Comments for Matt MacDonald http://www.mattmacdonald.com Exploring and learning about the world Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:34:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on What if adding more money to our school budget doesn’t help our children as much as we hope? by Lynn http://www.mattmacdonald.com/2011/10/18/what-if-adding-more-money-to-our-school-budget-doesnt-help-our-children-as-much-as-we-hope/#comment-125 Lynn Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:34:00 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?p=483#comment-125 Another book worth reading above the one mentioned in your blog post is "The Underground History of American Education" you can actually read it for free here (written by a NYC teacher who after years of teaching and winning multiple awards left the profession in disgust): http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/ I think you are correct in the assumption that a 150 year old system, that was actually developed for the industrial revolution will not and cannot provide the "critical thinking" and individualized education that Parents want and expect out of Public Education today. The system has a foundation that worked back then, but does not work today. Drastic changes are needed and EVERYONE must realize that we each need to play our part in fixing it - first and foremost, in accepting that the system is broken (or outdated, however you want to view it) and must be re-built via a paradigm shift. My question though is this - will such a Goliath of administration and bureaucracy ever allow that change to truly happen? History has shown that institutions of this magnitude will fight to the death to keep the status quo - when will the tipping point occur where that status quo is no longer acceptable to the general public?? Another book worth reading above the one mentioned in your blog post is “The Underground History of American Education” you can actually read it for free here (written by a NYC teacher who after years of teaching and winning multiple awards left the profession in disgust):

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/

I think you are correct in the assumption that a 150 year old system, that was actually developed for the industrial revolution will not and cannot provide the “critical thinking” and individualized education that Parents want and expect out of Public Education today. The system has a foundation that worked back then, but does not work today. Drastic changes are needed and EVERYONE must realize that we each need to play our part in fixing it – first and foremost, in accepting that the system is broken (or outdated, however you want to view it) and must be re-built via a paradigm shift.

My question though is this – will such a Goliath of administration and bureaucracy ever allow that change to truly happen? History has shown that institutions of this magnitude will fight to the death to keep the status quo – when will the tipping point occur where that status quo is no longer acceptable to the general public??

]]> Comment on I support our teachers – I don’t support the Teacher Contract by Intriguied http://www.mattmacdonald.com/2011/06/17/i-support-our-teachers-i-dont-support-the-teacher-contract/#comment-124 Intriguied Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:50:00 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?p=360#comment-124 Matt, I find your article intriguing and useful, but I think you have to take into consideration things that data cannot as well. School climate for a teacher in Watertown is very difficult. Young teachers, have young families, and large debt as teachers need to get a M.Ed. in their early years to obtain professional licensure from the state of MA. These young teachers have to go where they can earn money to pay for their student loans and their families. This is no different than someone seeking employment in the private sector. Most young teachers in the district have second jobs to help cover this, on top of their full time teaching jobs, and working summer school. So the argument that they have the summer's off doesn't work. Add to this the climate where many view you as in adequate at your job without even meeting you or watching your teaching; while people post such insults in papers and online... it doesn't make for a good working environment. Then worrying every year will you have a job, will you make enough money to pay for your bills? Yes many people in this country are facing the same issues. But at the same time many people in this country are not serving as a scapegoat for the towns of this nation, blaming greedy teachers- who are working well over 60 hours a week, so they can do the job they love, teach- while still making enough money to cover the bills. Teachers do not have the liberty like other town employees who negotiate contracts (police and fire) to make up for losses in contract funding with overtime and details. If they could, the town would certainly go broke. Most teachers in the district work well beyond their contract hours. The fact that many in this town are enraged by the teachers "work to contract" actions is puzzling? If anything it should make us examine how much teachers do outside of that contract. If it is so detrimental to their child's learning perhaps it should be part of the contract? Watertown teachers are going above and beyond every day and to be punished for the actions of the minority of teachers who are not as "talented" as their counterparts is just disrespectful. Administration should do their part and take responsibility for handling these situations, they are not without power or a part in that minority. In every aspect of the working community, for profit, non-profit, and public service this minority exists, and no this minority does not always lose their job. I would ask that you not only take a look at the data for teachers, but also the data for the town. I also ask that you take into consideration the people involved. Matt, I find your article intriguing and useful, but I think you have to take into consideration things that data cannot as well. School climate for a teacher in Watertown is very difficult. Young teachers, have young families, and large debt as teachers need to get a M.Ed. in their early years to obtain professional licensure from the state of MA. These young teachers have to go where they can earn money to pay for their student loans and their families. This is no different than someone seeking employment in the private sector. Most young teachers in the district have second jobs to help cover this, on top of their full time teaching jobs, and working summer school. So the argument that they have the summer’s off doesn’t work. Add to this the climate where many view you as in adequate at your job without even meeting you or watching your teaching; while people post such insults in papers and online… it doesn’t make for a good working environment. Then worrying every year will you have a job, will you make enough money to pay for your bills? Yes many people in this country are facing the same issues. But at the same time many people in this country are not serving as a scapegoat for the towns of this nation, blaming greedy teachers- who are working well over 60 hours a week, so they can do the job they love, teach- while still making enough money to cover the bills. Teachers do not have the liberty like other town employees who negotiate contracts (police and fire) to make up for losses in contract funding with overtime and details. If they could, the town would certainly go broke. Most teachers in the district work well beyond their contract hours. The fact that many in this town are enraged by the teachers “work to contract” actions is puzzling? If anything it should make us examine how much teachers do outside of that contract. If it is so detrimental to their child’s learning perhaps it should be part of the contract? Watertown teachers are going above and beyond every day and to be punished for the actions of the minority of teachers who are not as “talented” as their counterparts is just disrespectful. Administration should do their part and take responsibility for handling these situations, they are not without power or a part in that minority. In every aspect of the working community, for profit, non-profit, and public service this minority exists, and no this minority does not always lose their job. I would ask that you not only take a look at the data for teachers, but also the data for the town. I also ask that you take into consideration the people involved.

]]> Comment on Series: How to replace your city or town website and improve it for free by Jmckown http://www.mattmacdonald.com/2011/08/21/series-how-to-replace-your-city-or-town-website-and-improve-it-for-free/#comment-123 Jmckown Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:58:00 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?p=398#comment-123 Good article. A good CMS solution for a municipality goes well beyond a simple CMS feature list. Sure, there are countless open source solutions too. But the problem is that they aren't always the best solution just because they are free. Most web development shops that build sites using these solutions do not keep them updated and working as they should. What happens when they need features that are not included in a plugin that was used? What happens when there are vulnerabilities? Is the free CMS easy to use? Not always. There are benefits to both approaches for sure. Don't forget the hidden costs associated with a "free" solution. You mentioned CivicPlus, who we compete against routinely with our CivicLogic system. I think that both of us do a good job of supporting the end users of the websites much better than an IT guy that is already overburdened that works for a city. To make a new website decentralized, thus putting the employees in control of their website, will save a lot of money and make serving citizens easier I think. As you point out, a hosted solution is less than the cost of an employee, and it comes with support as part of the hosting. Where CivicPlus is $600+ per month, we are only $150 for the same features. You won't find an employee that will work for $150 per month, that is for sure! :) Good article.

A good CMS solution for a municipality goes well beyond a simple CMS feature list. Sure, there are countless open source solutions too. But the problem is that they aren’t always the best solution just because they are free. Most web development shops that build sites using these solutions do not keep them updated and working as they should. What happens when they need features that are not included in a plugin that was used? What happens when there are vulnerabilities? Is the free CMS easy to use? Not always. There are benefits to both approaches for sure. Don’t forget the hidden costs associated with a “free” solution. You mentioned CivicPlus, who we compete against routinely with our CivicLogic system. I think that both of us do a good job of supporting the end users of the websites much better than an IT guy that is already overburdened that works for a city. To make a new website decentralized, thus putting the employees in control of their website, will save a lot of money and make serving citizens easier I think.

As you point out, a hosted solution is less than the cost of an employee, and it comes with support as part of the hosting. Where CivicPlus is $600+ per month, we are only $150 for the same features. You won’t find an employee that will work for $150 per month, that is for sure! :)

]]> Comment on Watertown Data Sources by Anonymous http://www.mattmacdonald.com/watertown-data-sources/#comment-122 Anonymous Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:55:00 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?page_id=390#comment-122 Hi, It isn't clear that I would be legally in the clear to use the data that SpotCrime as they are scraping that information from CrimeReports.com. By scraping the information SpotCrime is potentially in a legal grey area and I'd much rather see this information be unlocked without copyright restrictions from the source, the police and fire departments. Thanks, Matt Hi,

It isn’t clear that I would be legally in the clear to use the data that SpotCrime as they are scraping that information from CrimeReports.com. By scraping the information SpotCrime is potentially in a legal grey area and I’d much rather see this information be unlocked without copyright restrictions from the source, the police and fire departments.

Thanks,
Matt

]]> Comment on Watertown Data Sources by Matt http://www.mattmacdonald.com/watertown-data-sources/#comment-121 Matt Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:16:00 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?page_id=390#comment-121 Does SpotCrime have the same restrictions as CrimeReports? I didn't see anything specifically forbidding the use of that information. They have an RSS feed, that I am sure you can filter. Alternately, they already have a pretty good site - maybe just link to them for the moment. Does SpotCrime have the same restrictions as CrimeReports? I didn’t see anything specifically forbidding the use of that information. They have an RSS feed, that I am sure you can filter. Alternately, they already have a pretty good site – maybe just link to them for the moment.

]]> Comment on Series: How to replace your city or town website and improve it for free by Matt MacDonald, Watertown’s civic data hero | Open Source Planning http://www.mattmacdonald.com/2011/08/21/series-how-to-replace-your-city-or-town-website-and-improve-it-for-free/#comment-120 Matt MacDonald, Watertown’s civic data hero | Open Source Planning Fri, 09 Sep 2011 04:38:44 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?p=398#comment-120 [...] Enough snippets, read the whole piece, How to replace your city or town website and improve it for free. [...] [...] Enough snippets, read the whole piece, How to replace your city or town website and improve it for free. [...]

]]> Comment on Series: How to replace your city or town website and improve it for free by Bob Savage http://www.mattmacdonald.com/2011/08/21/series-how-to-replace-your-city-or-town-website-and-improve-it-for-free/#comment-119 Bob Savage Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:53:00 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?p=398#comment-119 Matt, good article. I'm glad you are doing all of this. I think it is worth considering something, however. In my experience, before going to far with potential features, one should develop a formal definition of the various classes of users. In this case they might be: 1) Town Government Leaders (e.g. the Town Council, School Committee), 2) Town Employees (those beyond the Leaders who might still need to interact with the site for information, maybe people working in the DPW?) 3) Citizens (this obviously is the main focus of the website as it exists today, and this class of users could be further partitioned by the kinds of services they might be interested in). 4) Local Businesses (or those considering opening a business in Watertown). The reason I place a priority on identifying classes of users is that one can't credibly think about functionality without thinking about the needs of the users. Further features are only mechanisms for providing the necessary functionality. A "feature" that doesn't provide functionality to a real user group is, at best, irrelevant. Anyways, good work, and best of luck! Matt, good article. I’m glad you are doing all of this. I think it is worth considering something, however. In my experience, before going to far with potential features, one should develop a formal definition of the various classes of users. In this case they might be:
1) Town Government Leaders (e.g. the Town Council, School Committee),
2) Town Employees (those beyond the Leaders who might still need to interact with the site for information, maybe people working in the DPW?)
3) Citizens (this obviously is the main focus of the website as it exists today, and this class of users could be further partitioned by the kinds of services they might be interested in).
4) Local Businesses (or those considering opening a business in Watertown).

The reason I place a priority on identifying classes of users is that one can’t credibly think about functionality without thinking about the needs of the users. Further features are only mechanisms for providing the necessary functionality. A “feature” that doesn’t provide functionality to a real user group is, at best, irrelevant.

Anyways, good work, and best of luck!

]]> Comment on API access questions for Tyler Technologies creator of MUNIS by Every City Should Have an API: Let’s Start With Watertown, MA http://www.mattmacdonald.com/2011/08/20/api-access-questions-for-tyler-technologies-creator-of-munis/#comment-118 Every City Should Have an API: Let’s Start With Watertown, MA Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:01:39 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?p=385#comment-118 [...] reached out to Tyler Technologies, but didn’t get any official response, and so he blogged about his problem.  Tyler Technologies has one tool called the Eagle Product Suite that offers “web [...] [...] reached out to Tyler Technologies, but didn’t get any official response, and so he blogged about his problem.  Tyler Technologies has one tool called the Eagle Product Suite that offers “web [...]

]]> Comment on Mapping the location of building permit submissions in Watertown, MA by D Brooks http://www.mattmacdonald.com/2011/08/24/mapping-the-location-of-building-permit-submissions-in-watertown-ma/#comment-117 D Brooks Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:16:00 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?p=428#comment-117 good stuff Matt. I searched the town website seeing if our GC actually submitted a permit for the work done on our condo earlier in 2011 and see that a permit was indeed issued. Other nice to haves would be... - on the Socrata search tool once there is more data, have the ability to search and filter by date range - any ability to introduce a click-through service to click on an address and get dumped right into Zillow's website? Its nice to get the address placement then be able to see the details of that address. Dave good stuff Matt. I searched the town website seeing if our GC actually submitted a permit for the work done on our condo earlier in 2011 and see that a permit was indeed issued.

Other nice to haves would be…

- on the Socrata search tool once there is more data, have the ability to search and filter by date range
- any ability to introduce a click-through service to click on an address and get dumped right into Zillow’s website? Its nice to get the address placement then be able to see the details of that address.

Dave

]]> Comment on He Said, She Said – Extracting data from 5 years of Watertown Town Council meetings by Jill Connolly http://www.mattmacdonald.com/2011/08/28/he-said-she-said-extracting-quotes-from-5-years-of-watertown-town-council-meetings/#comment-115 Jill Connolly Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:10:00 +0000 http://www.mattmacdonald.com/?p=443#comment-115 This looks like it was a ton of work but the result is clear and concise information in an easy-to-read format. Thanks for creating this tool! This looks like it was a ton of work but the result is clear and concise information in an easy-to-read format. Thanks for creating this tool!

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