Have an old Mac in your Classroom?

During the first week of schools, some campuses encountered problems with accessing the electronic gradebook and attendance tracking system. 13 Campuses were affected, including:

1. Bonham- 9 teachers

2. Ball - 1 teacher

3. Brewer - 1 teacher

4. Fenwick - 1 teacher

5. Franklin - 13 teachers

6. Green - 1 teacher

7. Highland Park - 1 teacher

8. Irving - 5 teachers

9. Lamar - 1 teacher

10. Margil - 2 teachers

11. Riverside Park - 11 teachers

12. Rogers - 1 teacher

13. Storm - 1 teacher

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?

There were several problems actually. Apparently, obsolete Macintosh computers running OS 9 or OS X.2 not using the latest version of Internet Explorer were unable to access GATS properly. Another problem was that the recent update to the SAISD web site. The new web site requires Flash, a feature not available in the obsolete versions of Internet Explorer. I encountered both of these when I visited Bonham Academy on Monday.

RESOLVING THE INABILITY TO ACCESS GATS FROM OLD COMPUTERS

Becoming aware of the problem, the Instructional Technology Services team began working on the resolving the problem. My team immediately visited campuses to discover what the issues were. Other actions taken included the following:

* Notifying CampusWare--makers of Gradespeed--of the problem

* Creating a link on the front page of the SAISD site to temporarily allow campuses using older browsers to more easily connect to GradeSpeed

* Visiting campuses that were experiencing the problem and investigating the causes of the problem and how these might be ameliorated.

The computers in use in some classrooms are eMacs, most, if not all, are running an older version of the Macintosh Operating System (OS 9). This is the same as using Windows 95 operating system on PCs and expecting everything to work properly. Fortunately, the problem could be resolved by getting and installing a newer version of the Internet Explorer browser.

Aside from updating the Internet Explorer browser on these older Macs, Campusware--the makers of GradeSpeed--had to make adjustments to the electronic gradebook and attendance. Additionally, since response to a HelpDesk work order might be delayed due to the beginning of the year, IT staff made campus visits to resolve the problem themselves.

RESOLVING THE WEB SITE ISSUE

The main obstacle for old computers to access the revised SAISD web page is lack of Flash support in the Macintosh version of Internet Explorer, whether OS 9 or OS X.2. To resolve this, campuses are being advised on teacher machines--not in computer labs--to switch from OS 9 to OS X.2, run the Mac software update, and use the Safari Internet browser that comes standard with OS X.