Work Life: Passing the Torch for ARDL

(Screenshot circa Aug 2012)

In late 2006/early 2007, I had just begun working for the Southwest Arkansas Education Co-op as their Distance Learning Coordinator. The Tech Coordinator at the time, John King, and I were invited to a meeting headed up by the major players in Arkansas distance learning at the time. The main issue at hand: Could there be a central hub where anyone in the state could get information about distance learning in K12? John and I looked at each other for a split second, and answered, "Yes. We can do that."

We had nearly no idea how we would do that. We had been playing with software called "Sharepoint" and figured we could leverage that software to do what was needed.

So, we bought the unlimited version of Sharepoint with a grant in 2006. We bought MOSS 2007 before it was officially released, which made for interesting set up and configuration issues. Once the official version was released, we got it up and going. We were so far ahead of the curve at the time, we spent days on the phone with Microsoft as we worked together to solve various issues they hadn't encountered before.

Thus the ARDL (ARkansas Distance Learning) portal was born. We initially used one master list for all the courses being offered in the state. Providers would email me the Excel template and I would import the courses. It was crazy. But, it worked. As I learned how to use the system more, we added features like filtered searches, text searching, sorting, and more. We expanded the course listing feature and offered free classroom space on he server to any public K12 distance learning teacher in the state. We held various trainings to help get instructors on board. We created forums for providers, instructors, tech personnel, distance learning coordinators, and more. Each group had a private place they could feel free to discuss issues related to their functions. We also had general discussion areas where folks could ask questions to anyone. As time went on, it became easier for the providers to add their own courses and the portal began reaching more and more people involved with distance learning in the state and beyond.

In October 2007, Southwest Arkansas Education Co-op and the key players in running the ARDL Portal were awarded the K12 Distance Learning Service Award from ARDLA (the Arkansas chapter of the US Distance Learning Association). That award was specifically created because of the impact the Portal already had in its short life.

For the next 6 years, Southwest Arkansas Education Cooperative hosted the Distance Learning Portal at no charge to the state nor to any of the participating districts or providers. This included maintenance, updates, content changes, teaching new users how to use it, backups, etc.

In 2011, the DL program was growing, maturing, changing. A year later, all the information contained in the ARDL Sharepoint database was sent to the next host. In August 2013, the ARDL Portal found a new permanent home.

I am very proud to have been a part of something so new and as far-reaching as the ARDL Portal. I feel as though I have taken it, raised it, and now it is time to let it go. In a lot of ways, it is much like my personal life: this year, my son goes to college.

Thank you to everyone in Arkansas K12 who took a chance on a couple guys who had almost no idea what they were doing. Sometimes, you just have to say, "Yes. We can do that." And then do it.

Why PR Matters

(The following article is one in a series that I wrote for a distance learning-related blog I used to run circa 2008. For posterity's sake, I am reposting it -and others- here)

In my line of work, keeping the Superintendents informed serves multiple purposes, of which Distance Learning Coordinators benefit as much as, if not more than, the Superintendents do.

• Meeting with Superintendents keeps your face, your name, and your person, in their minds throughout the year. It is very easy for us (DL Coordinators) to get bogged down in the daily routine of troubleshooting calls, working on systems, scheduling events, and all the other things that go along with the position. By meeting with your Superintendents (either one-on-one or in a group setting), you break out of the routine, and because most of those everyday things happen "behind the scenes," the occasion to visit with the Superintendents does not always readily or easily present itself. By meeting with them specifically, you build the rapport and relationships you need in order to ensure success – not only for you, but for their DL program as well.
  
  For me, it also helps put names with faces, as I am not very good at doing that. So, I benefit by keeping THEIR names, faces, and persons in the forefront of my own mind!
  
• Meetings provide the opportunity to share new ideas and new programs. Many DL Coordinators may find they deal more directly with principals, teachers, and facilitators than with Superintendents. While this may generally help move things along, Superintendents WANT to know what's happening in their districts.
  
  I made the mistake of NOT telling one school administrator that I was doing an interactive lesson with the National baseball Hall of Fame. When he found out afterward, he expressed his disappointment in that he would have liked to witness at least a portion of the program. Frankly, it was a "cool" thing he missed out on. It is a mistake I will not make again!
  
  When it comes to presenting new ideas, the DL Coordinator may find resistance at the Principal level (for whatever reason). By talking about the program with the Superintendents, a program may catch on from the top down. Additionally, they have a different perspective of how ideas and programs may affect their teachers and students, so that may offer input in ways the DL Coordinator (and/or teachers and principals) may not have thought of previously.
  
• Presenting in front of the Superintendents helps develop and enrich the DL Coordinator's skills. By forcing oneself to speak in front of a group of influential people can help the more introverted DL Coordinator overcome fears, shyness, or other negative feelings. It may seem strange that a person with "presentation" issues would accept a position of DL Coordinator. In my case, I knew the position would require such face-to-face encounters, but I saw things more from the technical side (I am a techie/geek, after all). I also believed that taking this job would help force breaking the barriers that I often hide behind. It is not an easy process, and for me, it has more to do with the things that travel among the synapses of my brain than anything else. That is, getting beyond my public-speaking issues involves replacing the negative things I tell myself more than any external influence.
  
• Finally (for the purposes of this post anyway), meeting with the Superintendents provides a sense of accountability and responsibility. No matter how "trivial" the information contained in the presentation, the fact that the DL Coordinator thought enough about those individuals (by keeping them informed) shows that the DL Coordinator takes responsibility in his or her position. It also demonstrates accountability. The DL Coordinator is effectively telling the leaders of the school districts: "I am in charge of this program, and I will do whatever I can to help make it successful for your district. I am also accountable, and accept that accountability, when things go wrong."

Earlier, I presented the following topics to the Superintendents in our area:

• A brief overview of upcoming CIV events relevant to them
• Introduction/overview of a couple new ideas for CIV events
• Maintenance on Video Equipment

Even though only one of the items pertained directly to the group, each item led to further discussion as to how the item(s) affected their districts, encouraged participation, and/or led to additional programs or ideas for events.

After the meeting, the group expressed their appreciation for my coming to them with this information. In short, they WANTED to hear about happenings in distance learning without being overloaded with extraneous (useless or overly technical) information. By presenting to the Superintendents, not only did they benefit by receiving the information, but I benefited from the experience of presenting as well. Hopefully, if you are a distance learning coordinator (or someone in the position of heading up a distance learning program for schools), you will reap the benefits of making such presentations as well.

When customer service...isn't

(The following article is one in a series that I wrote for a distance learning-related blog I used to run. For posterity's sake, I am reposting it -and others- here)

Recently, I decided that it was time to upgrade the software that powers my codec (the piece of equipment that allows video conferencing to happen). Generally, I am from the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school of thought, especially when it comes to technology that is already behaving itself. That day, however, I let my imagination get the best of me.

I had sent an email to the company that oversees our maintenance agreement on the video systems, asking him to send me the keys for the latest version of software. I let him know that I was currently sitting on version F2.3 (we have Tandberg 6000 MXPs), and he let me know that he'd get the keys from Tandberg to shoot us up to F6.3.

Sure enough, I get the software keys, download the software, connect my computer to the codec and upload….

Now, I should not have started this at 3:30 in the afternoon, I know. But, I did, and at 4:05, while the system was still upgrading, I decided things were fine and that I would head to the house for the evening and see how things went after I got back in the next morning. Disaster ensued on several levels. The two main areas focused on the touch panel and connectivity to the outside world.

Starting with connectivity, my system was reporting that it could not see the gatekeeper in St. Louis, where our video traffic goes. The weird thing was that I could actually still make calls. The gatekeeper host told me that they could not see EITHER of our video systems (I had only upgraded one, for fear of something going wrong). After a couple hours of troubleshooting, the local telephone company was called in, and sure enough, we had actual line problems not related whatsoever to the upgrade. Once that problem was fixed, I moved on to the touch panel.

The touch panel has a handy little button that lets the user select the destination. The problem I was having went something like this: Touch "Make a Call" which would send the touch panel screen into a frenzy, ultimately making a "call connected" status active, yet not actually calling anyone. Now, normally, after the user touches the green button, they have to select the destination site or choose to manually dial an IP address. The system was not letting me get that far. Then, I would press the now active "disconnect" button, though we were not actually connected, and try again. After the third time, I decided that what I needed to do was contact our support folks. Here is where customer service breaks down.

After a few hours, I receive a message from tech support stating that we cannot just simply upgrade from F2.3 to F6.3. The codec must be upgraded to F3.5 and then THAT can be upgraded to F6.3. At this time, I would like to refer you back to my earlier statement: "I let him know I was currently sitting on version F2.3…" He KNEW my codec was not at the "3.5 pitstop" (his words), yet he only sent me the "super-jump" key to the latest software.

My job should not require me to know the various upgrade paths for codec software. That is why we have tech support to begin with. When I call tech support, no matter what the product, I expect the service personnel to PAY ATTENTION before offering a "solution" to its customers. Ultimately, I had to download and "downgrade" to F2.3, which is the version of software currently in place on my codec. Will I get the F3.5 and install it, then move to 6.3? Only if someone sells me on a series of compelling reasons to make the move. Yes, 6.3 supposedly ties into Microsoft's Office Communications Suite (or whatever it's called), but we do not have that here yet, and the video system works just fine as it is.

It ain't broke, so I ain't fixin' it.

Seeing with our ears

(The following article is one in a series that I wrote for a distance learning-related blog I used to run. For posterity's sake, I am reposting it -and others- here)

I had the distinct "pleasure" of trying to explain how CIV bridging works during a radio interview once. Though it is not necessarily a complex procedure, explaining it to people who could not see me was a little daunting.

I began my explanation with something along the lines of: "The different sites around the world connect to their designated hubs…" and then I realized that this was not going to pass muster to a rural AM audience (not to mention the host was starting to glaze over).

As the panic of impending "dead air" was approaching (I was still talking, but knew that if I didn't change course quickly, I would stop talking altogether and really lose folks), I stopped myself and explained the best way I knew how and in a way that most folks who have learned anything about the Internet are familiar with: Roads.

I paused, and then I backtracked a little. "In Arkansas, each of the half-dozen sites that are hosting Megaconference Jr connects to St. Louis. Most of the sites worldwide connect to hubs, like cities, through their highways. Those highways, from the cities, connect to other, more centralized cities, and eventually everyone ends up connected to Ohio, where the main event is taking place." Those were not my exact words, but close enough. The host got it, and then he did a quick summary of what I said, and we moved on.

The host has some technical background, so he did a good job of prompting addition questions about how CIV works, how distance education works in the schools, etc. We also talked about the "novelty" and how we can still be WOWed even after we get more and more accustomed to the technology. I told him that even as we move from novelty to application, we still have to maintain that sense of wonder, because without it, we stop moving forward.

Of course, if I had been thinking on my feet, I would have said something like, "And, as Walt Disney said, 'keep moving forward…'" alas, I am not that clever…

It's been a while since my radio days, and this served as a reminder that not everyone SEES what we're doing. Sometimes, the only picture they have of distance learning is the one we paint for them in their minds….