Go Wireless Community of Practice

The ten commandments of school tech support Thou shalt test the fix. Thou shalt talk to actual students and teachers and make time to watch how  technology works during actual class time, not just when it’s quiet. Thou shalt not make fun of the tech skills of teachers or students, nor allow anyone else in the tech department to make disparaging remarks about them. Closing trouble tickets shalt not be thine highest calling; thou shalt strive to  continually make the learning environment better. Thou shalt not elevate the system above the users. The network will be never be perfect. Learning is messy. Get thyself over it. When teaching someone a new skill, keep thy hands off the mouse. Thou shalt listen to requests with an open mind and respond in plain English. Blocking shall be controlled by educators, not filtering companies. Thy job is to enable learning, not enforce behavior. Thou shalt include students and teachers in decision-making about technology purchases and policy. Their interest is not an affront to your professionalism.

the teacher must circulate in the classroom

Don’t forget your established classroom management skills.

Try to find ways to celebrate all sorts of different successes.

As I mentioned, sometimes solutions that seem inexpensive can be deceptively costly.  For example, a school that doesn’t take the time to do a full wireless survey before implementing a 1:1 program and just drops in APs in every room will likely end up with poor service and a lot of frustration for everyone involved.  A school that adopts a piece of hardware or operating system before a thorough evaluation of other options available could end up with a ton of incidental costs or face an unnecessarily limited curriculum.