There's a new breed of administrator out there in America. Oh, he (or
she) might look much like the professional educator of years gone by--well
dressed, a people person, smart in financial and administrative details,
a consummate educator and principal teacher. But the 1998 administrator
needs something more: strong technological skills.
Technology is so woven into all levels of the curriculum, school life,
community, and professional goals of educators that it can't be isolated
from other aspects of an administrator's professional life. No longer can
administrators defer to their staffs for the details concerning technological
matters. Today's technosavvy administrator uses personal computers daily
(usually laptops), communicates via e-mail, creates and uses computer presentations,
and might even have a personal web page.
Knowing how important technology is to a school administrator's life,
I've been previewing administrative software over the past few months and,
in some cases, years. In the March issue, I'll discuss specific software
designed to handle information about enrollments, grades, scheduling, and
other school matters. But this month I'll concentrate on general administrative
software.
First, though, let me risk setting off a Holy War by offering a bit of
advice about platform choice. While Apple has enjoyed a long and wonderful
relationship with schools, Windows has become the overwhelming platform
choice of consumers. It's estimated that 95 percent of the computer market
will be Windows machines by the year 2000. Major universities that were
formerly all-Mac have switched to Windows. Perhaps it's time, even if you
are a devoted Mac user, to become fluent in both platforms. There's room
for both, but the dominant platform can't be ignored.
That said, here's my list of the essential software every technosavvy
administrator should have or know about:
Bookshelf 98.
Microsoft. (800) 426-9400. Windows
and Mac. Here's an absolutely stunning new version of Bookshelf that lets
you peruse Roget's Thesaurus, American Heritage Dictionary, a collection
of quotations, a zip code finder, a customized online web search powered
by Infoseek, and a world atlas and multimedia clips from Encarta Encyclopedia.
You'll want to keep this disk handy.
Expedia Streets
98. Microsoft. (800) 426-9400.
Windows 95 and NT only. If you need to find addresses when you travel to
conferences, you need this software. Consumer tests have shown this is the
easiest software to use for locating addresses, but it's not available for
Macs. If you're using a Mac, you'll want to turn to the granddaddy of CD
travel software, Street
Atlas USA 4.0, a Delorme
product with excellent search features. For more information, see or call
(800) 452-5931.
Foolproof Security.
SmartStuff Software. (800) 671-3999.
Mac and Windows. If you have problems with hackers or unauthorized software
on school computers, then you need protection software. Foolproof will allow
you to set as many or as few restrictions as you need on your computers.
One setting that prevents CD disks from being ejected is invaluable; the
software saved in that feature alone will pay for the price of the program.
In my opinion, this is the best security program for Macs.
Fortres 101.
Fortres Grand Corp. (800) 331-0372.
Windows. This is my favorite security software for Windows. Developed
by a former teacher, it has exceptional features that make it easy for even
nontechnical users to set restrictions and protect machines from problems
caused by deliberate or unintentional misuse. And the price is right
($295 for a building license).
Microsoft Office.
Microsoft. (800) 426-9400. Windows
and Mac. The ubiquitous Office comes in several versions, so be sure you
know what you're getting. The Small Business version does not include PowerPoint,
the de facto standard for professional computer presentations, but both
the Professional and Standard versions have PowerPoint bundled. The Standard
version is less expensive but does not include Access, the database program.
Usually the price differential is so slight that the Professional version
is the best choice. Every version comes with Excel for spreadsheet use and
Microsoft Word, which is quickly becoming the standard word-processsing
program for documents shipped from state agencies.
Norton Antivirus 4.0.
Symantec. (800) 441-7234. Windows.
Some 14,000 PC viruses are on the loose, just waiting to strike, so
if you haven't used antivirus software before now, you should probably start.
Norton provides free upgrades regularly on the Internet. Norton also sells
SAM, or Symantec Antivirus for Macintosh, but there are so few Mac viruses
that you can probably get by with the Gatekeeper
freeware. But if you use Microsoft Word on a Mac, you should consider getting
SAM because Gatekeeper does not detect or disinfect the hundreds of cross-platform
Word macro viruses that are of increasing danger.
Omniform.
Caere Corp. (800) 535-7226. Windows
and Mac. Omniform is an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program that
allows you to create documents that can be used as forms. Your present forms
can be scanned, faxed, or created from scratch with this program, so you
can move toward a paperless office and send superior-quality faxes. (Faxes
look twice as nice when sent from computer files instead of being photocopied
and fed into a manual scanner.) As a bonus, you'll have a computer record
of documents for easy retrieval and multiple transmissions.
Omnipage
Pro. Caere Corp. (800)
535-7226. Windows and Mac. Even if you have a scanner in the office, it's
probably not used to scan anything but photos. That's because the software
that came with scanner isn't very accurate at translating the characters
in documents. For that, you need the world's best OCR software: Omnipage
Pro. It will convert typed pages into digital format with 99 percent accuracy,
even retaining most original formatting. School secretaries will be thrilled
when they don't have to retype those long documents sent by state agencies.
The savings in typing time alone will pay for this software. (If you have
another kind of OCR software, you can probably save around $300 by purchasing
an upgrade.)
Print Artist
4.0 Platinum. Sierra. (800)
757-7707. Windows and Mac. Print Artist has 32,000 color graphics and virtually
all the features of the beloved Print Shop Publishing Suite. (This is especially
good news for Mac users, who've been disappointed by the Mac version of
the Print Shop program.) The new Platinum version includes Kai's Power Goo
for interesting special effects. An innovative crafts feature includes a
host of neat fold-and-paste projects.
The Print Shop Publishing Suite. Broderbund.
(800) 548-1798. Windows 95. The Print Shop series became a teenager this
year, making it one of the longest-lasting software series in the history
of personal computing. (More than 8 million copies have been sold since
1984.) The great graphics (more than 26,000 in the Windows 95 version) and
simple interface make this one a must-buy. Coupled with a nice color printer
like the Hewlett-Packard 1000, it can produce professional works with ease:
in-house newsletters, custom signs, student-achievement or staff-appreciation
certificates, and (using pre-perforated paper stock) business cards for
your staff.
Unfortunately for Mac users, the Windows version of Publishing Suite
continues to be far superior to anything the company offers for Mac. But
I personally subscribe to the theory that you can't be too rich or too thin
or have too many fun graphics programs. So I use both the Print Shop and
Print Artist on the same machine. For less than $90, you can own both of
these great programs, which I much prefer to the high-end $500 graphics
programs. Print Artist can feed in and use all the graphics from the Print
Shop installation (giving you over 50,000 graphics), and you can use Print
Artist to customize Print Shop graphics with different color schemes.
Professor Teaches series. Individual
Software. (800) 822-3522. Windows and Mac. This exceptional series of
interactive training CDs includes such titles as Professor Teaches Netscape
Navigator 4.0, Professor Teaches Internet Explorer, Professor Mac 7,
and Professor Teaches Office 97. The best part--besides the high quality
of instruction--is the price: $19.95 per CD. Buy a full set for your teachers'
take-home staff development in technology.
ResumeMaker
Deluxe. Individual
Software. (800) 822-3522. Windows and Mac. This award-winning software
has such exceptional career-planning features as multimedia clips of people
on the job in various vocations and an Internet database with thousands
of real job vacancies. The software helps job-hunters create professional-looking
resumes and even post their resumes on the web for perusal by potential
employers. The ResumeMaker comes in five versions, including one (ResumeMaker
Deluxe) that administrators will want to use for themselves. Buy ResumeMaker
with Career Planning (Windows only) for guidance counselors to use with
students, and they'll think you're a genius.
WinFax PRO. Symantec Corp. (800) 441-7234. Windows
and Mac. I've seen a lot of fax sofware over the past decade, but nothing
as user-friendly as WinFax Pro. I've been using it myself for seven years,
and it has never let me down. It does everything I want--and without a lot
of head-scratching. The latest model is even better, with advanced features
that are still easy to use. Put this on your must-buy list.
These products represent a hefty investment. That's why I recommend setting
aside a fixed amount in the school budget every year for new and peripheral
purchases in technology. By making this a yearly budget item, you can prevent
massive obsolescence and wild fluctuations in spending. You might also consider
leasing options for computers.
I also recommend setting aside another yearly sum of money for the existing
computer infrastructure. The sum should be considerable and should be divided
so 40 percent goes to staff training, 30 percent to new software, 20 percent
to peripheral supplies, and 10 percent to repairs. For further help in assessing
your needs and updating your existing technology plan, see my web site.
Russell Smith is an educational technology consultant at the Region 14
Education Service Center in Abilene, Texas. | 
