April 2019 Technology Newletter

 

Technology Newsletter 

April 2019 Edition 
 

What is this about? 

 

by S​ cott Ripley​ on April 3, 2019 

Happy Spring! As I went through the feedback from the survey many of you completed this 
winter regarding my job performance, a common theme expressed was a desire for more 
communication and information regarding district technology. After 24 years of marriage 
to a person who couldn’t be less interested in computers and technology systems, and as a 
father of 2 children who think their dad’s job is “totally boring”, I think I may have grown 
accustomed to not speaking much about the details of my work! :)   

In any event, as I pondered how to best meet this request, I came up with the idea of a 
monthly newsletter that would highlight some of the major events happening in my world 
that impact all of you. I hope it becomes a useful tool that you look forward to reading 
each month! 

. 

 

THIS Month’s 
TOP STORIES 

 

 

1:1 Initiative is Expanding! 

I am very excited to let you know that our 1:1 initiative is expanding for the upcoming 
school year! Beginning next fall, grades 1-12 at Montevideo Public Schools will be 1:1. This 
will solidify our role as a technology leader in implementing 1:1 devices for students. Only 3 
other schools in this part of the state have 1:1 down to 1st grade, and they are all far smaller 
districts than Montevideo (Ortonville, Dawson-Boyd, and Renville County West). Schools 
somewhat comparable to our size and larger either do not have 1:1 at any grade level (New 
London, Benson, YME, Hutchinson) or only have it starting at 5th grade or later (Lac Qui 
Parle, Willmar, ACGC, BOLD, Marshall) .   

When combining our 1:1 access with our next generation wireless technology (brand new 
last summer with an access point in every classroom), an all fiber optic network connecting 
all buildings, an onsite technology integrationist, and best-in-class filtering and monitoring 
software available to all teachers, it is easy to see that Montevideo Public Schools can 
provide truly unmatched digital learning opportunities for our students. 

 

 

 

“Spectre” and “Meltdown” 

If you work at MHS, MMS, or the ALC/MRVED, you may have noticed a slow down in your 
computer startup time over the past few weeks. The processors in our computers are 
made by Intel, which is the largest manufacturer of computer processors in the world. Last 
year, some security flaws were identified in Intel processors, called “Meltdown” and 
Spectre”. Patches for our computers that address these flaws were released last fall. I 
tested the patches over the holiday season and have been releasing the patches to 
machines at MHS, MMS, and the ALC/MRVED over the past 2 months. At this point all 
machines in those buildings are patched against Spectre and Meltdown. An unavoidable 
result of these patches is reduced performance on startup. In testing, startup times from 
entering your credentials at the Microfocus login screen until the computer is usable to do 
things is still less than 3 minutes. If you have a longer startup time than this, please let me 
know by sending a request to the help desk. Otherwise, enter your credentials, hit enter, 
and grab a cup of coffee. :) The performance decline will not be noticed after startup has 
completed. Ramsey and Sanford, you are up next! 

 

 

Innovative Technology Grants Available 

Each spring for the past several years, the District Technology Committee has offered up to 
$5000 to teachers wishing to implement innovative technology hardware and/or software 
into his/her classroom. This program has been great for helping teachers try out 
something new and different in the classroom. Some of the ideas have even become 
adopted district-wide. For instance, the first SmartBoards were purchased through this 
program! The application is a simple 1 page document. Applications are now being 
accepted with the deadline of April 30, 2019. 

 
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY GRANT 
APPLICATION