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Daily DigestDuff'em If You've Got'em
 North Adams Regional Hospital went smoke-free Monday — so did all its sister sites, from Sweet Brook to Northern Berkshire Family Practice to the Women's Exchange. No ashtrays, no smoking: No butts about it. |
Yuck!
 Today's blue skies will give way to clouds and snow tonight. But be prepared for tomorrow morning, when the white stuff will get messy as freezing rain and sleet move through the region. The morning commute will be slippery — drive careful! |
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 iBerkshires accepts submissions about local events, news and opinion pieces. There are openings for freelance work, too, for qualified candidates. E-mail tdaniels@iberkshires.com to find out more. |
Wanted: Eagle Eyes
MassWildlife's annual eagle count runs Dec. 31 to Jan. 14. Anyone sighting one of the regal birds in Massachusetts is asked to participate.
Send date, time, location and town of eagle sightings, number of birds, whether juvenile or adult and observer's contact information to Mass.wildlife@state.ma.us. |
ObituariesRegionWhat's PlayingSales FliersColumnists | Independent Investor
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Other StuffMars Rovers Mark 5 Years
 Spirit and Opportunity have been trekking the red planet for half a decade. Spirit hit the 5-year mark on Sunday; Opportunity will on Jan. 24. |
Obama TransitionRelated Stories |
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McCann Launches New Web SiteBy Jen Thomas - November 19, 2007
 | | The new McCann Web site boasts new features, including a collection of images. |
NORTH ADAMS - After two years of hard work and nearly seven years of planning, Charles H. McCann Technical School teachers Perry Burdick and John Euchler launched a new Web site for the high school this month.
View the new site here.
With features that allow teachers to upload homework assignments, create photo albums and add events to a schoolwide calendar, the new site - which debuted on Nov. 1 - connects the classroom to the digital world.
"The site is very easy to use. It could very well be used for any school in the United States," said Burdick, who is a teacher in the information technologies department at McCann. "The bulk of the time was spent working on making it easier for teachers and administrators to use."
The model the two teachers used is a fairly simple template that utilizes a text-based uploading system, but the effortless format opens up a world of opportunities for students and staff who are increasingly aware of the benefits of the Internet. With access to an extensive list of resources, instructors' personal pages and Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test questions (among other things), students can use the new site to connect with their teachers from anywhere.
And the content is specifically designed to appeal to a wide audience.
"There's always a struggle between form and function and content is key," said Euchler, a mathematics teacher. "The fact is students and grandmas want to see pictures."
In response to the demand, "Version 2" of the McCann Web site now displays images on its front page and, every 10 seconds, one of the 50 photos rotates out and a new one replaces it. Additionally, more than 400 pictures are viewable throughout the photo galleries that individual teachers and administrators can create at their leisure.
"Our old site had photos but in every single one of them, either the students had graduated or the teachers had retired. The only thing that was still relevant was John Kerry," joked Euchler.
While it took Euchler and Burdick some time to get the project off the ground, once they got the ball rolling, operations ran along smoothly. James Franzinelli, a programmer at Computer Sciences Corp. in Albany, N.Y., donated his time to helping the teachers develop the site and several others at the high school supplied input about content.
Offering up .75 terabytes (or 1,000 gigabytes), the site is designed to accommodate the school for a long time to come.
"I've challenged the school to fill it up," said Burdick.
While the old site is still up and running, Burdick and Euchler are continuing to work on improving the second incarnation, even hoping to make a presentation on their progress at the National Educators Computing Conference next summer.
"We'll still be putting more work into it," said Burdick. "We have to treat every page as a canvas."
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