Over the next six to 12 months, major changes to the technology department can be expected from the district’s new technology director, Paul Ross.
Along with the routine duties of repairing Smartboards and computers, Ross said he plans on revamping the operating software of the computers in order to make them quicker and easier to use, expanding the use of flash drives and working on enabling video streaming so that sporting and academic events can be more widely viewed.
Ross hopes to make these changes ideally over winter break.
In order to manage the technology problems of an entire district, Ross is working with Scott Bushman, head of faculty computer training; Pamela Moenter, database administrator and PowerSchool guru; and John Ribble, head of desktop support and monitor of all computers in the district.
“We have a really good team here that helps each other,” Ross added.
The functionality of Smartboards and the school’s new grading program, PowerSchool, are of a more immediate concern than any other changes, Ross said.
Ross added that since his introduction to Smartboards in 1999, the large touch screen monitors and projectors that comprise Smartboards have become very familiar to him.
His experience with Smartboards in his birthplace of Australia and at the University of Denver will ease his transition into Bexley, Ross said.
Spanish teacher Sandra Rainey admires the dedication Ross puts into the upkeep of Smartboards.
“[Principal John Kellogg and Ross] spent [a] whole afternoon making sure all our Smartboards could run on the first day of school,” Rainey said. “They could have been doing anything.”
Rainey is also grateful for his support in the switch from the old grading program of Centerpoint to PowerSchool.
“[He’s] taking something that was darn near impossible and making it accessible,” Rainey said.
Rainey, however, doesn’t see much difference between these two programs.
“I don’t like either one,” Rainey said. “There are much better grad[ing] programs on the market. Powerschool has a few more options than Centerpoint, but its more inflexible.”
However, Rainey said there are perks to the new grading program, including its ability to drop the most damaging grade to a student’s average, to create subgroups among students and to allow the teacher to decide whether or not to round.
Rainey said that Ross is working hard to help the school’s technology.
Junior Sarah Fedner, agrees that Ross has been determined to fix the school’s technological problems.
“I saw [Ross] in [math teacher Mark Hayman’s] room and he looked very busy,” she said.