Jamf Software's Casper Suite is an essential tool in an Apple Blended Learning Environment of any size. Casper allows one to do everything from imaging machines to collecting inventory information. It is the latter that we have chosen to extend.
Using Casper's Extension Attributes we have added information to the database that was previously stored in several separate spreadsheets and databases. Pulling as much data as we could into Casper has helped us to streamline our repair procedures as well as helping us to better maintain a detailed record of all issues and damage we are seeing. Casper further eases some of these processes by allowing for the easy creation of custom reports.
We have added the following Extensions Attributes: Been To AppleCare, AEA Job Number, Repair Costs, Repairs/Issues so far. The "Been To AppleCare" item is a simple yes/no, but it allows us to quickly see if a machine has been to AppleCare, and, in conjunction with GSX, lets us quickly produce a repair/issue history for a machine. Since we do not send non-warranty repairs to AppleCare, we need to track those repairs as well. The "AEA Job Number," "Repair Costs," and "Repairs/Issues" items allow us to produce custom reports very quickly showing various versions of all of that information.
Prior to expanding our use of Casper, producing a repair/damage history for a machine was a process that involved several spreadsheets, paper copies, and a database or two. Now everything we commonly need is at our fingertips and accessible within seconds of logging in to Casper along with all of the other wonderful information it already gathers.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Invisible Integration
My ultimate goal as a Director of Technology is to provide the support needed to help our teachers achieve what I like to call Invisible Integration. You might ask, "what do you mean by Invisible Integration?" Invisible Integration to me is when technology is not a thing by itself. Technology is not something our students do once or twice a week in a lab down the hall. Technology is not something teachers try to dream up new lessons for in order to integrate it. Technology is not something we use on special occasions for culminating projects. Technology is not assigning a Keynote presentation or iMovie project.
Invisible Integration is when technology becomes part of what we do everyday. Technology is the right tool to create the expected outcome for a lesson. Technology is what the kids choose to use because it is the tool that makes sense to them to complete the given task. Invisible Integration is when students are given a task and they may or may not choose a given technology to accomplish that task.
Is Invisible Integration achievable? Maybe not. Maybe Invisible Integration is one of those things we continue to strive to achieve, but it is always just out of reach. That's ok. Technology changes rapidly and there will always be some sort of learning curve for new tools. Students will always have to be taught to use those new tools at some point. Whether they teach themselves, each other, or are taught by the teacher is most likely dependent on the technology.
It makes more sense to me to do the teaching of those new tools in context and as invisibly as possible. Use the given tool because it makes sense to use it to achieve the desired outcome. Don't make using the technology the desired outcome, and then wrap content around it. Make the technology work for you; don't let the technology make work for you. Then, technology will begin to become invisible and utilized because it should be and not because we want it to be.
Invisible Integration is when technology becomes part of what we do everyday. Technology is the right tool to create the expected outcome for a lesson. Technology is what the kids choose to use because it is the tool that makes sense to them to complete the given task. Invisible Integration is when students are given a task and they may or may not choose a given technology to accomplish that task.
Is Invisible Integration achievable? Maybe not. Maybe Invisible Integration is one of those things we continue to strive to achieve, but it is always just out of reach. That's ok. Technology changes rapidly and there will always be some sort of learning curve for new tools. Students will always have to be taught to use those new tools at some point. Whether they teach themselves, each other, or are taught by the teacher is most likely dependent on the technology.
It makes more sense to me to do the teaching of those new tools in context and as invisibly as possible. Use the given tool because it makes sense to use it to achieve the desired outcome. Don't make using the technology the desired outcome, and then wrap content around it. Make the technology work for you; don't let the technology make work for you. Then, technology will begin to become invisible and utilized because it should be and not because we want it to be.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
iMovie and the iPad 2
After doing my walk around last week and gathering some video clips with my new iPad 2, I was anxious to edit those clips into a 4 or 5 minute video to post to our YouTube channel. The plan was to put those clips together using iMovie on the iPad 2. I was quickly disappointed.
Putting the clips in and adjusting their length and position is easy enough. After that, the disappointment started. When trying to add captions, one can only do so based on the chosen theme for the project. There are only eight themes to choose from, and those aren't the best. If the caption is too long for the particular theme chosen, instead of multi-lining the caption the software just cuts it off. There is also no way to adjust the length the caption shows on the screen. It is stuck to the length of the clip it is applied to. So, to adjust it's length, one has to split the clip. This is not a huge deal, but still a limitation. The simple lack of choices for captions is a big negative in my opinion.
The lack of choice doesn't stop there. The transitions to choose from are also extremely limited. There are three: none, cross dissolve, and theme based. I am guessing this is due to the lack of processing power to render these on the fly.
The lack of processing power also rears it's ugly head when doing just the simplest things like clicking the project settings button. When making a change in those settings and trying to click out, there is a very noticeable delay as the project is updated to match those changes. So, be sure to close any other open apps before attempting any iMovie editing.
Something else I found to be missing was backgrounds. I like to do credits or additional comments in and at the end of videos. So the lack of backgrounds and caption choices is very limiting in this regard. I got around it in this video by covering the camera and recording a black clip to put a caption on.
I am reviewing this device as a possible alternative for a 1:1 learning environment. If the goal is to show learning through video, I would suggest buying a netbook and using Movie Maker. After using the real iMovie, the iPad version left me extremely disappointed. That being said, if the goal is to make very simple videos, very quickly, with little attention to detail, the iPad 2 and iMovie for the iPad will do just fine.
Apple has had a long and positive relationship with education. Wouldn't it be nice if they would ask people IN education what they really need in a 1:1 device and then deliver it, instead of those in education trying to make existing products work for their purposes?
You can see the video I made here.
Putting the clips in and adjusting their length and position is easy enough. After that, the disappointment started. When trying to add captions, one can only do so based on the chosen theme for the project. There are only eight themes to choose from, and those aren't the best. If the caption is too long for the particular theme chosen, instead of multi-lining the caption the software just cuts it off. There is also no way to adjust the length the caption shows on the screen. It is stuck to the length of the clip it is applied to. So, to adjust it's length, one has to split the clip. This is not a huge deal, but still a limitation. The simple lack of choices for captions is a big negative in my opinion.
The lack of choice doesn't stop there. The transitions to choose from are also extremely limited. There are three: none, cross dissolve, and theme based. I am guessing this is due to the lack of processing power to render these on the fly.
The lack of processing power also rears it's ugly head when doing just the simplest things like clicking the project settings button. When making a change in those settings and trying to click out, there is a very noticeable delay as the project is updated to match those changes. So, be sure to close any other open apps before attempting any iMovie editing.
Something else I found to be missing was backgrounds. I like to do credits or additional comments in and at the end of videos. So the lack of backgrounds and caption choices is very limiting in this regard. I got around it in this video by covering the camera and recording a black clip to put a caption on.
I am reviewing this device as a possible alternative for a 1:1 learning environment. If the goal is to show learning through video, I would suggest buying a netbook and using Movie Maker. After using the real iMovie, the iPad version left me extremely disappointed. That being said, if the goal is to make very simple videos, very quickly, with little attention to detail, the iPad 2 and iMovie for the iPad will do just fine.
Apple has had a long and positive relationship with education. Wouldn't it be nice if they would ask people IN education what they really need in a 1:1 device and then deliver it, instead of those in education trying to make existing products work for their purposes?
You can see the video I made here.
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