Monthly Archives: November 2016

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Technology Access and Initiative Success

Several people – over Thanksgiving break, and again this morning – have posed questions to me about whether a focus on getting more technology in the classroom is well-justified.  After all, tying technology infusion in the classroom directly to student achievement, for instance, is very difficult (although the same is true of virtually any initiative, the effects of which are difficult or impossible to fully entangle from other factors impacting students, teachers, and the learning environment.   Continue reading Technology Access and Initiative Success →

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Student Account and Service Notification

The message (below) was emailed to all ICCSD parents, and includes information regarding accounts and services provided to students. 

In order to ensure that parents and guardians are aware of the technology services that the Iowa City Schools provide to our students, this is the first of what will be annual notifications regarding district-issued accounts. Continue reading Student Account and Service Notification →

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Holiday Technology Shopping for Students, Parents, and Teachers

student-discount-availableOne of the nice things about being associated with a school – whether a student, parent, or staff member – is that you can often get better deals on technology than might be available to the general public.  As we approach the holiday gift season, here are some tips for how to get deals on some products you might be looking to purchase this holiday season or before next school year. Continue reading Holiday Technology Shopping for Students, Parents, and Teachers →

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Malwarebytes Installation Dialog

A number of ICCSD staff members reported seeing an installation window for a product called Malwarebytes after logging in this morning.  

mwbcaptureThis is antivirus software used by the district, and users should click “Next” and choose default options to complete the installation.  The district initiated this upgrade installation several days ago, but we expected that the installation would occur without any required input from the user.  We’re looking into the cause of this installation dialog box appearing on users’ machines.  

If you receive any errors, please send the ICCSD tag number of your computer to the Help Desk (helpdesk@iowacityschools.org) and we’ll check it out.  

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Bottlenecks, bottlenecks, bottlenecks!

break_the_bottlenecks_with_ideas-_use_the_suggestion_box_-_nara_-_534150Let me start this post by saying that as a technology professional, I hate bottlenecks.

In saying as much, I’m probably preaching to the choir; almost ALL of us struggle with bottlenecks in our daily lives.  Traffic jams are usually caused by a bottleneck – the reduction of lanes from 4 to 2, for instance – that results in more traffic per available lane.  bottleneck-trafficSince two cars cannot peacefully occupy the same space on the road, a reduction in lanes during a heavy traffic period means that fewer cars can move through that obstructed zone at a time, resulting in a backup as faster-moving traffic piles up behind the slower-moving obstructed zone.   Continue reading Bottlenecks, bottlenecks, bottlenecks! →