Technology Personnel

Michael M. Wagman, Director- x 1037

Tony Bickert, Network Manager- x 1025

Jason Grubbs, Network Engineer- x 1026

Becca Luft, Data Systems Specialist- x 1007

Jackie Kakareka, Tech Support Specialist- x1038

David Bell, Tech Support Specialist- x 1032

Patrick Voytko, Tech Support Specialist- x 3025

Donna Shanley, Tech Support Specialist- x 5039

Joanne Crosby, Secretary to Technology and HR- x 1060

An Introduction to Technology at the Pottsgrove School District

The Pottsgrove School District is committed to leveraging the technologies that support data-driven planning, teaching and learning. It is our belief that the thoughtful integration of appropriate technology, used in an ethical and efficient manner, is critical to the advancement of the overall mission of the Pottsgrove School District to educate and inspire all students to excel as productive, responsible citizens and life-long learners.

To live, learn and work successfully in an increasingly complex and information-rich society, students must be able to use technology effectively. Within an effective educational setting, technology can enable students to become capable information technology users; information seekers, analyzers, and evaluators; problem solvers and decision makers; creative and effective users of productivity tools; communicators, collaborators, publishers and producers; and informed, responsible and contributing citizens.

Through grants and local resources, Pottsgrove has made tremendous strides in recent years and boasts a fiber wide area network and a robust wired and wireless infrastructure supporting IMacs and mobile labs comprised of MacBooks and IPads, as well as other handheld devices. In short, we seek nothing less than to be a model for seamless integration of technologies that foster greater precision in teaching and engagement in learning.

The technology department at Pottsgrove supports the district in a wide variety of areas in an out of the classroom including desktop support, state reporting, data-informed decision-making, professional development, and other initiatives in curriculum and assessment.

Please refer back to this site often as a resource for information relevant to the technologies used in our schools and tips to keep children safe on the Internet. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.     

 Michael Wagman, Director of Technology

DISTRICT WEB PORTAL FOR PARENTS TO ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR CHILD’S ATTENDANCE, GRADES AND EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

PowerSchool Parent Portal

This portal gives parents in grades K-12 access to enter their Emergency Form information online as well as to view current attendance data.  In our Middle School and High School parents are also able to see their children's grades.  If you have questions or need assistance with the parent portal, please email us at pgsdparentportal@gmail.com.

DISTRICT TECHNOLOGY POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

What is the AUP?

The AUP or Acceptable Use Policy is a Board policy that is also mandated by federal law and state regulation to maintain our eligibility for federal and state technology grants and discounts on telecommunication services. It states the primary purpose of the school district network, details the allowable activities on the network and extends to any device, either district-owned or personal, that accesses the network. It is designed to be a statement of ethical use but it is also designed to protect the network from use for illicit purposes or in any manner that poses risks to the network. Further, it defines potential sanctions for misuse of the network it is important to review this policy with your child/ren and to discuss appropriate and ethical use of technology. We also discuss these issues in age appropriate ways throughout our K-12 technology and library curricula. A copy of the AUP is available at http://www.psba.org/districts_policies/p/489/POLPTSG815_1.pdf

Why do we filter web content?

The primary purpose of our computer network and Internet connectivity is to serve the educational mission of the school district. In order to maintain eligibility for federal and state technology and telecommunications grants, we are obligated under the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) to filter Internet content for material inappropriate for minors and to have a system in place for monitoring online activity. Consistent with our educational mission and CIPA regulations, we do filter and block some web content. The Internet is constantly growing and changing and web blocking technology is much more of a blunt instrument than a surgical tool. It relies on continuously updated databases divided into broad categories. We block categories such as gambling, pornography and hate sites, as examples. We keep most broad categories open, however. Within any category we can enter exceptions and often do based on legitimate academic purposes. For example, gaming is a category we block, however, there are many games with educational value and support instruction. We open those sites on request of a teacher once the educational value is confirmed. Social networking is also a category where we selectively open sites. Faculty access a less restrictive tier should there be something we block that is needed for classroom demonstration or preview. Even this tier is filtered, however. In short, we do our best through technology and human intervention to balance the legitimate academic needs of our students and faculty while honoring the spirit and intent of CIPA.

WEB TERMS, TOOLS AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0, also known as the interactive web, is a newer generation of web technologies that allow for the all web users to also be content providers. It provides for online productivity tools, forums and social networking among communities of interested people. Blogs, Twitter, wikis, You Tube, Facebook are some examples of Web 2.0 technologies. Web 3.0, dubbed the semantic web, is on the horizon and promises to feature more intelligent searching, personalized content based on the technology’s ability to learn about each user’s online behavior and much more. 

What is Facebook?

Facebook along with other online services such as My Space, LinkedIn allows subscribers to communicate day to day events and share interests with "friends" or people with whom they have a connection either in interest, life paths, etc. The sites allow you to post pictures, text updates, play online games and the ability reach out to (friend) other subscribers.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is another online service that allows subscribers to follow or be followed by other subscribers. Twitter subscribers "tweet" short messages (140 characters or less) or a link to more information about all sorts of topics from the mundane to very important announcements or observations.

What is Internet 2?

Internet2 is a high-speed computer network that uses a different infrastructure and set of network connections than the public Internet used for web browsing and email. It was constructed and is maintained by major research institutions and is now available to the K-16 community through Internet2 regional member partners. The network is designed to transport high quality images, sound and other media considered to bandwidth intensive to run reliably over the public Internet. Pottsgrove is fortunate to be part of a consortium with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, other Montgomery County school districts and Montgomery County Community College to provide students and faculty video conferencing and virtual field trips using video conferencing hardware and Internet 2 connectivity.

What is a Wiki?

Wiki is actually a Hawaiian word meaning quick. A wiki is a website created using wiki software. The web software allows somebody without any programming or web site design experience to create an interactive website where content can be easily posted by anyone permitted by the wiki creator to do so. The most popular example of a wiki is Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia where anyone with knowledge of a topic can contribute to or edit a topic entry. 

What is RSS?

RSS is short for Really Simple Syndication and is a technology that allows you to have information on a topic of interest collected from various sources through a process of subscribing to a source such as a website or blog and when content is published to that source it is automatically pushed (fed) to you and read through software called an RSS reader or aggregator. There are many aggregator programs available including those built into popular web browsers. There are even online services available to forward subscription feeds directly to your email.

....And what about Voice Threads, Glogster, Wordle, Animoto and all these other sites with funny names?

Resources to tell stories, combine graphics, text and sound to create engaging presentations are created all of the time. We have dedicated technology-using educators and students who find creative ways to use these web or cloud tools for self-expression and to demonstrate new learning. There are vast networks of people who share ideas about how some of these tools can support curriculum and enhance student engagement. Some members of the Pottsgrove staff participate actively in these networks, bringing many new tools into the classroom all of the time. In short, these tools share the qualities of anytime access and ease of use, so the instruction is not about the tool but student expression and curricular content.

With all these tools and social networking sites, does the School District teach web safety?

Yes. Our K-8 technology curriculum stresses web safety and the importance of making intelligent and ethical choices while working and communicating online. This is done in age appropriate ways through specific activities and discussion. Teachers who introduce Wikis, for example, focus on the importance of appropriate etiquette and hold students accountable for the way they communicate through these tools. Cyber-bullying, which can take many forms, is addressed in a variety of ways throughout the district. Additionally, we stress critical thinking across the curriculum and focus on the importance of being critical consumers of information retrieved from the Internet.

Internet Safety Resources

Important Message from the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of PA regarding Internet Safety in PDF

FAQ About Internet Safety

The Cyberbullying Research Center offers resources for parents and teachers for helping kids stay safe online and use other technologies like cell phones responsibly. For example, here are some tips for preventing and responding to cyber-bullying:

Preventing Cyberbullying- Top Ten Tips for Parents

Responding to Cyberbullying- Top Ten Tips for Parents

Onguard Online- Created by the federal government with games, videos and other resources for teaching kids of all ages and adults about online safety. Be sure to download the parent guide Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online available free at this site..

WiredSafety- Internet safety and information on responding to incidents of cyberbullyng

Protecting Kids Online-
http://www.center-school.org/pko/

Safety Tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children-
http://www.netsmartz.org/safety/safetytips.htm

WiredKids.org offers articles and information for children ranging from age 7 to 18 as well as information for adults and parents. It offers children articles, video clips, and stories written by children for children. Not all content is about online safety- http://www.wiredkids.org

Online Guard provides tips from the federal government and IT industry to help be on the guard for Internet fraud and to keep your computer and personal information secure-
http://onguardonline.gov/index.html

 

Teacher Resources

 

National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students, Teachers and Administrators

Embedded Learning Academy- PDE Sponsored Professional Development

 

PDE Standards Aligned System (SAS) 

Curriculum Hotspots- District Administration Magazine's Guide to the Best Education Sites on the Web

Smart Technologies- Educational Resources for Teachers

 

Edutopia- The George Lucas Educational Foundation 

Thinkfinity- Verizon's huge portal of activities and lesson plans in many subject areas aligned to standards and technology-rich. Resources for professional development and parents, too.

Open Source Software for Educators and Students (please check with District Tech Support for download and installation on a District computer).