Fayetteville-Perry Local School District
District Information
Why did the district create such a program to utilize students as technology support staff?
What technology support do students provide to the district? (e.g. software, hardware, website creation or maintenance, etc.)
How long has the project been in effect?
Did another district's student tech program influence the way you modeled your program? If so, which district.
What resources or policies were necessary to start up and maintain the program? (i.e. funding, human resources, board approval, ect.)
What are the goals of the program?
How much did it cost to create the program?
Please itemize costs and expenditures in an Appendix.
How much does it cost annually to maintain the program?
Please itemize costs and expenditures in an Appendix.
How many students have participated in the program to date?
How many students are participating in the program this school year?
Do students work during or outside school hours? Please detail.
Are students paid for their work? If so, how much per hour and how are they funded? If students are not paid, do they receive credit as a course?
What grade level(s) are students who participate in the program?
Is your student technical program integrated with your district curriculum? How?
How have you solved logistical problems (matching student/teacher schedules, transportation between buildings, etc) so that students can do work where it is needed?
How and by whom are students trained to be able to support district technology?
What training and reference materials are provided to the student participants?
How many technical support staff (non-student) are employed by the district? Describe the role of each.
What lessons has the district learned during the program? Include strengths, weaknesses and obstacles encountered.
What process and instruments are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program?
How is cost-effectiveness of the program determined? What information has been gathered to date showing the cost-effectiveness of the program? Include samples.
Why does your district believe that it is has a model for other districts to implement?
Describe the type of product(s) you anticipate creating to communicate to all districts your program? (e.g. website, CD Rom, video, etc.)
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District Information
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| District name: |
Fayetteville-Perry Local School District
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| District IRN: |
46045
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| Contact Person: |
Ms. Jacqueline Miller
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| Contact Person Title: |
District Technology Coordinator
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| Contact Person Address: |
501 S. Apple
Fayetteville, OH 45118
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| Contact Person Phone: |
513.875.3687 Ext:
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| Contact Person Fax: |
513.875.2703
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| Contact Person email: |
millerj@fp.k12.oh.us
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| Requested Funding Amount: |
$5,600.00 |
| District Size: |
1,501 to 6,000 Students |
| Grades Involved: |
9 10 11 12
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| Project Artifact: |
PDF |
| Dates of Presentation: |
| Presentation One: |
Location:
SOITA /GMVETC Technology Conference
Date:
12/5/2001
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| Presentation Two: |
Location:
Brown County ESC
Date:
12/13/2001 |
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Why did the district create such a program to utilize students as technology support staff?
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Like many school districts in the State of Ohio, the first round of SchoolNet funding forced us to re-organize and put someone in charge of technology. It was evident that the amount of time that would be necessary to accomplish SchoolNet goals and continue to grow with technology was more than the district media specialist could spare. Our district did what many districts did - recruit a teacher from the rank and file to write the grant and oversee the project. A part-time position quickly became a full-time job. Our district now has more than 250 networked computers, a WAN connecting our three school buildings, and a previous social studies teacher as the primary administrator and technician. As the demands of maintaining the network continued to grow so did the knowledge base of our student body. We discovered that we had technical resource personnel enrolled in our district. The students that participate in the Student Technical Assistance Team (STAT) are experts in hardware issues, software glitches, and even basic networking.
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What technology support do students provide to the district? (e.g. software, hardware, website creation or maintenance, etc.)
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STAT members provide troubleshooting skills, maintenance and repair, and software installation and training. They also help daily with inventory issues, manual labor, and computer cleaning. We hope that our students get a well-rounded vision of what constitutes being a technology coordinator and/or a computer technician.
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How long has the project been in effect?
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We started this project as a class at the beginning of the 2000-01 school year. Previously the district had hired student workers for the summer and had utilized one or two specifically for technology jobs.
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Did another district's student tech program influence the way you modeled your program? If so, which district.
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In Brown County, the technology coordinators meet monthly to discuss tech and curricular issues. Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington Local School District's technology coordinator, Susan Owens, began a student tech program several years ago. Hearing the benefits that this program brings to Ripley's technology department prompted Fayetteville to develop its own. We used several suggestions and strategies from Ripley's program and many of our own ideas to create the Student Technology Assistance Team (STAT).
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What resources or policies were necessary to start up and maintain the program? (i.e. funding, human resources, board approval, ect.)
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In order to create the STAT program, the district needed to agree to add the class to the high school catalog. The Guidance and Technology Departments worked together to create a course of study that would represent our goals for the students and the program. Students were also given "perks" as members of the student tech class: Polo Shirts with the STAT logo, computer tool kits, PC trouble-shooting books, and identification badges
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What are the goals of the program?
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The goals of the program include developing both computer skills and people skills in our students. At the same time, the students utilize the computer skills they bring with them to help maintain our network. Specific goals for the class include: familiarization with the history of computers and computing, knowing the parts and functions of a PC, familiarization with various district printers, ability to install and troubleshoot both local and network printers, diagnosis of computer problems, familiarization with the district LAN, following safety guidelines when working with or on computers, ability to operate and troubleshoot computer peripherals, familiarization with district software packages, and demonstration of ethical behavior when working with or on the district's computers and technology equipment.
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How much did it cost to create the program?
Please itemize costs and expenditures in an Appendix.
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This field appears as an appendix in the PDF
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How much does it cost annually to maintain the program?
Please itemize costs and expenditures in an Appendix.
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This field appears as an appendix in the PDF
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How many students have participated in the program to date?
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We offer Student Technology Assistance as a semester course any period of the day to 9th - 12th graders. During the first semester of 2000-01, we had 15 students enrolled; in the second semester of 2000-01, we had 18 students enrolled.
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How many students are participating in the program this school year?
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This school year, 2001-02, our first semester numbers have increased to 23 students.
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Do students work during or outside school hours? Please detail.
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After hours work is not common, but several tech students have shown an interest in applying for the summer tech positions.
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Are students paid for their work? If so, how much per hour and how are they funded? If students are not paid, do they receive credit as a course?
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Students would be paid for their work during the summer hours based on the current minimum wage salary schedule used by the Building, Grounds and Maintenance Supervisor.
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What grade level(s) are students who participate in the program?
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Fayetteville High School's STAT team is made up of 9-12 graders.
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Is your student technical program integrated with your district curriculum? How?
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The Student Technical Assist Team program is based on a course of study developed by our district. Our district curriculum heavily integrates technology. Formal keyboarding begins in the third grade. The STAT program fit in well with the already existing technology curriculum at the high school. Not only do our students have the availability of several multimedia, productivity, and keyboarding classes; they can also take Tech Prep classes in a new state of the art modular laboratory. Many of the STAT students take courses in Information Services & Support, Information Media, Computer Programming, Web Page Design and Networking modules.
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How have you solved logistical problems (matching student/teacher schedules, transportation between buildings, etc) so that students can do work where it is needed?
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Two of the three buildings of our district are on the same campus so walking between buildings is not an issue. If work needs to be done at the elementary school, myself, my tech aide, or the driving-aged students serve as transportation. Each student must have a permission note signed by his or her parent to either drive or ride the four blocks to the elementary school. Student drivers will also receive travel reimbursement at the end of the school year. Every district teacher was emailed and asked to choose appropriate times for computer work to take place in their classroom. We make every effort to do routine maintenance and work during those times when students are not in the classrooms. If student techs must be in the room during instruction, they are expected to be unobtrusive and quiet.
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How and by whom are students trained to be able to support district technology?
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In August, before school starts, we held two days of STAT training. The district technology coordinator, the county technology coordinator and veteran tech students all help in the training. The students were given a tour of the data closets in each building and introduced to the terminology of the networked system. The students were instructed in basic installation procedures such as installing networked printers, adding and removing the Novell client, setting proxies for the Internet, imaging computers and using Network Applications. Hardware-wise students dismantled a computer and put it back together as they learned the key components and parts of the PC. They also learned to make data cables and check for connectivity as the number one reason for failed server connections. New skills are routinely added as new problems arise. The students keep a Tech Manual of all troubleshooting and fixes that we find in order to be able to duplicate a resolution.
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What training and reference materials are provided to the student participants?
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After initial summer training, the student techs are trained on a daily basis by learning new skills as necessary. Each year we purchase a different troubleshooting reference book for the tech students to own and use. Previous titles include "The PC Survival Guide for PC Users" and "Troubleshooting Your PC".
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How many technical support staff (non-student) are employed by the district? Describe the role of each.
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Fayetteville-Perry Local School District employs one full time District Technology Coordinator who is in charge of all technology grants, funds, procurement, maintenance/repair, upgrades and disposals. The Technology Coordinator also serves as the district CIP Coordinator, Professional Development Coordinator, and Curriculum Alignment Coordinator. The Technology Coordinator does most student training. Two years ago, the district hired a full time aide to work in the technology department. This person has been indispensable. She works heavily in the technology troubleshooting and problem resolution realm concerning computers, printers, telephones, and software. The Brown County Technology Coordinator also participates in training students when he is available in our district. This Certified Novell Engineer is shared by the six school districts of Brown County and therefore is in our building 2-4 times a month. His expertise has always been vital to the upkeep of our network, but now he can explain and demonstrate solutions to problems to several people at once.
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What lessons has the district learned during the program? Include strengths, weaknesses and obstacles encountered.
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The strengths of our program have been tapping into the knowledge of students who are interested in and work with computers often. The students learn so much on their own because of this interest and it brings a huge asset to our technology department. Having eighteen people to try and answer questions and troubleshoot problems is a much better and more efficient situation than two. One of the weaknesses we have encountered is the time limitation. We have 9 periods a day so each period is anywhere from 40-50 minutes long. This is not enough time to start and finish a project. We spend too much time on making sure we know where one group has stopped and where the next group needs to pick up to complete tasks. We plan to implement a better organizational scheme next school year, which will track our work orders. This change would alleviate the paper trail we currently have by replacing it with either web-based tracking or Palm Pilot organizers. The fact that we do have tech students who have varying degrees of knowledge has been both a strength and weakness for us. We have been able to assign certain jobs to those students who have an affinity for a particular task. For example, some of our students have become our DOS, software, or printer experts, while others live to work on the hardware issues. Those very green technology students who do not yet have a good base of knowledge are limited in what they can do on their own, but we have the perfect tutoring program already in place for them to learn.
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What process and instruments are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program?
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Each work order given to the tech department and assigned to student tech workers is logged under the course objectives. We evaluate the success of the program and the students' grades based on their ability to meet the course objectives successfully. We also plan to survey both the tech students and the staff at the end of the year. These surveys will give us baseline data to evaluate and remodel our program for the following year.
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How is cost-effectiveness of the program determined? What information has been gathered to date showing the cost-effectiveness of the program? Include samples.
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This field appears as an appendix in the PDF
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Why does your district believe that it is has a model for other districts to implement?
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We believe that the program we have implemented at Fayetteville High School is a program that benefits all involved. Our students learn technical, office, and people skills through their work in the program. The district receives free hardware and software specialists who have learned many of their skills through problem solving and experimentation. We also have the use of extra hands for the more mundane but necessary station to station upkeep of a computer network. Modifications to our model will be on-going as we see ways to imporve and streamline our program.
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Describe the type of product(s) you anticipate creating to communicate to all districts your program? (e.g. website, CD Rom, video, etc.)
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We will publish a website that will explain how our STAT program works and will showcase our accomplishments.
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