Q:

How are the Getting Started Guides organized?

A:

Each Getting Started Guide includes the following sections:

• Introduction – orientation to the scope of the Guide
• Exploring the Topic – narrative, key terms, and expert suggestions from members of the NAF Network
• Resources – documents, videos, web tools, and links
• Next Steps – ideas for applying the information from the Getting Started Guide

Q:

What items are contained in the Resources section?

A:

This is probably the most valuable component of the Getting Started Guides. Each Guide provides links to NAF documents and videos that support a specific topic. If you’ve been looking for materials relating to key elements of the NAF model, you will probably find them here.

Q:

Who are these Guides for?

A:

The Getting Started Guides are designed for multiple audiences.

• Share the Guides with school or district administration, to provide them with a quick overview of the NAF Academy model
• Share the Guides with business partners and funders, to introduce them to the NAF model
• Use the Guides to reorient your Academy team and yourself to the NAF model elements, and use the embedded materials to further your Academy goals

Q:

How can we use these Guides?

A:

The Getting Started Guides are very flexible! Here are some ideas for how you might get started with the Getting Started Guides:

• Independent Study: Expand your own knowledge base and understanding of NAF and the issues that face career academies by exploring the different Guides. Use this opportunity to reflect on your own professional practice and find inspiration for taking it to the next level.
• Offline Multimedia Resource Bank: All of the resources in the Getting Started Guides are online at NAF.org or the NAF Collaboration Network, but NAF understands that you don’t always have internet access. Now the documents, movies, and presentations can be available to you and your team wherever you have a computer.
• Site-based Professional Development: Go through a Guide as an Academy team for a personalized professional development experience. Discuss the guiding questions together and go through the print, multimedia, and web resources included in the guide. Use the reflection questions and self-assessment rubric to help your team determine next action steps.
• Harness the Power of the Network: Discuss issues and questions raised by the Guides in the Getting Started Guide workgroup. Find out how your colleagues across the country address challenges and celebrate your successes.

Q:

How can these Guides support our development as an Academy?

A:

During the 2009 Academy Leadership Summit and Annual Institute for Staff Development, NAF is introducing a new Membership Development model that outlines four distinct stages of model implementation and services. The four stages – Affiliate, Member, Leader, and Distinguished – represent growing degrees of expertise in implementing the NAF Career Academy model. As you move your Academy along this continuum, or seek to sustain the progress you have made, the materials in these Getting Started Guides can provide a wealth of resources to help keep you on track.

Q:

How should we get started?

A:

Pop this DVD into your computer and familiarize yourself with the collection of Getting Started Guides. Then you can delve into any Guide that suits your interest or addresses a key aspect of the NAF model you would like to improve upon. You can also use the Guides to orient new team members to your Academy and its goals. NAF will be setting up a special section on the Collaboration Network where you can ask questions and provide feedback on these Guides.

Q:

Can I have access to the files included with the Guides?

A:

Yes, you can! This is one of the benefits of the Getting Started Guide Library – these files are available to you immediately; no searching or downloading them from the web required. Click on the paperclip icon that appears on screen to see the list of associated documents contained in the Guide. Save them to your hard drive as you need to.

Q:

Do I need a disc for each team member?

A:

The files on the disc do not have copy protections and are meant to be shared! You can:

• Copy them to your computer’s hard drive and pass the disc along to your next team member
• Share them on your school’s or district’s computer network
• Copy them to USB flash drives

Q:

My DVD isn’t playing. What should I do?

A:

Older computers may only be able to read CD-ROMs, so first confirm that your optical disc drive can read DVDs. Most disc drive drawers are labeled with the kinds of discs they can read. If your computer is not able to read a DVD-ROM, ask a friend or colleague with a newer computer to transfer the files to a USB drive for you.

Q:

I can see the files on the disc, but I can’t open them. What’s going on?

A:

Do you have the latest version of Adobe® Reader® 9? Make sure that you’ve updated your software. We have included the installation files for Adobe® Reader® 9 on each disc, so please take this opportunity to upgrade if you haven’t already.

Q:

The DVD package says we need Adobe® Reader® 9 to view the Guides. What kind of files are these? If I have an older copy of Adobe® Reader® already on my computer, do I have to upgrade to version 9?

A:

If you want to be able to view the video resources included in the Guides, you will need version 9. Here’s why: Every Getting Started Guide is a PDF. Adobe refers to these files as PDF Portfolios because they contain not only URLs and web links, but also related files and resources that have been embedded in each document. During the assembly of these Guides, the Adobe® software saves the resource files for Portfolios, from Word® documents to PowerPoint® presentations to video, as individual PDFs that are in turn embedded within each Guide (PDF Portfolio) document. While earlier versions of Adobe® Reader® will allow you to open and view print documents, Adobe® Reader® 9 also allows you to view video.

Q:

Videos sometimes can take a little while to load. Is this normal?

A:

Yes it is. Given the size of the files, video content has to load into the buffer for presentation. Wait times for these files – both the multimedia presentations and the short videos – will vary. Presentations load PowerPoint content and related video files together; this can take up to 20 or 25 seconds, but then the entire presentation file will be available. Individual videos should take about 15 seconds to load.

Q:

What are the system requirements for running Adobe® Reader® 9 software?

A:

There are two versions of Adobe® Reader®: one for PowerPC® G4, G5 processors and another for Intel® processors. Upgrades for both operating systems are included on the disc in the Adobe® Reader® Install folder. If you need to upgrade, be sure to use the correct version for your computer’s processor. Adobe’s official specifications for system requirements are:

Windows®
Intel® 1.3 GHz processor
Microsoft® Windows® 2000 with Service Pack 4, Windows Server® 2003 and 2008; Windows® XP Professional, Home Edition, or Tablet PC Edition with Service Pack 2 or 3; Windows Vista® Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with or without Service Pack 1
128MB of RAM (256MB recommended)
335MB of available hard disk space
Microsoft Internet Explorer® 6.0, 6.0 with Service Pack 1, 7.0, or 8.0; Firefox® 2.0 or 3.0

Macintosh®
PowerPC® G4, G5 or Intel® processor
Mac OS® X v10.4.11–10.5.6
128MB of RAM (256MB recommended)
405MB of available hard disk space
Safari®