How do you report an ICT problem in your school? Is there a book? Do you email the tech? Or…do you grab the ICT coordinator as they walk down the corridor/start their lesson?
In my new school we have had significant investment recently and there are small issues and I am happy to deal with these the best I can, but we also have a technician who comes in each week for the things I can’t do or don’t have time for. I was trying to think of how I could communicate with him so he knew about issues before he came into school. This way he is prepared and can download software, google a problem or bring in that cable for the job.
I looked at google forms. I thought I could get staff to fill in questions and then we could share the results so we could fix the problems, but I got bored filling it in to report what I was doing. The list would also be my ‘to-do’ list and I needed something simple that I could do quickly. Then I remembered Primary Pad. I set up a quick pad like this one and that is now my fault log. (Note – That isn’t my actual pad, I didn’t want to share that with the world!)
I have given staff the link to the pad so they can add problems if they want to as well.Will it work? Who knows. But we are now prepared for the technician when he visits on Tuesday!
We use Primary Technology’s control panel for this, it can be a double click login and the user interface is very easy to use and is built specifically for this reason 🙂 PS It’s free for UK schools too =)
Speaking as a wife of a school ICT technician….I know he would greatly appreciate it if teachers would not stick their head around his door and shout help..and expect him to run to their classroom that very second and then blame him if he can’t fix the problem in under 30 seconds.
Also speaking as the person in my own school who is responsible for all of the ICT we use…I would appreciate teachers more if they would at least try to manage the equipment they have in their classes. I haven’t had any specific training but I’ve always been willing to have a go..why can’t others? The very least they can do is use the reporting system I’ve set up. I’ve put a sticky label on each computer with a number. If I have checked that computer I write the date on the sticker and note that it’s working. If something goes wrong then teachers must write the date and log the fault onto the sticker, then at least I know what is up. I keep a master list on a spreadsheet to keep track of which computers give us problems. If I can’t sort it then we can phone the council helpdesk for a technician to visit.
But how do we ensure teachers report faults?
We have a book but very few bother to use it. I get casual interuptions “my sound isn’t working can you come and look” -“ermm, I’m teaching a class right now so no.”
Rants…”******* ICT never works when I need it, why can’t I hear any sound?”
And then there’s the surprise – my HT 4asked me how many classes didn’t have working IWB pens on Thursday, well last half term I ensured every class has at least one but apparently a few now don’t . Obviously need ESP on my performance management!
I may well try Primary Pad because the current system isn’t working!