• Innovative Technology Services (ITS)

    ITS
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Dr. Matt Kuhn
    Chief Technology Officer - Innovative Technology Services
     
    ITS Personnel
     
    Vision:

    Empowering the TSD community to grow into the future with innovative technology today.

    Mission:

    The ITS division's mission is to provide, support, and coordinate the best possible technology for productivity, learning, and school improvement.

    Services:

    ITS is responsible for planning, implementing, and supporting technology across the district including student devices, staff computers, instructional applications, business software, classroom projection systems, telecommunications, network infrastructure and more. The department also assists the Learning Services Department with improving instructional technology pedagogy in coordination with each school's leadership. 

    Technical Support:

    The ITS Help Desk is a Web-based service request system for staff members of the Thompson School District to enter and track their service requests for technology or software support. For technical support, call (970) 613-7777 or submit an ITS Help Desk Ticket.

Latest Tech News

  • ITS Services During Remote Learning
    Now that the district has shifted back to remote learning, there are some changes we need to make in the type of support we offer. Providing the technology needed for remote learning is a bit different from in-person learning. We will continue to follow the same safety precautions (symptom checks, masks, washing, distancing, etc.) but we will space staff out some and utilize MBES to keep people from crowding up. During remote learning, ITS provides the following services:
    • Staffing the SSC building's operations, shipping, and receiving
    • Providing Staff Devices Deployment and Repair Services at MBES Northwest Classroom #185
    • Providing Student Device Checkout at SSC East Vestibule
    • Building Projects at TSD Sites (i.e. lab installations, repairs, modifications)
    • Field Support to Staff Working in TSD Buildings
    • A/V/I Support and Installations (i.e. TV installations and repair)
    • Network/Systems Support/Projects in TSD Buildings
    • Extended Help Desk Support to Staff, Students, and Families
    Comments (-1)

  • Why Google Meet for TSD Video Conferencing?

    Why is TSD using Google Meet for Video Conferencing instead of the popular Zoom platform? Answer: For a number of reasons explained below, we are standardized on Google Meet and Google Live Stream. See this video for summary explaination in addition to the reasons below:

    • We want to focus PD efforts and guidance around one platform
    • We want to minimize technical requirements - all staff and students already have a Google account and almost all types of machines will work.
    • Google Meet is compatable with all of the Google applictions our staff and students regularly use. 
    • We have been meeting with other tech leaders in other districts and we are all experiencing issues with our video conferencing software, no matter which one we use. That is because poor performance is less about software and more about the other parameters that the software depends on (see below).
    • A video conference can be clear and efficient for some users and not for others. That is because each meeting has different circumstances. Video conferencing depends on how much bandwidth is available at all ends for all users, the quality of the computer's graphics card, and the quality of the computer's network interface card. Other factors also can affect a video conference such as large use by other businesses in the region who are hogging up bandwidth during a certain time of day.
    • Bandwidth use has skyrocketed. To deal with it, Comcast is setting limits during peak times that can degrade video conference quality.
    • Services have to be vetted to determine if their privacy policy meets legal requirements for schools. This is why many districts are disallowing Zoom. It's privacy policy is not compliant with Colorado student data privacy laws and it has many concerns found here.
    • One of the best ways to figure out how a service is doing is to look at downdetector.com. By clicking on Zoom, you can see that it often has more issues than Google Meet. But that changes as conditions change. 
    Comments (-1)
  • Student Tech Access Survey 2020
    ITS is trying its best to make sure as many students as possible have internet at home and an adequate device for remote learning purposes. In order to proactively reach out to families in need, we need good data on who needs assistance. 
     
    Therefore, we ask that students take the Student Tech Access Survey 2020 at https://forms.gle/XiRYRY6uV7krb5VG6 while they are in school under our network. They may take it remotely too but it's important for all students to have the opportunity to take the survey under guaranteed internet access in our school buildings. This survey can also be found in student email inboxes by 5:00 pm, Friday 11/13. It's a brief survey but young students will need help understanding what is being asked by a guiding adult. ITS will use the results of this survey to proactively reach out to students in need.
    Comments (-1)
more