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The Fourth Question
Early in my consulting in the early 1990s I came up with four basic questions that schools had to struggle with as they integrated technology. I think they are still the ones to ask today, even though the answers and issues now vary. The four questions Like a lot of the early tech people in →
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Find (Rated R)
As schools began to put data into databases, many processes were sped up tremendously. But there are many ways to digitize data and not all systems are created equal. One of the great improvements is the ability to locate the records or data that you want for some job. With a room full of file →
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Going Regional and National
With the success of the CAIS CTP model, our technology group in CT was being invited to talk with other like groups. The independent school market has a dozen or more groups, and they then planned a meeting of all the association leaders—in Hawaii! It was the summer of 1996 and Peter Tacy, the ED →
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Early Consulting Concepts – The 4 Questions
As news of the Loomis technology progress spread, more and more schools in New England started contacting me to “consult”. By 1993, I was soon advising emerging tech committees at Noble and Greenough, Concord Academy, Deerfield Academy, Tabor Academy, The Winsor School, Miss Porter’s School, Hamden Hall, Milton Academy, Ethel Walker and several others. Given →
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Registrar progress
By early 1990 all of the teachers were typing their comments, many had computers at home, and most were using FirstClass. That alone was a huge culture shift. What remained, however, was the printing and sorting and mailings of five to six thousand separate pieces of paper each marking period. It was still nearly impossible →
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FirstClass – a quantum leap
By the early 1990s most of the faculty were using a computer or had access to one somewhere on campus. The computer lab in the Science Center and a smaller one in the library provided access for students during the school day. With a student body of about 700, 100 faculty and 40 or so →
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The Whole Web!
Working at a prep school had its advantages and disadvantages. I started in 1983 at a salary of 11K per year. Less than $1000/mo! Granted that included a rent free house and free food at the dining hall if you wanted. Even being frugal, there wasn’t a lot of extra, especially as a family of →
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Who’s in charge?
By early in the 1990s there was both a lot of change and a lot of confusion. We had wired our dorms, the faculty now were all typing their comments, we had a computer lab, and some of the teachers and staff were trying email. So the question was—who’s in charge? My quarter time position →
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ISP to Software Company
Students were often hanging around in the computer lab during study hall at night. They were using the dozen or so Macs there to type class assignments and message people with FirstClass. A student came to me one night and said that she wanted to learn more about using her computer and was hoping to →
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Communication before cell phones
Today it’s normal to just text people from around the world and have zoom chats with people in 10 different locations or talk on the phone across continents. We recently spent 3 days completely off the grid in Baja California—no phone or internet—and it was somewhat terrifying. Today at schools the teachers, students and parents →
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Comment Victory #1
As I start to describe the process of evolution of teacher comments, I need to explain the setting. I was not a prep school kid and I ended up at Loomis Chaffee almost by chance. I could not have had better luck. My teaching colleagues and the administration were some of the most talented, generous, →
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Called to the Principal’s Office
After working with the architects, we built the computer center and classes started bringing their students there and lots of students came in during free periods to write papers or do email. We tried hard to keep games off the computers. The school required every student to have a “work job” to contribute to the →
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Text productivity
When we started trying to integrate technology into the school and teaching in the late 1980s, there was one huge challenge—95% of the teachers and administrators did not own a computer or know how to operate one. Because of this, there was not even a sense of what could be done or a feeling that →
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The pre-tech Registrar Office
March 15, 2024 Before databases and scheduling programs, getting 700-800 students and 100 faculty organized into class sections was a huge, labor-intensive task. Creating a non-conflicting schedule for all the students, teachers and rooms was one herculean task. It was and still is not fully possible. Not all students are going to be able to →
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Firm Resistance
After the tense conversations about the server closets in all the buildings and the confrontation about the excess wiring in the science building, I tried to find a way where I could work in partnership with the maintenance people. One thing that seemed interesting to them after seeing my demonstration of Virtus with the architects, →
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Early Wizardry
One of the most common reactions I would get in the early days was that Macs were just toys and that REAL people used PCs. We got all kinds of feedback from trustees, vendors and parents. First it was Mac vs IBM, then Mac vs Microsoft, and finally Mac vs Google. It was amusing to →
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Tech Pioneers – Curt Lieneck
There were many pioneers of this revolution. I look forward to sharing their stories here. Curt Lieneck has been a model for many of us for decades. He is, among other things, a Pillar Award winner from ATLIS, the Association of Technology Leaders of Independent Schools. Kind of like a lifetime achievement award. Like most →
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Culture Wars – Maintenance Department
Carving out and creating the tech position at a school was a gradual evolution. Even the name evolved. Computer guy, computer tech, computer teacher, tech teacher, tech person, tech coordinator, tech director. No one was really sure what made sense and more importantly, what roles, responsibility and status that implied. At the most basic, who →
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Pre-tech days – USC
As an undergraduate at USC in LA in 1973 I was fortunate to be awarded a WorkStudy grant. This was an additional scholarship where you earned money working in some department at the college. I was assigned to the Office of Admission. The office had 6 or 7 counselors who read files and made recommendations →
Tales from the Tech Trail 