Support and Competence Models of e-Schools Technicians
Pursuant to the contract on the participation in the e-Schools pilot project, CARNet is obliged to equip the schools with a local network and computer equipment, as well as to provide maintenance (e.g. in the event of a malfunction) during the pilot project, through contracts with the network and equipment suppliers. After the completion of the pilot project, the founder takes over the maintenance. During the project, the founder is obliged to provide schools with assistance in the use of the resources obtained within the project, for which purpose he is obliged to appoint an e-Schools technician. The role of the appointed e-Schools technician is to provide the school staff with assistance in the use of the school’s local network and computer equipment.
In order to ensure that e-Schools technicians are able to adequately provide support to schools, CARNet will organise their training. The training will be conducted by the suppliers of local networks and equipment and organised after the setup of a school’s network, that is, after the delivery of the equipment. Although the training is intended primarily for e-Schools technicians appointed by the founder, administrators from the school may also participate in it if they wish.
CARNet has proposed to the founders several models of organisation of support to the schools, that is, possible methods of appointment of e-Schools technicians. The founders may choose the model which suits them best.
The possible models are:
a) organisation of support within city services (e.g. by employing a person who will be responsible for the maintenance of the equipment and network in several schools);
b) organisation of support through contracts with companies providing maintenance;
c) organisation of support through the contracting of professional cooperation with an individual (e.g. a teacher at the school who has experience with similar work in the commercial sector).
Therefore, the model of support is chosen by the founder, while the price depends on the size of the school, the number of schools per founder to be chosen for the project and the model which the founder has chosen; thus, the specific budgets are adopted by each of the founders separately. After the selection of a support model, the founder is obliged, pursuant to the Contract, to deliver to CARNet the form for the appointment of the e-Schools technician.
The competences and knowledge which an e-Schools technician must possess
Provision of assistance in the use of networks:
- the OSI model;
- the TCP/IP model;
- network protocols (ARP, STP, IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP);
- network topologies and standards;
- IPv4/v6 addressing;
- structural cabling;
- local network architecture (design);
- Ethernet active network devices and configuration;
- wireless network infrastructure and configuration (WLC);
- an understanding and configuration of basic network services: PAT, NAT, DHCP, ACL, VPN;
- an understanding of the concept of Virtual LAN (VLAN) and routing;
- safety in local networks (firewall, logging, AAA, access to network devices, safety in the WEP and WPA wireless local networks);
- network problem detection and troubleshooting;
- an understanding of the concept of the control of entities in local networks and of the corresponding protocols (SNMP, SSH);
- documenting of computer networks.
Providing assistance in the use of equipment:
- basic knowledge of the administration of Windows operating systems;
- basic knowledge of the administration of mobile operating systems.
The supplier of the network and equipment is obliged to set up a helpdesk which will provide support to the schools involved in the project. The helpdesk will provide support only to persons selected by the school founders, that is, to appointed e-Schools technicians. Support will be provided by e-mail and telephone, with the option of leaving voicemail if the line is busy. The helpdesk working hours will be from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The deadline for replying to e-mails or voicemail is two hours, that is, on the following working day at the latest.
The form for the appointment of an e-Schools technician may be downloaded here