November Media Statistics

November statistics are done-
55% digital from EdVideo Online
32% digital from Learn 360
13% video, DVD, kits, audiobooks

LTAC meeting November 20

LTAC met in the DL room. Auburn, Port Byron, Cato-Meridian, Union Springs, CNYRIC and Cayuga Onondaga BOCES were present.

Tony DiMento from CDW-G presented a demo on AVerMedia document cameras, mini-notebooks and DyKnow.

Linda announced that e-rate budgets had been submitted to NoraLee at OCM. She reminded districts that the EETT staff (Peter and Dennis) can provide staff development data on the cohorts for your records. Linda noted that it may be advantageous to shift e-rate and telephone interconnect services to OCM. Rick Dillon said that the OCM charges for 601 and 602 are about $6000.

Rick talked about staff changes at the CNYRIC. Joe Scott has moved into Mike Heller's position. Mike moved into Fred Lawrence's position. A new tech will be at Moravia. The RIC to RIC network is now active with CNYRIC, WNYRIC, Monroe and NERIC. Tony asked that intermapper be available for trouble shooting on the DL side. A new mainframe is scheduled to be installed on December 13. SIS will be down for the morning.

Tony spoke about the DL scheduling meeting on December 5. The expectation is that the courses for next year will be firmed up. He distributed a list of the videoconferences since September.

Linda reported for Ann that reduced State funding will likely impact the databases such as CERF. Sandy asked for statistics of database usage.

Larry is asking Apple to make a presentation at the next meeting.

Next meeting is December 18, 10-noon.

Digital Use Going Up

The October statistics for media usage show that 85% is digital.
Learn360 34%
EdVideo 47%
Cay digital 4%

Daily Almanac

We have a new service available at dailyalmanac365.com. A short daily video with events, word for the day, extremes and health tips. All of the schools should have IP access available. If you are asked for a password, please contact us.

September Media Statistics

The September media statistics show a large increase in digital requests. Learn360 was 23.6% of the items shipped or viewed. EdVideo Online was 9.5%. The digital videos on our own server were 45.4%. These figures are a little high because I have done a number of trainings where I have shown teachers how it works. 16% of the shipments were videotapes and 4.4% were DVDs.

All teachers with accounts for the media catalog can search Learn360, EdVideo Online and our own titles as soon as they login to the media catalog. There is no need for a second login.

LTAC Meeting Notes - September 18

LTAC (Learning Technology Advisory Committee) met on September 18. Moravia, Auburn, Port Byron and Union Springs representatives attended.

Roundtable discussion included reports from the districts. Moravia reported that they now have layer 3 switches and are using the RIC firewall. Union Springs is changing to VOIP. Auburn replaced core switches and fiber. They are using School Messenger and reported it worked well with the school closing on Monday. Port Byron realigned to a K-6 and 7-12 configuration. They purchased I-Macs to replace PCs.

Tecnology plans were discussed. Additions to plans for the year beginning July 2009 need to be submitted by October. Budgets for 2009-10 need to be submitted by October 1. Kathy Smith, E-rate person from OCM BOCES will join us prior to the next meeting to discuss e-rate requirements.

Tony discussed the data network and the RIC to RIC connection. We are hearing that it will be active soon and that it will have access to Internet 2. Internet 2 requires IP6 at the building level. It was mentioned that the shaper at the CNYRIC doesn't seem to be working and that DOTs need more training.

Distance Learning is running 5 courses which is up from last year. Polycoms are available in the 7 districts in the distance learning co-ser.

Ann addressed the start of the school year with 3 more buildings on OPALS. Everyone thought that the download of student information from SIS was very efficient.

Tony and Linda explained NovaNet. The purchase order has been sent and training will be scheduled as soon as possible. Port Byron, Union Springs and Jordan-Elbridge have signed on.

Tony talked about an announcement system that would allow the server to be shared. Each building could have a monitor and have control of the announcements, cable TV, etc, which will appear on the screens. More information will coming.

Tony announced that the Seward House in Auburn now has a Polycom and FIOS so they are able to host videoconferences. They are considering purchase of a WI-FI video camera which would allow them to move around the House for videoconferences.

The next meeting is scheduled for October 16. Kathy Smith will join the group at 9 AM for the e-rate requirements. Superintendents and business officials will be invited. The regular meeting will be from 10-12. Jennifer Fosegan from NovaNet has been asked to attend to answer any questions.

Important Upcoming Dates

SEDDAS training September 12
TAG committee September 17
LTAC committee September 18
School Library System September 30

Open House October 9
Data Warehouse Meeting October 9
CSAC (CNYRIC Customer Service Advisory Committee) October 10
Media Council October 14
TAG Committee October 15
LTAC Committee October 16
Distance Learning Committee October 17

Welcome Back

Welcome back to the new school year. We have been working over the summer to add new materials to our media catalog. More than $25,000 worth of titles have been added. Many of the new resources are in digital format. More will be added through out the year. Check out the media catalog and look at the new titles. During the months of July and August the top 10 requested titles were Driver Education subjects including Defensive Driving, Distracted Driving, Driving in Bad Weather, Night Driving Tactics, Dying High: Teens in the ER.

We have added logins for new teachers. If you need a login or need help in using the catalog please ask for help by calling us.

Videoconferences

We have added video conferences aka Virtual Field Trips to our Media Catalog. These are video conferences that have been used in our BOCES. They have had good evaluations. Contact Tony Abbatiello for more information. Districts that participate in the Distance Learning service have the equipment in their districts to receive these interactive programs. The form to book video conferences is available on our website. It must be signed by an authorized administrator so that we can schedule your conference.

New Medianet Service

We have begun to add links to websites in our Medianet catalog. There are links to election sites such as CNN and MSNBC. A teacher can click on the link and go automatically to the website. Try it by searching for CNN or MSNBC in the media catalog.

We are also adding links to teachers guides on videos and DVDs. We began with PBS American Experience. Search for "New York Underground" to find one of these links. Click on the Resources link to be taken to the site.

We will be adding more links. If you find a link that you would like added please email to lnichols@cayboces.org

2007-08 Copies

We have the final copy count for the year. We did 26,524,296 copies. Our busiest months were September, January and May.

End of the Year Media Stats

Our new media catalog gives us some interesting information on usage for the 2007-08 school year.
51% of the "shipments" in June were digital
37% for the year were digital
The top 50 titles make up for 35% of the total bookings
73% of the booking was done online by the teachers
22% of the shipments were returned late
75% of the top 15 unavailable titles were Disney titles including Bill Nye

Media Council

Media Council met for the last time for this school year. Port Byron, Union Springs, Skaneateles, Weedsport and Auburn were represented. Nick Bennett from WCNY demonstrated the new Canal System materials that are available for teachers. Schools with 4th grade will receive a copy of the DVD. Jerry Wiggins discussed summer service and gave people the chance to see the schedule.

Linda showed new resources. A Close Look at the Planets shows why Pluto isn't a planet. Countries of the World includes 52 countries for intermediate grades. Linda showed part of Myanmar.

Learn360 is the new videostreaming and it was demonstrated. There are images, video clips and full videos. Linda distributed a list of the new projects for 2008-09.

Everyone wished Jean Ferguson a great retirement.

Meetings for next year are October 14, January 13 and May 19.

LTAC Meeting

The LTAC meeting was held at the CNYRIC at noon. Auburn, Cato-Meridian, Jordan-Elbridge, Moravia, Southern Cayuga, Union Springs, Weedsport and the CNYRIC were represented.

Dwane Wildrick from SVS presented the AVRover and Onfinity to the group. Paul Blair from Skaneateles says that he has AVRovers and that they are very popular with the teachers.

Jerry outlined summer service. He is still in the process of completing the schedule.

Ann outlined the training for OPALS and her recommendation for wireless barcode scanners for replacements as the old ones wear out.

Tony and Mike talked about the new web filter at the Regional Education Center. It is the same one used by the RIC. Tony asked about blocking YouTube and everyone is blocking it. Tony asked about use of student workers to help with computer services.

Tony talked about the distance learning schedule for next year. There are 13 courses ready to go. American Sign Language and Mandarin are two that are being looked at but we will need to hire a teacher. Rick explained that CNYRIC has signed on to the statewide RIC network. This will give us access to Internet2 as well as access to other regions of the state for DL.

Tony discussed virtual field trips and the need to schedule in advance.

Rick talked about the new CNYRIC location (and later led a tour). Rick said that the RIC is looking into providing a service for e-mail archiving.

Linda talked about using NovaNet for credit recovery for students. It will be presented to the high school principals group next week.

Linda discussed videostreaming and the use of servers within the WAN to minimize problems with Internet bandwidth.

Dave and Sandy discussed a loss of bandwidth which has been occurring for the last few days. Rick asked for more information.

We thanked Rick for the great lunch. The next meeting will be September 18, at 10 am in the distance learning room.

New Digital Media

You may have noticed that we have loaded Learn360 titles, clips and images into the media catalog, Medianet. They are available for streaming or downloading. You can search by NYS learning standards for digital materials. Your login to Medianet will automatically take you to Learn360 also.

Re-booking Media

As we move closer to the end of the school year, teachers may want to re-book material for next year. Our new software gives a teacher the opportunity to see what they booked this year and automatically search for a date at the same time next year. We have sent the instructions to library media specialists in the schools. Here are instructions

LTAC notes-April

The LTAC meeting this morning was attended by Union Springs, Auburn, Moravia, Jordan-Elbridge, Cato-Meridian, Southern Cayuga and CNYRIC.

Meetings for next year were set for the third Thursdays from 10-noon with the noted exceptions. Sept. 18, Oct. 16, Nov. 20, Dec. 18, Jan. 15, Feb. 12 (2nd Thursday), March 19, April 9 (2nd Thursday). May 21, 2009 will be the annual visit to CNYRIC and the time will be 8:30 am.

The WAN was discussed. Everything is going well. There was discussion on the bandwidth of video conferences and the need to move it off the districts' Internet access.

Union Springs and Port Byron are working with OCM on VOIP. Auburn and Southern Cayuga will be looking at it.

If you are adding anything for 2009-10 it needs to be added as an amendment in your tech plan this summer.

Next security meeting is May 6 at 8:30 at the RIC.

The CNYRIC WAN will be down Saturday April 26 for install of the generator.

Tony talked about the courses for distance learning and the virtual field trips that have been going on. All districts in the DL service will have Polycoms onsite by the end of the week.

Ann talked about library automation training and handed out copyright compliance posters

Jerry talked about repair services.

AMX gave a presentation on their products.

Next meeting is May 15 at noon at CNYRIC.

Media Statistics

The most recent statistics from media services show that videostreaming is being used more and more. For the month of March, 35% of the Medianet usage was for videostreaming. We will be adding another group of streamed videos from Learn360 in the next few weeks.
82% of the requests for videos for March were made directly by teachers using the Internet.
The top 5 videos requested were:
Phases of Matter
Dying High in the ER
Nutrition Basics
Road to Riches: Pros and Cons of Credit
Volcanoes

Odyssey of the Mind

Our Odyssey of the Mind tournament will be held on Saturday at the Regional Education Center on W. Genesee Street Road. We have 68 teams registered with almost 500 students participating. Weigh-in for Tee Structures begins at 7:30 and the actual competitions will begin around 8:15. There will be two award ceremonies. The first at 2 PM will be for Road Rally, Wonderful Muses and Tee Structure. The second at 3 PM will be for Dino Stories and The Eccentrics. We look forward to this being another successful year.

LTAC meeting February 13

The LTAC meeting was held with 6 districts and CNYRIC attending. Dave Greenfield discussed the new Cisco shaper that has been installed for internet bandwidth. He provided information for districts to get the reports that they need.

Rick discussed the CNYRIC move scheduled for March. The date is subject to change pending completion of the building. The mainframe and the WAN will be down when the move takes place.

Ann discussed the libraries' Union Catalog which will be updated with new data. The server for OPALS will be upgraded next week.

There is no March meeting due to the scheduling of Superintendents Conference Day. The next meeting will be APRIL 10. This is one week early because of the Spring Break.

Leap Year

Do you need something to show students about Leap Year? Try EdVideo Online.
Use our catalog to look up Leap Year.

Daily Deskercise involves a variety of mental and physical activities designed by fitness expert Slim Goodbody to improve overall health. Centered around the fitness theme leap year, invigorating exercises help explain the reason for adding an extra day to the calendar every four years.
Primary, Intermediate, ©2006 Slim Goodbody
Titles in this series
Daily Deskercise: Leap Year: Workout One
Daily Deskercise: Leap Year: Workout Two
Daily Deskercise: Leap Year: Workout Three
Daily Deskercise: Leap Year: Workout Four
Daily Deskercise: Leap Year: Workout Five

New Video Resources

I recently had the chance to look at two new sources of video clips. VITAL from WNET, New York and Teachers Domain from WGBH, Boston.

Teachers Domain has many resources for science. It also features special collections for Between the Lions, Civil Rights and Learning from the People.

VITAL contains ELA and math activities and resources, including over 140 resources for grades 3-6.

These resources complement our BOCES collections and EdVideo Online which is supported by WCNY.

Check out my del.icio.us for the links.

Happy New Year

Welcome back to a New Year! I visited Disney World over the holiday and I was amazed at the technology. First of all when you insert your admission ticket you also place your finger on the sensor. After that you must use the same admission ticket each time you re-enter because it combines the ticket with your finger. They had an amazing light display at Disney MGM. All of the buildings in "New York" were lit by thousands of lights which were synchronized to the music. It was amazing!


Back to work...The media statistics for the year show that the most requested video titles are Cells, Circulatory System: Your Plasma Pipeline, Dying High: Teens in the ER, Ocean Life, Periodic Table. It seems that science videos are popular!