Page 101 - Lakeland Catholic Technology Plan

Recommendations:
The District should either:
6. Software
Software, like student records, is one of those areas that will either work well, or work terribly. The key to good software management is standardization. In the Dis- trict, there are some standards, and there are some areas where there are no stan- dards.
The District has done a great job of standardizing student records, so all informa- tion is on the SASI product, and in standardizing Library Automation Systems. Every Library runs Athena, and they run very well. This creates a very simple sup- port structure, and requires much less technical support and technical support ex- pertise than running multiple different Library Automation Systems.
However, the good news stops there. There have been memo’s sent out by the Director of Technology Services mandating that all sites should be using the Micro- soft Office suite for all productivity applications. However, it hasn’t proven the case. There are widespread users of WordPerfect, who can’t easily exchange files with users of MS Office. In addition, the standardization on Office request has
not been strict enough. In some sites MS Office 97 is used, in others, MS Office 2000 is used, and of course, as previously mentioned there is still WordPerfect, and ClarisWorks out there. Not only does this create a communications problem when users need to exchange information, it also creates a massive training prob- lem, and a massive technical support problem.
Now, the technicians need to be able to know WordPerfect, Office 97, Office 2000, and ClarisWorks in order to support the users, whereas if everyone was using, for example, Office 97, they would only need to know one set of programs well. Fur- thermore, having different software packages available to all users creates diffi- culty for Phil Switzer, the Technology Integration Consultant, as he must now
train users on the various software packages. In addition, it creates a nightmare for software inventory and license tracking with so many different packages in use.
1. Work with SASI on a resolution to this problem within the SASI software,
or
2. Export the data into a database of some sort. WordPerfect and/or MS
!
Word templates are not recommended, as they are not based on any type of database, and are tough to update, and manage with all of the students. The District should use MS Access, or FileMaker Pro, or some other data- base to manage this.
(See note on databases in the software section for more information.) and
3. Look at producing report cards in-house with a database package, or contact other school districts in the hopes of sharing information and gaining some report card experience from others.
Gallery 9.2 Smartboard Installations
Smart Technology was installed in all designated instructional spaces across the school district. Lakeland Catholic currently supports over 100 Smartboard installations in Cold Lake, Bonnyville and Waskatenau.
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