7 Habits of Effective Teachers Who Use Technology

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Do you see yourself here? If so, GREAT! Want to do more with technology in your classroom? Contact Patrick for help.

Thank You and Help Us Help You!!

We would like to start with thanking everyone for your patience. It has been a crazy start to the new school year!!

We have completed a whopping 482 tech request since August 19th. Last year we averaged 20 tech requests per day with 3 technicians. That averages to about 40 tech requests completed per day!

Amazingly, we still have 160 outstanding tech requests to do. So continue to be patient, we will get to you.

In order to help us get things done more efficiently we need you to help us.

Here are some guidelines to help us get things done faster.

1. Do not call any technician directly.

Please call the Help Desk 231-0055. We asked Dr. Janes and she said you can use personal phones to contact the Help Desk. 

The technicians are using their phones to fix problems and communicate with each other, interrupting them just slows down the process  

2. Do not stop a technician and talk to them about a tech request or ask for a tech request. 

We have a list of 200 we are trying to complete and are doing them in the order they were submitted.

Again stopping them slows them down. If you tell us personally, we will usually forget by the time we get a chance to stop.

(You can stop us and say Hi! We do love it when we get a chance to talk with you.)

3. Do not stop by the Help Desk.

(It is a Secret Location LOL) The Help Desk is busy answering calls and then completing them as quickly as possible.

As an example, an average new user takes 15 to 20 minutes to create completely in the system.

Interrupting this process by knocking on the door is distracting and can cause us to forget where we were in the process.

4. Do not e-mail only one person in the technology department for your tech request.

E-mailing the helpdesk@hannibal.k12.mo.us address sends an e-mail to every technician.

Submitting a tech request also notifies all of us in the department. 

When you contact only one person it can seriously delay how soon your request will be taken care of as each technician is taking turns on the Help Desk and then being in the field working. 

Some of us are in meetings or training all day as well.

The Help Desk

7:30 am - 4 PM everyday school is in session. 231-0055

You can call the Help Desk for anything technology-related and we will try and help you.

If you are unsure if it needs to be a tech request or not sure how to word it, we will submit a tech request on your behalf.

If we cannot help you over the phone, we will schedule when a technician can come and see you, so we no longer have to interrupt during class.

Again, Dr Janes has given permission to use your personal cell phone when contacting the help desk.

 Please feel free to contact us while you are at the problem and we will do our best to get you up and running as soon as possible. 

The Help Desk number is currently being worked on so that we can handle multiple calls at once.

Currently if you call and we are on the line you will receive a busy signal.

Please be patient as we are working on making this rollover so we can handle multiple calls.

If it is busy, try again. If you get our voice mail please leave a message and we will return your call ASAP.

Tech Request

You can still submit a tech request if you want to. If school is not in session or the Help Desk is busy you may want to submit a tech request.

Please know that every technician will receive an e-mail for the tech request. 

Also know that you cannot access the tech request from outside of school.

If you are at home and think of something then feel free to e-mail helpdesk@hannibal.k12.mo.us

For any training request we have made a new e-mail.

Training@hannibal.k12.mo.us

As always it is a pleasure being able to serve you.

Your Technology Department

Technology Help Desk!!

New this year is an added support option for Hannibal Public School employees and technology issues. The Technology Help Desk will be available 7:30 a.m - 4:00 p.m., Monday - Friday beginning August 22. The desk will be open when school is in session, not on holidays, inclement weather days, etc.

This is a phone-in help desk for you to use when you feel that perhaps with just a little extra help, you can solve a technology issue that you are having. Just call the number (see the technology newsletter sent to all buildings via email). We will try to solve the issue you have and if we cannot, we will enter a tech request for you and schedule a time to meet in order to correct the problem.

This is an additional resource. You can of course submit your own technology request as you have traditionally done.

You can also send an email to the help desk (see the newsletter).

In all, our goal is to provide as much support in a timely manner as we can.

It's a Start: Getting Your Computers Working

Each year, we come back to school and have to spend time prepping our rooms for the start of school. The list of things to do seems to get longer and longer. Here, I want to help you with a list of things to check to get the technology in your rooms connected and working. Doing this yourself gets your technology up and running MUCH faster than the support staff can. That I am sure is someting you want. Technology that works! Often, over the summer, your room is emptied to wax the floors and then all the stuff is put back. Usually the technology is not connected to power and sometimes peripherals like keyboards, mice, monitor, SmartBoards, network cables and switches are not connected. So here's a list of things to check. If after checking for these items, you cannot get your technology up and running, submit a tech request. (See the Quick Links section on the right side of this blog.)

• Power cables: Make certain that they are plugged into a live outlet or live power strip. Make sure that both ends of the power cables are fully-inserted into the equipment. (The cables often come loose from the equipment and appear to be fully-inserted, but are not! Push the cables in all the way. 
• Keyboards and mice: There are two general kinds of these, USB and PS2. 
• USB are the easiest to deal with because they can be tinkered with while the computer is on. If you have  non-responsive keyboard or mouse, unplug it from the USB port on the computer and plug it back in. Make sure it is fully-inserted. If that doesn't help, turn the computer off and unplug the problematic device. Restart the computer. Once the login screen returns, plug the device back in and wait up to 3 minutes or so. See if the device will work. If it is a mouse issue, go ahead and log in on the computer and let it fully start. It might install the mouse and you'll be good to go after 3 minutes or so. If none of these suggestions work, try repeating with a different USB port on the computer. If that doesn't help, submit a tech request.
  
  
  
• PS2 have a green or purple connector that gets inserted into the corresponding slot on the back of the computer. There are little pins in these connectors and they must be carefully lined up to insert into the computer. The computer needs to be OFF when working with PS2 devices. This prevents a short from happening when inserting the connector. Once the computer is off, fully-insert the connector in the proper port. The ports are often color-coded to match the connector. If not, there is usually a mouse or keyboard symbol beside the port to identify what device is to be plugged in there. Turn the computer on. If the keyboard or mouse still does not work, submit a tech request.
  
  
  

• Monitor is connected using the VGA cable. The blue end must be carefully aligned and inserted into the VGA port on the back of the computer. (Note, if you have TWO VGA ports on the back of your computer, you must use the LOWER one.)
  
• Network Cable: Connects like the phone line in your home.
  
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• Switches: A switch is a box that holds many connections for network cables. If you have a switch that is not connected, it is best to submit a tech request. Improper connections at a switch can stop your network from responding!

These are the basics to get your systems up and running. As always, if you have questions, email us or submit a tech request.

NOTE: To submit a tech request, you must be logged in to the school network. You cannot submit a tech request from your home computer.