Technology As A Journey, Not a Destination

So I’ve read several accounts of this story and the outrage that schools are spying on kids in Pennsylvania via the webcam in their Macbooks.  I anyone asked me, which no one will, here is my guess about how the whole thing went down:

Kid takes his Macbook home and is playing around with Photo Booth, which is a program that lets you take photos of yourself using the built-in webcam.  You can make funny faces, put crazy backgrounds, it’s just something everyone with a Mac has done at one point or another.  If you don’t own a Mac, look it up.    So this kid probably took a picture of himself doing something inappropriate.  These photos stay on the computer, unless you delete them.

Along comes system administrator who is required by law (CIPA) to make sure that our little innocent children don’t ever see anything that could be offensive or objectionable.  So sysadmin happens to take a look at the Pictures folder of kid’s computer and notices the inappropriate picture(s).  So why were they looking in the first place?  I can see where it would be reasonable to see what kids are downloading once in a while.  I’ve read of districts that just do random spot checks to make sure people aren’t downloading from peer to peer networks, porn or heaven knows what on computers owned by the school district. That doesn’t seem unreasonable to me on the surface.

However, that doesn’t extend to reading through their personal diary just for kicks.  A simple task of opening the Pictures folder and glancing at the thumbnails would do.  Notice that peer to peer sharing software appeared and subsequently a ton of movies or music also appeared?  Since the district is  considered responsible, it’s probably a good thing to have a process to monitor this.  That way, when they are sued because little Sally download bootleg copies of the latest Hollywood release, the district has a process to point to as a defense.  Unfortunately, this is the world we live in.

But I digress, back to the problem.  So, sysadmin tells principal to tell kid to stop acting like an idiot with Photo Booth.  For whatever reason, this gets turned into school district spying on kids in their bedrooms without their knowledge.

I tend to doubt that district staff is spying on kids in their bedroom.  I say this for two reasons.  For one, as a system administrator by trade, everyone assumes that we sit around and watch what people do.  The fact of the matter is that I could care less what you do with your computer.  I could care less what’s in your e-mail or chat sessions or what you look at when you take your computer home.  I realize that I may be the exception, because the sysadmin world is also full of control freaks.  However, time simply does not allow for most of us to sit around randomly activating webcams to see what we can see people doing.

For two, this would be technically difficult.  I understand there was a security system that could take a snapshot using the webcam.  However, the likelihood that this snapshot would capture the exact instant that the kid was doing something wrong is low.  This snapshot process would have to be consistent, repeated and frequent.  Maybe it was and I missed it, but I didn’t see that in any of the stories I read.

I may be completely wrong about this particular incident, but I’ve noticed that the news media, for the most part, does not understand technology.  They were convinced that some staff was spying on the kids, and they will stop at nothing to prove that, or at least give the appearance of it.  That’s sure a lot more of a fun story than my theory.  It sure gets people watching the news, buying papers, and visiting web sites to increase advertising impressions.  I am cynical, I know.

With these types of incidents, technology programs suffer. As you browse comments on news stories, you see “why do they need laptops, anyway” and this kind of stuff.  There is a huge misunderstanding about how much technology can impact and improve education.  Technology is an amazing tool when used appropriately, and I’m pretty sure that this district was on the right track.  I hope there was nothing disgusting or perverted happening there.  But remember, there are countless districts that have these programs throughout the world.   Even if this is one person who went off the deep end, I fear that overreaction will result in yet more laws and regulations that will only hurt everyone that plays by the rules.

I hate this mentality that just one person does something stupid that everyone has to be cast in the same light.  No matter how many laws, regulations, oversight committees, procedures, checks, and forms, problems will still arise.  The overwhelmingly vast majority of people are honorable and ethical.  I think we forget that sometimes.

As I watch some area schools struggle with technology more than others, it seems like there is an opportunity here for everyone.  With budget cuts looming and schools struggling to prepare for the coming storm, it’s a difficult prospect for school boards and leadership to justify hiring more tech people to hold hands.

However, that is exactly what we need.  What I see happen is technology is purchased and placed into classrooms without any clear direction.  There is an expectation that this new “stuff” be used, but no instructions given.  In fact, there are really not any instructions, even of the printed kind.  I know, because I was looking for a manual the other day for one of our interactive whiteboards.  I couldn’t locate one online, and, apparently, not even in a hard copy form.

I thought about this for most of the day, how fortunate we were that our district obtained grant funds to pay for tech support for all of this new stuff that was delivered over the summer.  Truthfully, it’s probably what makes the difference in all of the world in terms of utilization.  There are some teachers out there without so much as an operator’s manual.

Even though I’m the support director, I recognize that you don’t have to use it every day, in every class, and for every lesson.  Our approach has been to identify opportunities to  use the technology, without being overly demanding or even confrontational, as some tech people tend to be.  I consider myself not a “techie” in this realm, because I admit that technology, sometimes, just makes things worse.

But wait!  That’s your job, this promoting technology!  True, I agree completely.  But it is also my job not to get in teachers’ path when they’re trying to educate children.  What I constantly tell my team is that we’re there when they need us – we are available.  I have given my team direction to meet with every teacher at least once per day, just to say hello.  We are customer service over tech savvy in my district.

This causes some disagreements at times, because sometimes tech people are not always…. what’s the word… customer focused.  My goal has been to be available when teachers need us, to help enhance their lessons and provide a pathway to vent frustrations, if necessary.  I recognize that there is not enough time in the day as it is.  Spending a half hour trying to get something work wastes everyone’s time.  The last thing I want for technology to do is hinder the classroom.  Teachers have enough challenges without computers and us to get in the way.

So what does that have to do with anything?  I’ve recognized that not everyone has what we have, and I want to share.  I don’t want to run like crazy, teaching classes every evening and weekend to make extra money.  I want to provide the tools for our schools to collaborate and to obtain information and resources.  What started as a menu offering of services has become more of an exercise in getting everyone together.  We’ll see what happens.  Drop by www.arkvalleyedtech.com and help fill up space with useful blog posts.

This whole game of Mac vs. PC is really a game that takes a lot of energy, but yields no results.  I, myself, have been sucked into this game and really it has served nothing but waste time.  Both sides think theirs is better and, really, there’s no changing minds.  It’s one of those divisions that people become emotionally invested in for some reason.

In my position, I find that I must remove myself from that and try to find the right tool for the job.  There’s no sense buying shovels if you need rakes.  Sure, you can do some raking functions with a shovel, but wouldn’t it make more sense to buy a rake if you need to rake?  But what I see in this paradigm is people arguing why rakes are better than shovels and vice versa.

If you step back and look at your task, either you need a rake or a shovel.  I know, my analogies are odd, but I think it’s relevant.  If we’re editing spreadsheets and word processing, give me a PC with a huge monitor any day.  If I’m creating something other than an Office document, give me a Mac any day.  It all depends on the task at hand.

So as I investigate technology for our school district, I find that these tired old Mac vs. PC debates start up. What I attempt to do in every aspect of my job is to find the right tool for the job.  I ask questions, I see what works and try to avoid what doesn’t.  Networking in today’s world is excellent.  Lots of people blog about what works and what doesn’t.  It’s just a matter of seeking out that information and using it.  There really is no sense in repeating the same mistakes someone else has already made.

I think what bothers people more than anything is change.  Change is both difficult and wonderful.  What is becoming more and more apparent is that in the years ahead, it’s not going to matter one bit what camp you live in.  Whether it be Mac, PC, Linux, or whatever else, it’s all just a different way of getting to the same place.  Google doesn’t care what I use to search, nor does most of the web for that matter.

I just get frustrated arguing over whether we should buy shovels just because everyone else rakes with a shovel.