"Every iteration of a failure brings us closer," shared Juan Orozco, Director of Instructor Technology at Del Valle ISD at the TCEA TECSIG Fall, 2015 meeting, "to a solution." The conversation kicked off at our table--featuring Joel Adkins, Diana Benner as well--as we asked ourselves, What have you failed at? Of course, we didn't start with failure. I asked the question, "What wicked problems have you overcome this past year?"Are you a possibilitarian? A "glass half full" person?Pictured above: Dana Bickley"Are you failure averse?" Our collective fear of failure drives us. But as Juan points out, "If you don't acknowledge failures, then you can't learn from them." Some of the "failures" or "wicked problems" that we discussed included some that are affecting school districts around the state of Texas:Transitioning from Instructional Technology to Instructional Coaching: As Joel Adkins (@mradkins) discussed yesterday in his session on HackedPD, dragging people to "shotgun" professional development events, often irrelevant to what they are doing in their classrooms to enhance student achievement, just isn't working anymore, if it ever did. I still remember soliciting workshop participants and the same lifelong learners would show up. The rest of the population spurned Instructional Technology's offerings.  Check out Joel's PD Profile document.As Joel says, "I don't want technology in my title...it means that I'm about how to, fixing stuff. Instead, I want to focus on critical thinking and higher order thinking skills." Dr. Dawn Wilson and Dr. Katie Alaniz, in their Collegial Coaching for Technology Integration presentation at TECSIG, offered a different vision for professional learning that completely abandons "old tyme" professional development offerings. Instead, it's about differentiating learning. Find out more by reviewing their workshop materials and listening to the podcast of their session.Dealing with data file creations for textbooks - If you work in a Texas school district, then you know the problems school districts face with a million different textbook providers requiring districts to send them data files of students and staff information. Each textbook provider has a different requirement. It makes you ask, "Why are textbook companies dictating to school districts how their data will be organized and imported?" Maybe the issue is TWADI--That's the Way We've Always Done It! To get past that, we need to revisit the processes we use so we can get the outputs we want, that result in the experiences that are worthwhile."Don't hinge it," says Joel, "talk about failure." Unfortunately, it's too easy to "hinge" our discussions of failure...that is, as Joel pointed out in our conversation, to first describe how we failed then describe how we achieved success. Instead, we need to embrace the "intellectual tension" that helps us grow, says Juan Orozco. Listening to Joel, Juan and Diana, I imagined failure as a muddy ooze that we are wading, climbing through. When you're in the hole, you naturally want to get out, to wash off, to focus on what comes after. But, what if instead, we embrace the moment? Grab onto the experience of failure and, without letting it overcome you, use it as a way to learn? We have to see value in failure. Juan pointed out that he faced failure every time he asked his children, "What did you learn in school today?" He uses this as an analogy for the work he does in schools with adult learners. "I realized that I have to rephrase, reframe my question to get at what I really want to know. So, instead of asking my children 'What did you learn today?' I ask 'What good questions did you ask today?'"Selfhood derives from the sense that one can initiate and carry out activities on one's own. Even the simplest narratives are built around an agent-self as a protagonist. Any system of education or theory of pedagogy that diminishes the school's role in nurturing its pupils' self-esteem fails at one of its primary functions. Personhood implicates narrative. -Jerome BrunerIf we reflect on the power of this approach, you can see that it is as simple as tapping into our each unique perspective as the narrator of our brave adventure we call life. Instead of me asking the question, a person trying to find out what you're doing, you are cast into the role of storyteller, of creator, of a "do-er." In short, you are the hero.'Read over your compositions, and where ever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.'"Samuel Johnson, as quoted in Boswell: Life of Johnson"One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code," shared the presenters in the IBM Design Thinking preso. I imagine that coding, writing are similar...and when you keep in mind that every iteration of failure brings you closer to a solution, you realize that you must fail to move forward. One of my best learning experiences was writing draft after draft of book reports...the book report was immaterial, but the experience of reaching and longing to find a way to say what I meant to say and nothing more or less, that was the value in experiences. If you're a writer, a coder, a learner, you can't be failure averse.Finally, I'm also reminded of the story of how people grow closer to God. I suppose you could replace God with "a better expression of perfection as I perceive it:"God in heaven holds each person by a string. When you sin, you cut the string. Then God ties it up again, making a knot--and thereby bringing you a little closer to him. Again and again, your sins cut the string--and with each further knot, God keeps drawing you closer and closer.The power of failure--cutting the string--brings us closer to the perfect idea, as expressed in writing, in code, or in life. Do you cut the string on purpose or do you let it happen?My Notes on the IBM Design Thinking PresoIBM Design Thinkingcmacrae@us.ibm.comkmparsons@us.ibm.comHashtag - #ibmdesign"There's one key to our future growth: the client experience."People+Places+PracticesDesign ActivityDesign a vase. Take 2 minutes to design a better way for people to enjoy flowers in their home.The theory behind design thinking is to focus on design experiences for users that engage their emotions and feelings.Core practicesHills focus you project on big problems and outcomes for users, not just a list of feature requests. Clearly articulate what you're trying to accomplish.Sponsor users help you design experiences for real target users, rather than imagined needs.ProcessUnderstand - interviews, phone calls, visits, and more.ExplorePrototypeEvaluate"In the realm of technology, the Education industry is the last frontier" Doug Hunt, IBM Education GM"One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code"Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

"Should I really be focusing on tools when thinking about technology in my BYOT classroom?" asked a colleague recently. "I want to provide guidance to teachers, but I'm not sure I'm headed in the right direction.""Of course not!" I laughed. "WHY are we focusing on BYOT/BYOD tools? Instead, how can we rediscover our 'happy thought' for using tech to kindle deeper learning?" Knowing how to approach BYOT in schools is important.Implementation of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs in school districts has exploded since last year, spreading from 22 percent to 56 percent. BYOD primarily shows up in high school grades (84 percent), followed by middle school grades (74 percent). Read more.Just this morning, a friend said to me, "My superintendent called me in to do a 1 to 1 initiative. He thought we'd be excited, but the truth was, we were horrified.""Why were you horrified?" I asked him."We hadn't done the Simon Sinek thing...you know, start with why!"In this short article, we talk about 9 tech tools or apps that can explode traditional learning, but they won't do you a bit of good if you haven't spent time on WHY BYOD. If you need a checklist to get that conversation going, be sure to check my BYOT Article Roundup.Tool #1 - Google KeepStudents often struggle for a quick way to capture information off the web. Why not use Google Keep, a simple, easy collaborative note-taking app available on the Web, and on Android or iOS mobile devices?Collaborative scribing of key points in a conversation, academic to-do's are possible.Tool #2 - RemindHQTeachers need an easy way to keep in touch with students that doesn't put them in danger or violate anyone's privacy, setting up situations for inappropriateness. RemindHQ is one tool to facilitate that.Tool #3 - Google ClassroomLooking for a drop-dead simple way to connect with students and facilitate interactive dialogue and management of documents? Google's Classroom option transcends and simplifies the complexities of learning and document management, enabling masterful access of shared student/teacher GoogleDocs.Tool #4 - Google SitesWith Google Sites, you can create the virtual classroom you always dreamed of and maintain it without problems or issue.Tool #5 - Google Slides NewslettersNow that you have a Google Sites-powered virtual classroom web site that is easily edited and added onto, invite parents to read your GoogleSlides eNewsletter. With Google Slides powering your eNewsletter, you can embed videos, pictures and content while turning it into a full-page readable document. Forget Scribd and Issuu for use in your classroom, instead relying on the Google Suite of tools to create powerful ways to share ideas, content, and media. Responsive media design makes Sites the natural choices.Tool #6 - Explain EverythingNeed to create engaging videos that show rather than tell? Then the Explain Everything app--available for Android, iOS devices, as well as the web--makes creating narrated slideshows and videos easy. With built-in sharing to myriad cloud storage options, you can't go wrong with such a powerful tool.Tool #7 - Google FormsSubmitting forms is only a small part of what you and your students can use Google Forms for. From engagement to reflection, collecting great ideas from the community, to data analysis of responses using the Explore feature recently announced from Google, you will find powerful uses available to you.Tool #8 - ScreencastifyNeed to make screencasts quickly and publish them to your unlimited GoogleApps for Education Drive account? Then, Screencastify is the tool for you! As a veteran, 1-take screencaster, I find fancier tools just get in the way. Screencastify enables you to capture your computer's entire screen, or one tab.Tool #9 - Web Whiteboard Students often are frightened by a blank page, but inspired to share and connect by the blank whiteboard. What pictorial conversations could your students have around what they are learning and share that?ConclusionHow are you exploding traditional learning in your BYOT/BYOD classroom? Remember, if you haven't answered your WHY, no amount of tools will make a difference.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Some time ago, I asked a Technology Director in Texas the following:If you had to give advice to a novice technology director, what advice would that be?I've reflected on some of the work I've been involved with recently, and have embedded some examples in the responses. I don't mean to pretend to be an expert...I have a lot to learn, but you learn lessons along the way that give deeper meaning to what you've "learned" before. That's the value of reflection.http://www.siliconchisel.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/cto.jpg"Never tell people how to do things. Instead, collaborate on a plan about what to do, and empower them to be creative, autonomous, and encourage everyone to hold you, each team member, accountable. And, most importantly, be kind to one another." -Miguel Guhlin ;-)Although Dr. Joy Rousseau (Arp ISD) had always inspired me with her responses to questions shared on a state-wide list of technology directors, I was blown away by her response to my request for advice. To flesh out some of her advice, I've included some quick bullets--not enough since I've been sitting on this list for a bit too long in my inbox--under each of her points but you might visit this page for more neat stuff.1. Form a fantastic IT team - hire folks with integrity and a fabulous work ethic who WANT to serve others. Make sure you create an atmosphere that includes a great working environment where folks want to remain over long periods of time. Include perks like the latest desktop computers, mobile devices, and supporting software. Keep the perks coming. A trivial amount of your budget can make your IT Team feel appreciated and important. Not having these folks can be a real challenge, so be sure to have support to make changes when beginning a CTO position, setting clear expectations...if you don't do it at once, you may not have the chance again!One example of this is providing iPads and/or Android tablets to facilitate work, cabling tools.The latest Adobe or Filemaker Pro database software are some of the perks my team have gotten, which has paid off in high quality work.2. Form a fantastic stakeholder team - include board members, parents, students, teachers, administrators, and higher ed to help you build a vision. Reaching out to parents and community is important and I'm hoping to do more of that soon with partnerships with the district community liason. The needs are different but one of my favorite examples is self-paced online learning opportunities for parents (check it out) available at no cost to the community. Face to face learning remains important and I hope to branch out and do more of that.3. Use observations and surveys to get a feel for what the status quo is and then form a collaborative vision of where you need to be.3 Stars and a Wish is a great approach to accomplishing this that colleague Jean Tower shared with me. This is more of a face to face conversation starter but you could conduct it as a survey. More on that in another blog entry. Levels of Teaching Innovation (LOTI) is a free, reliable and valid instrument to use.Get Ed and Polly Gifford to assess your network.Conduct surveys, and Joy has quite a few listed online here as examples.4. Make public reports and board reports on status quo and vision (send home Newsletters, create a News Twitter account, build a Web presence, conduct parent/student/teacher workshops). I love this piece of advice and if you have ever seen Frankie Jackson's web site, that is an inspiration for the kind of web site every CTO needs. That's why I built this web site, focused on strategic planning, to facilitate knowledge management.5. Plan for more PD than you ever dreamed of. Make sure your IT team is capable of also handling training sessions. Solutions like Test Out are great to help technicians get certified, but don't be afraid to pursue your own certification solutions like CoSN's CETL as well as help your district get going with solutions like SafeSchools. TCEA also enjoys certification areas.6. Establish Mentors in your district through excessive training sessions and stipends to help support your vision.7. Create and submit to your board, policies that support your vision. This, of course, depends on initiatives and projects that your district leadership will support. I'm grateful in my own role to have had the opportunity to submit $2.4 million in projects in 3 years of work. It's a team effort, but you can start projects off with Executive Summaries and then build from there! 8. Include student trainees to assist teachers on demand in the classroom. Certify them for specific jobs and restrict them from performing tasks that they are not certified to do. One great example was shared by colleague Mark Gabehart - he helped get a SWAT Team Members - Students Working to Advance Technology started.9. Propose a budget that includes a significant district buy-in for technology upgrades, planning, implementation and evaluation. Some ideas for that include equipment replacement plans, as well as Multi-Year Equipment Replacement Plans for every aspect of tech at the campus, district, network infrastructure level. 10. Evaluate all services that you provide on a continual basis and modify or trim them as needed. This is an important one...I keep a list of metrics and try to update those periodically.11. Be your own PR agent. No one knows what you do or how much you work unless you clue them in on everything. Keep a close communication channel open with your faculty, administrators, board, and community. One neat example is sharing information via social media (e.g. Twitter), as well as eNewsletters that embed video (use GoogleSlides or LucidPress to embed video/audio!).12. Realize that everything takes time, be patient, flexible, and a good listener. As I look back over my short stint as a Director of Technology Operations, as well as my previous 9 years as an instructional tech director, the one thing I wish for was the skill at developing relationships quickly. Instead, I've found that relationships take a LONG time to build...and that you're having to overcome biases and attitudes that you have no control over. Instead, you have to remain unfailingly positive in the face of negativity until people realize, "Yes, I CAN trust you!" It is a hard journey but the reward is great!Wow, a 12-step process for CTOs. Lots of work to do here! Source: http://goo.gl/F6RQhNote: This article was previously published. Still, worth re-reading and reflecting on.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Have you asked your supervisor, "What am I not doing that will get me fired because I missed it?" Put another way, what should you do to ensure you keep the stakeholders happy?In case you're wondering, that's the Big Boss in a black cape and that's the CTOwith a force-choke hold on his throat.One of the fun questions I've run across in my readings about Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) includes one I hadn't ever anticipated:"Think it through by analogy. The CFO is not responsible for making revenue every quarter, but if there is a big surprise, fire him. The CTO is not responsible for delivering products every quarter, but if you miss the internet or a similar technical inflection point, fire him." Indeed, I have often thought that asking what you should get fired for in a job is a great way to clarify your thinking about what is really important. Sometimes we spend a lot of time working on the wrong problems.The greatest leverage is when the project is in its earliest phases, when we are deciding on architectures in the context of market requirements and when technology choices are being made. This is where you should see the CTO. Once there is a large marching army of engineers heading off in some direction, it is pretty difficult and expensive to make changes. Much better to get things sorted out early. It is what I call, "Get ‘em while they’re young."Stuff to Get Fired AboutMisrepresenting a positive move for the organization as something not technically feasible. CTO failed to anticipate the next big thing or passed it off as something evil to leadership when other districts are clearly embracing it. Example: Failing to implement GoogleApps for Education (GAFE). Why? Well, duh, it's a cost-effective way to save your organization money for email, calendaring, etc. More importantly, it's provides everyone in the organization with a suite of tools.Example: Telling everyone that GAFE is a boondoggle, and would actually cost too much because of email archiving."What? We wanted to use all the Chromebooks but there are only 3 wireless access points in the building!" Failing to lay the infrastructure IN ADVANCE of the next big thing.Example: New technology gets purchased and distributed to campuses before an electrical capacity for buildings is done. When everyone plugs-in their new technology, the power goes out. Oops.Example: New technology gets purchased and distributed to staff, but when they all try to connect to the network, the District doesn't have enough bandwidth to access the Web. Oops."You won't get fired implementing Cisco!" CTO continues to advocate for technology that was helpful in the 20th Century.Pandering to the Superintendent. "Whatever you say, Super!" to pander to the Superintendent without making him/her aware of the issues. Example: CTO tells the Technology team that he will stop the willy-nilly purchase of technologies that lack proper vetting (e.g. automated account management, easy device management, compatibility with district network) but then secretly signs-off on the approval of the technologies.Example: Bringing in faux external evaluators to assess the organizational structure, and then using the resulting fictional document--where false data was submitted--to cut the salaries of Tech Team members s/he doesn't like, or worse, have the consultants revise the plan to make current failed practices look successful.The CTO buys the latest and greatest for select staff, hands out equipment as to win favor, but never develops a plan to ensure equity for the most important stakeholders--teachers and students.Example: CTO purchases technology (e.g. netbooks, iPads, Chromebooks, laptops, brain-chips) for deployment but doesn't work with stakeholders to develop a deployment plan. Technology arrives at campuses and people look at each other and then take it home for their home entertainment system.The CTO realizes that change is inevitable and does his best to slow it down by micro-managing and not responding to direct reports.Example: When BYOD is brought up, the CTO finds ways to change the conversation because his cronies don't want to mess with creating a separate, guest wireless network or worry about building up the infrastructure.Example: When the end-users want to bring in iPads to meet critical needs for special education children (watch this video and make sure to have tissue handy), the CTO fails to organize his Tech Team to put together a deployment plan...or, alternatively, deploys iPads with no thought as mobile device management.Example: Although differentiated content filtering is possible, the CTO refuses to fund purchase of less expensive solutions that provide finer-grained control over content filtering because YouTube should continue to be blocked (that way, the CTO doesn't have to meet with the Community).Time for a change...what is your keep my job safe list?Special thanks to TexasISD.com for featuring this blog entry on their web site!Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. 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My sixteen year old son loves steak. I've tried to caution him against eating too much red meat, but he inhales steak and macaroni like a machine. I console myself, "He's a growing young man, don't you remember when you could eat 3 dinners and not even blink while Dad limped along behind you, his wallet leaking money like a broken faucet?"For now, I can't get my son to eat much of anything else. It's steak, pizza, macaroni, or nothing. If that's not on the menu, he's not going to eat at your table.Do you ever feel that education today is a bit like a teenager? If it isn't Chromebooks, iPads, whiteboards, oh my!, no one is going to sit at the table? Doug "Blue Skunk" Johnson shared this image a few months ago:Doug Johnson, Are You At the Table? Source: Blue Skunk BlogIt's an old saying that I took to heart when I was in a large urban school district with a shrinking budget that spurred the creative pursuit of free, open source solutions that I could implement without having to obtain top level approval. Simply, "fly below the radar and do great things for the people" was my motto...I felt like Underdog, unappreciated, unassuming but loved. As we all know, if you aren't at the table, well then, who you can help is limited, no? Like a dog hunting for scraps beneath its master's table.Instructional Technology has seen their place at the table disappear. If you're a CTO, and not part of the Superintendent's Cabinet, then the Technology's Programs ARE on the menu...to be ignored, discarded. And, that's a horrible thing to have happen.Why? If the person who represents campus and classroom interests in using technology isn't at the table, then they aren't either. And, if you're not representing campus or classroom interests, what the heck are you doing as the CTO?My measure of the potential success of an initiative isn't whether I want to do something, but whether the truth of the answer to this question is so blindingly obvious, even the leaders at the top of the ivory tower can see the light:Will this project enhance the plight of those who aren't at the table, improve the situation for those the organization supports?That's a social justice question, isn't it? No longer about budgets, personalities, but rather, doing what's right for the people you serve. What a simple, powerful mission.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

"When will all the digital textbook providers get on the same page?" Or when will TEA or Texas legislators crack the whip to get them all on the same page? You'd think that any textbook publisher making so much money off of Texas schools would be willing to reinvest in Texas schools and make life easier for under-paid, over-worked educators cranking out data files. Their collective failure to help school districts overcome the creation of data files--which allow students and teachers to access the expensive digital, online textbooks--means this expensive investment is wasted.If we can't get to the video-rich, expertly designed digital textbooks, what's the point? That's what is frustrating so many educators--and students, their parents--in schools today.A no-cost alternative for school districts is working hard to remedy that--Clever.com.Image Source: http://bit.ly/1jDi4yoAt the TCEA 2015 State Conference, a group of technology directors and instructional technology specialists met to discuss a problem that has them pulling out their hair--digital textbooks and automated account management. And, resolving this problem is a top priority for Texas schools.Our foci is to support each other, as we join in our districts’ strategic conversations to identify solutions related to digital teaching and learning platforms; preparing RFP for Ed Tech systems; digital learning interoperability, and data exchange standards; systems integration and design to address current K12 educational needs; support of various sorts for 1:1 initiatives; Privacy, Safety and Security issues; data processes and governance in light of new federal and state-level concerns and laws. Source: Email, February 8, 2015, Author Anonymized to Protect Identity (leave comment if you want to "out" yourself).What a great summary of the issues facing school districts. Let's dig into these a bit more, since the howls of anguish have arisen in many places, from regional to state-wide meetings (e.g. TCEA TEC-SIG meetings).ADVOCACY ALERT!!   School district superintendent or CTO? Join other school districts in demanding that Textbook Providers standardize on single sign-on requirements, OR better yet, sign up with Clever.com. Attend the 12:30-3:30pm Texas District Meet-Up on October 30th (Friday) meet-up in Austin, Texas! Meeting will take place at the Courtyard by Marriott, Austin Airport in the Trinity Meeting Room (7809 East Ben White Blvd). You can RSVP via email to Josie Pang (josie.pang@clever.com)And, fill out the TCEA Survey intended to inform conversations at an SBOE Learning Workshop at the State Capitol on November 17th. Source: http://bit.ly/1OLz7uYBIG PICTUREThis isn't an issue that has just "popped up." Like boiled frogs about to expire, technology specialists are trying to create and manage comma-delimited files, XML formats, for different vendors. For example, in one school district with approximately 10,000 students, there are 38 different information systems that have to be integrated.Note:Read more about this challenge online, Data-Driven Districts Experience Growing Pains.The multi-faceted problem has even drawn the attention of traditional media, such as the Austin-American Statesman, but no one needs "The News" to make an obvious observation...the benefits of digital textbooks have landed like a pile of bricks on the heads of school districts!The digital transition gained momentum about four years ago when the state stopped paying for a textbook for every student in every course. School districts statewide were given a pot of money — $1.4 billion for this school year and next — to buy textbooks, forcing them to cut costs. Concurrently, textbook publishers were offering more cost-effective and spruced-up electronic products than ever before. Almost all texts on the state-adopted list this year have a digital option. Several textbook publishers, such as McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, offer cost-effective bundles that include a yearslong subscription to their digital editions along with a class set that often includes 25 printed versions. Source: Austin-American Statesman, Wave of Digital Textbooks Hits Area School Districts by Julie Chang.THE PROBLEMIn spite of all this money for digital textbooks, districts are struggling to create student and teacher accounts for EACH separate textbook publisher they acknowledge. Imagine juggling thousands of student and teacher usernames and passwords for multiple textbook systems...and expecting students in grades 3-12 tracking all those separate usernames and passwords.Single sign-on (SSO) is a property of access control of multiple related, but independent software systems. With this property a user logs in with a single ID to gain access to a connected system or systems without being prompted for different usernames or passwords, or in some configurations seamlessly sign on at each system. This is typically accomplished using the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and stored LDAP databases on servers.[1] A simple version of single sign-on can be achieved over IP networks using cookies but only if the sites share a common DNS parent domain.  Benefits of using single sign-on include: 1) Reducing password fatigue from different user name and password combinations; 2) Reducing time spent re-entering passwords for the same identity; and 3) Reducing IT costs due to lower number of IT help desk calls about passwordsSource: WikipediaSingle sign-on is no longer a nice to have, but a necessity now. More importantly, only a few school districts are staffed to accomplish this (after all, to get a systems interface specialist or database administrator can be as high as $85K, at minimum, if not closer to $125K...quite expensive).View videoONE SOLUTION: CleverOne possible solution, aside from building capacity in-district by hiring a database administrator who can slice and dice data files and set up automated account management, is to take advantage of 3 year old, Clever. As they say, Clever is a vendor that makes automated account management for all these different systems possible - Clever keeps educational applications rostered and up-to-date. We make using software in schools as easy as ABC."Why is Clever of value, especially to school districts that may already have these integrations in place?" I asked."Do you want to manage all those point to point integrations or let Clever handle one to many integrations?" With that answer, one immediately realizes the benefits that Clever offers--why waste some dynamic individual's time slicing and dicing data files for various vendors? Instead, have that person create 5 files and let Clever do the hard work.Earlier today, I had the chance to chat with a Clever representative and ask a few questions. Here are my notes from that eye-opening conversation:What does Clever do for schools?Clever eliminates the need for classroom teachers or technology specialists to maintain electronic rosters in multiple digital textbook systems. It also ensure security and privacy of student information, resulting in nightly or more frequent updates.Single Sign-On for students, and enables teachers to share links.Tiered access for district level staff (e.g. Curriculum Dept) and school levels is on the roadmap.How does my District sign up?https://schools.clever.com/signupHow much does Clever cost school districts?Clever does NOT charge or cost school districts anything; want to create a free account for your school district? There's nothing stopping you.Clever has a single sign-on solution for students to use...when students sign-in to Clever, they get access to every vendor service--some of which are free to school districts--that Clever has an arrangement with.But how does Clever make money? It signs a contract with a vendor partner (200 partners and counting so far, but not the Big 3 (Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton-Mifflin) yet. Clever charges vendors per school, per month...the rate varies from vendor to vendor.How does it all work?How does Clever's "data ingestion" process--getting data from districts into the vendors--work?The District is asked to prepare 5 files:A "teachers" fileA "students" fileA "sections" fileAn "enrollments" fileA "schools" fileNightly (or 3-4 times per day) snapshots of data are transferred via Secure FTP (SFTP) and then made available in Clever's system.If problems arise with the data, Clever captures those data warnings and makes them available to you for viewing and/or download as a comma-delimited file (a.k.a. CSV file).On the Vendor side, Clever has created an API to transfer data securely to the vendor.Clever works with a long list of student information systems (SISs). For Texans, you'll want to know about the following:Yes - eSchool PlusYes - SkywardNo - iTCCSPending Talks - TxEISOnce you are sending your 5 data files to Clever in an automated manner, Clever represents that data in a dashboard that allows the District access to ALL of the vendor partners Clever has. For example, if you want all students in the District to get access to Code.org or Khan Academy, you just indicate that via the panel. Or, if you only want math students at a certain campus to get access, then you make those selections and submit the request. The interface appears easy and straightforward.Once data is syncing on a regular schedule, students have the option to login to ANY of the systems with a single sign-on. Choices that I observed included the following:GoogleApps for Education - If you are a GoogleApps for Education school district, then students and staff--if they have GoogleApps accounts--can login.Active Directory Federated Services - If your District uses Active Directory (who doesn't these days?), then those usernames and passwords can be used (although you'll have to have an external server, which some IT directors shy away from).How secure is Clever? Simply, will Clever protect student data?Does Clever adhere to StudentDataPrinciples.org principles? I asked (find out more about this). Not sure, but we do adhere to the School Data Pledge."Clever is very transparent about our commitment to privacy and security. We are their [school districts and smaller vendors] security infrastructure. We have invested in the resources so districts, as well as some of our vendors, don't have to." This is a great gift...if you haven't started down the road of encrypting data transfers to multiple vendors, encrypting data while in transit (SFTP), then you may not fully appreciate the value of this service."The last thing we want," said the Clever representative I spoke with, "is the abuse of student data." What happens if a school district leaves Clever? If a school district leaves Clever, since data uploads/syncs happen frequently, only the historical snapshot remains, and that is removed in 30 days or sooner. What happens if a vendor leaves Clever? In those situations, the District is notified and will need to work with vendor on data. Access to the Clever API (which provides data to the vendor partner) is severed.Would you sign a letter (view example) certifying that you will safeguard school district's sensitive data? "We are happy to sign anything a District gives us, such as a Memo of Understanding (MOU)."Find out more here:clever.com/securitySecurity White paperInterested? Make contact with Josie Pang at Clever.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

"What will you do first?" It's a question that's on the tip of everyone's tongue, even if they don't ask it (and they often do, whether during an interview or two seconds after you get there). In fact, I recently saw one interview committee ask for presentations--What will you do during your first 60 days?One's first temptation is to come into a new place and start changing everything. I know when I've started new jobs, when I come in, all I see is what's missing. That can be dangerous because your Vision is obscuring your sight, what you really need to see and focus on--the people's needs, wants, their vision.Here are some tips others have shared with me:Tip #1 - Connect with DepartmentsOne of the challenges of being new is that you often get to meet people but seldom ask deeper questions. In the first few weeks/months of being "new," it's important to contact all Central Office director one by one and ask them to share what they have in place, what they are responsible for. Then, hone in on what their needs are for better technology support, what their vision is, and what they would like to see technology do in the future.Tip #2 - Connect with Campus PrincipalsJust as you have connected with department directors, you'll also want to do the same with campus principals. Do a walkthrough of their building so you can get a sense of the technology that's out there, what their needs are, and what they would like to see happen in the future. Your goal isn't so much to share your vision of what could be but to get insight into what they perceive as critical and what you can do to help them achieve that.Tip #3 - Prepare a Write-Up for Each Visit and Aggregate ResultsAs will be shared later, documenting the work anyone in the Technology Department is important...and you are no different. I encourage you to setup a wiki (read Stephanie Sandifer's book on the subject, Wikis for School Leaders and this article on Wiki While You Work) to house all your ideas, questions, observations--tastefully articulated, of course--so that you build a public record of what you're learning. A written report of what's happening at each campus, as well as a combined list of needs and wants can help you see commonalities among all campuses and departments. The benefits of this include a first step towards building a cohesive vision that captures the hopes and dreams of the people a CTO serves.Tip #4 - Connect with Your Technology Team and Log Their WorkAlthough these tips could be separate, one of the challenges that Technology Department team members face is that no one listens to them, no one takes the time to share what the big picture is and their place in it. This can be frustrating for any staff member, more so for those who "labor in darkness" as to the goals and mission of the organization and how the plan you put in place connects their work to the mission. It will be important to ask each of them what's going on, what their responsibilities are, ask them to develop documentation for their work. Again, I'm reminded of the tyranny of competence where only one person--that technician--knows what they are doing and no one else. Finally, it's very important to consider their needs, write down what they are actually responsible for as opposed to what's in their job descriptions, and what we can do to make what we do "down the road" better.Tip #5 - Setup weekly meetings.Set up weekly meetings between both sides of the Technology Department house, the technical and instructional. The agenda for these meetings will flow from questions that arise from the meetings the CTO has had with department directors, principals, emails and other contacts with customers. The focus of these meetings has to be to identify what we're doing--together as a team--and how we can help each other. One important point to the success of these meetings--not helping is unacceptable since we are customer service oriented.Tip #6 - Establish benchmarks for the organization.It's hard to show progress when there hasn't been a standard set or a benchmark assessment done. Some of those benchmarks must necessarily include a technology hardware assessment, a network connectivity and security assessment from a third party evaluator that has not done the work for the District before, as well as curriculum & instruction type feedback (e.g. Levels of Teaching Innovation (LOTI)). These benchmark assessments can get schools rolling in the right direction and this is the perfect time to conduct the assessments.Tip #7 - Connect with Community MembersIn the spirit of making connections, one group that is often overlooked is the Community. To that end, its important to connect with local groups like the Veterans for Foreign Wars, Kiwanis Club, Knights of Columbus, and more. What a wonderful opportunity it can be to build relationships with these individuals before you actually try to do that district-wide iPad initiative, etc. It's also important to connect with CTOs from other organizations such as hospitals, utility companies, and police departmentsConclusionIf you're a CTO, undoubtedly you've noticed that a significant part of your job is about connecting, collaborating, communicating with others around you. For a long time, I thought being a CTO was about the "technical" side of the house, but after chatting with colleagues in these positions, the light went off--it's about working with people, bringing people together, giving voice to their needs, wants and their vision for the future. What a powerful role of service to play in schools and community!Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

The following was a presentation given at the TxCTO Conference held on October 23, 2015. You may also want to review MyNotes from a Clever.com conversation.Single Sign-On via enboardMyNotesPresenter: Ernie Stripling and enboard from encore technology solutions (view PDF overview)Find out more online at www.esc11.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=6269Presentation handouts: TxCTO PresentationEncore Comparison to other SSO SolutionsEncore Value StatementEncore vs Clever ComparisonThe need for one logon, or single sign-on (SSO)Digital assets/textbooksone providermultiple appsmultiple usersmultiple data filesOne logon methodologyEnable all users to have secure, simplified access to all web resources from any location at any time from any device (HTML5 compatible)One user ID and passwordone authentication pointOne portalResource access (email, Fileshares, Web applications)Digital TextbooksStudent Information System, LMS, HR/ERP, etc.User Self Service (Ex. Password Recovery)Ever-changing and always on usersadding, changing, moving, archiving, removingMultiple types of web resource requirementson-premise, hosted, cloud, etc.Multile authentication sourcesmultiple user accountsDigital assetsInstruction requires normalized connectivity from various device from any locationProcess:Users have an identity in SIS or Payroll/HR system. This information is fed into a single sign-on portalThe SSO is able combine it all and facilitate the process for the end user.Provisioning, enhanced authentication/SSO, identity verification system, and longevity, Sustainability, and Scalability.Reporting is built into the platform (who, where).Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

While working on a handout for a colleague, I realized that I had to type in a few letters with accent marks over them. Since I haven't had to work with accent marks in a long time, a 2-second Google search revealed that you can use the Google Input Tools Chrome add-on to get the job done!Once the add-on is installed in your Chrome browser, you can follow the excellent instructions online at Typing Spanish Characters and Accent Marks:Using the Spanish keyboard ()The spanish keyboard is almost the same as an English keyboard except with a few additional shortcuts:To type an accented character, type an apostrophe ('), followed by the letter. For example, to get á, type ' and then a.To type ñ, tap the semicolon (;) key.To type ¡, tap the equal sign (=) keyTo type ¿, hold down shift and tap the equal sign (=) keyYou can also click the corresponding key on the virtual keyboard that appears.Watch the video below that walks you through the process:Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Are you the database administrator, technology specialist for your school district? As school districts move from paper textbooks (remember those book closets filled with textbooks that few ever used, or worse, students had access to) to digital ebooks, they face a host of challenges. This 3 part article explores a few of those challenges, then offers several solution providers. You may also want to check out this presentation resource site, Identity Crisis: Managing User Accounts.Source: http://bit.ly/1RdfJoj1-Exploring The ProblemSchool districts have been caught flat-footed in the last two years, facing an onslaught of digital textbook providers who follow no standard data file creation process. This problem is called "user provisioning," (a.k.a. account provisioning) a fancy way of saying that you have to create usernames and passwords in EVERY online system students and staff will need to use.Image Source: http://cognisec.com/wp-content/themes/cognisec/images/workspace-home.pngThe gold standard is single sign-on--ONE username and ONE password--that provides access to and is updated in ALL systems a user connects to. Simplicity--remembering one login and password--and security is the focus. To make this happen, user provisioning (a.ka. rostering) has to happen in the background.There are a variety of single sign-on providers that already have partnerships with other vendors. Some SSO providers include ClassLink (video), Global Grid for Learning (video), and Bitium's Passkey (video). Please note that this issue is greater than "single sign-on," however. We will explore the different levels of solutions later.ChallengesSome of the challenges include:Getting data out of your Student Information System (SIS)Blending student and staff data (e.g. usernames, passwords, student/staff IDs)Knowledge of complex database tools and file format conversions (e.g. CSV to XML)Unnecessarily complex usernames to represent different textbooks within the same digital textbook systemMultiple usernames and passwords for students and staff that do NOT match their District username and password.To facilitate navigation of these challenges, what follows is a walkthrough each of the items above. Let's begin with WHERE schools get their data in the first place.Student Information Systems (SISs)The "big database in the sky," or think of it as a lake from which critical information flows, for most school districts is their Student Information System. There are a variety of SIS solutions, including the Education Service Center, Region 20's iTCCS, as well as  TXEIS (so two solutions from ESC-20!), Skyward, eSchoolPlus, and many others. In Texas, most districts have standardized on either ESC-20's iTCCS or Texas Enterprise Information System (affectionately known as TxEIS), or opted for Skyward.From their Student Information System, school districts can export data about students and staff. But this is not the end of the fun. Down the stream from this lake of data (e.g. SIS), school district technology departments create user accounts that allow people to log into computers (a.k.a. Active Directory) and create email accounts (e.g. GoogleApps for Education, MS Exchange, Office 365).Most districts have some automated process for accomplishing this. For example, here's the process one Texas school district follows:A person is approved as a new hire. Person(s) Responsible: Personnel StaffInsertion into SIS/Payroll System. A person's critical information--FirstName, LastName, Location, EmployeeID#, EmployeeType--is entered into the SIS/Payroll System.Person(s) Responsible: Payroll staffAutomated Creation of Digital Accounts. The Identity Automation System takes those new hires put into SIS/Payroll System prior to 2:00am and generates accounts (e.g. Eduphoria, AESOP, SchoolWires, Payroll, TxGradebook, Active Directory and GoogleApps, Discovery Video*, TCMPC, AESOP)  for people with the default password. Email Sent to Person with Digital Account Information. The Identity Automation System generates an email for all accounts generated and sends a copy to 1) the new hire; 2) the campus secretary; and 3) Technology. New Hire, who is now a district employee, logs-in. If a password needs to be changed, any authorized staff member can do so via an easy to access web console.As you might imagine, the process BREAKS DOWN for many districts in step 3 shown above. The difference in the process above is that the Identity Automation System referenced is a user provisioning solution that handles all the legwork. The process is MUCH MORE difficult without this type of user provisioning solution. The process WITHOUT user provisioning is as follows:A person is approved as a new hire. Insertion into SIS/Payroll System. A person's critical information--FirstName, LastName, Location, EmployeeID#, EmployeeType--is entered into iTCCS.Payroll emails a daily list of users with their unique employee ID to a designated contact in the Technology Department.The Tech Dept contact takes the person's critical information--FirstName, LastName, Location, EmployeeID#, EmployeeType--and generates unique user IDs following the naming convention for digital accounts needed while trying to provide a consistent username and password in all systems  for people with the default password.A paper document with a New Hire's Digital Account Information is provided. This is usually a mail merge or a typed letter created by the person(s) creating accounts.New Hire, who is now a district employee, logs-in. If a last name or password needs to be changed, either someone in Technology does it or it has to be done system by system.In the example above, there are 38 different district information systems. Can you imagine ONE person, or even a team of people, working full-time to maintain account usernames and passwords across all those different systems? The answer is, "Not hardly, but what can I do? It has to get done!" So most districts try to create data files that include all the information for easy import into multiple systems. The problem is, creating these data files can be quite difficult.Blending Student and Staff DataFew school districts have the technical wherewithal to generate the quantity of data files required by digital textbook providers. For example, a textbook provider may ask for the following fields (e.g. Harcourt Teacher Data File used to create teacher usernames and passwords):TitleFirstnamelastnameusernamepasswordschoolidWhile that is a short list, combine it with student data and it can become much tougher!Knowledge of Complex Database Tools and File Format ConversionsRequests can become increasingly complex, especially as you try to JOIN students in secondary classes to ONE teacher. Take a look how this interaction plays out with Pearson's EasyBridge solution, which is supposed to make it all work. For example, Pearson EasyBridge requires multiple data fields, as well (e.g. LEA District#, List of schools, List of classes, List of teachers, List of students, Associated teacher to class, Associated student to teacher, City, State, Address of School, Zip, and Phone number).Image Source: http://www.w3schools.com/sql/img_innerjoin.gifGenerating these multiple data fields that are inter-related is a daunting task, requiring complex Structured Query Language (SQL) JOIN statements. What's that, you don't know about SQL JOIN statements? Well, most technology specialists tasked with generated these data files for different vendors don't know about them either...and since SQL is used to interact with a big database, this presupposes that your district even HAS a large database with ALL student and staff data--organized in tables--it can query.Note: Think of these databases housing confidential student and staff data as giant Excel workbooks in the sky, each sheet (or tab) in the workbook housing data related to other data in a different tab. Somehow, you have to combine/join disparate data from multiple sheets (a.k.a. tables in database-speak) into the ONE you want. This can be a complex proposition, made all the more difficultUnnecessarily Complex UsernamesMcGraw-Hill, another of "the Big 3 Publishers," also can get convuluted. For example, McGraw-Hill requires a student file with only a few fields (e.g. lastname, firstname, gender, gradelevel, username, and password), but things get complicated. The fields have to be arranged in a specific order. If out of order, then the data transfer will not work. And, even when successful, for the teacher, life is complicated. Imagine if you had to create fictional usernames for each textbook you needed to use with your students, resulting in two handfuls of usernames...just so you can access the same digital textbook students are using!  For example, if your username is "MiguelGuhlin," for each of your classes, the username would be something likeMiguelGuhlinLEUSA1, MiguelGuhlinLEAUSA2 MiguelGuhlinLEAUSA3Image SourceIn one local school district, my username for email is "mguhlin@districtnameisd.net" and that is my username. It's unique in my district, but if I want to access textbooks, then I have to use one of the monster usernames shown above.Question to Ponder: Were schools made for digital textbook publishers, or the other way around? Is the tail wagging the dog?Usernames and Passwords that Do NOT Match District Usernames and PasswordsWorse yet, most students and staff ALREADY have a username and password for their "schoolwork." That username and password is their Active Directory and/or email username and password. I don't know about you, but asking a 2nd grader to remember more than one username (like what they use to login into a computer, a Chromebook or send email) would require a pretty awesome digital textbook. automated their student and staff user account names, using that foothold on automation to then branch out. Branching out means automating other systems (e.g. Istation, Think Through Math, Khan Academy), using the core list of usernames and passwords.2-Exploring Solution Providers"At the end of the day," says Steve Young, Chief Technology Officer in Texas, "I think any sizable district who has not automated identity management needs to look at these two products in the very least." In this section, we will explore more than just two products.When I first began exploring this issue, a local 10,000 student district suffered a wicked problem. All user account management was done manually. That is, all accounts for staff were created in Payroll in the District's Student Information System, then someone had to create or maintain those accounts across many different systems. The wicked problem was that there were always people whose account information was wrong and did not work. Keeping their information up to date resulted in a full-time task that one or more people had to support. At the start of the school year, it was IMPOSSIBLE.WICKED PROBLEM...SOLVED! When considering price, ask yourself, "Does the District want to continue dealing with centralized account management by giving the job to one or more people, who may or may not do a less than adequate job managing those accounts?" When you're considering Active Directory, account management for GoogleApps (or take your pick of system), Student Information System (SIS), the flavor of the month textbook adoption, this job can be a bear with a sore tooth locked in your office.At the time we selected Identity Automation, I had a smaller team of staff and account management, as well as creating data files for systems was problematic. That problem alone delayed implementation of several key initiatives. However, afterwards, we were able to accomplish quite a bit. We've slowly consolidated account management into a 1-person job that doesn't occupy all his time. That's the real problem with failed account management processes...they eat up one or more people's times because there is no standardization. The "wicked problem"--the bear with a sore tooth--had been solved.In one district I worked in, it took 3 years to implement an identity management solution that worked with disparate systems. Thank goodness I started upon taking the job as technology director, because THE TEXAS DIGITAL TEXTBOOK DATA NIGHTMARE was headed our way. How did banish the nightmare?Banishing the NightmareTo banish the nightmare, after heavy research, two steps needed to be taken:Hire someone who could slice and dice data files. This person needed to be comfortable with SQL databases, Access/Filemaker database queries, and love Excel, file formats (e.g. CSV, tab, XML), and more. While I could do some of this, with 38 different district information systems, I didn't imagine that there would be time left over to do much of anything else. You can find the job description online at the bottom of this blog entry.Select a turn-key identity management solution. Checking with multiple school districts in the State via TCEA TEC-SIG group, I was able to identify two available solutions, although there are now more.Unfortunately, the turn-key identity management solution came first. "Turn-key" was important because, whether I could get someone (let's call them a systems interface specialist) or not, the job had to get done.LEVELS OF SOLUTION PROVIDERSIf we had to group solution providers mentioned in this article in categories, it could be like this:Level 5 - A district staff member works collaboratively with a user provisioning solution (such as those listed below) to maintain data file creations, and connects with a Single Sign-On (SSO) solution.Level 4 - District data specialist extracts data from the Student Information System, customizing it, relying on a user provisioning system like Identity Automation, Tools4Ever's UMRA to automatically set up nightly uploads needed by vendors.Level 3 - District staff or data specialist creates data files (or gets them from the student information system) and manually imports them into external vendor systems. Vendor partners may or may not work together with a regional education service center to obtain data files directly from their source.Level 2 - Integration of SSO + Data File Management and Select Vendor Partners Only like Clever.com and ClassLink's OneRoster (free).Level 1 - Single Sign-On Providers like ClassLink (SSO only), Global Grid for Learning, and Bitium's PasskeyLevel 0 - Classroom teachers or campus staff create student and staff accounts, maintaining it themselves via some graphical interface or uploading an Excel file.Given these levels, where is YOUR district?Here are some potentialNow, school districts have access to a variety of solution providers, each of which may offer "modules" that expand the power of each.Solution Provider #1 - EST Group and Identity AutomationThis turn-key solution provider is one that I heartily endorse. The process of working with them involved creating data files for student and staff. These were exports from our Student Information System/Payroll, and had to be placed automagically on our Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) server nightly. Then, these files were "sucked into" the Identity Automation solution, and magic things started to happen.From these data files, Identity Automation is able to control our Active Directory, GoogleApps for Education and the 38 district information systems staff and/or students have to interact with. We also had to setup two servers that would enable the transfer of data, remote access for Identity Automation support staff. While this seems complicated, consider that they eliminated our data creation mess for various solutions, solving our account management "wicked problem.""We use Identity Automation. They are out of Houston. And I highly recommend them!"--CTO from a Texas School DistrictIdentity Automation, however, can be expensive to launch ($30K for Year 1, and about $8K thereafter annually). Of course, you are getting great support and this can be a life-saver in small to mid-size school districts who can't afford a dedicated systems interface specialist position.Find out more:View list of Texas School Districts using productContact Info: EST Group ((817) 271-3178) + Identity Automation ((281) 220-0021); Primary Contacts areMark Hanna and Tim Till (ttill@identityautomation.com), respectively.Videos: Watch Intro Video | School Case StudyCase Studies: Charlotte County, ChesterfieldSolution Provider #2 - Tools4Ever's UMRAUser Management Resource Administrator (UMRA), described by some as being less "turn-key" than Identity Automation, requires someone on staff who can knowingly work with the solution. "It's like Active Directory Tool but on steroids!!" shared one colleague. This is a capable solution used by several Texas school districts and one of the top two middle to large sized school districts should consider.Tools4Ever's solution has a great video explaining the challenges and the solution offerings they have:As one school district CTO put it:UMRA is an upfront purchase, rather than a subscription) product for managing network accounts, home directories, Exchange, Lync, Google Apps, etc. for students and teachers.  We use UMRA from Tools4Ever and have a superb experience with their support and programming teams, having used their product for about 7 years. Teachers and students can log into the school district network, GAFE, and many other things using their AD credentials.Solution #3 - Encore Software SolutionsThis is a solution a large Texas school district is using, and that is also endorsed by the Education Service Center, Region 11:Region 11 is partnering with Encore to provide an Identity Life Cycle/Federated Security/Single Sign on Application called Encore Software Solutions.  Encore Software Solutions automates the most important and often the most complex functions required to connect users to necessary resources.  ESS provides user management (creation, change, archival, removal and self service), provisioning of resources (applications, information and data) and seamless secure access (Federation and Single Sign on) to those resources for resources both on premise and hosted 3rd party platforms. Read more.You can watch a 1-hour demo of their product online, but here's a shorter video, too.Find out more:ESC-11 Information PageTxCTO PresentationEncore Comparison to other SSO SolutionsEncore Value StatementEncore vs Clever ComparisonAND (not necessarily OR yet),Solution #4 - Clever.comWhile not perceived to be a 100% solution--given that it doesn't facilitate access (yet?) to the big 3 publishers or the new out of the ordinary vendor that just pops up unexpectedly (for example, the San Antonio, Texas Municipal Court is looking to get student/staff data to help Texas districts comply with new truancy laws...and they need data files!)--it takes a novel approach to banishing the nightmare.Clever.com's approach.That approach is to provide their Single Sign-On service to school districts at no charge (yes, sign-up is free!), asking districts to provide only 5 data files (easy), which they, in turn, use to interface with over 250 vendor partners (e.g. Khan Academy). The vendors are charged. This solution makes a lot of sense, bypassing the problem districts face in generating data files for all their potential partners and allowing Clever.com to deal with all the issues, such as student data privacy, syncing data nightly or more with others."Why is Clever of value, especially to school districts that may already have another solution in place?" I asked. The response was a cool "Do you want to manage all those point to point integrations or let Clever handle one to many integrations?" With that answer, one immediately realizes the benefits that Clever offers--why waste some dynamic individual's time slicing and dicing data files for various vendors? Instead, have that person create 5 files and let Clever do the hard work.The main challenge Clever.com faces, though, is getting large district textbook publishers to take advantage of their Application Programming Interface (API) to allow the flow of data from the District's Student Information System (SIS) to the vendor partners."Clever is very transparent about our commitment to privacy and security. We are their [school districts and smaller vendors] security infrastructure. We have invested in the resources so districts, as well as some of our vendors, don't have to." Once you are sending your 5 data files to Clever in an automated manner, Clever represents that data in a dashboard that allows the District access to ALL of the vendor partners Clever has. For example, if you want all students in the District to get access to Code.org or Khan Academy, you just indicate that via the panel. Or, if you only want math students at a certain campus to get access, then you make those selections and submit the request. The interface appears easy and straightforward.Once data is syncing on a regular schedule, students have the option to login to ANY of the systems with a single sign-on.As I reflect on the solutions available, I am inclined to combine solutions at this point--one of the first 3 solutions at cost plus Clever at no charge. The main benefit of this approach is that schools build the capacity needed in-house to slice and dice data, but also capitalize on Clever.com's pre-existing vendor partner relationships. Instead of the arduous process of building data files needed for 250 partners, you just connect with Clever and focus on the data files that Clever does NOT support, but which you need. This is a much smaller number!Find out more:Clever.com Watch intro videoStudent Data PrivacyWhat Schools Are Saying about CleverA Case Study: Sunnyside Schools3-ConclusionWhile a potentially complex topic, one perspective that needs to be discussed is, Why are digital textbook publishers not getting together with the Texas Education Agency or state agency to make this user provisioning process easier for school districts? Probably what is needed is a federal agency to require states to standardize their student/staff information systems so that vendors work with ONE set of data files, rather than one per school district. Is that likely to happen? No, because this nightmare is perpetrated on all by partisan politics that are divisive and built-by committees of rivals.So, if you're a school district, I recommend you take the following steps:Hire someone who can slice and dice data. A job description exists already for you to start with.Select a turn-key solution provider, whether it's Identity Automation, UMRA, Encore, that is up to you.Sign up with Clever. Since it is free, there is no cost and you can connect to many different providers with a single sign-on, eliminating problems you would face otherwise doing things yourself.Lobby, demand, protest legislators to take the steps needed to eliminate the daily horrors that begot The Texas Digital Data Nightmare.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure