Ideally, all tasks and infrastructures should run with high efficiency. However, from my experience in working in the Vancouver school district, the turnover in implementing a strong system of information technology (IT) is a continual challenge because of the hundreds of staff that need to be trained in adopting these constant changes.
In high schools, we are required to record student attendance and grades digitally, and to post them through an online program. The program has changed numerous times since I've started teaching five years ago; from "Integrade," to "BCesis," and now to "MyEd." Payroll information is also available online, and has changed from "PEOPLESOFT" to "SFE - Smart Find Express." Our work email accounts through VSB webmail with Outlook has also been updated again and again.
Hence, the Enterprise Architecture (EA) in our school system, from what I can tell, is quite vast. The school district has various contracts to be able to run all these IT systems, including the contract with a private company for Wifi internet access on all school sites that are readily available for staff through logins and for guests through the use of passwords that are updated on a monthly basis. There is a designated IT committee that address these upgrades and assist staff with further assistance via "Helpdesk."
At the last school I worked at, a few selected staff members, who had a background in technology, volunteered their knowledge and experience to help the school at a local level. Their ideas and recommendations for change and improvement within this field were respected and supported by the administrators and faculty. Essentially, the EA in our school district is still being built with the minimal resources we have and still need reorganization.
According to my former principal, there is no designated budget for IT in the school. It is thus, up to the school principal's discretion on how funding will be available to keep computer labs running and which equipment to keep updated, including laptops, touch pads, LCD projectors and so forth, for student use and learning. Since the technology plan for the district is vague and unaccessible, I am curious if any of the EA frameworks exists and how responsibilities and communication could be addressed to schools to be more involved with each technological change.
In high schools, we are required to record student attendance and grades digitally, and to post them through an online program. The program has changed numerous times since I've started teaching five years ago; from "Integrade," to "BCesis," and now to "MyEd." Payroll information is also available online, and has changed from "PEOPLESOFT" to "SFE - Smart Find Express." Our work email accounts through VSB webmail with Outlook has also been updated again and again.
Hence, the Enterprise Architecture (EA) in our school system, from what I can tell, is quite vast. The school district has various contracts to be able to run all these IT systems, including the contract with a private company for Wifi internet access on all school sites that are readily available for staff through logins and for guests through the use of passwords that are updated on a monthly basis. There is a designated IT committee that address these upgrades and assist staff with further assistance via "Helpdesk."
At the last school I worked at, a few selected staff members, who had a background in technology, volunteered their knowledge and experience to help the school at a local level. Their ideas and recommendations for change and improvement within this field were respected and supported by the administrators and faculty. Essentially, the EA in our school district is still being built with the minimal resources we have and still need reorganization.
According to my former principal, there is no designated budget for IT in the school. It is thus, up to the school principal's discretion on how funding will be available to keep computer labs running and which equipment to keep updated, including laptops, touch pads, LCD projectors and so forth, for student use and learning. Since the technology plan for the district is vague and unaccessible, I am curious if any of the EA frameworks exists and how responsibilities and communication could be addressed to schools to be more involved with each technological change.