US:PA-3: RE:Network Support a Critical Need
RE:Network Support a Critical Need
John P. Bailey (assist@microserve.net)
Thu, 02 Oct 1997 12:43:22
I think Wes touches upon a very real issue for our schools and libraries in
the sense that this is all equipment and as such, there needs to be
technical support, maintenance, etc. A couple of suggestions:
* Remember that installation and basic maintenance IS covered by the
discounts.
* Many Intermediate Units and institutions of higher education can provide
technical support for schools and libraries in their regions. I would
suggest contacting their Infomation Technology staff in exploring that type
of partnership. Pricing for these services varies from instituion to
institution.
* Link-to-Learn funds may be used to contract with an IU, University, or
other contractor to provide technical support.
* Many school districts are using students enrolled in vocational technical
schools to provide technical support and assistance. This provides a cost
effective service for the schools while also providing workforce
development opportunities for the students.
* The Ridge Administration is committed to extending benefits from
Commonwealth contracts to schools and libraries whenever possible. The
Office for Information Technology is currently exploring schools and
libraries using the state's PC maintenance contract for their needs.
* One of the more unique approaches I have seen is a consortium of school
districts who are "sharing" their technology staff. Rather than have each
district hire its own networking specialist, PC support person, etc. they
are assigning each district's technology person a speciality that the other
districts can call for help. This is a tremendous way of leveraging
resources without duplicating investments.
* The Department also maintains a list of technology sites located at:
http://www.cas.psu.edu/docs/pde/tech.html
Sites listed on this page include technical sites for cabling, networking,
technology planning, videoconferencing, etc.
Wes's idea of having nerve centers is also a good suggestion. This truly
fits within a "community-based" approach to networking. For those
interested in pursuing this, I would suggest considering Wes's suggestion
of redirecting some of your savings or you could apply for a Technology
Literacy Challenge Fund grant (up to $500,000). More details about this
program are included in the Link-to-Learn application. The next round of
competitive grants will be in Novemeber with an anticipated $18.6 million
to distribute.
--John
>Network Support a Critical Need
>Wes Fasnacht (wfasnacht@chesco.com)
>Wed, 1 Oct 1997 11:01:29 -0400
>A common theme throughout the responses of the people from the field has
>been the lack of technical support people to maintain their networks.
>Being involved with both the county library system and the local school
>district, I see that need on a daily basis. While the e-rate is very
>important to providing the external infrastructure, unless there is
>DEPENDABLE ON-LINE SERVICE within each library/school district, the
>capabilities we're trying to provide will not become the ubiquitous
>communication medium we all recognize as being vital to our nation's
>future. Each person in a library or school district ultimately needs to
>view the PC as a basic communication device, just as they view their
>telephone today (in fact, somewhere down the road, they'll probably be
>one and the same).
>
>Until my retirement a year ago, I was responsible for Information
>Technology at a major state university. Of my 40+ staff, two very
>talented people were dedicated fulltime to maintaining our network.
>Schools and libraries have a much more difficult network environment to
>maintain, with buildings scattered over a large geographic area, and
>technical staffs totaling 2 or 3 people, if they're lucky.
>
>Unfortunately, the number of technical people available to provide
>networking support is very limited compared to the demand. And, the
>business world has a larger pocketbook to throw at them than do the
>libraries and school districts. We're probably some years away from the
>time when networks are simple enough and the technical people plentiful
>enough to provide the dependable service.
>
>Meantime, we need to make the best use of the people who are available.
>Some of the major networking organizations are operating "Communication
>Nerve Centers" that continuously monitor their clients' networks and
>trouble-shoot problems as soon as they arise. A handful of good
>technical people are able to maintain the dependability of a large
>number of networks. Networks naturally lend themselves to such remote
>maintenance. Software issues can typically be resolved from the Nerve
>Center, and relatively untrained local lay people can usually swap
>hardware devices that fail (with directions from the Nerve Center).
>
>I wonder if there is some way we could provide for such Nerve Centers to
>service our libraries and schools? Perhaps part of the e-rate savings
>could be channeled to that end. Since most of the networking companies
>that will be providing connectivity to our libraries and schools operate
>such Nerve Centers in one form or another, perhaps they could be
>enlisted to provide the support all the way to the desktop.
>
>Without some form of technical support over and above what they have
>now, it is going to be some years before schools and libraries can take
>full advantage of those wonderful pipes we're going to be running to
>their doorsteps with the e-rate initiative.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John P. Bailey
Director 717-787-5820
Office of Educational Technology 717-787-7222 (fax)
Pennsylvania Department of Education assist@microserve.net
333 Market Street www.cas.psu.edu/pde.html
Harrisburg, PA 17101
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--