Overlake
Technology

What is Flip-Lab?

FlipLab is a 21st century professional development experience. The participants collaborate to create a roadmap for a great flipped classroom. Everything developed at FlipLab is shared with other teachers under a Creative Commons license.

Attendees will leave a FlipLab workshop with flipped lessons tailored for your classroom and ready to implement. You’ll pilot them in your classroom and work with peer coaches to debrief the results. Even better, you’ll be part of a network of educators pushing the boundaries of educational best practice.

For more information visit the website here.

Overlake’s new “green” technology educational kiosk is up and running in the Technology and Language Center. The kiosk describes and demonstrates the ways in which the building’s technologies make it more energy efficient. You can view solar and rainwater data, weather, information about LEED certification and the building’s history.

You can actually view and explore the program on your computer, at this URL.  The actual kiosk screen is a touch screen, and the whole hallway was built wider to accommodate whole classes. Teachers and students can interact with the screen in different ways. The kiosk is a collaboration between the webmaster, technology department and the Green Team. If you’d like to try out the screen, it is located on a wall on the first floor of the technology side of the TLC.

After five great years of service at The Overlake School Rennie Grossman has decided to take on a new opportunity.  We are sad to see her go, but excited for her and her new adventures.

As a result of her departure we are looking for a full-time Desktop Support Specialist. Here is the brief write-up describing the position.

The Overlake technology department is a collaborative team focused on supporting the mission of the school. The Desktop Support Specialist provides technical support to computer system users.  Primary responsibilities include managing computer deployments and routine maintenance of classroom, faculty and staff computers.

This position requires patience, excellent customer service skills, exceptional troubleshooting skills, and the ability to problem solve while working on multiple projects.

A complete job announcement will be posted shortly.  Please visit http://www.overlake.org/info/employment.html.

Please pass this along to anyone that is interested. Email me directly with applications or questions about the position.

We are excited to announce that student report cards are now being archived on My BackPack. This will look the same as the report cards that you previously received in the mail. Beginning this quarter the reports will be available at the end of each quarter and will remain archived until the student graduates.

To access the reports:

Log on to My BackPack

Under the heading My Profile (on the far right hand side) you will now see a My Documents link

Click on My Documents and you will see a folder for 2011-2012 Reports Cards.

Last week we launched a series of video guides for Overlake’s online resources.  Over the years Overlake has added a variety of useful online tools for students, parents, faculty and staff.   If you’ve ever wondered about how to subscribe the online Overlake calendar, or how to access and use all the functions of Family Connection or other online resources, we have posted the first of several short video tutorials that will guide you through those processes. Tutorials on using OwlNet and MyBackpack will be posted soon. We hope this will help everyone enjoy all the features these tools offer.

After our success reconfiguring the Library Lab we decided to reconfigure the TLC Main Computer Lab. The lab is housed on the lower level of the Technology and Language Center and is equipped with 20 wide screen desktops.

The computers are now arranged in a way that allows better visibility and access for students and faculty. Classes have already begun to take advantage of this new arrangement and teachers have reported that the new configuration of computers encourages communication, allows for better interaction, and enhances mobility.

With these new additions, the TLC lab has become a real asset to the Overlake community and stands out as one of the nicest labs on campus.  Students and teachers are encouraged to take full advantage of this top-notch facility!

Next week the technology team will apply several important updates to our school wide database.   Once these updates are complete it provide for…

• Faster rendering of pages in MyBackpack.
• Improved handling for forgotten user names/passwords for parents and alumni.
• New My Documents page in My BackPack and the ability to publish a variety of documents to students, parents, and other community members.
• HTML formatting for student and section comments.
• Archiving/Publishing of report cards and transcripts to My BackPack.

Check the e-bulletin in the next few weeks to learn more about these new features.

With students on retreats the past few days the Technology Team has been able to catch up on a few projects.  Yesterday we reconfigured one of the computer labs in the Library.  Before the makeover the lab was organized in rows with the students all facing forward.

The old configuration was problematic for several reasons.   First and foremost it created a barrier between the students and the teacher.  Second, it was difficult for students to move around in the space and work collaboratively.

The new configuration removes the barriers and encourages the students to move around the room and team up more easily.  It also makes the room feel much larger and provides a great collaboration space in the middle of the room.

We now have six digital signs on campus that help keep students, parents, faculty and staff informed. In additional to being branded with Overlake’s colors each sign features;

• The schools mission statement
• Lunch menu information
• Date, time and 8 day class rotation information
• Current weather conditions and a 2-day forecast
• Live feeds for student announcements
• Live feeds for sports announcements and sports scores
• Slide shows featuring students, faculty and staff doing great things
• Events calendar that displays important campus events for the week

We hope to add a few more of these digital signs around campus in the next few years. More importantly, we will customize them to be more relevant to each space. For instance, each sign would display scheduling and slide show information specific to the screens location.

Many teachers and parents are curious about the why and how questions around flipping a classroom. This info graphic serves as a great starting point for learning more.

Also worth noting is that at this year’s Fall Educators Conference in October Sal Kahn (founder of Kahn Academy) will be the morning Keynote speaker.

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