pallen

I just need to ask something...Are Teachers asking you to create presentations for them? And more so, are you doing it? I dont get it :?

We have had a similar problem and managed to fix it by reducing the hardware accelaration. Disabling the cursor and bitmap accelatarations solved this problem. I cant remember whether turning off the graphics accelaration completely caused other problems with it. Sorry it was a while ago now.

I dont think there is any sure fire way to cut out all the dodgy results from search engines,but you could block the image search section. If it is bringing results which are inapropriate for school, then your best interest would be to block the site. Try blocking uk.ask.com/pictures. That is what we do with google images as there were far too many ways of getting round the security settings. We tend to encourage people to use picsearch as its content is more child friendly, but even this is not foolproof. I think it comes down to classroom monitoring though to ensure pupils are not breaking the AUP by trying to access things they shouldn't be.

you haven't upgraded from IE6 to IE7 have you? Aren't the Adm templates different for those versions? Could it be that you have setup the Webdeny for IE6 and it's not working on IE7?

I wouldn't necessarily go down the degree route. I did that and it was cack. The lifestyle was good, but the course was too much theory based. I found that when I left I was applying for jobs but not getting past the interview as it soon became apparent that I didn't have the practical knowlegde to backup the theory. I went travelling for a bit after Uni, and when I got back my theory was too old to get me into any decent job. I stumbled around for a couple of years doing a few different things until I stumbled into where I am now, an IT Tech in a secondary school. I am now hoping that with my experience here and my qualifications I can get more jobs a little easier in the future. One thing is for certain you NEED experience. With only qualifications you cant get the jobs that need practical experience and you cant get the entry level jobs as they think you will soon leave for being over qualified. Work and train on the job - a happy medium. If you can find a company that will pay for your training too - even better

Staff cannot use the excuse they weren't told not to save stuff on the laptop. Laws change, they get updated. If you haven't got the correct licences in your school to store and play music(very grey area) then they cannot use it. If you are responsible for licences etc concerning computers and software, just take the equipment away - you are responsible - you will be in trouble. If staff are being stubborn about it - make a complaint. You will need to document everything that you have tried to do but that some members of staff have made your job impossible. This is not a trivial issue and needs to be addressed. Most of all you need to make sure you cover yourself. Most staff here tended to think I was just being awkward about the use of music and software etc on our network until I explained that it was my job to ensure all licences/copywright etc needed to be followed. As for the case of taking too much space on your server - irrelevant. If you haven't got the licences for it, it shouldn't be there. If they are school laptops - they follow the same rules as any other PC. If they are personal laptops then just dont allow them to connect to your network. As you have already said they were purchased by the scool - they follow the same rules. Maybe your Acceptable Use Policy needs to be updated and staff informed about it. Be fair about how you are going to re-image them, give staff time to backup their personal work, then take the laptops and wipe them. There was also another post on here regarding who is responsible for content stored in user areas. I think it was established that the user is respsonsible for content, but I'm not sure about installing illegal software. edit: just re-read the original post. The Head is backing you....follow his instructions and delete after 1 notice. If they have any complaints let them take it up with the Head.

I think the point is that there isn't a fight to be had. The scales have been agreed. You are getting matched to a job scale so the only fight you can have is if you have been matched to the wrong job(or there is a closer match than the one that has been used) If it is decided that you have been matched to the correct scale, but that results in a reduction in your salary there is not a lot you can do.

We can be seen as the IT experts in school and so if our skills can be used by teaching some advanced techniques then fine - on occasions. But for general everyday lessons - such as basic ICT skills, that is a staff training issue. If staff cant do it, it may be necessary for a training day to be dedicated to showing the teachers how to use their basic IT skills. I will give you an example of what has previously happened in my school when I had a member of staff hoping to get the kids to create a video. We had an English teacher who had recorded some video footage of a small group of pupils regarding some project they were doing. He drafted up a plan for what he wanted to achieve and what resource he had. He asked for my advice in regarding how this could be achieved in school and the resources we had. I advised which room could be used and what software we had. I also was present in the lesson to ensure that if there were any problems I was on hand to help out. I was also able to help when the kids were asking about how to do certain things(btw - I am by no means an expert in video editing). The teacher took the entire lesson - I was just on hand as technical support and to make notes on any way that it could be improved from a technical point of view. The point I made to the teacher was that I would help out to try and create a lesson which would be completing self sustaining without assistance from me. That way the teacher is training up to become the expert on the software they are using without the reliance on someone else. The lesson was a success as the kids managed to create a number of good films very quickly, as a result I volunteered to help out in any of these lessons in the future if he wished to try more complex video editing. I worked alongside the teacher to reach the goals they had set out - advising and assisting in the use of the equipment we have in our school. That as I see it is part of my job.

Now there is the thing...some schools refusing to acknowledge that they have NMs!!! Job Evaluation should have resolved this issue, as that is how schools have been gettting away with paying such poor wages. You can compare Techs and keep wages low, the only problem being is schools which only have 1 tech, meaning you are effectively the NM in everything but name and pay. I am waiting for my JE results...Tech on 15k. And I was told it would be backdated to april this year, only women could get it backdated longer if they could proove a man was doing the same job for more money. Something to do with equal pay etc...to be honest I keep geting told so many different things I'm not sure what is supposed to be happening :?

As I understand it, you cant fight for more money as it is not a process to identify what people are paid,but what scale they fit into. (honestly - it's not cost cutting ) I believe the only thing you can do is identify parts of your job that have been missed which may have resulted in a better review (higher grade) I have been told that what they are trying to do is evaluate the level of responsibility people have and not their workload. I believe your best bet would be to write down everything that you do and compare that with the job that you have been evaluated to. From that you will be able to see if you have been incorrectly evaluated or if that is how they value the job you do. If that is how they value your job, I think it is time to start buying the jobs paper again.

But isn't the point that everyone is making that we are not qualified to teach. We are not the right person to create resources and teach a lesson. The teacher is qualified and has been employed for that reason and that reason only. We are there to assist in the support for staff and pupils using ICT in school. That is what we are employed to do, the "any other duties" is not a blanket all for any other job the HT seems fit. If you are happy to create resources and teach lessons for the school fine, that is up to you, but unless you have been employed to do it, you can say no. I would just like to hear from the OP to see what outcome was made.

How are you applying the block? If your using the hash rule for the exe file, I think it is different for every version. Could you try blocking the path where it is run from? So you could block access to all the files in the outlook folder.

We tried to setup a booking system for a portable projector which was allocated for 1 teacher to use most of the time. As this was the only portable projector the school had, I suggested she implement a signing sheet so people knew where it was anytime it left her room. Also as the projector has been left in rooms overnight when used by other people I told her it would be wise to cover herself in case of theft/damage. All in all about 2 staff ever signed the form, leaving me running round trying to find leads that went missing. After a couple of times I told staff it is their responsibility to look after the equipment and NOT to come to me as I have no spares and no idea where the projector would be. Lukily we now have a few portable projector, but there is still no log of where they are being used. Providing a good (blatantly obvious) idea of logging where equipment is and showing people how to transport/use equipment is one thing...getting them to use it is another.

Disease - I aggree, except I'd make a rubbish teacher - I just dont have the patience. But no one here could take over from me if I was off for any length of time. Interesting enough I did used to get pupils asking me if I was taking the IT lessons when the IT teacher was off. It made me laugh....anyway time to go home, its friday afternoon

Teachers are no differnet to any other people, some are good and some are bad. Some deserve the money they are paid, and some dont. Show me where this doesn't happen.

Can you use delprof to clean all machines of profiles and force the desktop settings through GPO?

Pete10141748 - did you do that database lesson they asked you to do again? I would say as a matter of urgency you contact your union rep and ask the school for a copy of your contract if you dont have one. Now would be a good time to get this addressed. Coming to the end of the year gives you a chance to start fresh in the new year. Let us know how you get on.

Have installed it, but never been able to open up a kids work from 2007. I advise them to save as 2003 at least. Also informed teaching staff of this so they can advise the kids when they are doing work at home.

I think we all generally agree that we should be involved in an advisory role. I do in fact think this is a must as it is us who knows the technology the school has and what it is capable of. But ultimately it is the teacher who does the actual planning of lesson plans. If the school is asking you to start preparing lessons and teach then then is not part of a technical support role and needs to be added to your exisiting contract with the appropriate pay scale adjustment.

You could look on this site and see what other schools have set up. Online room booking software, job logging, intranet etc....Find out if there is something your school doesn't have which other schools have running. Give yourself a project to do and set a deadline to have it in place too. This will give you a project to manage(usefull for interviews) and show the school that you have got the desire to progress and develop things for them. The fact that the school is broken into terms gives you a good timeline to work from. You could talk to the staff there to see if there is anything they would like to do but dont have the tech knowledge to get it off the ground. Things like video editing but not being sure where to begin. You could do the research and setting up along with userguides etc for staff. Consisting of training in the use of IT equipment, software etc, basically anything that is going to hold your interest and/or be of use to you in the future in looking for other jobs. The school may not be interested in keeping you, but you can use them to gain knowledge and skills that can be easily transferable and give you an advantage when applying for various jobs.

I think it comes down to what people are employed to do. It is obvious that all schools are different as are their needs, but we all do a very similar job - Look after the network. If you have been employed to support the network and staff & pupils in their use of the equipment then I dont believe that you can be expected to prepare lesson plans for thet teachers. If however, you have been employed to create resources and plan lessons on top of running the network and general ICT facilities, then you will have to do it. Realisticly, I doubt anyone is employed to create worksheets, lesson plans, even resources for the teachers to use as an IT Technician. I'm not, so I wouldn't do it, even if I had the time, there are other things I could spend my time on which would be far more beneficial. The teachers have been trained, got the experience and are paid to do this, trying to pass it on to someone else because the staff aren't capable is wrong. Pete - Sorry mate, but you have got to start saying no. For someone to expect you to drop everything and bail them out because they didn't understand the subject they are teaching is wrong. What would have happened if there was an emergency and you were called away to fix it? Would the teacher have taken over or would the lesson have halted? If there are teachers in your school who do not know how to teach their subject it needs to be addressed. edit: On a lighter note, if your actually teaching - does that mean you get a pay rise to match the teachers then? :twisted:

OK, only recently I was asked by an a trainee teacher to check her lesson plan. It wasn't big or complicated but as no one had done what she was hoping to do (due to the software being new) she wanted to check with me that she had the technical details correct. I sat with her showed her how to use the software and even wrote up a bullet point user guide. She took this on board and developed into her lesson plan. I was available if things went wrong or any problems that arrose, but in no way did I write a lesson plan. I am employed to keep the network up and running to ensure that the teachers can use it to teach. How they choose to do this is entirely up to them. I however, do think that if I can supply training & user guides to our software and equipment that is what I should do. I would take another look at your job description. If it is not in writing then you dont need to do it. If the teachers in your school are not capable of creating lesson plans incorporating ICT into their subject then it comes down to a staff training issue.

You would only be in trouble if you knew there was a load of porn on it. I think it is reasonable to look at the contents of disks to try and find out whos it is. I wouldn't go through all the files to check they were ok. Simply looking at filenames will normally tell you who the property is. Graphics coursework for example would mean i could hand the disk over to the graphics teacher to ask if anyone has lost it. However, if I found a filename with Porn001 then I would raise an issue with SMT as it would be a school issue. I think it is seperating what could be called snooping into personal property and what is trying to find out the owner to return the property. Regardless, I think I will be adding to our AUP to cover me incase I find myself in a similar situation in the future.

You can almost guarantee that he is one who put the files on the stick but without certain proof there is not alot you can do. He can claim someone else used his account even if it turns out his name has been stamped on the files. It boils down to getting enough evidence to make him confess. We make a point of informing pupils that they need to be responsible for their network/email accounts - your name, your account your respsonibity if it is misused. Any chance you have something like that in place and could use it to discipline? It would save you having to get definitive proof. As to kids reporting a USB missing - they all loose stuff all the time here that never gets picked up, it seems they dont care about how much things cost.(wow I'm sounding old :? )

If the pupils in my school are anything to go by, using a drop box would be far easier than allowing staff access to pupils areas. The amount of people who save files as document1, doc2 etc even after they have been told to give it a valid name is untrue. How much time would be wasted going throught the entire class of files with such vague names to find the work that they are doing for each subjet. Using a drop box method forces them to think a little more about what file name they are giving their work so the teacher can identify that they have submitted work. I personally would prefer that method and we have used it here successfully in the past. It allows a teacher to be logged on and see at a glance if any pupil has not done their work.