2. What credit recovery software is used (e.g. A+, Odysseyware)?
3. What is used to accelerate learning at the high school (e.g. Early College, TxVSN)?
4. Do District solutions involve single-sign-on (SSO) or is there a different password for each system?
5. What plans are there to remediate kids who get failing results in June but passed in May?
6. How is C&I having conversations about student performance data and addressing the issues?
7. Is any benchmarking going on and what is technology department's role in that?
8. How are you blending Eduphoria Aware/Forethought and how are they being used to support C-SCOPE implementation?

Culture

1. What is the superintendent-school board relationship?
2. When are superintendent and leadership team due to retire?
3. Any big emotional impact issues, such as STAAR, EOC, that have impacted the District?
4. What major professional development have all administrators gone through recently (e.g. Crucial Conversations, Capturing Kids Hearts, Schlechty’s Strategy for District Transformation, other?)?

Remote/HelpDesk Support

1. How many HelpDesk staff are there to answer phones/emails?
2. How many technicians are available?
3. Are technician/helpdesk staff member salaries competitive?
4. Is the response time for issues 48 hours or less?
5. What are top priority or hot item issues that are given top priority?
6. What kind of Helpdesk system do you have in place? If a call ticket system, how are trouble-tickets assigned to technicians?
7. How do you verify technicians are actually on campuses rather than off-task (e.g. staying at home, going out to eat)?
8. Is there remote control of technology available on all devices (e.g. Dameware) so that HelpDesk staff can work on user computers?
9. How is technician job performance assessed?

Professional Learning Expectations

1. How is the District leveraging online learning—that is at least as effective as face to face per research—to facilitate required professional development? (e.g. Bloodborne Pathogens, Sexual Harassment)
2. What learning management system (as opposed to a course management system) is the District using to facilitate management and delivery of professional learning? (e.g. Alchemy Systems’ Avatar, Eduphoria Workshop, ESCWorks)
3. What specific requirements do teachers/administrators have to meet before they are issued technology?
4. What certifications do in-house professional learning facilitators enjoy and is their work aligned to state/international standards?
5. For technicians, are any of the following expectations in place?
   1. Certification/continuing education?
   2. Cross-training between employees (e.g. network management or server support)
   3. Documentation (e.g. knowledge management) of critical systems
   4. Signed copy of an ethics document
   5. Confidentiality training (and FERPA) for online testing

Technology Director

1. Does this position report to the Superintendent?
2. Would you consider changing the title to Chief Technology Officer?
3. What are the specific areas of responsibility?
4. Who is responsible for the Student Information System?
5. Who handles account management and data imports/export for external systems (e.g. Eduphoria, PBWorks)? Is there a basic expectation that solutions should be automated when possible?
6. What happens in the case of an emergency? Is social media (e.g. Twitter/Facebook/G+) setup to facilitate prompt dissemination of information, as well as engage community in reciprocal dialogue?

Technical Questions

1. Bandwidth and connectivity
   1. Does the District have separate wireless networks for mobile devices (e.g. iPads) and/or BYOD? What requirements for connecting to the network are in place?
   2. What bandwidth throttling/packet shaping solution is the District using?
   3. 1 gig between campuses, fiber connection?
   4. Who is the Internet Service Provider (ISP)?
   5. What is your Internet bandwidth? (e.g. Abilene has 150 megabits, Amarillo 300 mbits, San Antonio ISD 300mbits)
   6. What are your solutions for antivirus, content filtering, email, user/account management, app management/mobile device management?
   7. Are you a Cisco-based district? Meraki? Meru?
   8. What kind of network hardware are you using?
   9. What kind of backbone?
   10. What kind of network operating system?
   11. What management software/image deployment software are you using? (e.g. Altiris, Zenworks, FOG)
   12. Do you have gig to the desktop?
2. Campus/Classroom Setup
   1. Are there sufficient wireless access points (WAP) in each classroom?
   2. How many wired drops per classroom?
   3. Is there sufficient electrical power?
   4. Has an assessment been done of building and network?
3. Device Management
   1. Does the District support Bring Your Own Device/Technology (BYOD/BYOT)?
   2. What is the replacement cycle for campus equipment?
   3. Has the District standardized on technologies deployed at campuses (e.g. IWB model, digital projectors, document cameras) and when are these due for replacement?
   4. Does the District use a Mobile Device Management Solution for iOS/Android devices?
   5. Is the District a “Dell” or “HP” shop?
   6. Are you virtualizing servers and, if so, which solution?
4. Digital Signage Solutions (read more)
5. Disaster Recovery
   1. What disaster recovery plan is in place?
   2. How is off-site recovery planned?
   3. Is data encrypted?
   4. Data back-up system include off-site and out of area and is it available from any location?
   5. Are there redundant power supplies?
   6. Does the District have detailed inventory records of hardware deployed?
   7. Who knows how to re-establish software programs?
   8. Are there satellite phones for key personnel?
   9. If VOIP system is in place, is there a call manager system in two locations?
6. Food Services
7. Maintenance
8. Password Protected Copiers
9. Printing Services
   1. How many PCs, network printers, inkjet printers do you have?
10. Transportation Software
11. Video Cameras for Security/Monitoring
    1. What solutions are currently in place for video surveillance at campus and district offices?
    2. Has District policy been amended for video cameras placed in classrooms/computer labs/common areas?
12. Visitor Management Systems? (read 5 selection criteria)
13. Voice Over IP
    1. Is the District using voice over IP?