Mayor Fenty, Chancellor Rhee, and CTO Kundra Invite You to Attend Washington, DC Technology and Education Summit May 7

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and DC Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra invite you to participate as a delegate in The First Annual Washington, DC Technology and Education Summit.

This first-of-its-kind conference for DC public schools is "A Global Exchange Designed to Transform Public Education." The conference agenda will offer local and international strategies for transforming public education.

The event will feature Mary Cullinane, Director of Innovation and Business Development from Microsoft. She will provide leadership insight into her work in building the School of the Future in Philadelphia, PA.

The Summit is complimentary for all public sector educators, and includes:

• VIP Reception


• EXPO Area


• Informational Sessions

WHERE:

The Renaissance M Street Hotel

1143 New Hampshire Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20037

(202) 775-0800

WHEN:

May 6, 2008 - Opening Reception
6:30 to 8 pm

May 7, 2008 - Conference
9 am to 3 pm

Register online now! Select from the following link to register for the conference:

• Washington, DC Technology & Education Summit Online Registration

For questions or to RSVP, please contact:

Katy Farrar
Registration Coordinator
(800) 940-6039 ext. 1306
kfarrar@centerdigitaled.com

OCTO Delivers Computers to Every DCPS Classroom

This month, fulfilling a pledge made by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s administration in November 2007, the District’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Vivek Kundra, announced completion of a project to provide personal computers (PCs) to all District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) classrooms.

This $4 million initiative was aimed at equipping every classroom teacher and administrator with a secure and reliable desktop computer. The District’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), under the direction of CTO Kundra, negotiated a discounted price of $628 per PC to purchase the computers. OCTO’s IT ServUs PC support program then deployed teams of technicians to crisscross the city, installing the PCs and linking them to the District’s 35,000-user email and Internet access network, as well as OCTO’s round-the-clock IT ServUs PC Helpdesk.

The OCTO PC project revived and fast-tracked a project planned but never executed by the former DCPS administration before Mayor Fenty’s schools takeover last year. In September 2007 DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee and CTO Kundra signed an agreement for OCTO to take over DCPS information technology functions. The former DCPS administration had planned the PC project to take a year, but Mayor Fenty, Chancellor Rhee, and CTO Kundra determined that the need for PCs in the classrooms was urgent, and the project should be completed in just eight weeks. Using OCTO’s Geographic Information Systems technology to chart the most efficient routes around the city, OCTO’s IT ServUs team beat the eight-week timetable by one week, starting the project on November 26, 2007 and completing the installations on January 8, 2008.

“This project lays the foundation for using technology to improve public education in the District,” said CTO Kundra. “We must use the Internet and other technology resources to empower our teachers to make learning more exciting and help our students prepare to compete in the global economy.”

The OCTO teams installed a total of about 5900 PCs, about 70% for teachers in DCPS classrooms, 25% for administrative personnel, and 5% for use by custodians, cafeteria workers, and long-term DCPS volunteers. About 500 PCs remaining from OCTO’s bulk purchase will be reserved for various uses, including the District’s four new high tech campuses, additional cafeteria use, and spares for later replacements as needed.

The PCs will serve as classroom teaching tools and will also provide teachers with a variety of resources that few DCPS teachers had before. Now teachers can access a central database of student records and create and maintain grade and attendance records electronically. They can also access the District’s email system and use it to share ideas and information with their colleagues, principals, administrative personnel, and parents. Teachers can now use the Internet to identify and download teaching tools and resources for their students.

“This initiative is critical to driving student achievement forward in the District. Our schools have gone too long without having access to the technology they need to compete,” Chancellor Rhee said. “Among other benefits, I look forward to increasing central office capacity to communicate with all of our teachers and students.”

Before the OCTO project, some teachers and administrators had PCs—but an OCTO analysis found them riddled with viruses, and some teachers said they had been waiting months for simple PC problems to be fixed. The new DCPS PCs are equipped with powerful anti-virus protection. When problems surface, teachers can call the IT ServUs Helpdesk, get a ticket number for tracking, and have the problem resolved within a few minutes, or at most a few hours.

“Customer service is the heart of our program,” said OCTO IT ServUs Director Aki Damme. “Nothing is more gratifying than knowing we can help thousands of teachers teach more effectively and give students all over the District a more vibrant, up-to-date environment for learning.”

Fenty Administration Unveils Plan to Provide Computers to Every DCPS Classroom

Today, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Chancellor Michelle Rhee and the District’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Vivek Kundra announced plans to provide 6356 computers to District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO).

According to Mayor Fenty, “These computers will empower our educators and administrators with the technological tools they need to focus efforts on the District’s greatest resource—our children. After decades of mismanaged program funds and little to no technological progress, this effort is the first step toward upgrading the school system’s technology to fit the demands of modern day users.”

This $4 million initiative includes a price of $628 per computer and will also consist of infrastructure improvements such as network cables, power strips and access points. The objective of the initiative is to provide every classroom teacher and administrator with a secure and reliable desktop computer throughout the school system.

These additional Dell desktop PCs will help facilitate the creation of a digital infrastructure for the future of DCPS. The computers will serve as both a teaching tool in the classroom and a resource for teachers. Teachers will be able to access a central database of student records, access educational tools and share best practices and enter grades and attendance records.

This initiative will provide our teachers with instructional tools beyond textbooks and give administrators the infrastructure they need to be effective leaders, engaging our students with new ideas and new opportunities for learning,” said Rhee.

The program is part of OCTO’s overall mission for technology adoption in the District’s public schools. The office’s goal is to use technology as an enabler, allowing teachers to tap into the power of technology to improve the quality of our children’s education.

Today, we are laying the foundation for our teachers to use technology to improve public education. We must use the Internet and other computer applications to help our students compete in the global economy and to enable our teachers to do what they do best, teach and mentor the future leaders of our country,” said Kundra.

The official computer deployment will begin November 26. Anacostia and other schools East of the River will be among the first schools to receive new computers. By February 1, 2008, every classroom will be equipped with a PC and a student computer lab.

Mayor’s Education Reform Website Launched

Today, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), in collaboration with the Deputy Mayor for Education, launched the Mayor’s Education Reform Center website. The Education Reform Center is one resource Mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration has produced as part of its commitment to leverage information technology to enhance the city’s public education system. The launch was timed to coincide with the Mayor’s official takeover of the DC Public School system.

The Reform Center provides a central source for information about education reform in the District. It is a meeting place for residents to share information and opinions, and allows communities to work together on issues affecting District schoolchildren.

“Mayor Fenty’s number one priority is public school reform, therefore this Center is designed to facilitate a crucial component to transform District schools—community participation,” explained Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra. “Parents, residents, teachers and other DC community members can now voice their opinion, contribute to their schools’ reform and participate in the democratic process.” The Reform Center features a Discussion Space, online forms and emails to enable parents, teachers, students and concerned District residents to express their unique opinions, concerns and ideas about public education. These ideas and concerns will be regularly posted to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) of the site.The Reform Center is available on the homepage of DC.Gov.

“This is a terrific example of how collaboration in DC government is working to improve the city’s future,” said DC.Gov Website Manager Eleanor Evans. “The Office of the Chief Technology Officer looks forward to providing more technologies to assist in the reform of the DC school system.”