EDLD5362+Course+Reflection

=EDLD5362-Information Systems Management=

In EDLD5362 Information Systems Management was about learning the functionality of a school district's information system. I gained knowledge about the history and evolution of the internet, the impact on education, and the various ways information systems are integrated into student learning and classroom practice. This references standard TF-I.A. demonstrate knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts related to technology as described in the ISTE NETS*T. Also, I gained a deeper understanding of how information systems can be used to impact the school or district technology plan. The impact that the internet has played in society has changed drastically in the past 20 years. “On February 8, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act into law. This legislation ushered in the E-rate program, which provides elementary and secondary public schools with discounts of 20% to 90% when purchasing computers for libraries and classrooms. The program had a tremendous impact on computer and Internet accessibility in public schools” (The Internet and Education – Elementary and Secondary Schools).

During the course I had a chance to interview two school administrators who were involved with the planning and budgeting of technology. The evolution of the internet has made a strong impact on students, teachers, and administration alike. After interviewing several teachers’ teaching practices before and after the availability of the internet in schools there have been some drastic changes. "The Internet is affecting the twin disciplines of knowledge management, and content management. Knowledge management is the thinking process of converting information to useful knowledge, while the content management is the published information" (Arsham, H., 2002). The highlight of the course was to evaluate the district's student information system. This references standard TF-V educational technology facilitators apply technology to enhance and improve personal productivity and professional practice. When reading the assignment I was very nervous because I wasn't sure which department could provide me with the appropriate information that I needed. Instructional Technology referred me to Technology Data Services and their department helped me to gather the important data. During a week's time-frame I was able to evaluate the total cost of ownership, feature set, ease of use, customer support, and training of our new Student Information System Chancery. This references standard TF-VII educational technology facilitators promote the development and implementation of technology infrastructure, procedures, policies, plans, and budgets for PK-12 schools.

Darleen Miller of Technology Data Services reported the following information regarding the total cost of software ownership for Chancery. The total cost for Pearson’s Chancery Student Management System with Software, Conversion, Implementation and Training was approved by the DISD board not to exceed $30,000,000 over the next five years. This expense was not to average over $6 million per year. The project expense is heavier on years 1-3 than years 4 and 5. The ongoing Software Maintenance and Support expense after deployment is $682,720 annually. Julius White from the Data Services team stated that Chancery SMS is a Schools Interoperability Framework complaint application. Also, Chancery SMS is a web-based application and feature areas are integrated when performing actions in another feature area. The base features of Chancery are scheduling, attendance, grading, and reporting. The secondary features are demographics, special programs (LEP/Bilingual, CATE, etc.), emergency contact, enrollment history, transcript, scheduling, credits/gpa tracking, and test score tracking. Some of the functions the SIS serve is PEIMS reporting, summer school, and various other departments. The district’s software provides a solution for the requirements by the state of Texas by PEIMS reporting and various other reports for state reporting other than PEIMS. According to Julius White, the software is perfectly capable of handling these processes. I am currently not using Chancery as the rollout phase for elementary does not occur to Fall 2010. According to some users who use Chancery such as campus administrators, teachers, and student record staff report the software is user friendly and provides for ease of use and reporting. The software does not ever require duplication of data entry. Various means of support are provided to all Chancery SMS users. Each school in the district is provided a learning community data coordinator. If the community data coordinator is unavailable, the user can email the SMS Help Desk or call the Chancery help hotline number. In addition, the vendor, Pearson, offers a support website and a searchable KnowledgeBase repository to Chancery’s Technical Support representatives. Each item within the Kbase is provided a number that can be referenced by the Chancery Technical Support team. Pearson does respond in a timely fashion to answer questions that the user may be experiencing. Data Services informed me that school district users are adequately trained in the proper use of the software system on an annual basis. School district staff and Pearson trainers both train the district users how to use Chancery. Training is an ongoing component for district users.

In conclusion, the internet has been a tremendous resource in schools today. Teachers are able to find vast amounts of information online, communicate collaboratively with educators around the world, and share ideas without leaving their classrooms. This references standard TF-VII educational technology facilitators understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK-12 schools and assist teachers in applying that understanding in their practice. “Approximately half of the public school teachers who had computers or the Internet available in their schools used them for classroom instruction ……..Moreover, many teachers used computers or the Internet to conduct a number of preparatory and administrative tasks (e.g., creating instructional materials, gathering information for planning lessons) and communicative (e.g., communication with colleagues) tasks” (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2000). As a lifelong learner the questions that is worthy of investigating is how will Chancery SMS help the teachers communicate more effectively with parents. Technology has came a long ways since the internet was utilized in schools about 30 years ago, and I look forward to what it has in store for Education in the future.