What our staff thinks of our district technology services…

Each of the past 12 years, we’ve conducted satisfaction surveys with our school district staff.  It’s a relatively short survey, and we’ve used many of the same questions each year. Our goal is to track customer services.  For example, we don’t ask questions related to the latest gadget or gizmo… instead, we focus on fundamental customer service points –  as our belief is that quality customer service will always be needed regardless of the device.

How the survey works:
All staff receive a short on-line survey. Each question is a positive statement such as, “When members of the district technology departments visit my building, they are courteous and treat the staff and students with respect.”   Users are asked to rate the statement as: Strongly Agree,   Agree,  Disagree,  Strongly Disagree, or  I don’t know.

 

For the summary charts below,  % Strongly Agree + % Agree =  Approval rating (which is the blue bars below).  In other words, we only count if they positively agree with a statement.  If we scored a 90% approval rating, that means 90% of the responses were Strongly Agree or Agree.

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For the charts below….

Overall = How we did based on all survey responses

Teachers = How we did based on classroom teacher responses only

Support = How we did based on support staff responses only

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View the full survey results including all comments 

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Comments from “What are we doing well?”

WORKORDER RESPONSE TIME:
+ Prompt and effective response to questions and other requests for assistance. Thank you!
+ Always friendly and willing to fix any problem
+ I am very impressed with the speed with which work orders are addressed.

TECHS ARE GREAT:
+ Technicians are great and very competent
+ The technicians are the probably the best example of this. The teachers really appreciate them.

INITIATIVES:
+ LOVE the laptop and iPad initiatives.
+ The addition of iPads has been wonderful for small group instruction.

TRAINING:
+ Good pushing out of new technology through the train the trainer model and making people take a class to be able to be independent, trained users.

COMMUNICATION
+ Communication is timely–from workorders to if we are having technology problems in the district, such as internet problems.
+ Fabulous job keeping us updated on tech plans – long term as well as short term.
+ I am impressed with the level of transparency that the technology department has with district employees.
+ I have been with the district 6 years and I see them continuing to improve.
+ Love the updates on real teachers using real technology in their rooms..makes everything seem “doable”

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Comments from “What suggestions do you have for improvement?”

iPAD DESIRES:
+ I know that district funding is, of course, an issue, but 3 ipads is not really enough.
+ More IPADS for a classroom. I could do a lot of differentiation with 5 IPADS.

EQUITY:
+ I have heard some teachers concerned that newer tecnhologies (i.e. iPad) are only made available to those who take a class.
+ I don’t understand why the district is offering iPad classes with a limited number of iPads. We are creating inequality among classrooms and buildings. I am very frustrated by this.
+ My concern is that we are creating haves and have nots in access to technology for students. (Ipads)
+ Offer the Apple Ipad to everybody not just a select few.

TRAINING:
+ More mini training sessions on specific programs like Edmodo and dropbox.
+ More technology training for secretaries
+ Would be great to see follow up classes to deepen the use once they are out
+ Infinite Campus- feel like we are just scratching the surface.
+ I think perhaps more Wednesday staff development from tech services would help many staff members.
+ We need some more training in our building to tap the full potential of what we can do with technology. We often hear, “We are only scratching the surface”

1:1 DESIRES:
+ How about 1:1 iPad for students?
+ I would still like to see a one-on-one initiative for high school students.

CONCERNS:
+ It takes FOREVER to log on to the new computers… (Brian’s note: this is specific to new Windows 7 laptop in a few specific buildings and is our current #1 issue)
+ I think we should be less liberal about allowing so many private wireless devices onto our network.
+ when will we have on-line registration?
+ A better FAQ/Support page for district tech. issues.
+ Continuing to address the ever-difficult issue of maintaining enough bandwidth

When will WDM Schools have on-line registration?

When will WDM Schools have on-line registration?
Short answer:  Summer of 2013.

Full details…….
Q1. Has the district reviewed any vendor options for online registration?
A1. Yes, we reviewed two options… each option was focused on a full online registration process.
A) Infosnap, an option used by Waukee Schools.  However, InfoSnap does not yet have the ability to integrate with Infinite Campus
B) We reviewed an option from Infinite Campus… However, after a full review it was determined that the district needs to have a centralized registrar in place and standardize all registration at all schools prior to implementing on-line registration.

Q2. I’m totally frustrated…. I saw in the paper that Waukee moved most of their registration online (although some paper is still required in person).. If they can do it, why can’t we?
A2.  This is a great question….  The challenge isn’t the technology, as Infinite Campus has the ability to provide us with on-line registration, but it assumes that the district has 1) standardized district enrollment processes and 2) a district registrar that oversees the process.    Currently, each of our schools handles the registration on their own, basically creating 14 different registration models/processes.   In order to resolve both of these issues, we are implementing a District Registrar, who will assist us with standardizing the registration forms between all schools and this person will also be responsible for data entry for all new families entering our district.

Q3. What could possibly be so hard about standardizing the registration forms?
A3. With building based registration, each school has had the ability to customize the forms for their own needs.  In addition, most schools use a student based form – which means parents fill out the same form for EACH student.  This leads to lots of repetition.  Instead, we’d like to move to a family based form, so that the family can fill out one form that contains information on everyone in the family.

Q4. What about on-line payment systems –  will the registration process include the ability to pay on-line?
A4.  Yes, we expect to also have the ability to pay on-line while registering.

Q5. When on-line registration is available… EVERYTHING will be on-line right?  In other words, there will be absolutely no need to visit the school?
A5.  We’re still reviewing this,  but it’s likely that schools will still want families/students to visit the school to obtain their class schedules.  It’s not a technical issue – instead, our schools are wanting to remove as much paperwork as possible, but they still want to connect with families and students face to face.

Q6. When will the Registrar position start?
A6. The District Registrar position started just recently.  Some of our first tasks include:  moving from student based forms to family based forms and standardizing to one single registration form for all schools.  We’ll then begin to take the data entry away from schools and transition it to the District Registrar.

Q7. Is there more information on what the new Registrar position is doing and how this will impact the school registration process?
A7. Yes, more information is available at: https://wdmtech.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/dstrict-registrar/