I started my internship with a chromebook repair job and ended it with tearing down a classroom LAN and computer lab. Both a sign of the times and maybe a hint of the direction organizations are heading in regards to a lighter hardware load and the implementation of cloud services. I probably touched at least a thousand computers during my time at the Mt. Baker school district. From switching Windows 7 machines out for brand new ones, or in most cases, newer ones that at least ran Windows 10, to checking in student chromebooks (hundreds) and enrolling new chromebooks (500, previously thought was 900). If you throw in the inventory of all the document cams, televisions and voip phones, well we might be talking 1000+. I experienced what I believe are some of the day to day duties of the IT department. This was summer break, so I really didn't get to witness ticket volume one might see when school is in session. There were a handful of individual problems we needed to address, but I'm sure there are many more problems during the regular school year that are attended to. Overall, the experience was really helpful in understanding the breadth of the technical and interpersonal skills needed as IT professional in an organization this size.
The first few days on the job I realized I really needed to scan through some of my A+ notes. Luckily I had google on hand and when told to grab a vga to DVI adapter, an image search, with fast moving thumbs on my phone, aided me. I definitely got a refresher on monitor ports and power supply and hard-drive troubleshooting. I can also identify at least 7 Dell towers by model name and serial number conventions; probably not something I will use in the future, unless I get a sales job. UPS units were installed in all the MDF and IDFs across the main campus and to the elementary school in Acme and the Middle school in Kendall. There were different size units installed depending on the power requirements. An interesting feature of these units was the option to remove the display and control module and mount them on a wall, if the need of multiple units were required for a room with multiple racks of servers and other network equipment.
Some Group Policy business early in my internship gave me some practical experience with adding and switching machines and users to different OU's. Thank goodness some of that was fresh in my mind so I could at least have a look of comprehension on my face as I was given the details of my tasks. Adding brand new computers to the domain and naming also required some OU adding. A whole new lab of 30 new machines was joined to the domain and customized with required software through group policy. Some of the older machines we used to replace even older machines first needed to be imaged with specific versions of Windows prior to joining them to the domain and dropping them in an OU. We used a network imaging LAN server application running on Linux called FOG. FOG is an open source software that stores and installs images, as well as performing other tasks. I was really amazed how quickly it worked as compared to some of the other methods I have used before.
Midway through my internship, the IT department switched to a new a new ticketing and asset managing system called Incident IQ I was added with privileges so I could do inventory work. It seemed to be a very robust environment with many options for importing and exporting data from many platforms. In our case, we were able to add enrolled chromebooks via a spreadsheet using google sheets. This can be imported to IQ and later be used to assign individual chromebooks to students. In addition to the chromebooks, all hardware, including phones, projectors, computers and printers, were added to the system. For better ticketing efficiency, all of these units were assigned a classroom and will all have a history to refer to once a specific asset has had a ticket assigned to it. Included in the assigned data will be the problem, the person who took the ticket as well as other vital information that might expedite the resolve. Assets can also be assigned to other assets; For example, a laptop could be assigned a charging cart and vice-versa.
One snag my supervisor discovered early on with the new chromebooks is that they were labeled with barely perceivable data matrix codes. Even the serial numbers printed on these machines required some serious squinting (at least for me) A new scanner was ordered for these tiny 6mm square codes and thankfully it worked upon testing. It would have been a nightmare for teachers to have to type in the 10 character serial number for each chromebook, especially since they are already enrolled and can't be checked out unless there is an exact match in the asset management system. The scanner had to be set up however to only output a single field of data. Data matrix codes have four quadrants of data and output them with a comma separated string. A little configuration with a limiting code fixed this issue.
I definitely entered this internship during a time of change and uncertainty. Wearing a face mask every day at work during the covid-19 pandemic didn't help putting the dark cloud of anxiety out of my thoughts. It did help knowing that a great effort is being made by this school district to try and address the needs of every student and being a small part in the helping the cause by preparing for the distribution of chromebooks to each young learner. Serving in this way gave the work a sense of purpose beyond simply responding to tickets. Being at a job like this long enough you get to witness the evolution of technology as it relates to education. Slide projectors are replaced with high definition movie projectors. Chalkboards are replaced with large touchscreen televisions. Overhead projectors are replaced with document cameras. All of these require preparing and continued support. I can't help but see a parallel between the technology and the young people that flow through the classrooms. Ultimately, the goal of all this electronic wizardry is to aid in the development of minds. For this reason and with the right mindset, there is a layer of nobility in this Gig(abyte).
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