K.B. observed that often students are steered away from tech classes since the courses are not yet A-F certified. J.K. reported that there have been attempts to get programing, networking, web authoring classes, for example, A-F certified, but so far nothing in computers or multimedia has been approved. BUT, group including J.K. and James Alther are working on it. New grad requirement of 1 year of technical arts and 1 year in a career pathway - need to link these together. And the grad requirements will be increased to 230 units so there will be more scheduling room for these courses.
Schools can also find out what other schools are buying to meet different needs.
With all these tech grants and programs coming online, there is a real need to get together and talk pricing, deals, vendors, warranty samples and strategies, pitfalls and pratfalls and to share buying power. If the vendor does not meet this goal, write in a portion of the warranty to be rebated to the school at the end of the year. P.L. emphasized that some vendors may be offering spare parts, repair training, a full-time repair person, etc., but the bottom line is the level of service, not the way it is provided. Many school sites need training in drafting performance-based warranties and contracts. K.B suggested that more teachers need to be encouraged to take their UTLA given professional development day on a visit to see some Instructional Technology.