You say keep, I say throw, I say good-bye and you say hello! (...with apologies to the Beatles!)

I LOVE new tech!  The advanced features, the latest-and-greatest applications, the computing power, the speed, and so on.

Now, that doesn't mean that I think that we should get rid of our "old" tech.  Schools invest significant dollars in technology every single year and they want a return on that investment (ROI).

It used to be that a laptop would last for about five to six years and a tablet would have a life span of about three to four years - a fairly decent ROI.  Not anymore!!  If you get three years out of your laptop, you are doing amazingly well and two years is about it for a tablet!  The ROI numbers are significantly different these days then it was say, three years ago.

http://www.statista.com/statistics/267474/average-life-of-pc-and-tablets

Now, I hear you already... you are saying: "Yossele, I have an iPad and laptop that has been running for over 5 years!!" 

I believe you!! But, you are no longer able to load the latest software/app updates, or run the latest version of the Operating System (OS).  Considering the security vulnerability on the older OS's, that is a huge liability!!

Don't believe me?  Well, then, did you know that the newest copy of iOS for the iPad has been announced - just this week!  It won't run on an iPad version 2, 3 or iPad mini (original).  If you don't have the latest hardware (well, iPad 4 and higher anyway) then you are just out-of-luck!  And that's not all...

The most popular laptops being made are now thinner and lighter than ever before!  A good thing? Yes, but there is no way for a consumer to update components like the battery or RAM memory! When your well used battery won't hold a charge anymore, the only choice is to purchase a whole new laptop! (Yes, you can send it to a tech store to replace the battery, but sometimes the device is trashed during the service attempt.)

I must say that I feel like the harbinger of doom when I tell you that the Access Points (AP's) that run our schools' WiFi Internet will be changing - dramatically - in the next year.  The 802.11ac WAVE 2 is about to hit!!  That means that (sorry about going all techie on you here...) we will have AP's that can handle 5 gig of data!!  Most of our schools are only wired for 1gig!!!  This will require us to have to start replacing our infrastructure and that means big money!!  But, sorry folks, if you are looking for a five year plan, you are out-of-luck!  All of this now works in two to three year cycles.

Oi Vey - What do you do??!!

Well (Jean-Luc), to start, if you are CIJE school, there is no better time than right now to have your IT or EdTech person get in contact with me or my East Coast counterpart, Yitzchak, to schedule a meeting to look at what you are currently doing, discuss where you want to go and how can you get there.  We don't buy you the tech, but we can help you create a plan that will prepare you for the future. 

If you are not a CIJE School - then join us for our free on-line link-ups that we will be running throughout the next school year.  Stay tuned to the blog site and I will announce the events as I schedule them.  (You can catch previous sessions on my YouTube Channel.)

The next major event will be the InTELA (www.InTELA.org) Tech Day, being held in Los Angeles on Thursday August 4th at the Shalhevet High School.  It is free (CIJE is a co-sponsor for lunch!!) and we will be having presentations on the new Apple Classroom, iOS 10, Meraki's Mobile Device, Manager (MDM), Telepresence from Revolve Robotics, 3D printer demos, maker spaces, and much, much more.  Oh yes, we will also be having a vendor area!

The Silver lining to this cloud is...

... that by us being prepared, we can give our students the edge that they will need to succeed and thrive in the 21st Century.

As always, I solicit your comments on the blog site.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

And now, the end is near... and I did it with GradGopher! (Sorry Frankie)

One of my favorite hobbies is just sitting back and observing people - especially at the end of the school year. 

Have you ever noticed... students are running around in circles trying to get that last assignment in, teachers are panic mode trying to finish their grades... Ah, the smell of fear, panic, and - depending on who you are - anticipatory glee!!

During this time of controlled chaos and mayhem, one of the items that many overlook is the closing out of their school Google Apps For Education (GAFE) email, calendars and docs.  It might seem like a small thing, but in reality it can destroy a person's life... seriously!!  Imagine the student who has spent four years in high school, organizing their life, contacts, calendars and so on with the easy to use GAFE suite of tools.  They have graduated and It is now mid-summer and... suddenly... on the student's smartphone, the calendar disappears and all of their contacts are gone.  When they open their email - nothing there!!  Or, how about the teacher who used that same student to collaborate on a project of epic proportions that was going to be the cornerstone of a brand new curriculum for next year, and all of the shared Google Docs are gone!!  DISASTER!!!

So, my dear reader, I implore you to do a few minutes of planning - right now - to save you hours of hassle, not to mention a week's worth of pay on bottles of Tums antacids!!

Step one:  Remind all outgoing students and teachers that their GAFE accounts will be closed shortly after the school year!  Not just once or twice - but at least three times!

Step two:  Have students who have shared documents with you to change the ownership over to you!  (This is done by THE STUDENT right-clicking on the document, select share, advanced and then change "can edit" to "is owner.")

Step three: Use the new GRAD GOPHER.... www.gradgopher.com to move all of the student's or teacher's files to their personal Gmail account.  It costs $20.00 ($15 if you give GradGopher a shout out on Facebook) but it is worth every single penny!  This program will move ALL OF YOUR DATA from your school account to your personal account.  INCLUDING SHARED FILES!!!  

Here is a quick video from GradGopher:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0BjSC7uoV79akdZemJpM0xnNXM/view?usp=sharing

Yes, you can use takeout.google.com for free but, after archiving your data, it can take hours and hours to transfer everything to your personal Gmail account.  Even then, it does not transfer docs shared with you!  (Also, you may need the assistance of a CompSci major to reload the emails!!)

Well there you have it... Dode Yossie's (dode means uncle in Hebrew) advice for a smooth year end transition.  Now, let's sit back together and... pass me another donut to eat as I sip my coffee.

As always, I solicit your comments on the blogsite.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Are you in your mind... or is your mind in you??

I just love the field of Cognitive Science!  It tackles questions like how do our perceptions influence who we are and, just to throw some Quantum Mechanics into things, how our perceptions actually shape the universe.  Real mind bending stuff!!

The disciplines involved in Cognitive Science:  source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science

Speaking of the mind, did you know that we all perceive reality in different ways?  

Yes, really!!  

Something that I call Blue in Color may actually look different to you!  Remember the picture of the dress that went viral on the Internet?

The argument was what color was it?  Was it white and gold or blue and black?  Well, it depends on how you PERCEIVE things! (Do you want to find out what the real colors were... check out this Wikipedia article.)

Understanding how our brains work, how we remember and how we perceive things is the cornerstone to creating a great educational experience.  I have been studying this stuff for decades now and it never ceases to fascinate me. So imagine my interest when my ten year old son Tuvia starts telling me about this great TV series from National Geographic that explains how the brain works and how we perceive reality. (Shout to to Tuvia's friend Ami who showed him the video!)

This program has it all... it gives you the science behind how the brain works AND it has you actively participate with on-screen challenges!  I highly recommend that every single educator watches this series (available on NetFlix and Nat Geo channel).  Actually, EVERYONE should watch it - students and parents included.  It really gives the viewer a deep understanding of how the brain works which, of course, can then lead to a deeper understanding of how to structure education.

As you binge watch, I would suggest a nice red wine and some cheese and crackers.  Oh, if you are doing that, please send some my way!!

As always, I solicit your comments on the blogsite.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel