1:1 Conference Resources

The Wonderment of a Dual Platform 1:1

Resources:

CASPER (JAMF)

Winclone

VirtualBox

XP SP2 (Do you really need a link for this?)

Baby it's Cold outside

The Wonderment of Condensation and Temperature change.

Came across this in a email I received from SmallDog.com's Newsletter. With students taking laptops to and from school, possibly leaving it in the bus, or in the car, this is a great little bit of information to remember.

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Tip of the Week: Cold Weather Care By Matt Klein

During the colder months it’s important keep in mind that cold objects entering a warm, moist environment (like your home or workplace) will become damp with condensation. As liquid exposure of any type can void your warranty and result in costly repair, and as Apple now installs liquid exposure indicators inside each of its products, it’s vital that you keep your electronic gear safe.

If at all possible, do not keep your laptop, iPod, iPhone or other electronic gear in the car overnight in the cold. We’re beginning to see a few victims of condensation come through the shop, and it’s easy to avoid. If you find yourself with a moisture-covered device, the first thing to do is turn it off and remove the battery. iPod and iPhone users can only shut down and wait as their batteries are not removable.

Legendary data recovery firm (and Small Dog data recovery partner) Drive Savers notes that this exposure to hard drives is particularly serious: “Cold weather can wreak havoc on temperature-sensitive hard drives used in computers, game consoles, MP3 players and video recorders. Condensation buildup on the drive platters and frozen components can lead to drive failure and data loss.

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SO be nice to your gadgets and treat them with care.

Setting up a Wireless Network at home

The Wonderment of Wireless networking

As much as I would like to help out and visit everyone and setup wireless networks in your homes, I can't. What is great about setting up a wireless network is it is very easy. Every wireless router on the market is basically the same when it comes to setup. There are only a few steps to setup up a wireless router, plug it in and then log-into the configuration page through a browser and follow the setup steps.

One thing to remember is that whoever your ISP is (NetINS, GlobalCCS, MediaCom, WMTel) all would be a great place to start if you need help setting up a wireless router.

Linksys Instructions from Linksys (Cisco)
Belkin Website
Netgear Website
About.com Wirless Router Setup
Setting up a Linksys Router

Re-Wiring your brain

The Wonderment of Web 2.0 Your Brain

With education and the world becoming more wired and interconnected, why not hack your brain. iTunesU is a great resource for many many many free lectures from Universities around the world, but this ONE from Texas A&M is specifically geared toward increasing your brain function and ability to learn.

Switching tips

The Wonderment of switching to the MacBook

Switching to an Apple computer from a Windows computer might seem daunting, but in reality it is quite simple. There are many tips and tricks that work on a Windows PC that also work on an Apple computer. There is no need for me to start writing up documentation on something that has been documented already all over the internet, so I will be posting links to sites that I feel will be helpful.

Switching 101
A Guide to Switching to a Mac from LIfeHacker
Apple Find Out How Videos
Shortcut Compendium

1:1 PD May 25, 2009

Below you will find places to conduct some research and look into how the 1:1 could work in your classroom.

O'Neill High School 24/7 Learning
Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow Today
Doing 1:1 Right
Maine's 1:1 Research
Virtual Tours of 1:1 Programs
Technology Integration Matrix
McMEL Resources Wiki

Congratulation South Hamilton Community

On May 11, 2009 the South Hamilton School board voted in favor of starting a 1:1 laptop initiative at the MS/HS building. So starting in the fall all students in 7th-12th grade will be given a MacBook computer to use for duration of their time at South Hamilton.

There are many questions and many policies and forms that need to be ironed out, so please check back on this blog as well as on the districts newly started 1:1 Laptop Page

Question 1

One of the biggest questions that has been circulating that I will address immediately is the financing. South Hamilton like many schools in the country is having to cut back on budgets and look for ways to save money. This budget reduction come from have the General Fund budget decreased for many reasons. This 1:1 program will not tape into the general fund, but instead be financed through the school infrastructure funds, SILO/PPEL. The SILO/PPEL funds have money in them from sales taxes and are set aside for this specific type of project. In short the money used to finance this project is not money that can be used for salaries.

There will be more infomation forth comming, but if you have questions be email laptopfeedback@s-hamilton.k12.ia.us