Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Education Online I received an email from Will Cox of New York inquiring about what Utah's school districts do online.  Utah has 40 school districts ranging in size from a few hundred to about 70,000 students.  Personally, the primary thing that draws me back to the local district's website is an application called PowerSchool which allows me to logon and view my kids' grades, attendance, progress, etc.  It also connects me with teachers so that if I have a question about their status in any class, I can immediately fire off an email and get a response.  The other thing that I use regularly is the online school district calendar (just a PDF document).  In a cooperative venue, I am aware that public education in Utah is doing many things to take advantage of technology.  For several years, we helped with a "computers to schools" program transferring hundreds of state surplus computers to the schools.  Currently, it appears that the schools are better supplied with equipment and the technical skills of teachers and staff have improved dramatically.  The Office of Education has programs to provide additional technical training.  The Utah Education Network has developed a first-rate program for distance learning.  UEN recently signed a cooperative agreement with our division of Information Technology Services to develop statewide networks on a more cooperative basis.  My local school district offers its surplus property to citizens using an online auction service that the state has used extensively as well.  One of the things that has challenged Utah schools is funding.  Demographics (large families) have resulted in low per-pupil spending in the state.  In spite of that fact, Utah also has one of the highest rates of students going on to higher education.  Currently, Governor Leavitt has spurred on several education initiatives, including the development of the distributed Utah College of Applied Technology, to improve the state's performance in science and technology. The US Department of Education sponsors a service called "The Gateway" that offers curriculum, lesson plans, and other resources. 3:52:29 PM

Cooperative Purchasing According to FCW, a provision in the Electronic Government Act (H.R. 2458) which was approved by the House and the Senate last Friday will allow state and local governments to buy IT services from the GSA Federal Supply schedules.  I'm not sure whether this is a good thing.  Currently, Utah cooperates with many other states through the Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA) for many of the IT products it purchases.  WSCA does a good job in developing very cost-effective contracts.  I have forwarded the information to the State Chief Procurement Officer for evaluation and feedback. 2:58:38 PM

© Copyright 2003 David Fletcher.