Tech eNews 6-16-2011

Topics

1. Special Thank You

2. Equipment Checkout for End of Year

3. Reporting SPAM email

4. Phishing? But I'm a vegetarian!

5. Back up Important Files Before You Leave for the Summer

6. How does Using SchoolDude Help You?

1. Special thank you

WSD Tech staff would like to offer a very big thank you to Rebecca Miner for her work support of our department during the past three years. Rebecca’s support was instrumental in making the Technology Professional Development successful as we ramped up both the number of classes we offered and the topics we covered. Rebecca’s eye for details, her ability to see applications for technology in almost all subject and grade level areas, and her collaborative energy are amazing. Those of us who worked to develop and teach classes with Rebecca know that she’ll be an amazing superintendent, and that she’ll have an incredible impact on the White Pass School District. Rebecca’s stewardship of the technology department, her constructive feedback, her appreciative attitude, and her ability to make things happen will be missed.

2. Equipment Checkout for End of Year

Reminder: You may not remove equipment from your classroom without getting permission from your principal, and signing a check-out sheet first. Please make sure to have this paperwork filled out if you’re taking a laptop home over the summer, for example. The checkout form is on the WSD Technology page, under Inventory/Surplus.

This is an important internal control for inventory. The district must have a written record that equipment has been removed from the building.

3. Reporting SPAM email

If you get an unwanted commercial e-mail (SPAM), please don’t forward it to Les Brown. Simply forward it to SPAM@Barracuda.com and the company which filters our e-mail will analyze the message and change the filter to better catch that type of message in the future. Important Note: please do not do this with legitimate e-mail, as this type of change affects all users within the district. (for example, if you signed up for a eNewsletter from OSPI, and no longer want it, you shouldn’t forward it as SPAM since OSPI is not a SPAM sender, and doing this could start flagging all of their messages as junk mail for all users within the district).

4. Phishing? But I’m a vegetarian!

A recent e-mail with the subject line "Mailbox is Full" went out to some district staff. This is a good example of a "phishing" (pronounced fishing) e-mail. Phishing is a social engineering technique that computer hackers and spammers use to try to get your personal information. While the link in this particular e-mail was blocked, which kept our users from accidentally divulging their username and password, it's worth being aware that these types of scams are going around. To help spot these type of phishing attempts, be a cautious end-user: look at the sender name and e-mail address the message came from. Watch for obvious spelling or other grammatical errors that indicate the message wasn't written by a district staff person. After you click a link in an e-mail, look at the web address it takes you to, in the address bar at the top of the Internet browser, it should exactly match the name of the site you're supposed to be using. When in doubt, close it out, and type in the address yourself.

5. Back up important files before you leave for the summer!

One last reminder: Before you leave for the summer, consider burning a CD with your important files on it, and take it home with you. Anthony and Sean can help with the process of burning files to removable media.

6. How does using School Dude help you?

Besides keeping your tech staff happy (and who doesn’t want that?), using SchoolDude to report problems with your technology helps you! Once you’ve put in a request, you’ll get an automatic e-mail response letting you know it’s been entered. The system will update you whenever Les, Sean, or Anthony makes any changes to the work order. You can log back into the SchoolDude system to view the status of all of your tickets, which can be helpful if we’ve given you steps on how to resolve something. The SchoolDude system helps the district track time spent on problem machines. Also, if you’ve been having a problem with a computer, make sure you’re keeping track of it in School Dude. Problem machines are identified by the number of tickets assigned to them, and get replaced when we have the opportunity.

To get started, visit the “For District Employees” page on the WSD Site, then click “Technology/Maintenance Requests” in the sidebar. If you need the password, contact Sean, Anthony or Les, and they’ll share it with you.

Searching Inventory for Items marked as surplus

For the folks doing inventory using Filemaker:

In Filemaker, switch to the Mac-Report.

Click Find

Type Yes in the box for Surplus 6-11, and choose your building's name in the building field.

Hit Return

Switch back to the table view, and you'll see a list of the things you've marked as surplus from your building.

Keep in mind that Les, Sean and Anthony are also using this to surplus some computers, so you may see things he's marked vs. what you've marked.

Hope this helps!

WSD Tech eNews for June 10, 2011

Topics in this edition of WSD Tech eNews for June 10, 2011

1. Technology Service Satisfaction Survey Open

2. Tech Professional Development Courses for 2011-2012

3. Summer 2011 Tech Professional Development from ESD 112

4. TeacherWeb changes for 2011-2012

5. Encourage Students to Back-up Important Files

6. Back up Your Files Before Summer Starts

7. Getting your computers ready for summer (no garbage bags required!)

8. Surplus that old unwanted/unused equipment

1. Technology Service Satisfaction Survey Open

In the Fall of 2010, WSD Tech staff did a survey of staff to identify areas in which we could do a better job meeting your needs. We developed a set of interventions to better communicate with staff, make ourselves more available, and to advertise ways you can contact us for help. We’re now doing an end-of-year survey to find out how well these steps are working to meet the needs from the fall survey, and to see if there are other things we should change. Please take a minute or two to fill out this survey. Contact Les if you didn't get the survey e-mail.

2. Tech Professional Development Courses for 2011-2012

Les Brown is working with teachers who have taught Tech related professional development in the past, as well as teachers who attended the NCCE computer conference, to schedule the classes we will offer during the 2011-2012 school year. Here’s a teaser of the topics you’ll see:

Thinkfinity; Webquests; Microsoft Word & Excel; iMovie in the Classroom; 30 websites in 90 minutes (and some time to explore them); Library of Congress (Primary Source materials and other free resources); Cicero (lesson plans, primary sources, standards, rubrics, assessments, activities, videos, games, interactive maps, and more); Document Camera Refresher; TeacherWeb & Google Sites webpages; PowerPoint Refresher; and a Webquests Refresher.

3. Summer 2011 Tech Professional Development from ESD 112

ESD is offering a mix of both in-person and online Technology Professional Development during June, July and August 2011. If you’re looking to expand your skills, “upgrade” your teaching, or just need a few clock hours, there are some great, low cost options available to you.

ESD is also offering a Tech leadership strand this summer, which would focus on giving you the skills to help train your colleagues to better use technology in their classrooms. If you’re interested in committing to doing tech related professional development activities here in Washougal, please contact Les Brown and he will consider funding your registration for this training. Information is included in the link below.

Click this link to view the course offerings through ESD 112.

4. TeacherWeb Changes for 2011-2012

TeacherWeb, the hosting company we use for teacher web sites, was purchased by another company which is in the process of switching many of their customers to a more expensive platform. After evaluating the new platform, we have decided to begin switching teachers to the new Google sites platform in use by several staff at WHS. This is a free service offered by Google. Jay Bennett will be working with Rochelle Aiton and Heidi Kleser to develop a training on the new system.

Teachers who are not ready to switch may continue to use the TeacherWeb system until it is discontinued, but will have to pay the $30 yearly fee themselves. Professional development dollars can’t be used to pay this cost.

5. Encourage Students to Back-up/Archive Important Files

Students interested in keeping files for next year, or for using them in their portfolios should back them up onto a thumbdrive, burn them onto a CD, or e-mail them to themselves. As in the past, all student accounts will be purged during the summer to get rid of unwanted/excess files and to make room for the new students coming into the schools.

6. Speaking of Backups!

Before you leave for the summer, consider burning a CD with your important files on it, and take it home with you. Anthony and Sean can help with the process of burning files to removable media.

7. Getting Your Computers Ready for Summer

In the past, some WSD staff have placed garbage bags over computers to keep dust out. Neither Anthony nor Sean has noted that there is a problem with excess dust settling into computer equipment when it is off, so this isn’t necessary. Please save yourself the trouble, and leave the bags for the garbage cans.

Please make sure you turn all of your computers off before you leave. If you have a laptop that won’t be used over the summer, you should charge the battery fully, and then take it out of the computer for storage. If possible, store the battery in a refrigerator that’s turned on.

As much as is possible, please leave your computer’s cables all plugged in. We are aware that the custodians will move much of the equipment to clean carpets, but doing this will cut down on the time it takes to get everyone back up and running in the fall.

8. Surplus that old unwanted/unused equipment

Do you have old, unwanted, or unused equipment in your classroom that you don’t want to keep? Mark it as “surplus” on your year-end inventory, and let your building administrator know you want to get rid of it. The deadline for identifying items as surplus is June 15.