5

THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, November 13, 2020 Page 5 School communication technology moves to forefront during pandemic Malden School Committee gets detailed update from city tech chief By Steve Freker T he head of the city’s Information Technology (IT) department got right to the point Monday night. “In the midst of a pandemic, we’ve been turned on our heads – but we’ve responded,” Anthony Rodrigues said, as he began a detailed report to the School Committee on the status of the city’s IT system as it pertains to the Malden Public Schools. Rodrigues appeared at Monday night’s virtual School Committee meeting at the request of Superintendent of Schools John Oteri in concert with a desire by Ward 6 School Committee Member Joseph Gray for an update. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and schools nationwide reverting to remote learning for the last few months of the school year this past spring, school communication technology has moved to the forefront. The trend has continued at the start of the school year and into the fall as approximately 55 percent of school districts nationwide have remained in remote learning mode, including Malden Public Schools. More reliant on technology and how it is used “We’ve become more reliant on technology and in the way we use that technology in our schools,” said Superintendent Oteri. “We introduced Chromebooks districtwide; we upgraded our Wi-Fi system and switched to an entirely new method of instruction without the benefit of any long-term planning.” Rodrigues explained how the dichotomy of the information technology network for the school system has dramatically shifted with the introduction of the remote learning model. Since the start of the remote learning model in the spring until the present, the Malden Public Schools have distributed personal laptop computer Chromebook devices to all of its just over 6,200 students. Previously, the school department’s information technology system was set up to deal with internal communications, with about 3,0004,000 devices communicating internally, as high school students had about 1,800 devices in use as well as in-school devices in some of the younger grades. With the advent of remote learning districtwide, the number of communication points Anthony Rodrigues Malden IT Director and the “direction” of the delivery and interaction shifted dramatically. With remote learning, all of the monitoring and interaction was shifted externally, outside of the school buildings, and this was a change that happened in a very short time period, Rodrigues said. IT Director Rodrigues: “It was uncharted territory” “It was uncharted territory, but we adapted,” Rodrigues said, explaining that upgrades and changes were made, including the increased use of “cloud” technology. Cloud use is when digital resources are stored in the virtual space by way of networks, often satellite networks. It allows people to share information and applications across the internet without overtaxing or being restricted by physical equipment or locations. The main use of the cloud technology is in external authentication, Rodrigues said, which enables the IT system to identify quicker and more efficiently the increased number of points of contact that are now in play externally. A recent upgrade “shifted geography in 72 hours, which was a big accomplishment,” Rodrigues said. “We now have capacity to handle 9,000 external connections seamlessly, which surpasses what we require on a daily basis.” Rodrigues said he works closely with all city departments, including the school department, and that the relationship has led to a successful adaptation to the newest form of learning for local students. “It’s been a daunting task to shift this operation so quickly,” Rodrigues said. “There have been some brief interruptions in services as we’ve gone along, but overall we have been successful. We also have enough IP space to grow, if needed.” “We have had some hiccups, Joseph Gray Malden School Committee but we’ve never crashed,” he added. “I would not ever have foreseen this degree of [internet] traffic that we now handle [with the schools], but we’ve adapted. Malden is faring far better than most [districts] due to the technology investment we have made.” “Help Desk” available for families with tech issues Supt. Oteri and Rodrigues both acknowledged the value of the outside agency Help Desk available to all Malden Public School families if they have issues using Chromebook devices; many of them are first-time users. The Help Desk can be accessed by calling 781-709-8080 and is available 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. If someone needs help, they can also go to the Malden Public Schools website and click on a link for a real-time online chat. Supt. Oteri also told the School Committee that Malden Public Schools has also provided nearly 400 Wi-Fi internet accessing “hotpots” at no charge to families who had no or weak internet service, which complements the individual devices. He acknowledged the work being done by administration, educators and staff to assist families in navigating the remote learning system. “In many ways the system we now use resembles a small college or community college with the online aspect, and our technology staff is stretched out. The complexity increases when the devices are not here in the buildings. We have adjusted, but we may need a plan in the future,” Supt. Oteri added. Gray, who himself works professionally in the IT field, thanked Rodrigues for his presentation: “It was an incredible presentation and gave us all a very good perspective on how the city and schools are handling technology issues.” www.eight10barandgrille.com We Have Reopened for Dine-In and Outside Seating every day beginning at 4 PM WE'RE OPEN! 8 Norwood Street, Everett (617) 387-9810 STAY SAFE! SABATINO INSURANCE AGENCY Call for a Quote 617-387-7466 Or email Rocco@sabatino-ins.com We cover: * Auto * Home * Boat * Renter * Condo * Life * Multi-Policy Discounts * Commercial 10% Discounts * Registry Service Also Available http://www.sabatino-ins.com SABATINO 564 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 617-387-7466 Hours of Operation are: Mondays - Fridays 9am to 5pm Saturdays by appointment only

6 Publizr Home