[aklug] Re: Zangle info

Well, as I think we figured out before Shane, I think your GF is assessment's
DBA - lol - good thing is she'll have a job forever ;)
One of ASD's problems is that they are always behind the tech curve so people
making decisions about people and technology are those least capable of making
those decisions - like a herd of caribou staring down the tracks at the Healy
coal train - and there is hamburger all over the highway in sector R (sorry,
showing my age their, though I daresay there are a couple who know that line
here - lol)

The perl SIS app that I in fact had demo'd at West was built for store and
forward xml which meant school wise that every unit always had access to current
local data and could input and manage current local data which could be
sync'd/rep'd with the central repository as bandwidth and incremental data on
each side warranted. It also meant that attendance etc was not dependent on
3000 some odd teachers all trying to connect with one web server at one time.
Local sis could in fact be run on existing school servers. Lastly, since xml
would be used the central repository could easily be configured to handle more
than just the data the current SIS is handling, i.e. it would serve as the
district wide data source, as opposed to building an additional, after the fact
data mining superstructure.

Teachers are required to maintain roll in their gradebook and must turn the
gradebook in, and since a teacher never knows whether they can rely on any other
system, the gradebook is always primary focal point. Zangle attendance must be
done on a computer, and while ASD has made an effort to provide teachers with
laptops (though some schools still have desktop machines in each room - Begich
was done this way instead of with laptops as that is what Brian Heckert wanted,
and subs are precluded from using them - so sub attendance must be done paper
and pencil anyway - lol), there will always be computer issues. But remember
that online attendance is secondary to gradebook attendance, so more than
likely a teacher will put off online attendance as necessary because s/he has 35
unruly toads in their classroom.... soooo, the dream of current info on the
whereabouts of all children is not going to happen unless we use RFID (require
all students to wear ID with RFID so that school sensors show where all kids are).

On 2/2/2010 9:00 AM, Shane Spencer wrote:
> I wouldn't mind putting together a school-district-in-a-box solution
> with good international support at some point. Maybe that can be part
> of my contribution to society. Even if I only have a few districts to
> support I'll at least feel as though those few have a little sense :)
> (Totally relative)
>
> As for a store and forward solution. I had a similar thought on the
> way in. If remote storage is unavailable cache until available. A
> local HTTP accessible process could help with that. Can somebody tell
> me if roll is completely dependent on teachers having their computers
> on in their classrooms? Do teachers with offices have several
> computers depending on where they go or a laptop?
>
> My girlfriend works in assessments, specifically in the excel position
> :). I've mentioned to her on her really busy days that I should come
> in and talk to them about how databases and report generators work.
> Same thing, it would reduce it to a 2-4 hour a week job for one person
> who could then focus on the testing materials more.

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Received on Tue Feb 2 11:19:33 2010