Troubleshooting Computer Problems

If you have technology equipment assigned to you, then the initial troubleshooting of a  technology problem will begin with you.  Equipment assigned to you is considered your responsibility and you will be expected to try to evaluate the problem and use simple troubleshooting techniques to determine a solution before contacting whatever building level support your school may have in place.

If you are not able to correct the problem, then a request for technical assistance must be made.  Contact your building level technology support personnel to find out the proper procedure for doing this.  This will include webmasters, building technologists, or a Technology Support Teacher.

Software Installation

Installation of software will be handled at the building level by the teacher using the software. Building Level Technologists and TST's  will be responsible for helping teachers install any type of software that is not a network version. This includes single station, lab pack, site, shareware and freeware. Installation of network software will be handled by the school's TST.

Software Problems

Initial troubleshooting of classroom software problems will be handled at the building level by the Building Level Technologistor or TST.  Many times software support exists with a particular software program and you should first contact this help if a problem arises.

Office personnel encountering problems with office software packages such as Siesta Sickleave, Horizon Student Management and the EPES  accounting software should contact the proper first line of support for these packages.  The first line of support for Horizon and the Siesta Sickleave software is Tonya Shell at the central office and the first line of support for the EPES accounting software is Judy Seaton at South Greene High School.

Requests

Technicial assistance requests will be submitted using the Calltrax reporting system.  Procedures for doing this can be obtained from your building level support personnel. The more informationthat can be provided in these requests will help the building level or system level support staff accurately assess what needs to be done before arriving to reslove the issue.

Technical support for other concerns beyond the scope of the duties performed by building level support personnel will be provided by the local high school TST (e.g. SGHS TST provides on call support for Camp Creek, DeBusk and Nolachuckey) and then if needed system level support.

Non-Bid/Contract Equipment

Some technology hardware exists in our system that was not approved by the technology department for purchase.  This includes Apple equipment, equipment which have been earned through Food City receipts, equipment that was purchased non-bid/contract and without recommendation from the technology department, and equipment that was purchased for Special Education purposes.

The system's technology department will try to offer assistance to rectify problems that occur with equipment not meeting establisheed specifications, but equipment that has been purchased without using the recommended specifications or not approved for purchase by the system's technology department will be the responsibility of those that purchased such equipment if the system technicians cannot correct the problem.

The Special Education Department should be notified first of problems with special education equipment that was not purchased by a district approved bid or contract.  It will be the responsibility of the Special Education Department to contact and discuss a solution with the system's Technology Department in such matters.

Old Apple equipment such as Apple IIe's and Lasers still exist in some of our schools. There is still some good software for these machines and some useful applications still exist.  Many our schools have begun to discard these machines, either because they are not working or because teachers will not use them anymore because of the newer technologies that now exist.  If you have working machines that you want removed from your building because nobody will use them then please contact the technology coordinator so that these machines can be advertised to other schools that may have a need for them before you remove them.

Emergencies

Emergencies arise from time to time, but make sure that it is a "true" emergency before it is labeled as such. Horizon crashing is an emergency, a teacher with six computers and one will not operate is not an emergency.

Technology Support Teacher

This building level position exists at seven of our schools.  This is a full time technical support position in which the person holding that position will be responsible for handling  technical needs for his/her school(s).  These individuals also work an extra twenty days as part of the system's technology department.  Some of their duties during those twenty days will be providing support and completing tasks that will help to advance the level of technology in all our schools.These schools have a fulltime TST in the following assignments:

CDHS - Ben Murphy (Five days a week and on call support to Chuckey, Doak and Chuckey-Doak Middle School)
Doak - Becky Leifert (Three days a week)
Educational Center - Cole Spears (One day a week)
Mosheim Elementary - Nancy Justis (Five days a week)
NGHS - Kathy McInturff (Five days a week and on call support to Baileyton, Ottway and West Pines)
South Greene - Terry Baker (Five days a week and on call support to Camp Creek, DeBusk and Nolachuckey)
West Greene - Steve King (Five days a week and on call support to Glenwood, McDonald, and Mosheim)

This building level position exists at nine of our schools.  This is a part-time technical support position in which the person holding that position will be responsible for handling  technical needs for his/her school(s). These individuals will provide technical support before and after the school day as well as time permits during the school day. They will work in conjunction with the Building Level Technologist to provide the first line of support for all technology needs at their school.

Baileyton - Lori Loftis
Camp Creek - Angelelia Johnson
Chuckey - Sandy Whitaker
Chuckey-Doak MS - Frank Shannon
DeBusk - Judy Collins
Glenwood - Sara Brown
McDonald - Holly Goodrich
Nolachuckey - Mike Garner
Ottway - Martha Sims
West Pines - Dave Walters

The technology coach of each school is responsible for providing assistance to teachers in using technology effectively in the classroom. They will provide just in time training to teachers who require brief periods of assitance in how to use the technology that exists in their classroom. They also develop and provide after school training to teachers in topics that are relative to school wide or district initiatives that involve technology.

Webmaster

The webmaster of each school will have the responsibility of making sure his/her school has a current webpage on the World Wide Web and making sure that a webserver is up and running at his/her school. These individuals will also be responsible for helping others in their buildings explore the Internet and assist those that are interested in creating webpages. Teachers will become pagemasters and will develop webpages for his/her classroom to be placed on the school's webserver.  The webmaster will work with other support personnel when needed on Internet related concerns.

Technology Coordinator

The technology coordinator is responsible for coordinating all facets of technology in our school system.  Integration of technology into our methods of teaching, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of new technology into the curriculum will be one of the major concerns of the technology coordinator. The technology coordinator will also serve in advisory roles in the development of effective technology plans at the school level as well as making sure that districtwide technology plan is evaluated and updated annually.  Every school must strive to have a true "school level technology plan" in place.

The technology coordinator will be in charge of planning for and handling all the new technology that will be arriving. This will include preparing specifications for new hardware to be purchased, satisfying the demands of the SDE, conducting studies and surveys to determine needs, providing training opportunities, attending training, seminars, and conferences to keep current of new technologies as they arrive, releasing memos and newsletters to keep everyone informed, expanding our presence on the World Wide Web and exploring new and innovative uses of the Internet, and handling the many, many, more new and ever expanding technologies that will come along. Not to mention an emergency or two that might occur during the school year.

The technology coordinator will be addressing the needs and concerns of the administrative offices of each school and the central office. Such needs and concerns should be handled by the principal contacting the technology coordinator by phone and a plan of action being determined.

The technology coordinator will make sure that all the different support levels are in place and functioning properly, including the building level support and system level support.  The technology coordinator will be forming and working with committees that will improve all levels of technology in our system.

System Technicians

 System technicians will be responsible for correcting problems that building level support personnel are not able to solve.  System technicians will be expected to solve hardware, software, networking problems, and serve as mentors to building level technology support personnel. They will also provide assistance to the Technology Coordinator in the areas of district level concerns relating to the Wide Area Network and web services such as the email server and webmaster responsibilities for the district webpage. The schedule that they will follow is posted on Greene County School's website.

The system technicians will work with the 11 month Technology Support Teachers to conduct annual maintenance during the summer months on computers, servers, network equipment and printers.