Technology Rescoures

Endeavoring to equip all students with the technology skills and experiences that will enable them to be competent and technologically literate citizens for the 21st Century.

Goals and Objectives:

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and Herndon High School provide technology resources so that teachers can achieve goals related to integrating technology throughout the curriculum and enriching the educational experience. Technology resources are designed to support the goals and objectives of the educational mission.

Network Infrastructure:

Fairfax County has installed and maintains a fiber-optic and high-speed network for hard-wired and wireless connectivity in all rooms at Herndon High School. The network architecture enables sufficient bandwidth to provide stable service to the Internet and access to centralized resources.

Hardware:

Herndon High School maintains a variety of servers, personal computers, laptops, and peripheral devices that are available to students and teachers in the Hornet Community. There are over 1,100 PC's, laptops, and computing devices at Herndon High School. Access to and storage space is provided to all students, teachers, and support personnel on secure networked drives.

Other hardware devices such as - networked and desktop printers and copiers, LCD projectors, interactive whiteboards including SMARTboard and Mimio, digital cameras (still, movie, and document), scanners, mobile computing tablets, student response systems, and other computing or peripheral devices are available for instructional use.

Computer Labs:

Two 30-computer research labs, two 16-laptop mobile labs, and 32 PCs in the Media Center are available for general instructional use. Several departments including Business, Computer Graphics, English, Education for Employment, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Fine Arts, Guidance and Assessment, Foreign Language, Health, Marketing, Math, ROTC, Science, Social Studies, and Special Education have desktop computers, mobile labs, and peripheral devices to support specific objectives in their curriculum.

Technology Resources for Teachers and Staff:

Technology resources are available for all teachers in the Teacher Training Lab, Media Center, and in all departmental workrooms.

All teachers and support personnel have a laptop or desktop and access to peripheral devices that are provided to support their role in the educational mission or curricular goals.

Software:

A standard package of software such as the virus-protection software, the Microsoft Office Suite, and browsers that allow access to the Internet and web-based applications such as Blackboard and testing and assessment programs is installed on all student computers. In addition, curriculum-specific software has been installed on computers that are assigned to specific departments. Selected server-based applications are available to students, teachers, and staff.

Web-based resources such as the FCPS websites and Herndon High School home page, as well as applications including; Blackboard, Parentview, and WeCare have been deployed to promote communication between and among students, teachers, parents, and members of the community.

Support:

A full-time on-site TSSPC (technology support specialist), SBTS (school-based support specialist), and a team of technical personnel are available to support and maintain the technology resources. Support is also provided by a HIT Team person in each department and Student Technology Assistants.

Responsibilities and Consequences:

In order to maintain stability and security of the computers and network resources for the entire Hornet Community, all users are expected to abide by guidelines, regulations, and directives as stated in the FCPS policies such as the Acceptable Use Policy and the Student Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R). Individuals who deliberately, or through transgressions, do not abide by the guidelines that have been established for the common good, will lose privileges or access to resources as defined in the Computer and Network Consequences framework.

A variety of safety and security programs and initiatives such as iSafe have been deployed by the County and Herndon High School. The goal of these efforts is to reduce the potential for harm and to educate users. Safety measures such as virus-protection software and blocking websites that are inappropriate for an educational setting have been put into place.

Innovation Institute:

The Department of Special Services (DSS) in collaboration with the Instructional Services Department (ISD) and the Department of Information Technology (DIT) is sponsoring an Innovation Institute to support teachers as they develop innovative ways to integrate students' personal mobile devices into classrooms and instruction. Teachers will be exploring creative ways to use students' personal devices to foster 21st century skills are encouraged to apply as a part of a school team. Teams are comprised of at least one special education teacher, one general education teacher, school based technology specialist, and an administrator. Teams meet for professional development opportunities throughout the year and participate in a Share Fair in June. The Herndon High School team was accepted as part of the County-wide Innovation Institute project. The focus of the Innovation Institute at Herndon High School is on expanding the use of BYOD in the classroom for instruction.

Bring Your Own Device

Additional Technology Resources

  • Technology - FCPS provides an array of technology resources to ensure students experience a digitally rich learning environment that meets their instructional needs.

  • Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety - Developing responsible and productive digital citizens.

  • Student Information System (SIS) - The Student Information System (SIS) Parent Account Access allows parents access to teacher grade books, attendance information, course history and other useful information.

  • New Blackboard Mobile App - Directions how to download and setup the Bb Mobile App for both Apple and Android users.