RS Norse Technology

I can't believe it's December already! It seems like every year goes by just a little faster than the one before. I am very fortunate to be here at Roland-Story. I feel blessed to be in this role serving this school, it's students, and our community. Every year around this time (and again at graduation) I get asked by friends and family for recommendations on purchasing a computer. I'll admit, it's a difficult question to answer because there are so many options out there! So, I thought I would attempt to write out what I look for when purchasing a computer. Hopefully this helps! Please note that this is to serve as a general buying guide. Some people reading this will be more versed in tech than others and will (I'm sure) pick apart what I'm saying here.  Budget Really, this is the most important factor when looking to purchase technology. What can you spend? Or, more to the point, what are you willing to spend? You really can find a computer for any budget...

  Happy November Norse!  I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight 3 pieces of software that the district utilizes to facilitate communication and to help us provide resources to the parents and community members we serve.  Bound Bound touts itself as "Software that brings your community together around your high school sports program." Roland-Story uses Bound for online ticketing, to register our students for sports and activities, manage an activities calendar, to store and report game and season statistics, as a communication platform, and more. Bound can even help your student athlete get started down the path of college recruitment.  There is a Bound app available for both iPhone and Android . In addition, they provide documentation to help parents to get the most out of Bound.

So, what is the deal with AI? w.forfun.com Artificial Intelligence has been around a long time. Recently however, Generative AI has become very popular brought on by the success of  Chat GPT . Have you tried it?  It's actually quite fun. You can simply ask questions or you can take it a step further  and ask the AI to get creative for you.  For example, you could ask it to "write me a song in the style of Elvis Presley about  the 1980 presidential election" and you would get something like this: 🎶(Verse 1) Well, the year was 1980, folks were talkin' 'bout a change, A nation lookin' for a leader, someone to rearrange, The stage was set for a showdown, in the political ring, With candidates and promises, oh, what a swing. (Chorus) Viva, viva the election, in the land of the free, Everybody talkin' 'bout Reagan and Carter, what will it be? From the East Coast to the West, folks were casting their vote, In the 1980 presidential election, a changing note. ...

  Hello Norse Nation! I missed the August blog entry because my family and I spent a week in the Smoky Mountains where we didn't have cell service or very good WiFi. It was pretty amazing to unplug and relax before starting the new school year.  Speaking of which, we are off to a flying start! I heard one staff member say that this year's first day was her favorite one yet. I'll agree with her. The kids looked happy to be back (for the most part) and the staff was energetic and excited to see everyone. On the technology front, my team did an amazing job getting every Chromebook ready for the new year. Each device was cleaned, inventoried, and placed in the students' classroom prior to the first day. This allowed our awesome teachers to hit the ground running. I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce my team: These ladies are the best! They are hardworking and stay customer service oriented. Sydney, Kylie, and Jenna will make amazing teachers. Our day-to-day co...

  It's been a great summer so far! In this issue, I'll recap a busy June in the tech department. I'm excited to introduce our new website, detail changes to our student email accounts, and update you on our technology refresh at the middle school. In addition, we had an issue with our voicemail system for a few days in June that I'd like to describe. Don't forget to subscribe to this blog! New Website A new website is coming in July! We are scheduled to go live on July 10th. Let's look back at the process: In September of 2022, the RS Tech Department sent emails to over 50 area schools inquiring about their experience with the companies that designed their current sites. We took this feedback, studied the example sites that were provided and narrowed the list of prospective design companies to 6.  A committee was formed during that time to evaluate proposals and example sites. The committee consisted of the tech department and district teachers. When we received...

Greetings from the Tech Department! First, I should introduce myself and my staff.   My name is Eric Padget. I am the new district Technology Coordinator. I have spent The Padget Fam most of the last 15 years in the same role at Baxter CSD. My wife Pam and I raised 3 awesome kids there. Brendyn is 22, getting married in June, and moving with his new wife Kaitlyn to Bolivar, MO where she will attend graduate school. Ally is 19 and just finished her freshman year at DMACC in Boone where she is studying English while serving as an assistant coach on the girl’s basketball team. My daughter Corryn just graduated from Roland-Story as part of the class of 2023.   I am joined here at RS by my assistant, Jamie Lee. Jamie is a 2000 RS graduate and a long-time employee of the district. She resides in Story City with her husband Adam and her two boys, Brody (sophomore) and Ian (6th grade).   In addition, we are assisted by 3 tech interns from ISU (Go Hawks). Kylie Neal and Sydney Ca...