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Nov. 1, 2000

The Question from Oz

I have a kind of "hairball" stuck in my throat and I need your help. Over the past few years, I have noticed what I perceive as a trend relating to Information Technology (IT) or technical support people and how they interact with the system users. I want to define the problem as I see it, and then receive your input. If it turns out that it is just my perception, all well and good. But if it isn't, I hope that I can produce some suggestions on how to deal effectively with the issue. But first, I must ask "the question".

Though "the question" was undoubtedly asked many times before, the instance that bests suits my purpose was in 1939. This was a time long before computers and software, yet the question itself is becoming increasingly valid for everyone who is a user on a system today.

Then, however, it was a time of munchkins, a tornado made from a silk stocking, a falling farmhouse, and a small yappy dog. The impact of that question was created by the actress Billie Burke, who floated into the scene in what many believed was a bubble filled with helium, awash in a vast expanse of white crinoline and hairspray. Settling down to earth, she asked the question that all of the munchkins wanted to know of a bewildered Judy Garland:

"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

This is the question that more and more computer "munchkins" are asking as the new IT Departments and leaders take the field. Their decisions and policies often drop like Dorothy's farmhouse, seemingly from nowhere and with exactly the same effect on the users as the house had on the witch.

I know promised a few more pointers on printers this time, but with your kind permission I shall postpone that a bit. As we begin, I would like to offer a warning based on personal experience. If you happen to enjoy assigning the characters from the film to members of your own school district, I would use caution. While certain roles can be onerous, I can tell you from experience that no one wants to find out that he or she has been "cast" as Toto, regardless of how well they may be suited for the part.

When I wrote my first column for The Well Connected Educator a number of years ago ("What Do You Do After You've Opened the Box?"), I addressed some of these very same issues. Now it is time to revisit them.

If you are a teacher using a computer on a networked system, you have a department that administers your server and your network. Most likely this is called the Tech or the IT unit. It is also feasible that these same people are those whom you call for repairs, jammed A drives, e-mail which has gone to dev/nul, and installation on the server of the latest version of that software you just bought.

I believe that it is also probable that the initial cadre of teachers (or the teacher in some cases) who started your program rolling in the first place has either quit, transferred, or found a job outside of education in a corporate IT department. So now, for whatever reason, we come to the second generation. As change takes over the Internet, so must it follow at the user level. More aggressive virus strains, smarter kids, and the placebo of filters make the 'Net a more uncharted region than it was initially. Change is inevitable.

But how are these changes made? What impact will there be on users? The system administrators and the policies that they implement will determine this. It is here, fellow munchkins, that the situation has become very interesting. How are these policies determined? Who creates those polices and how do they impact you in your classroom?

I have an instructor who defined the situation very simply. He said that there are two types of IT departments: "Those Who Support the Users" and "Those Who Control the System". Without any further information, can you define yours? If so, I am on to something.

The first group, or the good witches if you will, view themselves in a helper role. They are responsible for supplying training and system administration, as well as working with the Administration, Faculty, and often the Clerical units to ensure that the system meets the needs of the users. Students and staff requirements are the driving force behind their philosophies and actions. Faculty input is key to their planning effort.

The bad witches see themselves just like the great and powerful Oz: Stern grandparents who haven't caught you yet but are by-Gawd-certain that you little weasels are up to something. Control is their agenda, and with as little input from you, the classroom teacher, as possible. The System is the primary reason for their existence and we munchkins had better not mess it up. They are happiest when all of the equipment is left in its plastic wrap and in the box.

Perhaps I have drawn both sides with too broad a brush. Possibly, but I know of districts in which classroom policies drop into place with no input from the teachers whom they affect. You want examples, you say? Of course: Following are real-life illustrations that have been brought to my attention.

• When new computers were installed in the classrooms, teachers found that both A and CD drives were configured to be inoperative. Why? So the teachers couldn't load anything onto the computers.
• A new filtering system was installed to prevent the spread of virus-bearing e-mail into the system. What was not mentioned was that the path to Internet sites outside the system was also filtered--heavily. Even the Site Administrator claimed not to have known that was planned.
• Computers were allowed to sit for almost two months in the main hallway rather than allow the onsite staff to move and unpack them.
• The warranty on the school-wide system was such that before the manufacturer's warranty could be put in force, the IT staff had to come out, at $50-100 per pop minimum, and verify that the unit was not working.
• Inoperative machines: The average time a student machine is down is six weeks. The average time a classroom teacher's machine is down is five weeks. The average time an administrator's machine is down is three days.

Are these just a few isolated cases or is the situation bigger than that? I really hope we're experiencing isolated growing pains. If not--if you said, "Oh, my gosh! We have that problem here, too!" then it is evidence of what I feel is a cancerous, crushing, and elitist disrespect for the students and the teachers who work with them.

So how can we proactively address issues like this? How can you, the classroom teacher, deal effectively with such problems--especially when sometimes the service is from another district or an external vendor? Many of those problems were resolved by unified staff effort. The departments stopped fighting with each other and en masse, demanded to know what in the heck was going on.

But when a policy is set, it can be very difficult to change it. If a policy that should never be in place to begin with is challenged, often we are asked to settle for half of it being removed--in the spirit of cooperation--leaving us stuck with 50% more bad policy than should ever have been implemented in the first place.

It can work, dealing with a bad witch. You need not throw a bucket of water on them like in the movie. Tempting yes, but not smart (even if you are tenured). But a tip from the film will help you. Just as Toto exposed the Wizard by pulling back the curtain, you need to watch that the smoke and noise do not redirect your attention from the important issues.

Here is the course I would like to take. At the end of my column is my e-mail address. On a scale from one to ten (with one the worst and ten the best), rate your IT department. I'll ask you "the question".

Are they good witches or bad witches?

Please bear in mind I write these articles several months ahead, so it may take some time to tally responses.

Should I find that there is a majority of 8-, 9-, and 10-rated IT departments out there, then I'll report that and be thrilled that the incidents mentioned are isolated anomalies. If not, I'll go into depth on positive and proactive ways to rebuild the bridges and maybe even get the boxes out of your hallways for you. Next month: The printer information and some hints on what to look for when you buy a computer.

Email: Bill Bateman

First Electronic Serial Rights: CMP Media
All others: Copyright Bill Bateman 2000