Assignment 2 - Software Selection Forms

           As I am just a full time student that has never worked in a district before nor do I have a position at Wilkes that would need my opinion on software (I'm just a graduate assistant), I have no idea whether or not software selection forms are being used at the university.  That being said, I will perform an analysis of the usefulness of the form from a couple various perspectives.
           I imagine for a teacher, the sample form in the text would be quite useful in someways.  It will clearly show what categories are addressed by the software as well as what guidelines in the curriculum it will meet.  However the form appears to have expected the teacher to have used the software in question previously, instead of suggesting what may be beneficial to the classroom.  Some of the information could be easily obtained from the manufacturer's website, such as RAM needed or examples of the graphics; other information, such as whether the directions are clear or if it is enjoyable to use, can only be gained from prior use of the software.  One cannot also generally expect teachers to suggest vendors or what licensing is needed.  Teachers are overworked as it is, this form shouldn't make even more work for them.
         From another standpoint, there are a fair amount of 'logic' (for lack of a better word) flaws in the example provided by the text.  First off, specify that  the name of the teacher suggesting the software is needed on the first line.  My initial thought is that the name of the software was desired, not the teacher's name.  Although there is a line later for it, always make it obviously clear what is desired in a form.  Give more room for notes, and put a small advisory comment that no two computers will run the software at exactly the same speed (even if they are the exact same model and were purchased at the same time).  As someone who has gone through software engineering courses, I feel inclined to point this out:  there is no such thing as truly bug free software.  There are always new and better ways to 'break' a program, although they do go through rigorous testing (there are entire divisions where all they do is attempt to break stuff).
          Basically my opinion on software selection forms is they do have a place in schools.  Just make sure that they do not make unnecessary extra work for teachers, that they are explicit, and don't use the term 'bug free'.

Assignment 1 - Challenges of a Technology Coordinator

     First and foremost, I would like to apologize for this post being late.  I did not receive the book until very recently (it was being shipped).  From my review of the chapter I have gathered that being a successful technological leader in a school district requires the ability to instruct teachers in various software and hardware that can be found in the classroom.  From personal experience I have gathered that this is more complicated then it sounds.  Nobody likes to be talked down to, therefore it is best to introduce the teachers in a more intimate setting, not a large gathering.  This way, each individual can be given the amount of help and attention s/he may (or may not) need.  There are many programs available for the classroom, most of them can not be taught to people in lecture format, but by experimentation by the individual (a classic example would be Microsoft Word).   Some programs need a general run down of how various component  and functions of the program work (think about the equations option and absolute/relative cell addressing in Excel).  There are even programs that may introduce an entirely new set of issues that the individual may have never seen before (such as the query language in Microsoft Access).  A relaxed atmosphere, interesting tasks, and receptive to questions I can help facilitate the learning process for the various teachers.  Having a background knowledge in computers helps me to quickly learn how to use various programs and navigate through their innerworkings.  It will also help figure out the basis of an issue that may be occurring, find, and implement a solution.
          A technology coordinator faces many issues in his/her day to day life.  Everything grade processing to ergonomics, virus protection to budget issues are things the tech coordinator must face.  As a computer nerd, I spend a lot of time sitting in front of one, this lends me some understanding into the hows and whys of ergonomics.  It also gives one insight into the necessity of security.  But a surprising amount of problems boil down to budget.  There might just not be enough money in district's tech budget.  This will create a lot of problems.  You can clean all of the unnecessary files and programs out of a computer, you can clean out the fans and defragment the hard drive, but that will not change the fact that older computers do not have the memory or speed available to efficiently run certain software.   You can get many, many programs open source (basically means free public domain), but that does not mean the computers at your disposal can run them well.  (An example would Blender, which is 3D design and animation software.  Personally I probably wouldn't ever try to render even a ten second animation on my dual core laptop.  There is just too much complicated information to process and compile.)  Another issue is resistance to change, there is little one can do about that but be patient and jovial.

Test

// Just testing the site.  Yup, I just commented out this line Java style.