WCSD’s tech director retires, reflects on 40 years of technological advances in education | Waunakee Tribune
5 min readHerb Haubrich has resigned as technologies director for the Waunakee Neighborhood University District (WSCD), pursuing his choice to retire at the finish of the 2020-21 university calendar year. Haubrich served in the district from 2012 till his retirement previously this summertime.
The former administrator sat down with the Tribune this week to explore his 39 many years in instruction, the final ten years of which he put in addressing technological innovation demands in WCSD colleges and lecture rooms.
Haubrich entered the discipline as an industrial-arts instructor for Washington Island Faculty District in 1981. Sony experienced just released the 3.5-inch floppy travel, and IBM its version of the own laptop (Computer system). Haubrich’s educating places at that time provided standard store lessons this kind of as woodworking, metalworking, drafting and electronics.
Technology sophisticated rapidly, nonetheless, and computer systems soon found their way into the classroom.
“I picked up the laptop bug when Apple began advertising Macintosh,” Haubrich mentioned. “I introduced them into the classroom not really recognizing what the impact was going to be, but knowing that they could do some really interesting points. Of course, at that time, the amazing factors they could do were being very rudimentary in comparison to what they can do now. But they ended up still interesting.”
Haubrich reported pupils ended up open to mastering about new know-how, which includes desktops, but the devices had however to make inroads in the place of tech ed. Personal computers served mainly as word processors and math equipment back again then.
Ultimately, they have been applied for laptop-aided drafting and layout (CADD).
“And which is when I seriously considered, ‘Well if I’m likely to be an industrial-arts instructor, and I want to teach kids drafting, I far better learn some far more about desktops,’” Haubrich said.
Haubrich returned to the college, enrolling in a master’s diploma software at UW-Eau Claire. The software targeted on instructing with computers, and he soon developed an in-provider system that showed fellow employees users how to integrate personal computer use into their personal classrooms. Haubrich grow to be well-versed in CADD, as effectively, and commenced training it to his tech-ed college students.
“The difficulty that I had was, striving to train laptop or computer-aided drafting and design and style on an island to a really restricted viewers of young children,” Haubrich explained, “I felt like my impression was not likely to be quite broad.”
Haubrich’s daughter had just completed eighth grade, and not wanting to disrupt her large-faculty training, the spouse and children understood that they had a small window if they were being going to relocate. So in 1996, right after 15 years training for the Washington Island college district, Haubrich searched for a plan with increased technological know-how infusion. Haubrich interviewed with many districts, and finally acknowledged an supply to develop into Mount Horeb High School’s new tech-ed instructor.
The college was going through an addition at the time and putting in new computer system labs.
Haubrich invested the up coming 3 yrs planning, arranging and presenting educational content for tech-ed college students. Haubrich’s regions of emphasis incorporated electronics, lasers, CAD and CNC.
In 1999, Haubrich took a a single-year sabbatical from education and learning. He then joined the Cooperative Educational Services Agency (CESA) 3 in as a technologies-integration specialist in 2001. The job consisted of writing grants for reduce-profits school districts, to support them infuse technology into their curriculum.
“I did lots of skilled development, making an attempt to display men and women what know-how could do for the systems that they had,” Haubrich said. “That was quite satisfying, but I understood that you cannot make a living crafting grants – due to the fact in the grant-creating organization, you generate your salary into the grant so that you can retain performing. Which is however form of the way grant creating operates in the education subject. So immediately after 3 yrs, I received really burnt out, simply because it’s a gamble.”
Haubrich still left CESA in 2004, and having acquired all the necessary credits to grow to be an administrator, returned to the Mount Horeb Location University District as director of technologies.
Haubrich served as tech director for MHASD from 2004 to 2012.
“After eight yrs of getting in that place and 14 yrs in the district, I felt like I could keep there for the rest of my career and retire from Mount Horeb. And that actually was a little something that crossed my brain a number of instances,” Haubrich explained. “But I was wanting for a different obstacle.”
Waunakee’s technology director at the time, Tim Schell, took place to be a shut friend and knowledgeable Haubrich that he would be having the curriculum-director placement at WCSD.
The district would want a person to take his place as technologies director.
“Waunakee experienced some of the matters that I desired to do the job in,” Haubrich explained. “And a person of the things that they stated in the job interview was, they needed a storage space network (SAN). They didn’t have a person they experienced a server room where by all the servers had been actual physical servers. And at the time, most people were switching to what’s referred to as digital servers. So when I interviewed, one of the skillsets that I had was remaining ready to structure and enable put into action a virtual heart.”
Executing so would be a person of Haubrich’s very first employment immediately after currently being employed in 2012. The new administrator helped the district transform from close to 45 actual physical servers to a SAN that served the whole district.
Haubrich also assisted the district shift to Google for Schooling.
When the COVID-19 pandemic strike, Haubrich labored with other administrators to get current technologies into the palms of students. In some conditions, old mobile phones were utilised as hotspots. Haubrich stated the practical experience shown the require for competency in the discipline of know-how, for the two administrators and classroom lecturers.
“I assume we’re at a position where by it’s assumed, now, that you know how to instruct with technologies,” Haubrich said. “COVID seriously introduced that out…that you require technologies in your classroom. And if you don’t have it in one thing like a pandemic, where young ones are acquiring to go into quarantine and now you’re owning to instruct little ones (remotely), you can not do it except if you have a rather very good know-how of how technologies works. I consider the final yr and a 50 percent has revealed that.”
Haubrich said the expertise of the past two college yrs factored into his selection to retire, which he announced at the beginning of 2021. His retirement marked the end of a 39-yr profession in instruction, and an significant era for faculty districts that when viewed 3.5-inch floppy drives as chopping-edge know-how.
Haubrich lives on the west facet of Madison with his family members. Now retired, he plans to commit more time golfing and traveling drones. Haubrich commenced a business in January, referred to as ASA Drone Pictures, which specializes in aerial images of true-estate attributes.
