Technology Department

Director of Technology

Mr. Paul Babinsky
pbabinsky@mabears.net

Technology Assistant

Mr. Leonard Brylewski
lj@mabears.net

The Technology Department - Is responsible for the management and support of the technology architecture, hardware, software, and the respective resources throughout the Mahanoy Area School District. The Technology Department implements technology programs based on K-12 best practices that support the District's educational goals.

Technology Overview - The technology department maintains, and upgrades computer systems for the students and faculty alike. Our ultimate goal, is to keep our school's technology current with the lastest trends in the technological world. We keep our school's departments moving forward, and keep up with the high demand for UP-Time. The following are some of the technological advances our school has made in the past year:

• Three new servers
• 2 New computers for the Yearbook
• Replaced all 10 Mb switches in the Elementary and Middle schools
• Wireless Infustructure
  • 20 Access Points in total
• Implemented Classrooms for the Future (CFF)
  • 150 Wireless Laptops
  • 6 Mobile Carts
  • 6 Promethian Smart Boards
  • 6 Projectors
• Implemented approximately 50 projectors in addition to CFF
• 100 new Dell computers
• Website Re-design
• 24 SMARTBoards District Wide (30 Interactive Whiteboards)
• 2 New copiers in the Middle School, and High School Libraries
• 3 Mobile Video Conference Carts

Future Projects - Mahanoy Area is always looking for ways to advance in technology. We are currently looking into the following as projects:

• ThinNet
• Classlink
• 1 New Application, and Share server
• 2 New computers for the Yearbook
• SMARTBoards
• CFF Year 2
• 10 Access Points

Network - The district buildings connect via fiber optic cable providing a high-speed wide area network. Our infrastructure consists of a gigabit backbone using worldwide leader 3com switches in all building throughout the school district. Recent infrastructure upgrades provide complete wireless coverage in all school & administration buildings. The new infrastructure allows for greater student access to resources, and overall better reliablility. Overall Mahanoy Area is on the cutting edge of network technology.

Our Wireless Infustructure allows us to have a fast and reliable connection to our network district wide. We in the technology department can use this to our advantage, so we can remote into our servers from anywhere in the building wirelessly. This saves us a lot of time having to run back and forth between buildings to get to our servers.

Instructional/Application Software – Providing both instructional and business applications for district employees and students increased computer use 100% over the past 5 years. Here is a list of the applications provided district wide:

• Microsoft Office 2000, 2003, and 2007
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro, XP SP2 Pro, Vista Business
• Athena Library application
• Compass Learning (Math & Reading)
• CCC
• Rosetta Stone (ESL)
• Accelerated Reader (Online)
• Study Island (Online)
• Adobe PageMaker 7.0
• Adobe Studio MX (Web Development)
• Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium (Photo, and Web Development)
• MicroType 4
• GenevaLogic Vision
• SMART Tools