The East High Technology Team
East High School has had a dedicated technology support staff since the late 1980's. The staff, originally one person, is responsible for supporting the use of technology in the classroom. Although the staff has increased to three (one full time, two part time), the goal has remained the same:
East has approximately 550 Apple Macintosh computers (various ages and models), and 50 PCs (various ages and models). We maintain eleven servers. There are four labs, each with thirty networked computers. Wireless technology is beginning to supplement (and in some areas of East, replace) traditional 10-1000baseT Ethernet. We provide support for digital video and digital still cameras. There are many multimedia projector on carts (some permanently in classrooms) that teachers can use and which interface directly with computers. The projectors allow teachers to present lesson content stored on the computer, from the Internet, or other media (CD or DVD for example).
Our current principal, Mr. Michael Graham, created a Technology Department in 1999. This move provided greater visibility for the team's initiatives, and provided a budget with which we could plan. As East undergoes renovation, the Tech Department is called on to design the network architecture, purchase network hardware (switches, servers, and client computers), and execute these decisions.
A great deal of what the tech staff does each day is maintenance and support. We keep computers running, we fix broken computers (or have them shipped to the ASD AudioVisual Repair facility), we install software, and we provide classroom support for specific teacher-initiated projects.
We are responsible for bringing into the school all the new hardware that is available for educational purposes. We provide training to the teaching staff on how to use the equipment and how to incorporate the equipment into the classroom. When necessary and possible, we provide training to staff and teaching faculty on the use of software and hardware.
To keep the school running safely, we provide virus detection software that automatically updates client computers each month.
We built and maintain the East High web site. The site has an extensive alumni section that needs frequent revision. In addition, staff changes necessitate modification of the site. The site also contains the "history" of the school, news about East's renovation, department pages, links to our sports teams' sites, SLC links, and other information relevant to the East High educational community.
We maintain the FirstClass intranet system. This requires that we build accounts for teachers and classes, and troubleshoot problems that occur. Often, we can provide the help that teachers need to use FirstClass in innovative ways. We also perform backups of the FirstClass server three times a week. The digital audio tape backups are stored off site.
East owns several site-licensed software packages. We maintain and update these products on an on-going basis, as well as provide instruction as needed.