THE CANTOR BUSINESS CENTER – JUNE 2010
The Cantor Business Center was dedicated on Friday, February 5, 2010.
It provides many amenities for students, teachers, and staff as a
place for study, research, and meetings. Within the Cantor Business
Center, there is a sizable business library, several internet and
printer ready computers, tables and chairs for small classes and
private conferences, SMART Board, and document camera for
presentations to small groups.
PROJECTS
Students of the Virtual Enterprise program currently serve as
attendants for the Cantor Business Center. They track the usage of
the Cantor Business Center by students, teachers and staff on an Excel
spreadsheet. The most recent information can be downloaded from the
following URL: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5046837/Cantor%20Library/Cantor%20Library%20User%20Sign%20In.xls
.
Next fall, I will create an Access database form to facilitate data
entry. This will enable Virtual Enterprise to gain experience with
other types of software that they will encounter in college and the
business world. In addition, funds permitting, and if I can overcome
the technical challenges, I would also like to utilize a barcode
scanner to automate the tracking of anonymous but unique user
statistics of the Cantor Business Center. Currently all students
enrolled at DeWitt Clinton HS are issued ID cards embedded with a
barcode of their OSIS number.
Additionally, when there are multiple students on duty, especially
after school, additional students serve as tutors to their peers. The
students enrolled in Virtual Enterprise are all Juniors and Seniors,
and many of them are Macy Honors students. Several of them are also
AP students, and have developed proficiency and mastery in their
requisite high school courses. Peer tutoring is a win – win for the
Virtual Enterprise tutor as well as the student being tutored. Not
only does the student seeking tutoring gain understanding in the
subject, but it reinforces the knowledge of the tutor. The tutor also
practices his or her verbal communication skills. The ability to
communicate effectively is the most important skill a student learns
in college and the professional workplace.
Next Fall, some of the Virtual Enterprise students at the Cantor
Business Center will serve as computer technicians to help teachers
put their laptops on the DWC wireless network, allow for wireless
printing at the departmental offices of the teachers, and also to help
interested teachers put up web pages for their classes using Blogger
and Dropbox. They can also be used to provide minor computer
maintenance such as helping their computers run more efficiently.
This provides a three-fold benefit.
First, teachers are able to integrate technology into their classroom
which will facilitate lesson development and planning. With a
dedicated web page for their classes, teachers can easily access, and
reuse lessons year after year. Class web pages also instill a culture
of communal sharing and camaraderie among the teachers, since their
web pages will be viewable among all the rest of the school community,
as well as the rest of the Internet.
The classes will also benefit. Assignments and announcements will
always be posted - never again will absence be tolerated as an
excuse for not being able to catch up. Student test scores will
increase as students will be able to review material at home, as well
as the classroom. Students also benefit by gaining exposure to how
the Internet is utilized in College.
By becoming more computer savvy, the Virtual Enterprise students
serving as the computer technicians gain experience that will make
them invaluable in the workplace. They learn how to interact with
clients, and accountability. VE students also learn trouble shooting
skills, when they diagnose computer problems, and find solutions for
those problems.
An example of what is possible with the class webpage can be found at
the URL of my Virtual Enterprise class:
http://dwcvirtualenterprise.blogspot.com . It contains hyperlinks to
other web pages, downloadable links for documents, Google Docs for
online collaboration among students, as well as embedded video for
multimedia rich lessons. Even if only a fraction of the teachers
avail themselves of this opportunity, the benefit to the school as a
whole will great.
FACILITIES
Students, teachers and staff alike are making great use of the meeting
spaces, computers, and printers of the Cantor Business Center. The
usage can be tracked at the same downloadable spreadsheet found above:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5046837/Cantor%20Library/Cantor%20Library%20User%20Sign%20In.xls
.
Many teachers use the enclosed space during their lunch periods in
order relax and unwind away from students, and appreciate the access
to the Internet available within the room. Additionally, many
departments hold their meetings in the enclosed meeting space within
the Cantor Business Library. For example, the Business Enterprise
Small Learning Community routinely holds their meetings there.
However, due to the fact that the Cantor Business recently opened
during this spring, not all the facilities are utilized. For
instance, the SMART Board has not been utilized yet. Teachers are not
yet aware they can avail themselves of this technology by speaking to
the librarians or myself. Next fall, I will try to utilize it for
after school SAT Prep sessions for my Virtual Enterprise students and
any other Dewitt Clinton students, space permitting, in order to
increase awareness among the general school population. I am also
involved in also in the middle of instructing teachers in the use of
the SMART Board in Professional Development sessions.
Additionally, the physical books found within the Cantor Business
Center are not being utilized. The hope is that in the future, I can
supplement the existing library with books that are related within the
business field, and career related titles. In addition, I hope to
create a project next year that will fully utilize these resources at
the Center.
With regards to equipment upgrades, I have installed wireless cards to
the 2 outer computers, and connected them to the wireless network.
This will enable all computers in the Cantor Business Center to print
without any difficulty to the B/W & color laser printers located at
the Center using a dedicated IP address for the printers, rather than
locally through another computer. Next year, I hope to obtain a fax
machine, so there will be a second fax machine in the school, not only
the one located within the Principal’s office. I also hope to obtain
a flatbed scanner capable of scanning legal sized documents to enable
teachers to put their worksheets, and tests up on their class web
pages.
Next year will be a great year for the Cantor Business Center and DWC
Virtual Enterprise, as it will become the nerve center for the
technological transformation of DeWitt Clinton HS.
Mr. Filipinas
Virtual Enterprise Coordinator
DeWitt Clinton HS
The Cantor Business Center was dedicated on Friday, February 5, 2010.
It provides many amenities for students, teachers, and staff as a
place for study, research, and meetings. Within the Cantor Business
Center, there is a sizable business library, several internet and
printer ready computers, tables and chairs for small classes and
private conferences, SMART Board, and document camera for
presentations to small groups.
PROJECTS
Students of the Virtual Enterprise program currently serve as
attendants for the Cantor Business Center. They track the usage of
the Cantor Business Center by students, teachers and staff on an Excel
spreadsheet. The most recent information can be downloaded from the
following URL: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/
.
Next fall, I will create an Access database form to facilitate data
entry. This will enable Virtual Enterprise to gain experience with
other types of software that they will encounter in college and the
business world. In addition, funds permitting, and if I can overcome
the technical challenges, I would also like to utilize a barcode
scanner to automate the tracking of anonymous but unique user
statistics of the Cantor Business Center. Currently all students
enrolled at DeWitt Clinton HS are issued ID cards embedded with a
barcode of their OSIS number.
Additionally, when there are multiple students on duty, especially
after school, additional students serve as tutors to their peers. The
students enrolled in Virtual Enterprise are all Juniors and Seniors,
and many of them are Macy Honors students. Several of them are also
AP students, and have developed proficiency and mastery in their
requisite high school courses. Peer tutoring is a win – win for the
Virtual Enterprise tutor as well as the student being tutored. Not
only does the student seeking tutoring gain understanding in the
subject, but it reinforces the knowledge of the tutor. The tutor also
practices his or her verbal communication skills. The ability to
communicate effectively is the most important skill a student learns
in college and the professional workplace.
Next Fall, some of the Virtual Enterprise students at the Cantor
Business Center will serve as computer technicians to help teachers
put their laptops on the DWC wireless network, allow for wireless
printing at the departmental offices of the teachers, and also to help
interested teachers put up web pages for their classes using Blogger
and Dropbox. They can also be used to provide minor computer
maintenance such as helping their computers run more efficiently.
This provides a three-fold benefit.
First, teachers are able to integrate technology into their classroom
which will facilitate lesson development and planning. With a
dedicated web page for their classes, teachers can easily access, and
reuse lessons year after year. Class web pages also instill a culture
of communal sharing and camaraderie among the teachers, since their
web pages will be viewable among all the rest of the school community,
as well as the rest of the Internet.
The classes will also benefit. Assignments and announcements will
always be posted - never again will absence be tolerated as an
excuse for not being able to catch up. Student test scores will
increase as students will be able to review material at home, as well
as the classroom. Students also benefit by gaining exposure to how
the Internet is utilized in College.
By becoming more computer savvy, the Virtual Enterprise students
serving as the computer technicians gain experience that will make
them invaluable in the workplace. They learn how to interact with
clients, and accountability. VE students also learn trouble shooting
skills, when they diagnose computer problems, and find solutions for
those problems.
An example of what is possible with the class webpage can be found at
the URL of my Virtual Enterprise class:
http://dwcvirtualenterprise.
other web pages, downloadable links for documents, Google Docs for
online collaboration among students, as well as embedded video for
multimedia rich lessons. Even if only a fraction of the teachers
avail themselves of this opportunity, the benefit to the school as a
whole will great.
FACILITIES
Students, teachers and staff alike are making great use of the meeting
spaces, computers, and printers of the Cantor Business Center. The
usage can be tracked at the same downloadable spreadsheet found above:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/
.
Many teachers use the enclosed space during their lunch periods in
order relax and unwind away from students, and appreciate the access
to the Internet available within the room. Additionally, many
departments hold their meetings in the enclosed meeting space within
the Cantor Business Library. For example, the Business Enterprise
Small Learning Community routinely holds their meetings there.
However, due to the fact that the Cantor Business recently opened
during this spring, not all the facilities are utilized. For
instance, the SMART Board has not been utilized yet. Teachers are not
yet aware they can avail themselves of this technology by speaking to
the librarians or myself. Next fall, I will try to utilize it for
after school SAT Prep sessions for my Virtual Enterprise students and
any other Dewitt Clinton students, space permitting, in order to
increase awareness among the general school population. I am also
involved in also in the middle of instructing teachers in the use of
the SMART Board in Professional Development sessions.
Additionally, the physical books found within the Cantor Business
Center are not being utilized. The hope is that in the future, I can
supplement the existing library with books that are related within the
business field, and career related titles. In addition, I hope to
create a project next year that will fully utilize these resources at
the Center.
With regards to equipment upgrades, I have installed wireless cards to
the 2 outer computers, and connected them to the wireless network.
This will enable all computers in the Cantor Business Center to print
without any difficulty to the B/W & color laser printers located at
the Center using a dedicated IP address for the printers, rather than
locally through another computer. Next year, I hope to obtain a fax
machine, so there will be a second fax machine in the school, not only
the one located within the Principal’s office. I also hope to obtain
a flatbed scanner capable of scanning legal sized documents to enable
teachers to put their worksheets, and tests up on their class web
pages.
Next year will be a great year for the Cantor Business Center and DWC
Virtual Enterprise, as it will become the nerve center for the
technological transformation of DeWitt Clinton HS.
Mr. Filipinas
Virtual Enterprise Coordinator
DeWitt Clinton HS
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