The decisions that past technology teams made and the hardware, software, and network infrastructure they installed affect the decisions that can be made in the future. Especially in schools, the IT system tends to be a kluge; new features and functions were added piecemeal, and each was made to operate with extant systems. In many cases those integrations depended on custom programming and configurations. School budgets rarely allow for wholesale replacement of technology. The total cost of replacing technology infrastructure includes the cost Read More
Category: Technology
School Leaders & Technology
In most aspects of school function, school leaders have experience and preparation. A leader probably started their career as a faculty member, then studied school administration and progressed through positions that gave them more experience and in which they gained increasing knowledge of school operations. Most school leaders freely admit they are not “technology people.” While they use technology Read More
Software for Business Operations
Schols are organizations that have similar organizational and business needs as other organizations of similar size. People need to be hired, bills need to be paid, forms need to be completed to ensure business activities proceed as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Key Performance Indicators and IT
169: Key Performance Indicators and School IT | RSS.com Key performance indicators (KPIs) are measurable values that help organizations track and assess their progress toward achieving specific business objectives. They provide a framework and structure for monitoring performance, making informed decisions, and driving improvements. Information technology leaders who work in schools are well-served to have key performance indicators identified. These are goals that are specific Read More
Open Source Licenses
168: Open Source Software Licenses | RSS.com Open-source software is also free to use, but “free” can be applied to its use in two ways. First, it can be used at no cost for the user. We download open-source software, just as well do any software, but installation proceeds without entering account information. Second, users are free to use the software in that they Read More
A Brief History of Computers in Schools
A Brief History of Computers in Schools In the United States, desktop computers arrived in classrooms beginning in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, which is when they arrived on the consumer market as well. If you walked into one of the classrooms where there were those first desktop computers installed, you probably would have seen one or two computers; nearby, there would have been a box of Read More
Teachers and AI, But Not with Students
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a quiet partner in the work teachers do every day. While much of the conversation focuses on collaborative, whole‑school adoption, the reality is that many educators are using AI individually—experimenting on their own, testing tools privately, and integrating them into their workflow long before formal policies or training appear. In Read More
ARP Spoofing
A post for students in network security class: ARP spoofing is a powerful technique used by hackers to intercept and view unencrypted web traffic on a local area network (LAN). This attack exploits a fundamental vulnerability in the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), which the internet uses to map a device’s IP address (where it is Read More
Deep Fakes
A blog post for students network security class: Deepfakes represent a modern frontier of digital deception, consisting of counterfeit images, videos, or sounds generated through machine learning algorithms. While these tools can be used for entertainment, they are increasingly weaponized by hackers as social engineering techniques to psychologically influence human behavior. By using technology to Read More
Multimedia in Schools
159: Multimedia in Schools Generations of students have created presentations using a series of programs that combine text, images, audio, and video (thus the “multi” in multimedia). Many trace the beginnings of this type of educational software to HyperCard and HyperStudio, programs that available were for Apple computers marketed in schools in the early 1990’s. Interest in multimedia grew when video cards, color displays, audio Read More