November 17, 2020 at 11:30 AM - Information Services Committee Meeting

Discussion:  Call to order at 11:30 AM

Brenda McNiff/Quarantained - attended via Zoom

Staff:  Kraig Lofquist, Deb Hericks, Scott Isaacson, Rhonda Eis, Priscilla Quintana

Discussion: 

Technology Director shared that they have found that the TLT-Instructional Materials affiliate is also looking at this need. I met with that working group and am working to join it with others such as SDA and school representatives to flesh out the specifications.

Discussion: 

Technology Director shared that the project includes single-sign on, the app launch portal service, rostering service and the eduroam exploration. The NDE assessment team is holding a series of meetings to hear from a range of district perspectives around options and streamlining of NWEA rostering. The solutions determined there can also guide us to a general rostering solution, and it’s noted that single sign-on and app launch services are frequently bundled together.

As NOC leaders have discussed the eduroam possibilities and logistics, it’s clear that a one-year pilot may not be sufficient for stakeholders to understand and take advantage of the service. It has been proposed that the Software Innovation Network fund years 2 and 3 of the eduroam membership to allow time for all who are interested to implement the service, use it, and for others to understand and join based on those initial experiences.

Discussion: 

The Technology Director shared that the Canvas leadership team (NDE & ESU 2) meets every two weeks. Online instructor and administrator training was held November 2nd & 3rd focused on ESU Canvas instructors and administrators. Monthly Canvas administrator meetings are being held starting November 17th.

For discussion: the Canvas team has been discussing master accounts and trust relationships. It is proposed that for content and course sharing and for support purposes that:
1. NDE will have a trust agreement with ALL school districts, ESUs and ESUCC.
2. ESUCC will have a trust agreement with ALL ESU instances.
3. Each ESU will have a trust agreement with ALL district instances in their area.

This means that accounts registered in any instance may participate in courses offered by the department, ESU staff may participate in statewide/ESUCC courses, and district staff may participate in ESU-wide courses without having to duplicate accounts. The accounts will be registered and managed in the district or ESU where the person is employed.

Additionally, ESU Canvas administrators may wish to have access to support Canvas instances of their school districts. Master accounts can provide this type of access without having to have separate sign-ins for each instance.

Concerns arose over the response time for Tier 1 support in October. Those metrics have improved over the last two weeks.

Discussion: 

The Technology Director shared the work in this area is coming under the software innovation network from a separate 3-year project. The project team will be refreshed and a new scope drafted for the next phase of work. Generally, this project will collect information from districts about which software applications they use and share that information in a searchable database. Later phases will work with application vendors to agree to the already existing contract terms drafted by the KSB and Perry law firms, and collect accessibility and efficacy ratings for the applications being used.

Discussion: 

The Technology Director shared:
Goal: Eliminate the homework gap by September 1, 2022

The GEER advisory team meets weekly on Thursdays at 1:00 PM Central time via Zoom.

Group 1 requests are being processed. The current numbers are: 128 requests to purchase 14,271 devices, totalling $5,050,189.09; 51 reimbursement requests: 10,911 devices, totalling $2,950,250.80. Funds remaining for remaining groups of need: approximately $4.5 million. The next target will be to determine the needs of previous non-responders (group 3) and exempt (home) schools. In this round, requests will only be taken for purchase of devices, not reimbursements.

Timeline going forward:
Week of 11/16/2020:
General communication to all stakeholders about the process and timelines. Invoice presented to NDE for current requests and administration of the process. Orders placed for devices as confirmed by requesters. Prepare forms for future requests - previous non-responders (group 3) and exempt (home) schools

Week of 11/23/2020:
Targeted communication to previous non-responders. Targeted communication to exempt (home) schools. Continued regular status updates will be communicated to all stakeholders.

Discussion: 

Technology Director shared:
$3.2 million was allocated of the GEER funds to support expanding the reach of home broadband services. The NDE completed a request for information (RFI) with telecommunications providers and is preparing a searchable map of broadband services available by area/address. A for prioritizing the use of these funds and the method for schools and districts to apply for them is being designed through the GEER working group with Tom Rolfes and the NRCSA technology committee:

• A1 . Collect digital equity data (ADVISER) -
  • due November 15 in ADVISER,
  • Available December 2 for review by the GEER working group
• A2. Map the addresses using Education SuperHighway tool (or Google Earth), being mindful of the free/reduced lunch data (Dean, Ron, SuAnn & ESH to meet weekly)
• B. Visit the NDE catalog of service, Determine who is un(der)served
• C. Evaluate solutions (include public-private partnership proposal)
• D. Implement solutions, district by district
  • Provider-based expansion (e.g. wired, fixed wireless, mobile cellular)
  • Public-private partnerships
  • District-based (internet of last resort)

Funds in this category will support broadband service subscriptions and infrastructure projects which expand the long-term reach of broadband access services.

Discussion:  Executive Director gave an overview of the proposed TLT special project for Summer 2021.  The group continues to work on finalizes the project and should bring forth for approval in January.  Discussion on high quality instructional materials and pedagogy.  

Discussion:  Discussion on the updated TLT Bylaws.  

Discussion: 

Technolpogy Director shared updates on:

SRS

The SRS team is pleased to report that the ADVISER reporting process just closed went much more smoothly than last year. 209 districts use SRS to report special education data.
The development team is now focused on implementing support for 504 plans in the software. That is expected to begin advisory group testing in December, 2020.

NVIS
Andrew Easton, Scott Isaacson and Mila Arkhiptcova, our contract developer, continue to refine the look and feel of the new application and the data model that drives it. We aim to have ESU distance learning coordinators begin testing the application in December, 2020 and continue to work toward an early 2021 release.

Discussion:  Digital Learning Coordinator shared some updates on his work.  Working on a project with NCRSA to create some materials for teachers. Working with virtual field trip providers and digital learning coordinators to form new connections to be able to provide support for virtual field trips.  He has begun on Friday's Love and Learn to highlights some good in our work.  

Discussion:  Rhonda Eis gave an update on her report to include OER data.  She is working on getting more information out to ESUs on SORA which is our professional development library.  

Discussion:  Meeting adjourned at 1:02 PM.