My Go-to Technologies as an Administrator

Wikispaces home page for Qatar Academy

Of course I am only a rookie, but In my first two months on the job, I have been leaning heavily* on the following technologies:

Doodle
I've given this meeting scheduling software a real workout because I have set up several meetings which included 6-20 persons.  One can use Doodle to whip up a poll in a couple of minutes, deploy it, and then determine how many persons can attend at the offered times. And they don't have to be using any particular calendar software.  They just click through the link I send them and respond to a simple "poll".   I upgraded ($39) to the paid version without ads, but the free version is great.  I use this once or twice a week with efficient results.

iPad + Notes
Loyal Drive-thru readers may recall that I received my wife's hand-me-down iPad last spring.  I didn't begin using it as a workhorse until I became an administrator.  I take nearly all my meeting notes with it, and the "Notes" application synchs with my desktop, laptop, and iPhone, so it has become indispensable as my number of meetings has increased.

UPad +  Targus Stylus + iPad 
One of our vendors and I did a walk-through of our school.  We both had iPads, but he was jotting down handwritten notes continually.  When I inquired, he told me about how much he depended on the  inexpensive app, UPad, and his Targus Stylus for jotting notes.  He had tried out different solutions, and was sold on this pairing.  Based on his testimony, I purchased mine the same day and there is no looking back.  Since school started, I often walk the halls during the early morning, chatting with students and staff.  When they make requests or suggestions, I  jot them down on UPad and try to act on them before the day is through.  The advantage of course over a paper notepad is that I never lose or mislay these notes!

Wikispaces
I love Wikispaces and keep trying to lure (and yes, drive) teachers to our staff wiki.  There we can share discussions and resources without face-to-face meetings.  This seems like a no-brainer to me. One of my big projects has been a "refresh" of the school's hallways and common areas.  Since June we have had several meetings and discussions both in person and online.  All of this has taken place at the wiki, making this one of the most transparent enterprises I have experienced on a large scale.

Zoomerang
While I haven't used Zoomerang surveys as often as the other resources, it has served an extremely important task.  As part of our strategic planning for technology, we surveyed the staff on current usage. Using the "Pro" account purchased by one of our departments, I drafted a survey, submitted it to review, and beta-tested it.  Recently I deployed it.  50 persons responded and I have found that the results are easy to digest and share.  If I need to create another survey, I will definitely use Zoomerang.

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* I have not received any form of compensation for using or recommending any of these products.

Recent Reads

Over the Christmas holidays I took some flack from my family for-- as an English major and teacher-- not having read recent fiction.  But I have been reading and wish to recommend that you check in on a few articles.

Rethinking Advanced Placement - NYTimes.com
Fewer facts to memorize and more critical thinking?  It's about time-- the AP Biology and AP U.S. History exams are getting a makeover.

Review of Comparing Survey Applications
I have been using Zoomerang.  But based on this comparison I think I'll give SurveyMonkey a try.

After Strong Holiday Sales for E-Readers, E-Books Outselling Print - NYTimes.com
As I write this blog in a coffee shop, I see a couple of customers with e-readers.  But the only books I see are text books.  Ironically, these only made-of paper books I'd really like to see disappear, and they have the most staying power.

More Schools Embrace the iPad as a Learning Tool - NYTimes.com
The Detroit Public Schools just purchased $49 million of "computers" for students.  I'd feel much better if they had invested in iPads.  They could have more of them and the students and staff could figure out uses for them in minutes.


Research: The Educational BS Repellent | Connected Principals
This article reviews a book which convincingly challenges a number of common assumptions about education.

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"BeBook" Flickr CC photo by Nimages DR

M-Hub Update

My involvement with Challenge Based Learning has been pretty all-consuming these days.  But M-Hub has grabbed my attention in a big way.  This is largely due to having a remarkable student-leadership team which is bent on getting things done has helped move moved M-Hub from an interesting idea to a reality.

The basic concept of M-Hub is to provide studetns with a tool for building personal learning networks within our greater school community.  We want to build a highly searchable database of "expert" alumnae, staff, parents for students to contact for a wide variety of information.


The idea has received support from all parties, but actualizing the plan has been challenging.  Suddenly, we have major break throughs

Data Collection
We believe that Zoomerang can provide us with a polling instrument that we can send out by email or link to a web site.  If the "free version" is too limited, we think that the "pro" pay version can certainly meet our needs.  We are ready to begin building a prototype.

Web Solution
Finding a place to store our data which would allow students to gain access has been more perplexing.  However, with the help of some "seed money" from the school we will be able to secure the services of a web designer who is going to begin constructing the back end of this database.  He also is confident that the data from Zoomerang will be easy to import to the web site.  Working with Drupal our web designer will be able to integrate this feature right into the school's web site.

Fund Raising
In order to pay for the complete services of the web designer and meet other expenses such as an upgrade to Zoomerang Pro, we will need to raise funds.  Here, our status as a school club comes hand.  With 25 club members its feasible host activities.  One likely possibility is a sale of M-Hub logo flash drives.



Leveraging Technology
I'm also pleased to note that while we are not overtly a "tech club",  we are pretty clever at finding virtual tools to help us keep pushing M-Hub along.  We use "Doodle" to schedule leadership meetings.  We also carry on discussions between meetings on a private blog site created with iWeb.

MAME /MACUL
The world is about to hear about M-Hub.  Two of the student leaders and I will be presenting our project to the school library media specialists at MAME 37, this week.  I also just learned that M-Hub has been selected as a topic for the 2011 MACUL Conference at Cobo Center in March.

What a rush!

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Screen capture of M-Hub leadership private blog site