Topics for this Tech eNews 12-12-2014

1. Get a clean start to the new year by surplusing old junk

2. NCCE Tech Conference 2015 in Portland

3. Preparing equipment for Winter Break

4. Bad elves are phishing for your info

5. Limited Support for Beta Software

6. Tech Blog Has Archive of eNews and other Tech Related Articles

1. Start the New Year Fresh by Clearing out Junk 

If you have old, unwanted equipment in your classroom that you no longer have a use for, you can use the surplus process to get rid of it.  Your building’s inventory designee (Darlene Enockson at CCMS, Deborah Mansfield at Cape, Marlene Leifsen at Gause, Kathy Stanton at Hathaway, Debbie Leifsen at Jemtegaard, Deana Degrande at Excelsior, and Misty Young at WHS) can help you process paperwork to dispose of the item appropriately, and remove it from your classroom’s inventory.  There will be a surplus run in January, near the end of the month, so work with your inventory person now to make sure you don’t have to hang onto those old items until June.

You can read more about the inventory and surplus process here, including finding forms to dispose of equipment.

2. NCCE Tech Conference 2015 in Portland

Are you interested in seeing what’s out there in the world of Technology in the classroom?  NCCE, the largest education focused Technology conference in the Northwest, is back in Portland for 2015.  The event takes place at the Portland Convention Center March 18-20. 

Watch for an invitation to apply to attend with a buddy, with the goal of brining back cool technology integration tips and strategies to share with your peers during a tech class or next year’s Tech Symposium.  http://www.ncce.org/2015

3. Prepping Equipment for Winter Break

Before you leave for some much deserved fun and relaxation with family and friends this holiday season, please turn off your computers and other electronic devices. 

If you have an iPad cart, please work with your students to make sure they are all turned all the way off, and put back in the cart without being plugged in.  This will help prevent overcharging of the batteries during the two week break.  Make sure you lock the cart, too!

If you have laptops or iPads that will remain in your classroom, please consider storing them somewhere out of sight, and away from windows or doors where they might attract break-ins. 

Doing these simple steps will keep your devices safe and sound over the holiday, and also save energy and battery life.

4. A Christmas Letter from the North Pole for you?  Sounds Phishy!

Or, how about Millions from the Nigerian Lottery for me? I didn’t even buy a ticket! 

An Esteemed Gentleman who wishes to make you part of his estate?  Wow! 

Keep in mind the saying that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is! When looking through your e-mail, you may find messages from people claiming that you’ve won the lottery in another country, even though you didn’t enter it. All you have to do is send them a “down payment” and you could have millions! There are many, many schemes going on to try to get access to your bank account, e-mail accounts, and your hard earned cash.  This type of activity is called “phishing” for information.  Be a wary web surfer and e-mail user, and keep an eye out for offers that sound unbelievable; they probably are! 

Here is a list of current phishing schemes you might see in your work or personal email:

Past Due Invoice for products you bought from an online retailer

iCloud security – your Apple ID is locked

Netflix account suspended

Ebola news – urgent updates about the virus

Letter from the North Pole (if you fall for this one, please tell us your kid did it)

Watch out for fraudulent messages from banking, online merchants, Santa Claus, or other big businesses; many of these are from identity thieves trying to get you to click links in e-mail to get your username/password so they can empty out your bank account! It is far safer to type in the address for your bank or other financial sites (into the address bar) than to click links in e-mail to get there.

If you think you’ve fallen victim to a phishing attack, please let your Tech Support staff know, so we can help you limit what the attackers can get.

5. Limited Support for Beta Software

Recently, many teachers have been experimenting with a number of software products for computers, laptops, or tablets which are in Beta, meaning they are a “pre-release” version of the software intended to help developers understand usage, common issues, and resolve problems before the first official version of the software is launched.  While teachers are free to use these tools, there are limits to how much support is available for them, and it is important to make sure that you understand these limits if you plan to use Beta software in your lessons. 

Using a preview or beta of software means you need to be willing to put up with a fair amount of quirks and bugs, and that your tech support staff may not be able to help you resolve every problem you run into.  Please keep these limits in mind so you don’t find yourself saying “Bah humbug!” as you work with these products.

Tech eNews 11-21-2014

1. Welcome to Mat Hutton, new Network Support Specialist

2. Tech PD – new option for drop in times Dec 4, 11, & 18

3. Prep for Mid-year Surplus

4. NCCE Tech Conference 2015 in Portland

5. 1:1 planning for WHS in 2015-2016

6. Turn Google Safe Search on for Your Account

7. Political Activities at Work

8. Help Us Help You by Using SchoolDude

9. Did you know you can subscribe to changes in a Google Spreadsheet?

10. Tech Blog Has Archive of eNews and other Tech Related Articles

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1. Welcome to Mat Hutton, New Network Support Specialist

The WSD Tech staff is pleased to welcome Mathew (Mat) Hutton to the Tech Staff as a Network Support Specialist.  Mat has hit the ground running, and in his first few months here has already completed some major projects, including replacing the district’s firewall and preparing for our upcoming Internet speed upgrade.  Mat will be working on upgrades to a number of network servers, expansion of the district’s wireless infrastructure, and planning for future growth as we add more devices.  He will also be helping us better manage our network, servers, and wireless network to provide better and more dependable services for our staff.  

Mat can be reached by email at mathew.hutton@washougalsd.org, by phone at 360-954-3213, or via SchoolDude.  

2. Tech PD Offering – New Option for “Tech Thursdays” Drop in Time

As a follow up to the incredibly successful Tech Symposium on 10-10-2014, WSD Tech Committee members are wanting to offer “Tech Thursdays”, a drop in time where you can get help with a couple different topics in a less structured, easier to access format than our 3 hour classes.  Cheryl MacIntyre, Hillary Marshall, James Bennett, and Philicia Weaver are going to offer to provide support to teachers interested in topics including: 

• GradeKeeper for K-5
• All the Right Type for grades 3-5
• Internet Safety for Students using Common Sense Media tools
• Google Sites – help getting started or sprucing up your site
• Blogger
• iPad 101
• Kahoot! App or webpage
• EasyCBM

These will be offered in a series of three 1 hour classes on Thursday December 4, 11, and 18.  The classes would start at 4 and go until 5, and be held in the WHS Library.  

Please RSVP if you would like to attend using this survey, and note which topic you’d like help with, so we can have the appropriate peer expert available. 

NOTE:  To get clock hours, you must attend all three sessions (minimum 3 hours), but you are welcome to attend any combination that works if you don’t need/want the clock hours. 

3. Prep for Mid-year Surplus  

If you have old, unwanted equipment in your classroom that you no longer have a use for, you can use the surplus process to get rid of it.  Your building’s inventory designee (Darlene Enocksen at CCMS, Deborah Mansfield at Cape, Marlene Leifsen at Gause, Kathy Stanton at Hathaway, Debbie Leifsen at Jemtegaard, Deana Degrande at Excelsior, and Misty Young at WHS) can help you process paperwork to dispose of the item appropriately, and remove it from your classroom’s inventory.  There will be a surplus run in January, near the end of the month, so work with your inventory person now to get items taken care of before things get too busy with the holidays.

You can read more about the inventory and surplus process here, including finding forms to dispose of equipment.

4. NCCE Tech Conference 2015 in Portland

Are you interested in seeing what’s out there in the world of Technology in the classroom?  NCCE, the largest education focused Technology conference in the Northwest, is back in Portland for 2015.  The event takes place at the Portland Convention Center March 18-20.  

Watch for an invitation to apply to attend with a buddy, with the goal of brining back cool technology integration tips and strategies to share with your peers during a tech class or next year’s Tech Symposium.  

5. 1:1 planning for WHS in 2015-2016

A group of teachers at WHS is working on planning the next steps for the 1:1 (one device per student) initiative as it rolls into the high school in 2015-2016.  The committee will be evaluating a number of different options, and trying to make sure we consider the needs of different departments in selecting a device.  The group of teachers is also planning professional development opportunities for staff that will be offered in the late Spring and Summer.  

WHS staff who have ideas to consider should contact a group member to share their thoughts:  James Bennett, Hillary Marshall, Lisa Leonard, Jim Reed, Ryan Stief, Shoko Parker, Aaron Hansen or Les Brown.

6. Turn Google Safe Search on for Your Account

You can enable Google Safe Search for your WashougalSD.org account, so that Google searches you perform when using any computer you log into your e-mail on are filtered automatically.  Follow these steps to get started:

1. Log into your email in a web browser. 
2. Visit http://www.google.com/preferences
3. Find the SafeSearch Filter section
4. Turn on SafeSearch by checking the box beside “Filter explicit results”
5. Click the Blue Save button to save this setting

7. Political Activities at Work

District staff should review the guidance provided on our For District Employees page here, and be aware of the restrictions on your use of work resources for political activities.  

In a nutshell, district staff may not use district computers, phones, email, copy machines, or other district resources to support or oppose any candidates, initiatives, or school bond measures.  

To answer a very common follow up question:  Staff ARE allowed to wear buttons at work, have bumper stickers on their cars, or display lawn signs in their yard, and volunteer to help Political Action Committees do pro or opposition work outside of work. 

8. Help Us Help You - Use SchoolDude

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 Sean, Linda, Becky, Mat or Les 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.  

If you forget how to get to SchoolDude to put in work orders for your Technology woes, you can always find the link via the Washougal School District website.  Click on the “for district employees” link in the upper right, and then use the Technology/Maintenance Requests link, which will take you to the SchoolDude site.  It’ll ask for your e-mail address  and you can log in.  To get the password to submit tickets contact your tech support person.

9. Subscribe to Changes in a Google Spreadsheet

Do you share information with someone in a Google Spreadsheet that gets updated periodically, and wish that you could get an e-mail when something in there changes, so that you go back to look at it?  If yes, you can use the steps below to turn on Notification Rules for your Google Sheet, which will e-mail you a list of changes made to your message.  You'll want to make sure to do the last step to get a "digest" version at the end of the day, especially if you have a big sheet where someone would change a lot in one day!

• Open your shared google sheet
• Click Tools
• Click Notification Rules
• Check the Box for Any Changes are Made
• Check the Box for "Email - Daily Digest" so that you don't get dozens of e-mails each day if someone else makes a bunch of changes in one day

WESPaC - viewing what a student or family sees in Educator Access

Teachers can see the same information presented to their students and their students' parents in WESPaC through the Educator Access Secondary Gradebook module they have.

To do this, the teacher needs to first log into Educator Access
Then click on Teacher Access, then My Gradebook
The teacher can then click the Secondary or Standards Gradebook link for the class that the student is in
Then click the small icon that looks like a child's head, in the column to the left (shown below)

After you click that icon, you will get a pop-up view of another set of information.  Choose either the option for "home" under Family Access Display, or "home" under Student access display to show the WESPaC information available to parent/guardians or students, respectively.

This may be helpful in giving more detailed instructions to either students or parents about how to find the information you're sharing via WESPaC.  You can also share the WESPaC Parent/Guardian manual with parents, to help them get started or find out more about Family Access.

eVAL and Principal Self Assessments - creating a focused vs. comprehensive evaluation

For principals, when using eVAL to start your own self-assessment using the AWSP framework or state 8, if your evaluator has set you to a focused evaluation before you start your self assessment, you may have trouble creating a self assessment that isn't "focused" on whichever criteria they chose.

The checkbox is easy to miss, and if your evaluator has switched you from comprehensive to focused for the new school year, it's turned on by default now.

When you click the Assess menu, and then Create new self assessment, on the small window that pops up, where you give it a name, there is a checkbox that says something about "Create a focused self assessment".

It seems that this is turned on for most of you, but you do not want it to be.  Please uncheck it and then create a new assessment.

If you already started a self assessment, i couldn't find a way to turn this off after the fact.  Just go through the steps to create another new one, and watch for the checkbox.

New Teacher Electronic Systems Scavenger Hunt

Welcome New Teachers!

Please download this word document to find the list of items we'd like you to complete for the scavenger hunt you're doing.

Thanks!

Les, Sean, Linda, and Becky

Tech eNews for 5-21-2014

Tech eNews for 5-20-2014

1. Getting Ready for Summer - steps to protect batteries in laptops or iPads

2. Prepping your Technology for the Summer

3. Help students copy important files to thumb drives or e-mail to themselves

4. Surplus that old, unwanted equipment 

5. Year end inventory sheets - coming soon to a classroom near you

6. Set a vacation message for summer

7. Summer training opportunity for staff on iPads

8. Save the Date - Tech PD Day 10-10-2014

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1.  Getting ready for summer - protect the batteries in your laptop/iPads

Our Tech Support Staff are ramping up for a very busy summer, where we will be purchasing another 500 or so iPads for students, and training the 7th and 8th grade teachers to use them with students!  We're excited about this work, and can use your help setting us up for a successful, productive summer. 

As we head into the final month of school, here are some tips for preserving batteries in electronic devices like laptops and iPads:

For laptops with a removable battery

If you are leaving a laptop in your classroom over the summer, and it has a battery that can be removed, please charge the battery to 100%, and then take it out and store it separately from the laptop.  Do not leave the laptop plugged into power all summer long.

For laptops without a removable battery

If you are leaving a laptop in your classroom over the summer, and it has a battery that cannot be removed, please charge the battery to 100%, then turn the laptop off (make sure you shut it down, don't just close the lid to put it to sleep) and then unplug the device from power.  Do not leave the laptop plugged into power all summer long, this can damage the battery and prevent it from holding a charge!

For iPads - charge the iPad all the way up and then make sure you turn it off (don’t just put it to sleep).  You can turn your iPad off by pressing and holding the iPad's power button for about 7 seconds, then sliding the switch that shows up on the screen. Don’t leave it plugged into the power cord all summer, either. 

2. Prepping your Technology for the Summer

To speed up the process of getting your technology ready again in August, please leave your equipment plugged in as much as possible.  Tech staff can help get equipment plugged back in after the fabulous custodial staff finish cleaning your rooms, which often requires the custodians to move all your equipment.  Having as much of your stuff left intact will speed up the process of getting your room ready in August.  

In the past, some staff members have put plastic sheeting or bags over desktop computers.  Tech staff would encourage you to NOT do this.  We have not noticed dust accumulation during the summer being a problem, and there is a risk of damaging equipment if the computer gets turned on, but is stuck inside a bag where it cannot exhaust heat.  

As always, if you are taking a laptop or iPad home over the summer, you need to check it out from your school's office.  Your building secretary can use the form here to record that you have the device and to keep it accounted for in the inventory. http://www.washougal.k12.wa.us/business_operations/inventory/checkout-form.doc

3. Help students copy important files to thumb drives or e-mail to themselves

As we do each year, we will be reseting student computer accounts to empty out ALL files at the end of the school year.  If your students have important files that they need to keep, please help them copy the files to a thumb drive, or e-mail it to themselves at home.  Items stored in the students email or google drive will stay over the summer and be available next fall. 

4. Surplus that old, unwanted equipment 

Do you have old, unwanted, or unused equipment in your classroom that you don’t want to keep? Work with your building's inventory person to get it marked as surplus.  They can help get it removed from your building inventory, and you won't have to keep accounting for it on the inventory!  The deadline for identifying items as surplus is around June 13, or whatever date your building's inventory person set.

5. Year end inventory sheets - coming soon to a classroom near you

Did someone say inventory?  The every-other-year district-wide inventory is wrapping up.  Thank you to everyone who has been allowing the inventory folks to update your rooms inventory in our database.  A benefit to this work is that it should simplify your year-end checkout.  Your sheets, which you'll get sometime around June 13, should be a match for what you have, making it easier to get checked out for the summer.  

6. Set a vacation message for summer

Speaking of summer - you can set an auto-reply vacation message for your e-mail letting folks know you'll be out over the summer. This will send a message to each person who emails you, letting them know you're out.  

- Log into your district e-mail.  http://mail.washougalsd.org/

- Log in as yourself (first.last) with your e-mail password.

- Click the Sprocket in the upper left, then choose Mail Settings

- On the General tab, scroll down to the Vacation Responder section

- Click the Radio button for "Vacation responder on"

- Enter the text you want to have sent to people who send you email in the box

- Set an end date if appropriate (recommended)

(Note: You can opt to have the message sent to anyone, or just people inside the district.)

- Make sure you scroll down or up to click the save button!  

If you didn't sent an end date, when you get back, follow the same directions, and set the responder to "off" to remove the message.

7. Summer training opportunity for staff on iPads

WSD is providing training opportunities for staff with an iPad, who are interested in learning how to use it in the classroom.  We will have a trainer from Apple on August 5 and 6, who will be covering iOS basics in the classroom the first day, and using iPads to help all learners the second day.  If you are interested in attending either of these trainings, let Les Brown know.  If you do not have an iPad to bring to the class, we can provide one for you to use during the training.  

8. Tech PD Symposium - 10-10-2014

Cape Teacher Heather Kassel and WHS Teacher James Bennett are organizing another district-wide professional development symposium focused on Technology in the classroom.  They plan to use the State In-Service Day in October as the date.  Please mark this on your calendar, and consider joining us for some fun, engaging, and hands on classes about how to use Technology in the classroom.  Teachers who are interested in helping teach sessions should contact James or Heather.  

Safari quit unexpectedly trying to initialize the PDE plugin

We have a Mac computer running OS 10.9, which would not print .pdf documents within Safari.  When trying to print, the print dialog would come up, but when you clicked print, the browser window would spontaneously close, with the error message "Safari quit unexpectedly trying to initialize the PDE plugin".

Clicking details showed that the browser was trying to use a pde.plugin file inside /Library/Printers/Konica folder, error below.  This was when trying to print to a Konica c360 multi-function printer.

Looking at the print drivers, I found that a newer one was available on the Konica website here:
http://onyxweb.mykonicaminolta.com/OneStopProductSupport/SearchResults?products=1248&fileTypes=0&OSs=39

Installing the new printer driver fixed the issue.

Error message from crash log:

PlugIn Path:       /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/C360/PDEs/pde.framework/Versions/A/pde

PlugIn Identifier: jp.konicaminolta.fw.C360.Core

2   jp.konicaminolta.fw.C360.Core 0x000000014bf0dba5 ClearPPDUIOption + 135

3   jp.konicaminolta.fw.C360.Core 0x000000014bf0dc07 DeletePPDUIOption + 22

4   jp.konicaminolta.fw.C360.Core 0x000000014bf00957 CTblRelease + 78

5   jp.konicaminolta.fw.C360.Core 0x000000014bf0655f -[KMComWinB559A628_3659_45D6_9F4B_E476550B6E7F terminate] + 124

6   jp.konicaminolta.fw.C360.Core 0x000000014bf089c6 -[KMSubWindowB559A628_3659_45D6_9F4B_E476550B6E7F terminate] + 76

7   jp.konicaminolta.fw.C360.Core 0x000000014bf053d8 -[KMPluginB559A628_3659_45D6_9F4B_E476550B6E7F terminate] + 379

8   jp.konicaminolta.fw.C360.Core 0x000000014bf05237 -[KMPluginB559A628_3659_45D6_9F4B_E476550B6E7F dealloc] + 24

       0x147296000 -        0x147299fff +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.754.Cover (3.10.1 - 3.10.1) <32FA49E1-BF8E-3AC1-B654-1DC7E4B492F7> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/754/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Cover.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Cover

       0x148e7a000 -        0x148e8fff7 +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.754.Finishing (3.10.1 - 3.10.1) <19258AB8-2C6C-31A5-B560-FDF999FD57B4> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/754/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Finishing.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Finishing

       0x149e79000 -        0x149e7cfff +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.C360.Cover (3.9.3 - 3.9.3) <CE76336F-C9EF-33E5-B505-CFF2F60EEC3C> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/C360/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Cover.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Cover

       0x14bc66000 -        0x14bc90fef +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.C360.Output (3.9.3 - 3.9.3) <45E40B51-CC18-3CD9-83F3-9D64A1027B01> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/C360/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Output.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Output

       0x14bee8000 -        0x14bf80ff7 +jp.konicaminolta.fw.C360.Core (3.9.3 - 3.9.3) <56B26151-6672-3BF5-BDE4-D6EE58F04734> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/C360/PDEs/pde.framework/Versions/A/pde

       0x14bfc3000 -        0x14bfd8fff +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.C360.Finishing (3.9.3 - 3.9.3) <8082D8E0-9258-3BC5-8055-66FFC50223B3> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/C360/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Finishing.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Finishing

       0x14c09f000 -        0x14c0b1fff +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.C360.Tray (3.9.3 - 3.9.3) <D0DB9E52-5FC2-3C01-984B-36A6F765DEA9> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/C360/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Tray.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Tray

       0x14c9c0000 -        0x14c9d7fff +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.C360.PerPage (3.9.3 - 3.9.3) <FFEF6181-6E47-3092-94D9-42ED3EB9100B> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/C360/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA C360 PerPage.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA C360 PerPage

       0x14ceb8000 -        0x14ced7fef +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.C360.Stamp (3.9.3 - 3.9.3) <FC0F6A6B-3BE1-3C5A-BDC6-3A1BB6EFEDB1> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/C360/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Stamp.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA C360 Stamp

       0x14cf9a000 -        0x14cfb0fff +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.C360.ImageQuality (3.9.3 - 3.9.3) <692AAFE2-20E6-3C15-8AAF-38A523E5785A> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/C360/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA C360 ImageQuality.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA C360 ImageQuality

       0x150a8b000 -        0x150aa2ff7 +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.754.PerPage (3.10.1 - 3.10.1) <DAECC705-8F50-33BA-BFFA-856F6D19BA10> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/754/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA 754 PerPage.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA 754 PerPage

       0x154adf000 -        0x154b09ff7 +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.754.Output (3.10.1 - 3.10.1) <B2A12B5B-994B-3926-BE74-6E2D748EB12A> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/754/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Output.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Output

       0x154b48000 -        0x154be3fef +jp.konicaminolta.fw.754.Core (3.10.1 - 3.10.1) <C435AF8A-2232-38D7-A23D-A4A03F00FF86> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/754/PDEs/pde.framework/Versions/A/pde

       0x154d84000 -        0x154d96fff +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.754.Tray (3.10.1 - 3.10.1) <83DEC631-8307-3E29-AC17-FDC86A19197A> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/754/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Tray.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Tray

       0x1554e6000 -        0x155505fff +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.754.Stamp (3.10.1 - 3.10.1) <14A2AB51-3AAE-3213-B791-62DC5FD48903> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/754/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Stamp.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA 754 Stamp

       0x15552a000 -        0x155540ff7 +jp.konicaminolta.print.pde.754.ImageQuality (3.10.1 - 3.10.1) <80760E09-6ACE-3556-A949-966C9694C409> /Library/Printers/KONICAMINOLTA/754/PDEs/KONICA MINOLTA 754 ImageQuality.plugin/Contents/MacOS/KONICA MINOLTA 754 ImageQuality

Tech eNews 3-14-2014

Tech eNews for 3-12-2014

1. Welcome Becky Vredenburg
2. iPad roll out plan for staff and students
3. Save the Date for 7 & 8 grade teachers
4. LCD Projector Bulb replacement
5. Set an email Profile Picture
6. Tech eNews and Tech Blog archive

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1. Welcome Becky Vredenburg, new Tech Support Assistant at WHS & Hathaway
Becky Vredenburg is the new Tech Support Assistant who will be serving Washougal High School, Hathaway Elementary, and Mt. Pleasant Elementary.  Becky is a 2002 Washougal High School graduate who has recently worked for ADP in Portland, OR.  She has a degree from Ashworth University in Computer Information Management and an extensive technology background, having worked in tech jobs for the past 10 years.  Becky lives in Washougal with her husband and three-year-old daughter.   She enjoys photography, graphic design, and everything Disney.  


2. iPad roll out plan for staff and students
With voter approval of the new Tech levy funds, the Technology Committee has planned the roll out of iPads for staff and students that the Levy will be paying for.  New Tech levy funds are not available for iPads until summer of 2015 and will not come all at once. They will come as district property owners pay their taxes, in calendar years 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Current Schedule for rolling out iPads:

• Summer of 2014-7th and 8th grade (old Tech levy)
• Summer of 2015-9th and 10th grade (new Tech levy starts)
• Summer of 2016-11th, 12th, and 4th  grade
• Summer of 2017-Evaluate existing devices and grades 1-3
• Summer of 2018-Kindergarten (assuming voters approve another tech levy)

The plan is to provide teachers with an iPad along with their grade level sets.  If we were to buy iPads for all teachers right now, the teacher’s device would be several years older than their students’ devices.

A large format display with Apple TV wireless capability will be provided in each classroom along with their classroom iPad sets.  WHS classrooms with ceiling mounted projectors will get newer projectors to enable the use of wireless mirroring via the Apple TV.  Document cameras will continue to work with the new displays.

Levy dollars are also being allocated to maintain existing technology:

• Maintain a 6 year cycle of replacing Teacher Computers
• Computer Lab maintenance (one lab per building, with around 1 replaced each year of the Tech levy)
• Maintain and/or replacement of existing Projectors and Document Cameras
• Network infrastructure & further expansion of the wireless network
• Standardized Software for new computers
• Amplification systems
• Phone system parts/repairs
• Tech Staff Training

What about iPads for para educators and other non-teaching staff?  Currently, there is no plan for purchasing devices for staff other than classroom teachers from district Technology funds.  Please talk to your building administrator if you feel a device is required for your position.


3. Save the Date for Grade 7 & 8 Teachers for iPad Trainings
As noted above, teachers in our middle schools in grades 7 & 8 who do not already have an iPad will be getting one for next year.  We've tentatively planned two one hour trainings (attend one) for you to come get your iPad and get it set up for your use in the fall.  Please plan to attend either Wednesday, May 21st, or Tuesday, June 10th, from about 3:30 to 4:30.  We'll send more specific details as these short trainings are planned.  We will also be doing two sets of training in early/mid August for teachers at these grade levels.  We will send out more information on the training dates once they're pinned down.


4. LCD Projector and Bulb Replacement
Let Sean, Linda or Becky, know if your projector’s image is darker than it used to be, has changed color, or is showing spots or dots in the image. In some cases, a new bulb is all that’s needed, and for most classrooms, the Tech staff has an extra bulb. If your projector’s problem can’t be fixed with a new bulb, we’ll put it on the list to get replaced.


5. Set an Email Profile Picture
Wonder how some of your colleagues have added their picture so it shows up automatically when they e-mail you?  You can do it, too!

• Open your e-mail, and click the small Gear icon in the upper right corner, then choose settings
• On the general tab, scroll down about half way, and find "My Picture"
• Click the link that says "Select a Picture"
• Click the button that says "Choose File", then browse and find a picture of yourself
• Drag the crop box to pick what part of the picture shows up, then click "apply changes"
• Scroll down and click Save

Click here to see these directions with screen shots of the steps.

White box behind posts in Google Sites

When you cut/paste from your e-mail into Google Sites, you're going to get a white background on your posts that shows up when people view it.  Annoyingly, it doesn't show up while you're editing it. 

This is because Google "sees" additional information in what was cut from the e-mail and pasted into your post.  

You can get rid of this by doing this:  

Click Edit post

Highlight the text

Click the "Edit Background Color" button (looks like a grey A sitting on a black box) 

Click the color that's the same color as your background color, then click Save

Get a Gmail profile picture

Wonder how some of your colleagues have added their picture so it shows up automatically when they e-mail you?  You can do it, too!

Open your e-mail, and click the small Gear icon in the upper right corner, then choose settings

On the general tab, scroll down about half way, and find "My Picture"

Click the link that says "Select a Picture"



Click the button that says "Choose File", then browse and find a picture of yourself

Drag the crop box to pick what part of the picture shows up, then click "apply changes"

Scroll down and click Save

Tech eNews January 2013

Tech eNews January 16, 2014

1. Elections and Use of School Resources

2. iPads, Auto Updates, and Battery Life

3. Identifying Surplus Equipment 

4. Need Help?  Please Ask!

5. Wish you had Excel/PowerPoint/Word/Anti-Virus at home?

1. Elections and the Use of School Resources

As the renewal of the Technology Levy and the Maintenance and Operations Levy approach, it's important for school staff to remember that school staff and volunteers cannot use district resources for elections purposes.  This includes your district e-mail, your district phone, and your district equipment like computers, iPads, and photocopiers. 

Any work to promote the Levy needs to be done outside of district work time, and not using district equipment or resources.  There's a great guide from the Public Disclosure Commission on what school districts and their staff can and cannot do, linked here:

http://www.pdc.wa.gov/archive/pdf/01-03Revised092806.pdf

2. iPads, Auto Updates, and Battery Life

Linda Henderson, Tech Support Staff at Cape and Canyon Creek, provided this guidance on increasing your battery life for your iPad.  

If you are experiencing shorter battery life on your iPad you may want to try these simple tricks to improve it.

A. Disable Background App Update

iOS 7 allows apps to continue updating while in the background.  Turning this feature off will help your battery last longer:

  Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Off

B.  Turn Off Auto App Update

Having apps automatically update can be convenient but it tends to drain batteries.

  Click Settings > iTunes & App Store > Automatic Downloads > Updates to OFF

C.  Turn Down Display Brightness

Keeping your screen bright looks great but it is one of the most common reasons for batteries to run down quickly on many battery operated devices.  

Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and turn down brightness, even if you only turn it down a bit you should see increased battery life.

A version of this with screen shots is posted on the Tech Blog here: 

http://wsdtechblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/ipad-battery-life-draining-to-fast.html

3. Identifying Surplus Equipment 

Do you have old, unwanted, or unused equipment in your classroom that you don’t want to keep? Let your building's inventory designee (list here) know you want to get rid of it. The deadline for identifying items as surplus is January 31.

Doing this removes items from your room inventory list at the end of the year - simplifying things for you!

4. Need Help?  Please Ask!

As always, Sean Elkinton, Kenneth Mai, and Linda Henderson are all available to answer tech questions via schooldude, e-mail, or the phone from 8:00 - 4:30.  Even if Sean, Kenneth and Linda are not in your building, you can get help from them over the phone or via e-mail.  

If possible, please use the School Dude system to track your request.  You can find a link to it on the District website, under “For District Employees.”  Click on the link in the left hand sidebar to get started.  Contact your building's tech support person to get the submittal password.

 

5. Wish you had Excel/PowerPoint/Word/Anti-Virus at home?

Some of the software products that WSD licenses are available for district staff to use at home.  Microsoft Office (the same version as on your work computer) is available for use on work-related projects at home.  Inspiration, a graphic organizing and visual concept mapping software, is available for use at home with no work-related restrictions.  Sophos Anti-Virus is available for use on your home computers for free.  To get any of these applications, please download the Take Home Rights Agreement form on the District’s Technology webpage, and send it to Les after filing it out.  Make sure you note which application you’re after.