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 February 1, 2010: Postmarked team application sent. Only applications postmarked by February 1, 2010 can be accepted. Team coaches will receive confirmation and instructions by email on February 8, 2010. February 10, 2010: Louisiana Technology Challenge takes place! A list of all deadlines.  |
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This competition requires a Team Coach who is selected by the high school principal. The Team Coach can be any adult who works at your high school as teacher, administrator, or staff member. Every high school in Louisiana is entitled to enter a single team composed of a maximum of 15 students, under the guidance of the designated "Team Coach". If you participate in coordinating your school's team as the Team Coach, you will:
Expect to commit about 10 hours of time over a period of about 1 month or so. The responsibility is roughly equivalent to organizing a field trip. 1. Contact the principal of your school in order to become the designated Team Coach. 2. Print out promotional materials for distribution to students and parents. 3. Be aware of the deadlines. 4. Finalize a list of no more than 15 participating high school students. 5. Send in a completed team application before the deadline. Any late entries will not be processed. 5. Reserve a room with Internet-accessible computers for the day of the Technology Challenge. 6. Arrange to have participating students excused from their classes during the competition, just like a field trip. In this case, the field trip is "virtual". 7. Set up a scheduled block of an uninterrupted time period from 8 AM to 11:59 AM on the day of the Technology Challenge. 8. On the day of the Technology Challenge, students should work independently on their tasks without direct assistance. 9. You should only provide minimal technical support, if any, in accessing files for the Challenge during the first 15 minutes and submitting the files during the last 15 minutes. 10. There is a stiff penalty for a late submission of completed work after 11:59 AM, for every minute late, one point will be deducted. Very late submissions will NOT be judged. 11. While not required, many teams celebrate at noon with a "pizza party". We do recommend that you consider rewarding the students in this way. There is a sense of accomplishment in working together as a team. What Do I Need To Know? You are not required to have any special technical knowledge other than being able to communicate by email. You should check your email regularly for confirmation of registration. Once your team is registered, you will get details for accessing your team's password-protected online account. You will get this important information, as described in the calendar. Please check for it. Please note that some schools block email; in the past, a few schools were unable to get email from ulm.edu until the network administrator changed some settings. If you do not receive email from us, contact us by phone. As Team Coach, you should be the only person of contact for your team. Your main responsibility is recruiting a team that can work well together; the members should have enough technical knowledge to help the team complete challenging tasks on their own. No one student has to know everything. In fact, it's a very good idea that students divide tasks during the first 15 minutes of the competition. After your team is registered, you will receive complete directions by email for accessing a password-protected online site that will be used to exchange files electronically for the competition. You may provide the login and password information to one of the student team members so that he/she can access and upload files for the Technology Challenge. Please allow the students to work on their own. They may use any references they like that they can access on their own, without adult assistance. In fact, no adults should help or assist students to prepare answers or complete tasks. Adults may only provide minimal technical assistance. Refund Policy There are no refunds. Please assure yourself that the Internet-enabled computers your school has or the network it uses may be reliably used for the Technology Challenge BEFORE you register your school's team. Any number of problems or issues may arise regarding this competition. The volunteer organizers of this event reserve the right to make a final decision regarding any issue; this is clearly described on the team application form. Complete Requirements Here are the complete requirements for organizing a school team to enter this annual state-wide competition: 1. The principal must designate you as the Team Coach. Then, you select a team of up to 15 high school students. You'll then send in the completed application form postmarked by the stated deadline. 2. You'll need to reserve a room at your school that has computers with Internet access for use during the morning of the competition. 3. Arrange to excuse the participating students from classes during the time of the competition, just as they would be if they had to travel on a field trip. 4. On the day of the Technology Challenge, schedule a continuous block period of time between 8 AM to 11:59 AM, without an interruption. The completed files should be electronically uploaded to your designated online account by 11:59 AM. There is a stiff penalty for late submissions. 5. As Team Coach, you may assist only when technical problems arise. Only participating students may touch the mouse or keyboard during the competition, not you! 6. Your school's computers should have Microsoft Office software or software that can read and write Word, Powerpoint, and Excel files. Your lab should have the capability to do minor editing of image files. 7. As Team Coach, you will fill out a team application form with a processing fee of $25 for your school team and $5 per participating student, with a maximum of 15 students; only one team may represent a school. Examples: a team with 7 students would pay $25 + $35 = $60. A team with 11 members would pay $25 + $55 = $80. A team with 15 members would pay $25 + $75 = $100. All fees are paid to the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) by check to help cover costs for processing the applications. There are no refunds. 8. Every Team Coach will receive confirmation of registration by email, as described in the calendar. The email message will include detailed instructions regarding downloading and uploading files for the competition. What Are The Rules?
As you consider being a Team Coach, please ask yourself these questions:
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