PLEASE STAND BY: Google Transformation and Migration Taking Place

by Robert "Bob" Lewandowski

Remember the old test patterns that used to come over the air from the broadcast station to let you know not to adjust your television set. When hearing that annoying beeeeeep along with the test pattern, you were frustrated because of the disruption to regular programing. Well, today's technical disruptions are not as obvious, but are taking place in the background to bring you the best programing possible. The technology staff at Colstrip Public Schools have been working under a preverbal test pattern the past several months in order to bring our school the following changes.

The past several weeks our district has been migrating our email over from a locally hosted server to Google servers in the cloud. This has been happening at both the student and employee levels. This change should save the district significant money in server maintenance and hardware as well as improve the efficiency and reliability of email service. District email addresses will not change, but where the information is hosted and stored will change. This is the first step in becoming a Google District.

What is a Google District? A Google District, is a cloud based district more than anything else. We are not completely Google, but we will use many of the tools, programs and applications Google provides.   The majority of our digital information and programing will be housed outside of our school walls on the cloud. At this time, our school is preparing to launch a Chromebook Pilot Program to provide even more flexibility. This will happen at the elementary, middle school and high school.

It is the intent of the district to offer our students and employees tools and data storage that are available outside our school walls and the school day. We not only want the flexibility of providing these opportunities, but we want to have them offered for free. As long as a student or employee have data access (internet) they will be able to use and access their Google accounts as well as the many Google Chrome tools, programs and applications that are available.

New learning tools and technology are changing the way we learn and teach. It is the district's intent to embrace these changes in order to offer our students the experiences and understanding of how to use technology and it applications in their future work environments. Whether it be a college, trade school or in gainful employment, we want our students to have access to the work they are doing now so the tools and skills they have developed in school can be applied after they leave.

In the weeks/months to come, you will hear buzz words like Google Chrome, Chromebooks, Google Docs and about applications of students who bring their own devices to school (BYOD).  At Colstrip Public Schools we are driven to be leaders in education and provide our students with learning environments that will have a positive impact on their future. "Make Dust or Eat Dust" is a mantra that is applied at all levels in our system. We must get students out in front and keep them there in order to enhance their opportunities to succeed.

GO COLTS! GO FILLIES! 

MAKE DUST OR EAT DUST!

"Get out in front and stay there!"