Tech Director Chat
43 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 6 years ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsA weekly chat with a K-12 Public School Technology Director about the trials, tribulations, and insider secrets of your school's technology department. The chats are unscripted, and meant to make the inner workings of an IT department less opaque.logo image - Tom Taker "Technology"
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Lessons Learned at the Pentagon
February 06, 2018 05:00 - 15 minutes - 29.6 MBThis episode is short, sweet, and to the point. We had some excellent tech questions about one of the most essential elements of making technology work in schools; keeping it charged up! And we dove a bit into Tony's background at the Pentagon, lessons learned early in life, and we had our technological knowledge tested with details about the release of the very first iPhone from Apple. Timestamps for this week's questions: 1:20 What has Tony been up to? 3:22 What was the best thing that ...
The New Guy
January 22, 2018 05:00 - 18 minutes - 33.6 MBWe're back! Sort of! Ben is still alive and toiling away in central office, having picked up a few more tasks this year, but Pete has moved on to other challenges...specifically to Western Michigan University where he's now a Senior IT Muckity-Muck :) In this episode I welcome Tony Nuismer, our brand new Director of Information Technology to Mattawan Consolidated Schools, and the new voice behind the microphone. Tony has led a fascinating career and comes to us from a similar size district ...
Making Technology Work...Kind Of
May 08, 2017 04:00 - 22 minutes - 42.3 MBDoes technology work in the classroom? What's the deal with Chromebooks? Why does the Slack App hate Ben so much? Pete and I scratch the surface of how technology affects our daily habits and routines, or fails to affect it in some cases. We address questions about our older machines, getting teacher laptops updated, and wrap our brains around a tough "Stump Pete!" question about NHL arenas! Timestamps for this week's questions: 0:58 What has Pete been up to? 2:05 It’s time for teachers t...
Transition Anxiety
March 21, 2017 04:00 - 24 minutes - 44.8 MBChange is difficult. Choosing a new brand of toothpaste or finding a new dish at your favorite restuarant can be hard enough, but when you start talking about changing a school district's Student Information System (SIS) you can produce enough anxiety to make even the most laid back individuals frought with fear. And we're doing just that! We're currently in the middle of transitioning to PowerSchool, and there are a lot of really good questions coming from all corners of the school district...
Apple TVs and the Future of Google Classroom
February 03, 2017 05:00 - 22 minutes - 42.3 MBThanks for all of the great questions submitted this time around. A lot of good technical and troubleshooting questions about Apple TVs prompted some good conversation about a few of the policies we have in place, and why we have to put passcodes on them for airplay mirroring. For those that don't have restrictions activated for an Apple TV in a school setting, you should definitely make sure that happens. Pete and I go over a social media policy that our district has in place, and then we s...
Prognostications & Tetrachords
November 28, 2016 05:00 - 25 minutes - 47.5 MBInterested in listening to Ben and Pete ramble on for far too long about what the future of technology looks like? No? Well then, this episode isn't for you :) We tackle a few questions about speakers, feedback, apps on student devices, tricky 1:1 scenarios, and a lengthy birdwalk into the future of technology. Halloween costumes and tetrachords round out this episode. Timestamps for this week's questions: 1:36 What has Pete been up to? 3:05 Chris wants to know, how do I lower the high-p...
A Tech Director's Sanity
October 24, 2016 04:00 - 18 minutes - 34.6 MBIt's probably safe to say that anyone willing to take on the job responsibilities of Information Technology Director for a school district needs to have a touch of insanity. The ability to juggle upgrading networks, managing repairs teams, and even getting your hands dirty when there's no one else to do the job can be a daunting task. So it's nice that Pete is willing to share a bit of his insanity with us :) Timestamps for this week's questions: 2:29 What has Pete been up to? 3:25 Can...
The Technology is Supposed to Work, Right?
October 07, 2016 04:00 - 22 minutes - 41.8 MBWow, it's been a long summer for the Mattawan Consolidated Tech Department! Bond construction, total audio/video upgrades for the Middle School and High School, and the refurbishment and cleaning of machines all around the district have kept us all busy. Pete and Ben attempt to answer a heap of technical questions in this first episode of the school year, and are looking forward to settling into a more normal routine now that major construction is over. Timestamps for this week's questions:...
Pedagogy Vs Technology
May 02, 2016 04:00 - 22 minutes - 42.7 MBThis week Pete and Ben explore a growing question in the realm of educational technology; the role of pedagogy, and how it relates to technological change. Special thanks to Todd from Twitter for asking us the great question about trying to stay current with technology that prompted the discussion, and for the thoughtful educators that I get to work with everyday that understand the importance of balancing the needs of students and the classroom with the abilities of technology. We also addr...
Wifi and Stuffed Animals
April 18, 2016 04:00 - 24 minutes - 45.5 MBIt's the second week back from Spring Break, M-STEP testing is in full swing, and Pete and Ben drone on about wireless networks, poorly shapen metaphors, and stuffed animals. If that's not a podcast worth listening to, what is? We do get a chance to address some of the ongoing Apple TV issues that have plagued our network, although we have made some significant improvements, we help out with a question involving recovering files with Crashplan, and Pete is fully stumped once again with a que...
Ben's Email Can't Be Trusted
March 28, 2016 04:00 - 23 minutes - 42.8 MBIt's been awhile since Pete and Ben have sat down to record an episode, and we're terribly sorry for your ears that we've decided to record another episode. It's been a long hard Winter for our school district, and there was a lot of time that needed to be spent away from the microphone, but we're back for the remainder of the school year...and perhaps into the summer. This week's questions revolve around security. How secure are district issued devices and email? How secure is the email we...
Transforming Classrooms
January 11, 2016 05:00 - 23 minutes - 42.7 MBWe had a tremendous amount of excellent questions this week, and we tried to work through as many as we could, balancing out questions from within district and those coming from Twitter. We touched on upgrades to laptops, installation of new interactive projectors, and Pete got to actually work with students! We also had a thoughtful response to our discussion about cell phones in the classroom that we had in a previous episode. One of our high school teachers is taking a much more practica...
Email Etiquette
January 04, 2016 05:00 - 19 minutes - 35.5 MBHappy New Year! This episode was actually recorded at the end of last year, but we wanted to hold onto it until now as we address one of the long standing issues that several people have in the district with our internel classifieds email (aka, our own homegrown Craigslist just for district staff). Most staff in the district love having the ability to quickly be rid of items through district email; often many items are simply given away for free as educators are always looking for items the...
Providing $$$ for Technology
December 15, 2015 05:00 - 17 minutes - 31.9 MBIn this week's episode, Ben and Pete talk a bit about the money behind technology purchases. While it's no secret that many school districts make technology purchases a regular piece of large bond projects now, often those dollars go to larger systemic technology. Interactive projects, voice enhancement, and other technology needed for security purposes are top items. However, some of the more essential technology to teaching often doesn't always make the cut. We talk about a few grant oppor...
Cells Phones in the Classroom?
December 07, 2015 05:00 - 20 minutes - 37.5 MBPete is back! And he's ready to tackle the hard questions about policy review, what makes him tick as a tech administrator, and cell phones in the classroom! Well, maybe only one of this is truly a difficult question to grapple with, but Ben enjoys the banter none the less. We finish up our list of questions from our high school that were compiled at the start of the school year, and talk about the advantages...and disadvantages of the use of cell phones in the classroom for learning. In fac...
Is 1 to 1 Computing a Gimmick?
November 19, 2015 05:00 - 20 minutes - 37.4 MBAfter a couple of weeks off, Ben is back....with another Ben! That's right! Pete has the episode off, so I had the opportunity to ask Ben Tomlinson, a former teacher in the district, a few pointed questions dealing with laptops, 1 to 1 computing, and how to bring more collaborative work into a high school classroom. We bounce through a few questions left over from our beginning of the year list from our high school teachers, question Ben about his thoughts on smart watches, and spend a good ...
Do We Need Less Tech in Our Lives?
October 30, 2015 04:00 - 21 minutes - 39.5 MBWell, the conversation definitely turns philosophical in this episode after a wonderful question comes our way from one of our high school teachers. It gave us pause to explore what "direct human communication" means, and whether or not technology mediates our experiences with one another in a way that affords us the same advantages of face to face conversation. Hint, we think it does, and in some ways can enhance it. The rest of the episode involves "Projector Pete" pontificating on the int...
We're Back!
October 23, 2015 04:00 - 18 minutes - 6.93 MBWe're Back! Sort of. It's been such a busy start to the school year that while we've recorded a few episodes, finding the time to edit and post them has been rather difficult. Ben is in a new role that has put a lot more on his plate, and Pete is still recovering from one of our busiest starts to the school yet ever! This marks the start of our weekly conversation, and it was filled with plenty of good questions! Managing Spotlight on your Macs, Speck coming through after a defective bunch o...
Putting Learning First
May 13, 2015 04:00 - 21 minutes - 40.3 MBTechnology increasingly drives the conversation in education. New laptops without DVD drives means pushing people to make the leap to video in the cloud and online. The use of collaborative tools means asking students to work on individual projects and digital worksheets risks disengaging them. Asking for help may not be a simple fix, or applying "the solution" as a torrent of them may exist for your particular problem. Pete and Ben dig into a couple of philosophical questions about the natu...
Who Controls the Web Filter?
May 05, 2015 04:00 - 20 minutes - 7.52 MBThis week's episode takes Pete and Ben down a few conversations from past episodes, rekindles the "off again, on again" relationship with web filters, and explores Ben's lack of interest in music. Along the way we talk about what we think would make the ideal bare minimum device for students to be successful in a "21st century" classroom, with some disagreement over iPads, Chromebooks, and the traditional laptop. And Pete gets a software question for "Stump Pete!" Timestamps for this week's...
The Death of DVDs?
April 28, 2015 04:00 - 25 minutes - 47.6 MBThis week we answer ALL the questions! Well, just about all of them, and what a varied bunch of questions they were. From blended learning and basic tech help, to some deeper questions about evaluating IT and what to do as we look at the future of DVDs, there's a little bit of something for everyone in this episode. Pete has a moment of silence as he contemplates an interesting question from Jeremy on Twitter about how the Technology Department can be more connected to the classroom and get ...
Apple Watches & New Laptops
April 22, 2015 04:00 - 24 minutes - 45.7 MBThis week's episode focused on some more practical issues of web browsers, operating system upgrades, and hinted at Pete's upcoming involvement in helping the Village of Mattawan get some truly high speed internet as opposed to the slow speeds residents currently suffer with. We addressed a good question about Google Chrome vs. Firefox, but discovered after we recorded this that not all recommendations are good, as we learned the hard that our student information system is bet not used with ...
Spring Break!
April 01, 2015 04:00 - 20 minutes - 38.2 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. You asked, and we've delivered! This podcast is full of a bunch of non-tech, off the wall, "spying on Pete's personal life questions! Alright, so maybe that's being a bit hyperbolic, but Pete and Ben did have a lot of fun answering your more ...
Making Technology Run Smoothly in the Classroom
March 11, 2015 04:00 - 23 minutes - 44.3 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. March is now in full swing, the weather is warming, the sun is shining, and we couldn't be more excited to share talk about technology grants, and how we're approaching new teacher laptop upgrades! We also spend some time talking about how to...
Live Long and Prosper
March 02, 2015 05:00 - 23 minutes - 44.4 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. This week we answer a host of Chrome and Google Drive related questions (pro tip, when in doubt, don't delete the file from Google Drive!). We also tackle a new Chrome user's anxiety over switching browsers, and share some advice that Google ...
What About Chromebooks?
February 18, 2015 05:00 - 22 minutes - 41.1 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. Technology in schools is driven by many factors; flexability, accessibility, and cost are just a few of the considerations, although cost quite often has a larger role in what school choose to implement. Pete and I chat about some really exce...
The State Comes Calling
February 09, 2015 05:00 - 22 minutes - 40.9 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. In this week's episode, the State Department of Education comes calling about feedback for the TRiG program for technology, and Pete admits he may be losing his mind (just a bit). We talk about avoiding the "spinning wheel" of death on Macs, ...
Fellowship of the Gmail
February 03, 2015 05:00 - 25 minutes - 47.2 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. Technology Directors don't always make the decisions we feel are best for our students. All of our classrooms have unique challenges, opportunities, and realities, and it's incredibly easy to get caught up with the idea that everyone is ready...
Let's Talk with Teachers
January 23, 2015 05:00 - 22 minutes - 41.6 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. This week Pete shares a bit about his latest attempt to stay connected to the teachers he's serving. He's holding conversations with small groups of teachers from around the district to get feedback on what to improve upon and what the Tech D...
Pete's Technology Utopia
December 24, 2014 05:00 - 22 minutes - 42.4 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. This week Pete dreams a bit about the tech utopia he'd love for us all to live in, while Ben shares some apps and services for those seeking to feel a bit more secure with their digital lives. We take a break from Twitter questions, and answe...
Do Tech Directors Make Us Feel Dumb?
December 15, 2014 05:00 - 20 minutes - 38.6 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. After last week's episode in which we talked about "locking it down," we dive into another hot button issue around how Tech Directors and other IT professionals make users feel about their technological competency. We chat about improving our...
Why do Tech Directors Lock Technology Down?
December 08, 2014 05:00 - 26 minutes - 49.4 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. We're back! After taking a week off for Thanksgiving, we get a question from Ian that sets up one of the BIGGEST questions that Tech Directors always have to wrestle it, "why do things have to be locked down?!" The answers isn't always the mo...
Ben's Turn in the Hot Seat
November 23, 2014 05:00 - 26 minutes - 49.4 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. This week sees a small turn of events, with Pete posing a question to Ben, and giving him a chance to feel what it's like in the hot seat! Pete answers questions about "big picture" use of technology in a teacher's classroom, what a new ideal...
Ben's Tech Metaphors
November 17, 2014 05:00 - 22 minutes - 42.5 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. In this week's episode, Ben gets a little carried away with his technology metaphors, in an attempt to translate Pete's technobabble into regular English for the rest of us. We spend a lot of time talking about being behind the "8" ball with ...
OMG! We Passed the Bond!
November 10, 2014 05:00 - 22 minutes - 42 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. We passed the bond! Our community came together and said "yes, we want to build some amazing new learning spaces for our students!" This week we're a bit excited about the new possibilities that the bond will afford, but we keep things in che...
21st Century Classrooms
November 03, 2014 05:00 - 19 minutes - 35.7 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. This week we follow Pete as he jets sets around to globe to Prague, where he is attending an Institute for Innovation in Education Gathering (iiE for short). We talk about potential changes to lighting, presentation technology, and other "wis...
Let's Stump Pete!
October 28, 2014 04:00 - 21 minutes - 39.8 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. This week's episode involves questions of a philosophic nature about whether technology is truly necessary in the classroom, and we wrestle with the scourge of every educator trying to install good digital citizenship habits within their stud...
Pete Geeks Out
October 20, 2014 04:00 - 22 minutes - 41.7 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. This week we focused entirely on questions from our school district, including some seriously geeky responses from Pete about RAM, cache, and how to best avoid the "beachball of death". We even make a recommendation for Memory Clean, a Mac Ap...
Is "Yes" in a Tech Director's Vocabulary?
October 13, 2014 04:00 - 25 minutes - 35.9 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. We have a record number of questions this week; seven! I know, I know, that seems pretty low, but for a podcast that one day hopes to be under 20 minutes, that's a lot to cram into one episode! Pete answers some tough questions about whether ...
Making Pete's Blood Boil
October 06, 2014 04:00 - 21 minutes - 30.6 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. In this episode Pete and Ben talk about some of the "fun" projects that he gets to be involved with, as well as confronting the reality of dealing with vendors, sales people, and others hoping to offer a solution to school's technology proble...
Communications & Student Views
September 29, 2014 04:00 - 22 minutes - 31.8 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. In this third episode, Pete and I attempt to address the sticky issue of when attempts to help aren't always so helpful, why tech support often comes at the last minute, and what we can do to make ourselves better "helpers". We roll of few is...
Upgrade Pains & Accessibility
September 22, 2014 04:00 - 21 minutes - 29.8 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. We're back for a second episode, and for those of you hoping for a shorter episode....you have no idea how much Pete likes to talk! In our pursuit of trying to find a regular recording time, and a means of controlling the length of the chat, ...
Ask Your Tech Director
September 15, 2014 04:00 - 19 minutes - 27.2 MBA weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director. In the first episode, Pete attempts to answer a difficult question about why all of the technology isn't connected and setup at the start of the school year, submitted by Miguel Guhlin from his "Stump the Tech Director" blog post. We also int...