Consensus from the principals, project administrators and teachers involved in Northland’s Community Technicians project is that the region’s three technicians, Graham Dalton, Emily Glew and Tristan Blainey are fast becoming invaluable resources to the schools they serve.
Opononi Area School’s ICT teacher, Rowena Reweti, says having Emily has removed the uncertainty around the reliability and accessibility to the school’s ICT resources.
“We’ve gone from hopeless to hopeful. I don’t stress anymore as I know Emily will sort it out when she gets to school and it’s not if she’ll get here but when she gets here,” says Rowena.
Boyce Davey, principal of Kaikohe’s Northland College describes Graham as a “wonderful asset” and admires his perseverance in overcoming obstacles to continue on with the Community Technicians project.
Further south, Ruawai College ICT administrator Amanda King, says the Community Technician concept is a welcome one and is essential if schools’ want to maintain a high level ICT infrastructure.
“Tristan provides continuity to the schools’ technical support needs. A Community Technician gets to know a schools needs and history whereas if you’re getting a technician coming from one business then another business they’re often at cross purposes, are out to make money and you’re not always getting objective advice,” says Amanda.
Graham Dalton spends 30 hours a week at Northland College and says his knowledge and understanding of ICT over the last five months has grown tremendously but he still has a lot to learn. Graham is grateful for the time Boyce has given to him to familiarise himself with the school’s network.
“The support has been awesome and I’ve been allowed to move at my own pace and not been overloaded with things that are out of my league,” says Graham.
With new computers in the school, Graham has spent many hours dragging programmes down from the server, installing software and resetting forgotten passwords.
At least 10 hours per week is devoted to study, and Graham was duly rewarded when he passed all three of his term one exams recently. Justifiably proud, Graham says that the Community Technicians project has provided him the mental stimulation and the challenge he needed.
In contrast to Graham’s quiet self-effacing approach, Emily Glew sent a survey around the teachers at Opononi Area School, which caters from primary through to secondary, to assess the school’s competing and differing ICT demands.
“The survey helped give me an overview of all the different areas in the school and their specific needs. Buying a whole lot of hardware was not going to solve the problem. I’m trying to work out what the school needs and where its ICT strategy is going long-term,” says Emily.
Armed with the information, Emily made seven recommendations, including having a separate room for multimedia studies senior students; an upgrade of junior computers; the development of an intranet and the start up of professional development groups.
Emily’s enthusiasm and proactive attitude has been a blessing for the small Hokianga school.
“To actually have someone in here so I don’t have to think about the computers is heaven and she does a very good job,” says Teresa Lomas, Opononi Area School’s Administration Manager.
With recently upgraded computers installed there have been a few teething troubles, which Emily says are slowly being sorted out through a process of “trial and error”. The internet connection has also been playing up and having several “hissy fits.”
Putting in long hours to rectify problems has seen Emily do a term’s hours in just three weeks. Study is crammed in between work and looking after her ailing mother, which she says can be hard to juggle at times.
“I’m just feeling my way but I’ve learnt heaps and am enjoying it,” says Emily.
If Emily gets really stuck, fellow technician Tristan is just a phone call away.
Dargaville-based Tristan Blainey has wide experience with network servers and has made several dashes north to help Emily and Graham where he can.
“I have an aptitude for servers and I recently set up servers for Dargaville Intermediate and Dargaville Primary Schools,” says Tristan.
Working 20 hours per week, Tristan works a rotation of four schools spending one day a week at Ruawai College and splits the remainder of his time between the other schools.
Tristan has a full diary of commitments at each school involving server maintenance, backup procedures and installing and upgrading software and programmes.
“I’m installing the upgrade E-Trust anti virus and ‘Career Quest’ for Ruawai College but at the primary school I’m installing something called ‘Geek Log’. It’s a blogging site where the idea is the children will get on and put stories on, other classes will go on and have a look.”
Like the others, Tristan is enjoying the role and is managing the study but financially is finding the going tough but says once he’s qualified and starts advertising his services the financial pressure should ease.
“I just have to be patient and get through the next few months.”
In July, Northland’s Community Technicians head south to catch up with the rest of the country’s technicians, but in the meantime they’re just getting on with being invaluable to their schools.
