INTRANET - Collaboration Project: As the Information Age wraps up, the Levittown Computer Department begins new projects to enter into the Collaboration Age. The focus of instructional technology has been to instantly connect one another across oceans and time zones. Previously impossible challenges turn towards startling innovations. In order to thrive in this "always-on" digital community, teachers and students must become agile learners, collaborators, and creators while sharing digital content. This summer Levittown staff and students will take one step closer to bridging the digital gap connecting classrooms and community via the intranet.

Parent Portal - Communication Project: Levittown Public School District is pleased to announce the introduction of the new PowerSchool Parent Portal in the High Schools and Middle Schools. This new feature offers parents access to an internet-based website called PowerSchool Parent Portal. The new internet site is a convenient home-to-school collaboration tool offering the opportunity for parents to track their children's academic progress online via an easy-to-use website customized by Levittown Public Schools. Parents may visit this secure, password-protected site and view Attendance, Progress Reports, Report Cards, and 2010-2011 Course Requests. Visit http://levittownschools.com/parentportal to begin using the new portal.

Wireless Project - Infrastructure Summer Project: The Computer Department must continually make improvements to the computer and network infrastructure. In response to performance issues reported by both students and teachers with laptop carts, we are happy to announce recent improvements have been installed. Technicians will continue to perform installations and improvements this summer and prepare all district equipment for the start of school in September.

Improved Website Filter - Summer Project: The current web filter provides protection from 99.9% of inappropriate sites. Millions of websites are created daily making monitoring and verifying inappropriate sites difficult. The current web filtering technology recently announced that significant improvements have been made to this technology. The Computer Department is looking forward to making these upgrades this summer.

Server Virtualization Project - Ongoing Project: Todd F. Connell (Assistant Director / IT Specialist III) has been busy working on the Virtualization timeline and virtualizing district servers. While maximizing the utilization of servers within the district, this project allows Levittown to run several servers and applications on one physical server. Five years from now we will look back at an infrastructure which once had over 60 physical servers and is now running all of them on 3 or 4 physical servers.

Website Enhancements - Ongoing Project: Anthony Anzalone (Webmaster) is continuously improving the layout and functionality of the district’s website. Over time, as the community is educated about the power of our website, the district hopes to reduce paper, printing, and the cost of mailing. The website is a valuable tool that the district utilizes to bridge the communication gap. Stay tuned for design enhancements and communication improvements via our website.

INTRANET - Collaboration Project: As the Information Age wraps up, the Levittown Computer Department begins new projects to enter into the Collaboration Age.

The focus of instructional technology has been to instantly connect to one another across oceans and time zones. Previously impossible challenges turn towards startling innovations. In order to thrive in our "always-on" digital community, teachers and students must become agile learners, collaborators, and creators in sharing digital content.

The Intranet Project: Now that the foundation has been set, the Computer Department along with the Technology Committee are focused on teacher collaboration. We are currently in the process of configuring Microsoft's Intranet services. This can facilitate collaboration, provide content management features, implement educational processes, and supply access to information that is essential to Levittown's goals and processes.

Initial Intranet Goals: The Computer Department plans on using Microsoft Intranet Services to implement the following:

• CREATE a secure Intranet environment where teachers and administrators can view information and materials that aren't suitable for the district website.
• Develop building-level BLOGS where teachers and administrators can collaborate on educational techniques and best practices.

The Intranet's Potential Impact on Levittown: Content and information is everywhere. The work that we create is assessed by the value it brings to the people who read it or reply to it. Paper is not the best means to share our work. Facts and truths are constantly changing, and working together has become the norm, not the exception.

The Collaboration Age is about learning with others or different groups of people - individuals whom we have never met, but share our passions and interests and are willing to invest in exploring them together. The Computer Department plans on harnessing this technology so that we are in line with our students' ability to share and explore information.