Technology Committee Meeting

Our first technology committee meeting for the 2011-2012 school year will be Tuesday, September 27th at 4:30 PM.  If you have anything you would like to add to the agenda, please contact Erin.
Meeting Agenda

Life of a Laptop vs Desktop

I found the following thread on "askville.com." 
http://askville.amazon.com/maximum-computer-laptop-life/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=1312744

Question:  "How long do most computers and laptops last before not working anymore? I'm not talking about battery life, but the life of the unit itself. What factors contribute to a shorter life? How can you keep a computer/laptop working longer?" Answer: "Besides a battery losing its ability to charge (either the main cell for the laptop or for a regular desktop that uses a small battery to keep hardware configuration data, date and time information stored) the biggest computer killer is heat. Heat can build up in various components but will usually kill RAM, CPU or the hard drive first. Inside your PC there are probably thousands of solder joints - where components are attached to the cards. When the computer gets really hot the metal components expand and then contract when it cools off again, this can strain these joints until one of them pops loose, loses connection and stops functioning. This can be avoided by keeping the system cool and well ventilated. The bearings in the moving parts of your PC (fans and drives) will wear out eventually as well. When a fan dies this usually causes the thermal problems listed above. Same with the hard drive, as the bearing wears down it generates more and more heat until either the bearing seizes or the solder joints on the drive pop because it is running far too hot. A well maintained PC can run for decades, I have systems dating back to the AT/XT days that continue to run to this day. You should expect your standard desktop or laptop PC in an "always on" scenario to go a good 2-3 years before you might expect to have to replace a fan or a drive that has a worn bearing. Unless, of course you are in a very dusty environment. Dust building up on your fans causes greater strain on the bearing and a blanket of dust covering the components detracts from the systems ability to cool itself correctly with regular air flow. I've seen industrial workshop environments where fans need to be serviced every few weeks. Keeping your PC clean and dust free with good airflow around the chassis is the best way to insure long life. Of course this doesn't take into account the possibility of a system taking a power spike from an improperly installed A/C outlet or lightning strike that reaches the PC through A/C power, network or phone connections. A good $10 surge protector can help reduce the chance of this happening in most cases. Regular maintenance in a home environment just a couple of times a year is necessary (unless you have lots of pets or dust then five or six times a year) to keep the system running for a long, long time. Buy a can of compressed air at the computer store, home depot or even most grocery stores. Unplug the computer and identify the openings on your computer case where air flows in and out. Blow them out and then probably once a year pop the lid and blow out the entire chassis. When blowing your fans clean be sure to not over-speed the fan. It's very easy to put a year or twosworth of wear on a cooling fan by blasting it with compressed air causing it to spin much, much faster than it's designed to do for only a second or two. With the system turned off use your finger or a screwdriver to hold the fan in place and blast away. If compressed air doesn't remove a blanket layers of dust on your fans it is okay to use a q-tip or paper towel to rub the blades and break up built up dirt and dust. Once you've wiped the fan blades clean go back to the compressed air to removed the dust bunnies that were wiped off. NEVER use a q-tip or paper towels on chips, cards or the motherboard! Compressed air should work fine on those components. DO NOT use your standard shop compressor unless you are POSITIVE it is oil and water free. A lot of larger tank compressors will dispense water or oil that has condensed in the tank or pump in very small amounts that can kill your computer but are negligible for running an air tool or filling a tire. These compressors will usually also have a lot more airflow than your can of compressed air making it more likely you will over-speed a fan. Good luck!"

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Engrade is a free online teacher toolset.  Let's see if this online tool would be a upgrade to our current grading software.  Is it secure?  Would the teachers be in favor of giving this resource a try?

Interactive Whiteboard Opinions

Bill Ferriter is a savy sixth grade Language Arts teacher from North Carolina who was named Regional Teacher of the Year for 2005-2006.  In his blog, "The Tempered Radical," Ferriter writes about his opinions on technology and other factors that effect education.  He is huge critic of the ever-so-popular classroom interactive whiteboards such as the SMART board.  One of his most recent posts, entitled  "Wasting Money on IWBs"  sums up his feeling about IWBs.  I am glad that I have run into Ferriter's blog because it's good to get both sides of the picture.  Are IWBs good for our school?  Would we use the boards to their full potential?  Could our money be better spent elsewhere?  Please refer to the link to Ferriter's post find out the problems with IWBs.

Stager is another critic of the IWBs. 
In this picture Stager compares IWBs to
chainsaws, and he makes a pretty good point!