EdTech Avenue

Ok, so we at Blessed Trinity own our domain.  And we host our own website.  And we host our own email.  But after a slew of interesting issues, I am considering giving up my control and moving to Google.

Issue number ONE: Our web server needs to be replaced.  My options are (1) purchase a new server to host our website - cost approximately $2000 once the software and antivirus and security are all installed, not to mention client access licenses, a steep learning curve and a lot of time, OR (2) use Google Apps for Your Domain or www.catholic-church.org or any number of free or very low-cost hosts to host our website for way less than $2000.  Google Apps would even let us publish a public school calendar.  Hmm, more time saved.

Issue number TWO: Our email server has been a hassle since we bought it.  I fought with it by myself to figure out how to migrate from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange 2000 Server without losing any messages or calendar items - no easy task for even the brightest of IT professionals.  Then add the antivirus hassles, and then spam, which probably takes up 5% of my time weekly and still doesn’t block what it should and blocks what it shouldn’t.  We can’t afford that fancy-dancy antispam hardware!  My options are (1) keep messing with it, try to figure out the whole DST issue and how to get calendars throughout our organization to sync up right and continue to pay subscription fees for clients, antivirus and antispam that is way overpriced for what they do, OR (2) use Google Apps for Your Domain to host our email - cost approximately, um, $0.  Now that’s a learning curve I’d be happy to travel.

There are certainly transition issues that need to be considered, which is why I haven’t already made the move.  Administration is hesitant (as am I) to make a big change in the middle of the school year.  Our subscriptions are paid through the school year, so what is in place IS already paid for.  But for the future?  I think we have to make the move.  With fewer than 50 email accounts, does it really make sense that it takes my time away from technology integration meetings and working with teachers to have our email a little more controlled?  Heck, I’m sure Google can find things as easily as I could, and at the very least it is using their time, not mine.

If you have a similar size organization and have made the switch or are considering it, or if you have other services that you use, please leave a comment and share with us.

I recently made a suggestion that we publish our teachers’ school photos, which are conveniently provided to us on CD from LifeTouch, with the staff directory page of our website.  I had mixed reviews from our staff after designing the page with photos.  Most teachers liked the page but made no mention of the general idea.  Others, those who are a bit more techno-savvy, objected to the idea.  Their reasoning was that if pictures are made readily available on the internet, we subject ourselves to possible mis-use of the photos on such sites as MySpace and other personal web spaces.  While I am not naive enough to think that our students would not think to do such a thing, it saddens me that the majority of people visiting our site will lose out on the personal touch the photos present.  I also would have liked the idea that for marketing and recruiting purposes, prospective families would be able to put a face with all the paperwork and other information they receive about our school.

For now, we do not publish photos on our web site, for the protection of our students and teachers.  What do you do on your school website?

I have recently considered creating a personal blog space.  I would love to have a place where I can post photos and daily news of goings-on with my husband and myself.  I do have a Flickr space with photos, but even while creating that last month I had to think twice about putting anything personal out there for the world to see.  I would like to share with family and friends things that are going on in my life… but I don’t necessarily want to share these things with my students.  This is a unique career we find ourselves in - my husband and his friends don’t have to worry about who might see their blog or want to “use it against them”.  But teachers do not have this same luxury.  I can only imagine the damage a scorned student could do to a teacher’s career - we’ve seen it on some news stories already.  But how much of this is paranoia and how much is warranted caution?

I know I could create a MySpace account (it’s not just for kids, you know) and protect it so that readers would have to register, but I don’t want my mom to have to get an account in order to read about me.  Is that unreasonable?  And I’m not sure I’d want to lock it so much that only family and friends can read it - I might want input from other adults, and students could create false accounts…

Is there any way to get general information out there in blog-type format while keeping it safe from my students?  I’m fairly new to this blogging thing, so any input is welcome.  I did find some possible solutions on WordPress using plug-ins, so I’ll have to give that a try.