-
Minutes of last meeting held Dec. 18th
approved.
-
Purchase of PDA's. Russ Selken
distributed a handout detailing different models of Palm Pilots and Compaq
ipaq. Palm is now considered the industry standard for general use
and curriculum environment. Compaq ipaq is a higher end unit and
uses Windows environment. An external keyboard is also available for
approximately $100. It will not replace the use of a laptop for
minutes, lengthy notes or presentations, but is good for calendar
information, short notes and e-mail. Users interested in the purchase of a
PDA should contact ITS and discuss their personal needs to determine which
unit best fits their budget and needs. ITS staff can order and insure
installation of software and compatability with existing hardware and
inservice user on the product. Motion made by Corin Meester to approve
Palm and Compaq ipaq as recommended standard; second by Judy Bennett; and,
council unanimously approved.
-
e-Copy. Robert Wilcox and Russ
Selken met with several districts and vendor to review the use of
e-Copy. This product is used for copy distribution and will digitize
documents to save in various formats, including OCR for
manipulation. It is not intended for use to archive or retrieve
documents. Costs average $6,000 to $7,000 with 20 client
licenses. There is a free plug-in available for document viewing. No
action requested.
-
LaserFiche. This system is
intended for archiving and retrieving documents via a custom catalog index
with database software. Cost averages $6,000 to $10,000 depending on
features. Product can be set to batch data entered daily and archive to a
remote server at time when more bandwidth is available, generally late
evening. It also allows for web access. The EA's along with
Russ Selken, Robert Wilcox and Randy Jones will be
discussing document retention and long-term vs. short term storage needs
for BCOE departments at their next meeting. No action requested.
-
Pentamation. Randy Jones
reported that Pentamation has been in use now approximately 1-1/2
years. Staff are moving forward to use modules for grading and
student attendance. BCOE is the LEA for CSIS implementation for
Desert Sands and Chula Vista School Districts. Database is expected
to be modified and compliant by June. Program will be used for CBEDS
reporting this fall along with paper file for comparison. If found
compatible, it's use may be expanded to include all BCOE programs
attendance accounting.. Randy will meet with Paul Watters to
discuss replacing Socrates with Pentamation for ROP's student
attendance accounting.
-
Hardware/Software Standards. Russ
Selken distributed handouts and discussed proposed updates for computer
hardware and software. Pentium 4 and either 256 or 512mb RAM will be
recommended, but minimum will be Celeron or equivalent and 128mb RAM.
Recommendations are dependent on what software user will need. For
laptops, the recommendation will be Toshiba Satellite systems. Russ cited
both cost and reliability as primary factors. The cost of LCD
screens are now ranging approximately $100-$200 higher than other
monitors. Therefore, if there are ergonomic or critical space issues to be
addressed, the user may want to consider an LCD flat screen if budget
allows for the additional expense. Industry standards are forcing the move
to install either Windows 98 or Windows XP with Office 2000
software. This will be done on a case-by-case evaluation at the time
of ordering. (Note: Insight/CDD is not compatible with Windows XP, but IS
staff is hopeful a new release may be available later this year.)
Motion by Mia Osborne-Ng and second by Paul Watters for recommendations to be amended to show minimum vs. recommended standards
and then sent electronically to Council members for their approval. With
Council review and approval, then
Cabinet will be asked to review standards. If approved, the new
standards will appear online linked from ITS homepage at: http://www.bcoe.butte.k12.ca.us/admin/its/default.htm
-
Web pages. Judy Bennett reported that several
ESS programs are interested in developing a web site. It was recommended
that FrontPage be used to create web pages and maintain web folders, and
staff attend FrontPage classes for design guidelines and use of
software. Then contact Mia Osborne-Ng regarding permissions for
maintaining and publishing web site.
-
Picture It 2002. Teresa Lightle gave a brief
description of this photo-editing tool produced by Microsoft. It is
user-friendly and allows editing of pictures from your digital camera,
including transparencies for web pages. It is not as costly or as extensive as
PhotoShop; each license is
approximately $41. Site licenses are not available. Teresa plans to will
offer a class on this product later this year. Minimum PC recommendation
to run this software is Office 98, Pentium 166 and 1mb available space. For more information on
this product and tips and tricks for digital photos, visit Microsoft's web
site at: http://photos.msn.com/home.aspx
Additional tutorials, clip art and borders are available online with this
product. Motion by Randy Jones to use Picture It as standard
recommendation
for digital camera software; second, by Mia Osborne-Ng. Council unanimously
approved.
-
Digital cameras. Teresa Lightle is developing
a list of criteria to assist users when deciding upon the type of digital
camera to purchase, including options and costs for batteries and various
types of memory modalities. She recommends that users do not
purchase a video camera with expectations of using it as a digital camera
as all-in-ones because one of the modes will generally be
compromised.
-
Digital California Project. Russ Selken
reported that DCP is reaching now for last mile connectivity. He
discussed the new design proposed for BCOE's wide area network. In
the newly designed K-12 network for California, each county will have a
minimum of 1 or 2 nodes providing 45mg access. This will allow for
appropriate speed and access if programs purchase equipment to connect and
expand into video conferencing and distance learning. The access
will be redundant so if one route is cut, rerouting would be feasible.
Russ would like to seek additional funding for video conferencing
equipment and he anticipates firewalls will be secured by late summer or
early fall.
-
Technology Plan. Russ Selken stated he needs
to meet with a focus group to update our current technology plan in the
immediate future. CDE has requested a particular format to meet
E-rate funding criteria. Please contact Russ to join with focus
group to complete new tech plan. Paul Haas will assist Russ
and local school districts who are updating or developing new technology
plans.
-
Thin Client. Russ Selken will
discuss the use of thin client servers and terminal use at the next
ITC meeting.
-
Next meeting is scheduled for July
16 in Meeting Room B, IRC.