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Category Archives: txcto15

#TxCTOClinic15 Notes Roundup

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by mguhlin in Education, Leadership, txcto15

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Visit their Web Site

This week, I had the opportunity to attend the 300 participant TxCTOClinic held in Austin, Texas. The mini-conference was replete with fantastic presentations relevant for Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), as well as chock full of information and data about technology management in schools.

Announcement: Join #etdrive, a Texas wide conversation focused on 3 strands using “push to learn” technology, VoxerChats. Follow these two steps to begin your learning journey now.

Since I am on a crusade to share great information shared at these events, I was thrilled to find out that TxCTO folks are posting all their resources online. I was also able to attend quite a few sessions–and present one myself with colleagues at http://tinyurl.com/txcto15–and you can find a list of those below.

Some of these sessions were 3 hours in length, so if you’re wondering, why so few, well, wow, quite in-depth sessions. I’m also grateful to others for sharing their audio recordings.

Roundup of TxCTO Blog Posts:

  1. Empowering Dynamic Data Strategies (Data warehouse/dashboard preso! Cost effective!)
  2. Salary Reboot*
  3. APQC Process Management
  4. CTO Boot Camp*
  5. IMA Legislative Update*
  6. Digital Citizenship and Cybersafety*
  7. Making Connections with Data and Resources*
*Audio recording included.

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes: #TxCTOClinic15 Making Connections with Data & Resources

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by mguhlin in Education, TechnologyManagement, txcto15

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This session, Making Connections with Data and Resources, was held at the Texas K-12 CTO Council meeting on June 17, 2015. It provided some eye-opening statistics about CTOs and job in the edtech field.

Listen to Audio of this presentation
(…and this is the best way to listen, since my notes don’t do the presentation justice).

Announcement: Join #etdrive, a Texas wide conversation focused on 3 strands using “push to learn” technology, VoxerChats. Follow these two steps to begin your learning journey now.

The facilitators for the session included Joseph Christoffersen, Jamey Hynds, and Darlene Rankin, all from Katy ISD.

Session description: Directors from Katy ISD will present solutions that have been put in place to connect users with data and resources. You will learn about their solutions for the districts’ dashboards, learning management system, and cloud-based portal. Attendees will see how these solutions in Katy ISD keep the staff, students, and community connected 24/7 to resources and information.

Note: I have not had a chance to listen to the audio and develop notes for this presentation…yet.


Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes: #TxCTOClinic15 Cybersafety & Digital Citizenship in the Classroom #tecsig

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by mguhlin in DigitalCitizenship, Education, MyNotes, SocialMedia, txcto15

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This session, Cybersafety & Digital Citizenship in the Classroom, was held at the Texas K-12 CTO Council meeting on June 18, 2015. It provided some eye-opening statistics about CTOs and job in the edtech field.


Listen to Audio of this presentation
(…and this is the best way to listen, since my notes don’t do the presentation justice).

Announcement: Join #etdrive, a Texas wide conversation focused on 3 strands using “push to learn” technology, VoxerChats. Follow these two steps to begin your learning journey now.

About the Facilitators

David McGeary (@dcmcgeary) and Lynnice Hockaday (@lhockaday5), Harris County Dept of Ed (HCDE)

MyNotes

  1. David gave an introduction with some engaging examples
  2. Benefits of Social Media
    1. Help teachers learn how to use social media
    2. Everyone has a voice….it gives quiet kids to engage and participate and be a part of the discussion.
    3. Collaboration and engagement outside the classroom…those kids outside the walls, learning how to interact with each other. Students are able to latch on and find out what’s going outside of their own classroom.
    4. Real world experts…done in many ways such as Skype/Twitter. It takes time to make connections.
    5. Teacher-parent communication…constant, active involvement. If you want to make meaningful use of the online space, you’ve got to be an active contributor in the space. More often than not, teachers don’t know how to behave. We have to discuss fluidity, maintain conversations in online space.
    6. Training teachers to be good conversationalists in online space so that’s very important. Being just a role model online is important.
    7. Prepare for employment…
  3. % Change in Jobs requesting Social Media Skills from 2012-2013 (Source: Indeed.com)
    1. Instagram – 644%
    2. Vine – 154%
  4. Alternatives to these would be Snapchat and Periscope
  5. In the classroom…what does social media look like in the classroom?
    1. Instagram – post a picture that becomes a writing prompt. It can be used to connect with parents, serving as a announcements. [Real life example that came to mind]
    2. Twitter – 
    3. Teacher’s 1st Amendment Rights…
    4. Justine Sacco’s life change in one Tweet…
    5. #leydenpride example
  6. Myths: 
    1. When it comes to Technology, Kids have all the answers
    2. I will know when I am infected.
    3. My Password is Secure (Worst Passwords of 2014)
    4. Internet predators are easy to spot
      1. Teachers may not share directory information:  this data may include the student’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance.
    5. Web sites created for children are monitored and safe. (e.g. COPPA)
    6. Free Security Software is as good as paid. “An anti-virus tool does not protect you from everything. An anti-virus tool won’t protect you from your stupidity.”
    7. Malware comes from Email attachments.
    8. Incognito window doesn’t record information about you
    9. Posting personal information is a bad thing?
      1. “…media is actually a triathlon, it’s 3 different events. People like to consume, but they also like to produce, and they like to share.” -Clay Shirky
      2. Encourage kids to post so much positive things about themselves that it buries everything else online that might be bad.
      3. Encourage students to reflect their interests in a positive way online.
  7. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Idea debunked…[read research]
  8. Remember the Human
  9. Be mindful of your Digital Footprint
  10. Have a positive, constructive attitude towards what you post with others.
  11. “It always is harder to be left behind than to be the one to go…” Brock Thoene, Shiloh Autumn
  12. Looking for partners as part of the Academy in pilot mode right now in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD.

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes: IMA Legislative Update #txctoclinic15 #tecsig

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by mguhlin in Education, MyNotes, TechnologyManagement, txcto15

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This session, IMA Update, was held at the Texas K-12 CTO Council meeting on June 18, 2015. It provided some eye-opening statistics about CTOs and job in the edtech field.

Announcement: Join #etdrive, a Texas wide conversation focused on 3 strands using “push to learn” technology, VoxerChats. Follow these two steps to begin your learning journey now.

Session was facilitated by Abel Villareal (Corpus Christi ISD) and Rosa Ojeda (Waller ISD)
Listen to audio of this session

MyNotes

  1. 82nd Legislative Session
    1. Prior to IMA
    2. SB6 Changed Everything (this happened around 2011)
      1. IMA
      2. based on 1/2 PSF
    3. Instructional Material Allotment (IMA)
      1. Allow flexibility
      2. Allows district control over funds
      3. Allows for district to pay for our instructional materials
  2. IMA Procurement
    1. IMA procures state adopted instructional materials
      1. Proclamations
      2. Dual Credit
      3. Advanced Placement & IB
    2. Old Tech Allotment
      1. Continuing contracts
    3. Non-state adopted material
      1. Tech hardware and curriculum software
      2. Professional development
      3. Instructional material
      4. Shipping and handling
  3. Effects of SB6
    1. We order instructional materials based on usage, available funds, IMA committee decides
    2. IMA purchases
      1. District owns inventory
      2. TEA holds districts accountable
      3. Do not have to pay TEA
      4. IMA is used to replace instructional materials
    3. No state max cost
      1. Publishers prices increased 60%
      2. Proclamations went from 6 to 8 years
      3. Science and Social studies…contracts last 6-12 years.
  4. 83rd Legislature
    1. HB5 allowed a publisher delayed payment options
      1. TEA approves or denies, TEA pays the publishers after Sept 1st
      2. Instructional Materials disbursements have to be entered in EMAT
      3. District receives materials in the summer
  5. Impact of 84th Legislature
    1. HB 1474 frontloading bill – approved by Governor Abbott
      1. 100/0 split 7.7 million in 1st year
    2. SB 313
      1. 75% of projected IMA budget
      2. frontloading
    3. Delayed adoption
      1. June 21st last day to veto
      2. EMAT allocation
      3. Disbursements (off list items)
  6. Proclamation 2015
    1. Social Studies K-12: $2.9M
    2. Math 9-12: $761K
    3. FineArts: $1.1M
    4. Science AP: $94K
    5. Cont. Adoptions: $1M
  7. Advice:
    1. In your district, you need to look at utilization reports.
    2. In some districts, you have Curr director, superintendent, tech director. Run utilization reports, and see what was actually used. This constant monitoring is the only way to ensure the money gets recouped.
  8. IMA Funding Formula
    1. 1/2 of the permanent school fund (SBOE authorized $1.05 billion)
    2. Based on 5.1 million students
      1. total student enrollment
      2. 500 million = 1 year of biennium
    3. Calculate Entire biennium:
      1. $200 per student * student enrollment
  9. Non-State adopted material
    1. IMA Procedure
      1. Campus needs
      2. IMA forms
        1. Approvals
          1. PDM
          2. Principal
          3. District level depts
        2. 3 deadline dates:
          1. August 1
          2. October 15
          3. March 15
More information was shared in this session but I did not record it. You can 

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes: #TxCTOClinic15 – Empowering Dynamic Data Strategies

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by mguhlin in Education, TechnologyManagement, txcto15

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Looking for a data warehouse and web-based dashboard that works on all platforms (e.g. iOS, etc.)? 

Announcement: Join #etdrive, a Texas wide conversation focused on 3 strands using “push to learn” technology, VoxerChats. Follow these two steps to begin your learning journey now.

Thank you for visiting! Below, please find relevant material to a presentation–facilitated by Virgil Kirk, Traci Clarke, Gary Clarke, and Miguel Guhlin–at the CoSN Texas Chief Technology Officers’ (CTO) presentation facilitated in Summer, 2015.

Empowering Dynamic Data Strategies
In this session, participants will explore a problem common to many public school districts—setting up a data repository and how to best analyze data. K12 Dynamics–a vendor partner–will also be present to share their web-based, mobile-friendly solution.

Find more materials relevant online at http://tinyurl.com/txcto15



As this ASCD Educational Leadership article by Doug Johnson points out:

One fact is incontrovertible: School districts need access to a bewildering array of just-in-time data collection, analysis, and aggregation and disaggregation tools that intersect along a multitude of points (such as student demographics, teacher quality, end-of-course [data]).
Source: Miguel Guhlin as cited in Navigating the Seas of Change


Resource Links
  1. K-12 Dynamics: Overview | Learn More | Fact Sheet
  2. Video: Using Data to Improve Student Performance
    (Source: DataQualityCampaign.org)
Session Facilitator Contact Information
  • Miguel Guhlin; Twitter: @mguhlin
  • Virgil Kirk; Twitter: @virgilkirk
  • Gary and Traci Clarke; Twitter: @k12dynamics
Data Warehouse Need and Overview
School districts have a clear and urgent need to institute a data warehouse that is easily accessible by district/campus level staff. The goals of establishing a data warehouse include the following:
  1. facilitate easy, safe and appropriate access to data campus and district staff need to accomplish essential job functions, and
  2. eliminate time staff currently wasted in data hunting-n-gathering, sifting and organizing that consumes more time than the data analysis component requires.
  3. Enable staff to have tiered levels of access to generate reports derived from data critical to their job functions via a web-based interface to a data warehouse of content. (refer to diagrams at end of document)
  4. The end result is a more informed leadership and decision-making in service of students and staff.


Key Components
  1. A data warehouse – This component serves as a district-controlled repository of all data–a local copy on District server(s) regardless of the source–on students, employees from a variety of data sources, including but not limited to, student assessments, student and parent lists, employee data from internal (e.g. Eduphoria, Special Education, Scholastic programs, Special Education) and external sources of data (e.g. STAAR, iStation, iTCCS, TxGradebook, eSPED). (View Page 2)
  2. A web dataportal – This component provides as a browser-based, easy to use interface to the data warehouse that enables campus and district staff to have point-n-click query-creation abilities to generate a variety of reports that juxtapose data from a variety of internal and external data sources.

Find more materials relevant online at http://tinyurl.com/txcto15

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes: Salary Reboot for K-12 Tech Jobs Panel at #TxCTOClinic15 #tecsig #edtech

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by mguhlin in CTOsRole, Education, Research, TechnologyManagement, txcto15

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This session, Salary Reboot: Rethinking Pay for K-12 Technology Jobs, was held at the Texas K-12 CTO Council meeting on June 18, 2015. It provided some eye-opening statistics about CTOs and job in the edtech field.

Announcement: Join #etdrive, a Texas wide conversation focused on 3 strands using “push to learn” technology, VoxerChats. Follow these two steps to begin your learning journey now.

About the Facilitators
It was facilitated by the following folks from TASB:

  • Amy Campbell, Assistant Director, Data Services
  • Ann Patton, Managing Compensation Consultant
  • Luz Cadena, Senior Compensation Consultant
  • Troy Bryants, Data Services Manager
TASB HR Services
Phone: 800-580-7782
Email: hrservices@tasb.org

Listen to Audio for this presentation 

MyNotes
  1. Dice Tech Salary Survey 2014 results | Get full text
  2. Out of a thousand school districts, 600 responded. A response rate of 60% statewide, surveying 125 jobs in the survey, 90% rate among districts with 3000+ enrollment
  3. Look at market value, as well as non-school market. These give us a good picture of private sector and public sector. Staff can go work in other places.
  4. Private sector does not always pay better than education.
  5. Average US Tech Salary Change – 5 year trend
    1. in 2010, there were very low increases for technology positions.
    2. by 2012, they caught up.
    3. Texas salaries are a little late to the game. On average, salaries actually dropped from year to year due to the RIF process in 2011.
    4. Cumulatively, there’s about a 13% increase nationwide, and only 9% in Texas.
  6. Texas Market Values
    1. Computer Technician
      1. Non school: $21.92 (San Antonio), $20.24(el Paso), $23.56 (Dallas/FtWorth), $23.90 (east Texas)
      2. Salary growth 1.5%, and over the last year, -1.1% decrease
      3. Employee ratio 2010-2015 has seen an increase of 5%
      4. Statewide median hourly rate is $19.77
    2. HelpDesk Technician
      1. Non School: $20.97/$19.04, $19.61/$27.17 (el paso)
      2. Relationship between district size and pay. Hourly rate for 10K-25K, $23.50 for hourly rate
    3. Network Technician: 
      1. Private/School: $27.85/$21.89 (SA)
    4. Instructional Tech SPecialist
      1. 10K-25K enrollment: $65,527
      2. 44% employee ratio 2010-2015
      3. Statewide median salary: $59,923
    5. Network Admin
      1. $86K/$62K (SA)
    6. CTO
      1. $162K/$93K (SA)
  7. IT Employment Trends
    1. Motivators: Percentage of employers who offer incentives. 2009:53%; 2014:66%
    2. Primary Motivator for 
      1. 17% was increased compensation
      2. 12% – more interesting or challenging assignments
      3. 12% flexible work locations/telecommuting
      4. 10% flexible work hours
      5. 3% promotion or new title
  8. Changing employers: of 37% of tech pros that anticipate changing employers in 2015:
    1. 70% higher compensation
    2. 44% better working conditions
    3. 33% more responsibility
    4. 18% shorter commute
    5. 17% anticipate losing current positions
    6. 13% relocation (unavoidable turnover)
    7. 9% other
  9. Hot Tech Jobs in 2015-2016
    1. Security
    2. Mobile Device Management
    3. Network
  10. Strategies for Hiring and Retaining Tech Talent
    1. Move quickly
    2. Separate pay structure
    3. Pay differently (pay tech people larger salary increases)
    4. Adjust pay (salaries are being looked at annually and revised, as many as 2x a year)
    5. Create career pathways (have like 3 levels of tech…need to provide value for this)
  11. Instructional Tech vs Traditional Tech
    1. Instructional Tech to CTO Path
      1. teacher/instructional tech specialist to Director then CTO
      2. THe only way to earn more is to become a supervisor
    2. Traditional Tech to CTO Path
      1. Computer Tech to Network Admin to IT Supervisor to CTO
      2. Lot more opportunity to earn in your career
      3. you can stay in a role that doesn’t involve supervision until you are more experienced (older)
  12. Gender Pay Equity
    1. Median Salaries
      1. Men: $91,951
      2. Women: $95,883
      3. CTO count by gender favors males in that role over females
      4. Only 4.6 percent of women work in STEM careers, opposed to 10.3% for men in STEM careers.
      5. There are fewer female data points in the data.
      6. Men in technology hold far more technical positions (e.g. software engineering)
      7. Women hold project management, business analyst roles.
      8. CTO Median Salary by Gender and Enrollment Group: There is no statistical impact of gender on salary. No correlation was found in Texas.

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes: APQC – Process, Process, Process #txctoclinic15

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by mguhlin in CTOsRole, Education, Leadership, TechnologyManagement, txcto15

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A great presentation on the importance of process from Fred Bentsen (APQC Education), Mark Gabehart (CTO, RoundRock ISD), and Frankie Jackson (CTO, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD). These are my notes from the presentation given at the Texas CTO Clinic 2015 in Austin, Texas.

Announcement: Join #etdrive, a Texas wide conversation focused on 3 strands using “push to learn” technology, VoxerChats. Follow these two steps to begin your learning journey now.

Source: http://goo.gl/HdmXEk

While I have audio for this presentation, Fred Bentsen said, “What happens here, stays here.” So, no audio. Sigh.

My Notes

  1. Fred asked a few questions to start us off:
    1. Why do we use these cumbersome forms?
    2. Why do we have to have so many approvals for this?
    3. Why does only 1 person know how to do this job?
    4. Why do we do this like this?
  2. This presentation is about process and measurement.
  3. It’s time for a new approach. We have to consider Inputs, Processes, and Outcomes. For example:
    1. Inputs include Money, Instructional, Facilitator
    2. Processes include Practices, Hiring/Training, Managing Technology
    3. Outputs include Test results, achievement gap, AYP
  4. You can only change the outcome if you change the processes; you only change processes for whom the outcome is broken.
  5. You can’t change outcomes without changing the processes that lead to those outcomes.
  6. Everything you do is a process…writing down that process is the first step to transformative change.
  7. We can ask questions like:
    1. What suggestions do you have to make process(es) more efficient?
    2. Why would a person in question want to change process?
  8. Processes over time end up with redundant items, while others require delegation.
  9. The processes that need to change are the ones leading to broken outcomes.
  10. Cypress-Fairbank ISD’s story:
    1. The District needed improvement in various areas, such as Visioning, ALigning District Plan/CIP, Human Capital Assessment and Development, Energy Management, Conservation and Payroll process.
    2. Frankie shared a great slide showing Work History and characterized it as a “Performance Excellence Journey.”
    3. When we started we didn’t have a service level agreement.
    4. In discussing goals and evidence of completion, she developed several tiers of service.
      1. Tier 1 involved standard response time.
      2. Tier 2 involved when something didn’t get taken care of within 1-9 days; this resulted in a consequence of an email to the team leader.
      3. Tier 3 involved 10-19 days with an email to the manager
      4. Tier 4 involved 19 days or more without being dealt with. This resulted in the consequence of an email to the CTO and she had to come up with interventions and strategies for resolve this.
    5. It is difficult to document processes; until you write down the process, flow, designate responsibility and publish those, you won’t be able to fix them. “Mapping the process.”
  11. Round Rock ISD’s Story:
  12. view source
    1. Why APQC?
      1. Challenging economic times, 
      2. looking at efficiencies, 
      3. breaking down silos, 
      4. seeking continuous improvement; 
      5. linking initiatives, programs and projects; 
      6. using process and performance management tools.
    2. APQC involves systematic thinking about processes. You define real problems and identify pain points that you are having as a district.
    3. Some of the challenges include not having a service desk, enrollment registration, online registration, transportation, personnel alignment.
    4. APQC suggests ways of moving from “As Is” to “To Be,” or how to shift from current ineffective process to processes that will work in the future.
    5. This process involves crafting the following:
      1. Opportunity statement: This details the problem or current ineffective process.
      2. Goal: The solution or corrected process and the desired outcome
      3. Measures: How to assess success
      4. In Scope: The work that it will take to achieve the goal that is expected
      5. Out of Scope: The work or needs that will arise to achieve the goal that are unexpected or exceed budget.
    6. This process is known as DMAIC or Define–Measure–Analyze–Improve–Control
    7. Lessons Learned:
      1. Continuous improvement is good (growth mindset)
      2. Breaks down silos
      3. Improves efficiencies
      4. Using APQC tools is good.
    8. Now, team members who have participated in the process are asking when others bring them problems, “Did you process map that problem?”
  13. Since technology touches all silos, it’s important to break down dysfunctional silos.
  14. Without upper leadership support, nothing will happen.
  15. Model up.
  16. We work with people on a daily basis, so we don’t want to make people mad at us. So, one approach is to bring someone in from the outside to ask tough questions and put into place an external process (APQC) to facilitate tough conversations [Miguel’s note: this highlights the need for crucial conversations].
On a related note, I loved this EdNET Insight article, a part of which is excerpted below:

 

For too long, educators, foundations, and the state-federal governments have mistakenly focused only on the right-hand side of the diagram—Pathway 2: Performance Management—to get improvement. I call it the Achilles’ heel flaw of education. Education can never get improvement by an outcomes-only process. You cannot manage outcomes any more than you can manage a golf score to improve your golf game. Outcomes are determined by processes, and if you wish to improve, you must manage the processes that produce the outcomes.*

 Here’s a ten-step Quick Start Guide to begin:

  1. Get training and coaching in PPM.
  2. Appoint process improvement teams and process owners.
  3. Select three to five key processes.
  4. Map the current processes as is to reveal the flow and flaws.
  5. Train teams in process improvement and change management.
  6. Benchmark in your own district or with best practices districts.
  7. Collect and measure data; see gaps and waste in your performance.
  8. Do a root cause and process analysis.
  9. Draw a process map the way you think a process should be done.
  10. Create action plans and implement.


Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes: CTO Boot Camp #txcto15 @cosn @tx_cto_council #txctoclinic15

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by mguhlin in CTOsRole, Education, TechnologyManagement, txcto15

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Left to Right: Ms. Johnson, Mr. Schwartz, Session Facilitators

At the Texas CTO meeting, it was great to listen–in fact, let me say that this preso was GOLD–to two premier CTOs, Frankie Johnson (Cypress-Fairbanks ISD) and Kevin Schwartz (Clear Creek ISD). Both were sharing how they went out for bond packages to replace aging equipment (and ideas, people, too)…both experienced a 70% approval rating for bond packages.

Announcement: Join #etdrive, a Texas wide conversation focused on 3 strands using “push to learn” technology, VoxerChats. Follow these two steps to begin your learning journey now.

Listen to Audio Recording, CTO Boot Camp

Note: This audio is raw and unedited; it is linked via Dropbox.com

About Content: I stopped recording audio and taking notes about 2 hours. The remainder was about the Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL) testing process. Thanks to Kevin and Frankie for granting permission to record and share.

Here are my take-aways from their presentation:

  1. 10 different categories of the job
  2. Session is designed for new and aspiring CTOs to help them with strategies and skills of becoming a chief technology officer.
  3. Learn about the Essential SKills Framework for CTOs and the Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL) certification program. Current CTOs can also benefit from this session.
  4. If it’s not this certification, then what else is it going to be? To level set the skills, what other certification is there? Let’s work together to build the next generation of CTOs.
  5. A poll of the room reveals that most folks report to the Superintendent. A lot of school districts are trying to figure out how and where the CTO fits…whether on instructional or technical side. Leadership has to bridge this.
  6. Graph/Survey on The Changing Role of the CTO across business and education:
    1. 80% Technology
    2. 15% Fiscal Management
    3. 15 Organization and Culture
    4. 15% Business
    5. 15% Leadership and Management
  7. The CTO position has changed over the years.
  8. There is a lot of power when you report to the Superintendent and are on the Cabinet.
  9. There’s a piece beyond “utilities”
  10. What are some new job expectations that are required of you as your district’s technology leader? (Results from the Texas K-12 CTO Council Survey Conducted on October 13-16, 2014)
    1. District-level strategic planning: Have to be involved in every decision if it involves network (e.g. video cameras, A/C systems, kiosks)
    2. Blending information systems, instructional technology and professional learning into a cohesive team
    3. Public relations – what a CTO does is newsworthy, or dealing with public info requests
    4. Attending all executive level meetings both during day and evenings
    5. Participating in budgeting preparation for the entire district
    6. Long-Term financial strategy
    7. Federating identities between clouds and internal systems
    8. Supporting mobile devices that the district didn’t purchase
    9. Supporting instructional as well as technical focus
    10. Involved with how teachers use the technology and more deeply involved with curriculum and textbook decisions
    11. Community awareness and 1:1 deployments brings renewed attention to wireless, filtering, identity security
    12. Connecting globally to people
    13. Staying abreast of cutting edge technology, capabilities
    14. “The more we can work together, build our skillset, the better off we will be as a state and nation.” -Frankie Johnson
  11. What are some of the new things you’ve encountered?
    1. Digital citizenship – not using technology to control people. This is also about understanding pedagogy. 
    2. Security & autonomy – teachers entering confidential student information into the cloud…but should they be? And how are those apps being blended into the classroom?
    3. Finding more demands on doing professional development for new teachers and staff.
    4. ACLU – Blocking categories that was perceived as being against civil rights.
  12. As more departments embrace technology, we are expected to become the experts in helping implement and maintain their program improvements. This is nothing new but just seems that more and more departments are turning to technology.
  13. Don’t be afraid to “steal” from other bond projects to build your own.
  14. “How to get Internet to every student at home?”
    1. [Miguel’s Question: Are metropolitan area networks covered in CETL?]
    2. More political position (CTO)
  15. Configuring networks and servers to mediating a contract for an ASP
  16. Supervising technicians to evaluating out-sourced work and setting up effective helpdesks.
  17. Writing tech plans to working inter-departmentally with curriculum, staff-development, public relations, assessment and strategic planning
  18. Providing technology devices to staff and students to providing access to school resources for personal devices. Source: Robert J Moore, The Future of Information Technology: How the Next Ten Years Will Fundamentally Change the Role of the K-12 CTO, Executive Summary, November 2010, COSN
  19. K-12 CTO Skills Moving from:
    1. Writing policies that dictate behaviors to writing guidelines and curricula that encourage safe and responsible use.
    2. Knowing less about the “how of a new technology to the “why” of a new technology in education.
    3. Maintaining the status quo to selecting and planning for new technology applications and best practices.
  20. “We’ve been asking our schools to change for many years. Are we prepared to change our own roles?”
  21. As a CTO, you have to have a process in place so that you don’t take all the blame yourself.
  22. New Challenges for CTOs:
    1. High Areas
      1. 25% – Instructional Focus and PD
      2. 18% – Stakeholder Focus
      3. 14% – Team Building and Staffing
      4. Leadership and Vision
      5. Strategic Planning
      6. Business Management
    2. Low Areas (under 5%)
      1. Information Technology
      2. Data management
      3. Ethics & Policies
  23. Framework for the CTO Role (CETL)
  24. Identifies the skills and knowledge that CTOs need to either acquire or to strengthen.
  25. Defines best practices, whether or not they are followed in every school district.
  26. Illustrates the expanded role of CTO as an education–not just technology–leader.
  27. This is more than just someone who can make the magic happen.
  28. The framework may be used to
    1. self-assess
    2. Describe the clearly identifiable role for CTO within the district leadership structure
    3. Validate CTOs who already have these skills and knowledge
    4. Help guide the CTO interview and hiring process
    5. Provide roadmap for professional development for both CTOs and those who hire them.
    6. Clarifies the need for partnership of teaching, learning and tech services.
  29. Leadership & Vision
    1. Leadership & Vision:
      1. “Work closely with the executive team and stakeholders to develop a shared vision with long-term, big-picture perspectives on district goals to plan for meaningful and effective uses of technology; provide leadership when creating a vision of how technology will help meet district goals.”
      2. Understand the big picture: Reframe everything you do in technology to reflect the big picture…the vision about the learning. 
      3. Participate in the deciion-making process
      4. Facilitate change
    2. Strategic Planning: “Have a high-level view across the school system and work with instructional and technical teams to identify steps needed to transform the technology vision into a long-range plan, complete with specific goals, objectives, and action plans.” When someone is asking, “To what do we aspire?” make sure you are in the room to be a part of that.
      1. Align tech efforts to strategic goals
      2. Utilize best practices and Value of Investment (VOI) analysis
      3. Mitigate risk: It is important to build relationships PRIOR to whatever initiative. As you mature through the process of mobility, you acclimate people. The next level is how are you going to be more efficient, acclimating parents to new efficiencies. Finally, how do you just make it more efficient. 
    3. Ethics & Policies: “Have a high level view across the school system and work with instructional and technical teams to identify steps needed to transform the technology vision into a long-range plan, complete with specific goals, objectives, and action plans.”
      1. “Most conflict, has at its source, a difference in expectation.” – Kevin Schwartz
      2. “Manage the creation, implementation, and enforcement of policies and educational programs relating to the social, legal, and ethical issues related to technology use throughout the district and modeling responsible decision-making.”
        1. Enforce PEIMS, FERPA, COPPA, and CIPA
        2. Understand eRate
        3. Assure fairness and honesty
        4. Focus on green computing
  30. Managing Technology & Support Resources
    1. Information Technology
    2. Communication Systems
    3. Business Management
    4. Data Management
  31. Understanding the Educational Environment
    1. Instructional Focus & Professional Development
      1. “Budget, plan, and coordinate ongoing, purposeful professional development for all staff using technologies; ensure a sufficient budget through the implementation and assessment process of emerging technologies.”
    2. Team Building and Staffing: “Play an integral role in the district’s strategic planning process; create and support cross-functional teams for decision-making, technology support, professional development, and other aspects of the district’s technology program.”
      1. Take your team on learning walks to celebrate success and discuss gap between vision and reality. [Great idea!]
    3. Data Stakeholder Focus: “Build relationships with all stakeholders, taking a close look at how the district determines requirements, expectations, and preferences. Understand the key factors that lead to stakeholder satisfaction, focusing on how the district seeks knowledge, satisfaction and loyalty of students and other stakeholders.”
      1. Collaborate and communicate.
      2. Build relationships and partnerships. If you don’t build relationships and partnerships–if it’s the Superintendent’s Vision or CTO’s Vision alone–you are doomed. This can take a year or two to do…make sure you do it FIRST. You can’t shortcut to the implementation…one year from ideation to implementation.
  32. Information Technology
    1. Direct, coordinate and ensure implementation of all tasks related to technical, infrastructure, standards and integration of tech into every facet of district operations.
      1. formulate data
  33. Communication Systems – Use technology to improve communication, directing and coordinating the use of email, district websites, web tools, voice mail systems, and other forms of communication to facilitate decision-making and to enhance effective communication with key stakeholders.
  34. Business Management – Manage the budget and serve as a strong business leader who guides purchasing decisions, determines the return on investment for all tech implmeentations, fosters good relationships with vendors, potential funders and other key groups.
    1. Manage funding sources and budgets
    2. Manage purchasing policies, RFPs, Co-op
    3. Negotiate with vendors
    4. Prepare total cost and value of ownership
  35. Data Management
    1. Manage the establishment and maintenance of systems and tools for gathering, mining, integrating and reporting data in usable and meaningful ways to produce an information culture in which data management is critical to strategic planning.
  36. Core Values & Skills
    1. Effective Communicator
    2. Innovative
    3. Courageous
    4. Flexible & Adaptable
    5. Results-Oriented
  37. We have to acknowledge that we are 50% of the problem – Superintendents are on one side, we are on the other. This realization can be empowering.
  38. How do you measure VOI? [Unrelated, but interesting white paper, From ROI to VOI]

Note: I stopped recording audio and taking notes about 2 hours. The remainder was about the Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL) testing process.

Relevant Links
  1. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD’s Logistical Site
  2. Robert J Moore, The Future of Information Technology: How the Next Ten Years Will Fundamentally Change the Role of the K-12 CTO, Executive Summary, November 2010, COSN (Read Blue Skunk Blog’s reflections | Around the Corner) 
  3. Public Relations Training – Amerman Public Relations Training
  4. http://www.cosn.org/certification


Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

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