Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education

PROGRAM EVALUATION PROFILE

*Refer to Specific Recommendations for Improvement

Standard
Met

PROGRAM EVALUATION SUMMARY

The Computer Repair and Networking program at Canadian Valley Technology Center, El Reno campus, is a two-instructor program offering 1575 clock hours of instruction in computer and peripheral repair, network design, installation, setup, configuration, and security. The program includes IT Essentials (computer hardware, operating systems, software, and networking operating systems): client/server network analysis; network security and administration; diagnostic software use; basic spreadseet, data base, presentation office and word processing software operation and management; Internet browser and email use; data communciation; network cabling (Category 5 and fiber optics) installation, maintenance, and repair; wireless networking; network software installation, configuration, and maintenance; and customer service and employability skills. Career majors are offered in PC Support Technician, Network PC Support Specialist, Newwork Systems Technician, Network Systems Engineer, and Enterprise Netwokr ASsociat. The program is a Cisco Networking Local Academy, formerly with Regional Academy support at this campus but presently not affiliated with a Regional Academy. Instruction is open-entry, open-exit, competency-based, and sef-paced, combined with instructor-centered lectures as appropriate. The program operates ten months per year. A cooperative greement is in place with Redlands Community College for 27 hours, with four degree plans available.

The objective of the program isi to prepare students for employment in one of the identified majors or fro continued education. The students served include juniors and seniors from local high schools and half-time as well as full-time adult students. Current enrollment is 35 morning students (21 high school students and 14 adults) and 34 afternoon students (26 high school students and 8 adults). Six of the adult students attend full-time.

The program is well organized and supported with outstanding curriculum and equipment. test-bank servers are in use, which allows students to have remote access to them and distributes the load among several machines to prevent bottlenecks from forming and acquaints students with this important skill. Students are assigned to make presentations to their peers to reinforce their interpersonal skills and provide encouragement to develop their research, reading, writing, and presentation skills.

Courses in network and Internet security are being added to the curriculum, with probable implementation next fall. Both instructors have been through the required training, and appropriate curriculum and equipment are being researched.

The instructors are well suited by their experience and education to lead this program. Their backgrounds enable them to effectively relate the labs to real-world problems students will face.

The lab is spacious and attractive. An excellent cable management system is in place and instructors at other technology cetners are often encouraged to visit this program to observe the system.

The equipment is comparable to several common platforms students will see in industry, including Macintosh systems. The quality student workstations provide ample room and organization from the simplest labs to the most complex, involving assembly and configuration of client-server networks. Laptops are available to allow students to disassemble and reassemble them adn observe the ajor differences in architecture between laptops adn desktops. A wide variety of reference materials, periodicals, and media is available and used effectively.

The availability of the instructional assistant to help with lab setup, troubleshooting, and repairs is a great help to the instructors and allows them to focus on instructional issues and assisting students.

The SkillsUSA chapter hosts LAN parties for gamers. Through this activity, funds are accumulated to purchase CompTIA vouchers for students to take the A+ and Net+ exams.

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Cox Internet service would be helpful in moving the program off the school network for security purposes and would provide the opportunity for the program to develop its own website for promoting the LAN (local area network) partis and to provide studetns experience in setting up virtual private networks (VPN).

A more substantial media cart would be helpful to accommodate the LCD projector and other connecte electronics in the classroom and may help to prevent accidental damage to the equipment.

The abandoned electrical outlets in the floor have become an issue because students' chairs roll into them as teh students work around their station. These outlets could very simply be patched over with an hydraulic cement product such as Rockite. Additional floor maintenance (patching where tiles are gouged or where tiles are missing) would greatly improve the appearance of the lab.

The sheer number of computers in use is taxing the existing electrical system. Consideration should be given to adding circuits to help balance the load. A circuit should support a maximum of 8 to 10 computers with LCD monitors or a lesser number if using CRT monitors.

INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: <type what you did here: .>

The south exit from the classroom is very difficult to use. The door latch is so tight in the jamb that it takes great force to open the door, which must then be slammed to reengage the latch. This presents a safety hazard should students need to exit quickly, and a security concern should the door be opened and then not latched securely. A little work with a file should create the clearance needed to free up the mechanism.

Students would benefit from the CareerSafe online safety training. The injury and death statistics for workers in the 18 to 25 age range are astonishing and many could be avoided by appropriate instruction.

The safety test is fairly weak and needs to be expanded to inclue more safety topics. The test should include items on electrical safety, personal protective equipment, right-to-know, bloodborne pathogens, MSDS sheets, and emergency school procedures.

INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: <type what you did here>