Tech eNews September 27, 2012

Tech eNews September 27, 2012

1. Welcome to Linda Henderson, our New Tech Support Assistant
2. Welcome to Kenneth Mai, our New Tech Support Assistant
3. Welcome to James Bennet, new Tech Coach at WHS
4. Questions about the Online Timecards
5. Google calendar embedded in webpage doesn't show events

1. Please welcome Linda Henderson, Tech Support Assistant

Linda Henderson, currently subbing for Tech Support, is the new Tech Support Assistant who will be serving Cape Horn-Skye and Canyon Creek Middle School. Linda is a native of East Wenatchee, Washington, and graduated from Central Washington University with a degree in Systems Analysis. Linda has served on the district's Technology committee in the past, and is currently subbing in the Tech Support job. Linda has worked as a bookkeeper for several businesses in the area.

Linda originally moved to the Portland area from Seattle to start a deli with a friend in Milwaukee, a business that continues to thrive. Linda is the mother of a current Canyon Creek 6th grader as well as a WHS Sophomore, and a 2012 WHS graduate. She enjoys camping and volunteering with the Boy Scouts, cooking, and fishing with her husband.

Linda will start at 7:30 AM each morning, and work the following schedule:

Monday 7:30-11:30

Tuesday 7:30-11:30

Wednesday 7:30-1:30 (long day)

Thursday 7:30-9:30 (short day)

Friday 7:30-11:30

Staff with questions for Linda can reach her at Cape extension x3671. You can e-mail Linda at linda.henderson@washougalsd.org, or reach her by entering work orders in the School Dude system.

Linda will be sharing an office with Amy Seufert, in room 148b on the Cape side of the building.

2. Please welcome Kenneth Mai, Tech Support Assistant

Kenneth Mai is the new Tech Support Assistant who will be serving Washougal High School and Hathaway Elementary. Kenneth is an Oregon Institute of Technology graduate who has recently worked for Office Ally in Vancouver. Kenneth has an extensive technology background, having worked in tech jobs in Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Portland. He and his wife Thao, who recently married, are looking to relocate to Washougal from SE Portland where they currently reside. Kenneth is originally from Vietnam, and emigrated with his parents in 1980. Kenneth enjoys camping near Garibaldi on the Oregon coast each year, is an avid fisherman, and enjoys playing pool in his spare time.

Kenneth will be starting at 7:30 each morning at WHS, and then working afternoons at Hathaway. Staff with questions for Kenneth can reach him at WHS at ext. 3206, or at Hathaway at ext. 3823. You can e-mail Kenneth atkenneth.mai@washougalsd.org, or reach him by entering work orders in the School Dude system.

Kenneth will be starting at WHS late next week.

3. Please welcome James Bennett, Tech Coach at WHS

Jay Bennett is working 1 period a day doing technology coaching at Washougal High School this year. He’s working on helping teachers move from Tier 1 to Tier 3 in Technology use, integrating technology into their curriculum. WHS staff who are interested in working with Jay can stop by and ask him about a project they are interested in doing with students, or shoot him an e-mail.

4. Questions about the Online Timecards

Question 1. How do I get to the new online timesheet?

Answer. You can find it by going to the District Web Page and selecting the link in the upper right hand side of the page, "For District Employees". On the left side of that page click on the link "Timecards".

http://www.washougal.k12.wa.us/districtemployees/timecards.htm

Question 2. Is the new timesheet a spreadsheet that I have to fill out?

Answer. Yes. Please fill it out using Excel and then print it up and sign it and had it back to your school secretary or the person that handled your old time sheet.

Question 3. Can I use the same spreadsheet for each month?

Answer. No. The spreadsheet will be updated for each month so check back at the website and download the one for the month that your filling out the timesheet for.

Question 4. If I work in multiple buildings, do I do more than one timecard?

Answer. Yes, if you have more than one supervisor. If you work more than two or more positions that have multiple supervisors, you'll need to do one timecard for each of the positions you hold, and then have the supervisor for each job sign the relevant timecard.

5. Google Calendar Not Showing for Students or Parents from Home (embedded in class webpage)

If you have a Google Calendar embedded in your webpage that is not showing up for parents or students from home, it could be that your "sharing" settings are not correct. You can use these steps to set it so that parents and students can see events on your calendar.

Log into your WSD web based e-mail.

Click on the word calendar in the black bar.
Click on the triangle next to "My Calendars"
Find the shared calendar in the list, and click Edit sharing for the row with that calendar in it.
Check the box for "Share this Calendar with Others" and also "make this calendar public"

Choose see all events details from the drop down menu

Click Save

Useful bookmarks when the WSD Internet Connection is down

The K-20 Internet Connection at Washougal School District is down again today.  K-20 (our Internet Service Provider) has been alerted to the problem, and is working with the circuit providers to come up with a resolution. 

E-mail
Some people have asked about the web based services being unavailable, and I wanted to note these things:
When the K-20 connection is down, you can still access your WSD e-mail from home or any other place that the Internet is still up.  Use this link to get in: https://mail.washougalsd.org  or http://www.gmail.com

WESPaC
You can still access WESPaC (both the Web and Citrix) to get into the student information system, HR, and the fiscal system.  The bookmark page is linked here: 
http://bookmark.washougal.wa-k12.net

SchoolDude
You can still get into School Dude, via the address www.schooldude.com to report problems.  You'll log in using your e-mail address (still the old one for most people) and your password. 

Installing apps via Configurator requires removing restrictions and enabling store on iPads

We have several iPad carts which are managed via a MacBook running Apple's Configurator software. We have had a few small problems installing apps, which are apparently caused by the configuration we are trying to use on the iPads.

We have created a configuration that has restrictions set to prevent students from using the iTunes store and to prevent them from installing apps in our managed environment.

These are set like like this:

Having both of these checkboxes appears to prevent Configurator from pushing apps (both paid and unpaid) onto the iPads.  We saw the following symbol in Configurator

and this error in the Console.

To solve this, we had to edit the applied restrictions and apply those to the cart of ipads, and then re-install.  Note - we found that we had to unselect the apps in the configurator, then allow Both Use of iTunes store and Installation of Apps, apply that to the iPads, then go back and try installing Apps.  Simply turning this setting on during the same sync was unsuccessful.

Afterwards, we went back and edited our restrictions back to the original settings, which is how we want it left.