The correct web address for the video site that many folks are recommending to each other is Khanacademy.org not kaHnacademy.org
The incorrectly spelled Khan takes you to a SPAM site, which is why it's blocked by the Barracuda filter.
Just think of Ricardo Montalbán in the original Star Trek - Khan!
Les
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Tech eNews 5-17-2011
Topics in this edition of WSD Tech eNews for May 17, 2011
1. WSD Tech Funds – what, where, when?
2. New computers in a lab near you
3. Nightly Computer Shutdown Scheduled for Energy Conservation
4. Tech Drop-in At Gause 5-19-2011 at 3:45 PM
5. Surplus that old unwanted/unused equipment
6. Tech Committee opening at Jemtegaard
7. LCD Projector/Bulb replacement
8. Creating a vacation message
1. WSD Tech Funds - what, where, when?
WSD Tech funds. What are they? Where do they come from? What do they pay for?
Voters approved a new Technology levy on February 9, 2010, which will collect $250,000 each year for four years, starting in 2011. The tech funds are spent on classroom and lab computers, and instructional technology equipment for teacher and student use in all buildings, K-12. Tech funds pay for “standard” software, including Microsoft Office, Inspiration, and Sophos Anti-virus. They also pay for Network infrastructure that allows network accounts for all staff, including the web server, e-mail server, and home-folder servers.
2. New computers in a lab near you
Money from the new tech funds was used to replace computers in labs at Jemtegaard, Hathaway, Canyon Creek, and Excelsior. Older computers from these labs will be migrated into student computer use in the K-8 schools, and will replace all computers more than 6 years old with ones that meet the WSD Tech Committee’s “standard” by grade level. To read more about the classroom standards, please see the WSD Tech page. Tech funds will be used this Summer to replace teacher computers at WHS.
3. Nightly Computer Shutdown Scheduled for Energy Conservation
As part of the district’s effort to conserve energy and cut utility costs, staff are expected to shut down computers at night. Computers left on will be shut down by the system around 7 PM. For PC users, if you are working late, you will get a pop-up message with a 60 second timer that warns you the PC is about to shut off, and can choose to defer shutdown. Mac computers will give the logged in user 120 seconds to defer shutdown.
While scheduling this shutdown will save about $3.50 per month per computer that gets turned off each night, it’s preferable for you to shut down your computer when you’re leaving, since it won’t be in use after you leave.
This scheduled shutdown will help ensure your files get backed up completely, too!
4. Tech Drop-in At Gause 5-19-2011 at 3:45 PM
Sean Elkinton and Les Brown will be in the Gause Library on Thursday May 19th from 3:45 to 4:45 PM to provide one on one help to staff who have technology questions. Teachers or other staff members interested in asking questions or getting help with specific problems are welcome to come. This is not a formal class or training, so there are no clock hours available.
5. 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.
6. Tech Committee Opening at Jemtegaard
If you teach at Jemtegaard, are interested in technology, and would consider serving on the Tech Committee, let Ron Carlson know. Committee members help create the classroom standards for technology, create a vision for technology use in classrooms, and guide the district’s selection of new technology equipment. The tech committee meets four times per year, for around 2 hours, and participating teachers get a half-day sub while they’re at the meeting.
7. LCD Projector and Bulb Replacement
WSD Tech funds will be purchasing new projectors for classrooms around the district as older projectors begin to fail. Let Sean or Anthony 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.
8. Creating a Vacation Message
If you are going to be out of the office for an extended period of time, you can create a vacation message which automatically responds to your e-mail, letting folks know you’re gone.
Go to the district web page. http://www.washougal.k12.wa.us
Click on For District Employees
Click on the E-mail server link in the left-hand sidebar.
Log in as yourself (first.last) with your e-mail password.
Click Preferences in the left hand sidebar.
Click the brown tab for Vacation message.
Click the checkbox for Enable, then type in the text of what you would like your response to be in the box.
Make sure you click save (just below the district logo).
Click Logout.
When you get back, follow the same directions, and blank out whatever you typed in the box to remove the message.
Friday, April 22, 2011
WSD Tech eNews for April 22, 2011
1. Have an idea for a Tech integration class for 2011-2012?
2. Google SafeSearch fixed by higher capacity web filter
3. Who resets that password?
4. Scanning instructions for Konica Minolta copiers
5. Prezi website for creating media-rich presentations
6. Spring computer migration plan
7. Think a website should be letting you in with your bypass?
8. Have a website that should be unblocked?
1. Have an idea for a Tech integration class for 2011-2012?
WSD Tech staff have started planning for the tech integration classes for 2011-2012, and we are looking for ideas! If you have a topic or class idea you’d like to see offered, please let Les Brown know, and he’ll include it in the survey that’ll go out in late April. Course offerings will be based on the interest as expressed in the teacher survey. Teachers who participate in the Technology Committee as well as those who attended the NCCE technology conference will also be helping seed the topics for the survey.
2. Higher capacity web filter fixes forced Google Safe Search
Some teachers reported a problem with Google’s SafeSearch allowing questionable pictures through when students did searches using various keywords. Barracuda, the company that provides the web filtering device we use investigated the problem, and recommended some changes. When these changes weren’t effective at eliminating the problem, they offered to replace the device, for free, under the warranty. All Google (as well as Bing and Yahoo) searchs are once again forced through as “Safe Searches” which limits inappropriate content from being returned in picture or text. To read more about Google’s implementation of SafeSearch, click here.
In addition to fixing the forced SafeSearch, the newer Internet filter has additional capacity for bandwidth, which removes a bottleneck in our network. The newer filter has three times the capacity for network connections, and can handle twice the bandwidth of the old one.
3. Who resets that password?
OK, you’ve tried every password you’ve ever used since “the dog you had when you were seven years old,” and you still can’t get into that website/your computer/your voicemail/your e-mail/WESPaC and you’re wondering whom you should call! Here’s a quick reference:
:: For Computer login problems, contact your building tech person (Sean or Anthony) or Les at ext. 3310
:: For e-mail, contact your building tech person (Sean or Anthony) or Les at ext. 3310
:: For WESPaC, Contact Boo Stevens at ext. 3011
:: For AESOP, Contact Liza Linde in Human Resources at Ext. 3041
:: For Sonitrol, Contact Liza Linde in Human Resources at Ext. 3041
:: For help with voicemail passwords, Contact your building secretary, or Les at Ext. 3310
:: For EDS (OSPI’s Data system), Contact Boo Stevens at ext. 3011
4. Scanning instructions for Konica-Minolta copiers
Anthony Collver has produced a guide on how to use the newer Konica copiers to scan a document to yourself using the feature on the new copy machines. Download these directions from the Tech webpage on the district site. If you need help, please ask Sean or Anthony to help.
5. Prezi website for creating media-rich presentations
Prezi.com is a website useful for creating media-rich presentations with drag and drop ease. The site features a number of very cool features, including the ability easily embed YouTube videos with a thumbnail and to zoom in and out on the entire presentation as if it were a whiteboard.
6. Spring computer migration plan
The district’s technology funds are being used to fund replacement of a number of computer lab computers in various schools later this Spring, and to replace teacher computers at WHS this summer. The Mac computers that are replaced will be migrated into student uses in classrooms, and the PC computers at WHS will be moved into the Library lab. Displaced computers in those areas more than 6 years old will be declared surplus.
7. Think Your Bypass Should Let You Into a Website?
This tip from Sean Elkinton - If you run into a website that you aren’t able to access due to the Barracuda filter, and you’re not sure if you’re logged in, just try the www.YouTube.com site. If that site is working, you can be sure your bypass is on. If you’re not able to access the site after that, read #8 below!
8. Have a suggestion for a website that should be unblocked?
If you find a website that’s useful, but blocked, you can ask Les Brown to unblock it. Note that certain websites like FaceBook and MySpace aren’t going to get unblocked for students.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Topics in this edition of WSD Tech eNews for March 30, 2011
1. Tech innovation mini-grants
2. Have an idea for a Tech integration class for 2011-2012?
3. Phone & voicemail tips for WHS/Gause/EHS
4. Phone & voicemail tips for Hathaway/JMS/CCMS/Cape/DO
5. Cape/CCMS drop in time – Wednesday April 13th 2:45-3:45 pm
6. How does using School Dude help you?
7. Backups – what you need to know to survive a data disaster
8. Have a suggestion for a website that should be blocked or unblocked?
9. WSD Tech eNews Blog & archive
1. Tech Innovation Mini-grants
Thank you to everyone to applied for one of the Tech innovation mini-grants. A subcommittee of the District’s Technology Committee met and reviewed the applications, and has funded two projects.
Robert Yee, Art teacher from Washougal High School applied for a Tech innovation mini-grant to get handheld devices for use with his students. Rob’s Art students will use the 5 iPad devices they got to do research as they develop art projects, and to read online periodicals to see examples of real imagery to supplement hands-on materials.
James Bennett and Jay Jenkins, Science and Math teachers at Washougal High School, were also awarded a Tech innovation mini-grant. James and Jay applied for a set of interactive student response systems, commonly called “clickers” to use with their students. These teachers plan to use the “clickers” to do formative assessments in their classrooms gauging the need to re-teach concepts on the fly. They will use the clickers to keep students engaged and paying attention during content delivery. They note that the anonymous nature of the clicker system will allow students to respond to prompts without feeling embarrassed, and give a more accurate snapshot of students’ understanding.
The Technology Committee will discuss the idea of a third wave of Tech innovation mini-grants in their meeting on April 28th.
2. Have an idea for a Tech integration class for 2011-2012?
WSD Tech staff have started planning for the tech integration classes for 2011-2012, and we are looking for ideas! If you have a topic or class idea you’d like to see offered, please let Les Brown know, and he’ll include it in the survey that’ll go out in April. Course offerings will be based on the interest as expressed in the teacher survey. Teachers who participate in the Technology Committee as well as those who attended the NCCE technology conference will also be helping seed the topics for the survey.
3. Phone & voicemail tips for WHS/Gause/EHS
Have you ever wondered what all those buttons on your phone do, but were afraid to push them?
• The orange “Rls” button stands for release, and it hangs up on people. You can use this as a way to finish a phone conversation without the person on the other end hearing you physically hang up the phone by setting down the receiver with a clunk. It can also be used to end a call if you’re on Speakerphone, without picking the receiver up just to put it back down.
• Speaking of speakerphone, yes, your phone has speakerphone capabilities – just push the “Handsfree” button to talk and listen without getting a crick in your neck. You can push it a second time to mute your end of the hands-free conversation. To unmute, push it a third time.
• A handy trick for Redial: just push the Line 1 button twice, and it’ll redial the last number you called.
• Want to put your phone on “Do not Disturb” but don’t have a button for it? You can use the “Forward” button – push Forward, then type in 3199, then Forward again. This will send all your calls to voicemail. Or, push Forward, then 3701, and that’ll send all your calls to Rex Larson. Please don’t forward calls to Long Distance numbers – we get charged for the call time!
• You can use the “Conference” button to start 3-way calling – start a phone call with the first party you want to talk to, then tell them you’re going to conference in a third person. Push the “Conference” button, then dial the number for the third person, and wait for them to answer. Tell them that you’re going to connect them with the first party, and then push the “Conference” button. All three of you will be on the phone together!
• You can use the “Transfer” button to send calls to another staff person elsewhere in the district. Just push the “Transfer” button, then dial the number (internal or external, but not Long Distance). You can either wait for the other party to answer, or just hang up. It’ll send the caller to their phone, or voicemail if they don’t answer. Remember not to use this to send a call to a long distance number – we would incur long distance charges for that!
• Want to put a caller on hold, so that you can continue a conversation at another phone? Use the “Park” button. When you’re talking to someone and need to move to a different phone or room, just push the Park button once, then write down the 4 digit number that shows up on the phones display. Now push Park again. The caller is put on a system hold (listening to the wonderful Classical music we play) while you hurry to the other phone. When you get there, pick up the receiver, and dial the 4 digit number you wrote down. It’ll automatically reconnect you.
Here are some handy commands for your voicemail:
(you can press any of these at any time, you don’t need to wait for a message to end to restart it, for example)
• Press 1 to start listening, or to repeat an entire message
• Press 2 to skip to the next message without deleting the one you’re currently listening to
• 3 deletes the message (be careful, pressing 3 twice will delete the current message, and the next message too!)
• * (star key) rewinds 3 seconds, # (pound key) jumps forward about 3 seconds
• 74 will repeat a message with the time and date
• 7 Pauses playback, press 7 again to start where you paused
• 8 raises volume, 0 decreases volume
• to access your voicemail from home, dial you own phone number, then press # (pound key) when your message starts, then enter your password. All of the other commands are the same.
4. Phone & voicemail tips for Hathaway/JMS/CCMS/Cape/DO
Have you ever wondered what all those buttons on your phone do, but were afraid to push them?
• The “Rls” button stands for release, and it hangs up on people. You can use this as a way to finish a phone conversation without the person on the other end hearing you physically hang up the phone by setting down the receiver with a clunk. It can also be used to end a call if you’re on Speakerphone, without picking the receiver up just to put it back down.
• Speaking of speakerphone, yes, your phone has speakerphone capabilities – just push the “Handsfree” button to talk and listen without getting a crick in your neck. You can push it a second time to mute your end of the hands-free conversation. To unmute, push it a third time.
• A handy trick for Redial: just push the “Last #” button, and it’ll redial the last number you called. If you don’t have a “Last #” button, push the “Feature” button then press 5.
• Use the DND button to put your phone on “Do Not Disturb” which will forward all your calls directly to voicemail.
• While you don’t have a “Conference” button, you can still do 3-way calling. Just start a phone call with the first party you want to talk to, then tell them you’re going to conference in a third person. Push the “Feature” button, then press 71. The screen will ask you to dial the number for the third person, then wait for them to answer. Tell them that you’re going to connect them with the first party, and then push the “Feature” button, then press 71. All three of you will be on the phone together! (Don’t call Les asking where the 71 button is – it’s the 7 button, then the 1 button typed in a row!)
• You can use the “Transfer” button to send a call to another staff person elsewhere in the district. Just push the “Transfer” button, then dial the number (internal or external, but not Long Distance). You can either wait for the other party to answer, or just hang up. It’ll send the caller to their phone, or voicemail if they don’t answer. Remember not to use this to send a call to a long distance number – we would incur long distance charges for that!
Here are some handy commands for your voicemail:
(you can press any of these at any time, you don’t need to wait for a message to end to restart it, for example)
• 1 to start or skip back about 3 seconds, or 1,1 to repeat messages
• 3 to skip forward about 3 seconds, or 3,3 to skip to the end
• 7 to delete message
• 9 to save (start the next message)
• to access your voicemail from home, dial you own phone number, then press ** (star key twice) when your message is playing, then enter your extension number and password as an 8 digit string – e.g. 35001234. All of the other commands are the same.
5. Cape/CCMS drop in time – Wednesday April 13th from 2:45-3:45 pm
Anthony Collver and Les Brown will be at Cape and Canyon Creek on Wednesday April 13th from 2:45 to 3:45 PM to provide one-on-one help to staff who have technology questions. Teachers or other staff members interested in asking questions or getting help with specific problems are welcome to come. This is not a formal class or training, so there are no clock hours available.
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.
7. Backups – what you need to know to survive a data disaster
If you have a laptop, Retrospect should be backing up your files. If you are getting a message telling you that you have not been backed up since some date, contact Les Brown immediately.
If you have a desktop, you MUST log out of your computer for your files to get saved properly. Open files are not backed up, and more than one person has lost e-mail recently by not logging out at night.
The district does only short term backups of your files for disaster recovery. It’s important to let your building tech support know quickly if you realize something is missing or corrupt. We can only retrieve items from about the last three weeks, which means you should also be doing your own backups. If you have important documents you want to archive, you should back them up onto CDs or DVDs. Sean or Anthony can help with this task.
8. Have a suggestion for a website that should be blocked or unblocked?
If your students accidentally (or on purpose) stumble onto an inappropriate website, let Les Brown know. He can add sites to the “blocked” list manually, which will prevent students from getting to them. Note that some sites with educational games are left unblocked because other WSD staff use them as part of their curriculum.
If you find a website that’s useful, but blocked, you can ask Les to unblock it. Note that certain websites like YouTube, FaceBook, or MySpace aren’t going to get unblocked for students.
9. Tech eNews Blog
If you want to read past issues of the Tech eNews, please visit the Tech Blog at http://wsdtechblog.blogspot.com/ and you'll find an archive of this and other Tech topics.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Topics in this edition of WSD Tech eNews for March 17, 2011
1. Thank you to teachers who facilitated tech classes
2. Change to Internet filter address
3. Air filter timer warning on projector
4. Wireless/wired network and student use
5. Jemtegaard drop in time - Thursday March 24 3-4 pm
6. Brainstorm or mind map with Inspriation software
7. Resources from tech integration classes on WSD Website
8. Need help? Please ask!
1. Thank You to Teachers Who Facilitated Tech Classes
A very big thank you to THANK YOU to Heidi Kleser, Rochelle Aiton, Kim Dillon, Jay Bennett, Cheryl MacIntyre, Trudy Tkach, Rebecca Woodings, Susan Nesmith, Philicia Weaver, Chelsea Meats, Scott Rainey, Ali Miller, Sean Elkinton, Rebecca Miner and Les Brown for all their hard work putting this year’s tech classes together. These teachers came up with some wonderful tech integration ideas and were instrumental in growing our staff development course offerings in technology.
The tech courses were a big hit! We had 177 participants total in the 12 classes. We offered a total of 24 clock hours to teachers who chose to participate in the 3 to 6 hour classes, and awarded 339 clock hours total in tech classes. About half of all district teachers took at least one tech class.
We will be sending out a survey in April to start the process of developing classes for the next school year. If you have a topic or idea for a class, e-mail Les and he’ll include it on the survey. If you are interested in co-facilitating a class, we’d love to have you participate! Just let Les and Rebecca know what you’re interested in teaching. We'll also be looking for any feedback you'd like to share about how we can make these classes more useful or better fit your needs.
2. Change to Internet Filter Address
For those of you using the bypass usernames and passwords to access the Internet filter, you may note that the address for the filter has changed. If you bookmarked the login/logout page, you’ll need to bookmark the new page, which is linked on the “For District Employees” page of the WSD website. Look in the left sidebar.
Remember – if you log in using your username/password to allow students access to a video, you must go back and log out when they’re done. Otherwise, that computer will retain access to YouTube and other streaming media sites for 24 hours. You can log out by going back to the login page (use the link above) and click the “logout” button.
If you don’t use one yet, teachers can sign up for a filter bypass which makes these sites available. To sign up for a bypass, please download the Filter Bypass Agreement from the WSD Technology page, and send it to Les after signing it. The bypass will let you into YouTube and other streaming sites, but does not bypass the filter for things like Facebook or MySpace.
3. Air Filter Timer Warnings on Projectors
If your classroom LCD projector is displaying a warning at startup that the filter needs to be cleaned, please contact Sean or Anthony, or enter a ticket into SchoolDude asking for it to be cleaned. Keeping air flowing freely through the projector allows the temperature inside to stay cooler, preserving the life of the expensive bulbs. Please don’t reset the warning without first cleaning the filter!
4. Wireless/Wired Network and Student Use
Neither the wireless network nor the wired network are intended for student use at this time. You should not be sharing the wireless passwords with students, and they should not be plugging their laptops into our network. Some buildings are starting to run out of network addresses due to students connecting iPods or personal laptops to the wireless network. The current network setup does not provide adequate protection to the district’s network and computers if students connect their own devices. Please do not allow students to physically plug in computers or connect to the wireless network. Student laptops can be a source of viruses that find and infect district computers.
5. Jemtegaard Drop-in Time
Sean Elkinton and Les Brown will be at Jemtegaard on Thursday March 24th from 3 to 4 PM to provide one on one help to staff who have technology questions. Teachers or other staff members interested in asking questions or getting help with specific problems are welcome to come. This is not a formal class or training, so there are no clock hours available.
6. Brainstorm or Mind Map with Inspiration
Do you do whole class activities to brainstorm topics or create mind maps? If so, consider using the Inspiration software on your computer hooked up to your projector to help your students organize ideas. Inspiration is an easy to use graphic organizing tool. You can have a student act as a recorder, typing in responses to a guiding question using the “rapid fire tool.” Next, use the create link tool to connect related ideas around a central topic or question. Building out from your central idea, connect all of the ideas on the page. Once you’ve made all the connections, click the “arrange” button, and you’ll have an organized tree or diagram of the topic or question. Inspiration is in the Applications folder on the Hard Drive of your Mac, or on the Start Menu/Applications folder on your PC.
Inspiration can also be used to build quick timelines, character maps, or explain the food web. Find example lesson plans on the Inspired Learning Community webpage.
7. Resources from Tech Integration Classes on District Website
Have you taken a tech class over the last year, and wish you could find a copy of a handout or guide you received? Visit the District website for Staff Development, on the Teaching/Learning menu of the WSD website, and click the name of the class in the left sidebar. You’ll find the lesson plans developed by the instructors along with their presentation materials, related links, and handouts they used. Didn’t take a class, but you’re still curious? You can read through the lesson plan for many of the classes and get an overview of how the application or skills taught are useful to teachers.
8. If You Need Help? Please ask!
As always, Sean Elkinton, Anthony Collver, and Les Brown are all available to answer tech questions via schooldude, e-mail, or the phone from 8:00 - 4:30. Even if Sean and Anthony are not in your building, you can get help from them over the phone or via e-mail. Les is available to do screen-sharing if you’re on a Mac, too! 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 Sean, Les, or Anthony to get the password.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tech eNews 3-2-2011
Topics in this edition of WSD Tech eNews for March 2, 2011
1. Need a video camera, check one out
2. Digital Collages 3-10-2011
3. Out of the office and want to check your e-mail?
4. Phishing? But I don't own a tackle box!
5. Wish you had Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Inspiration/Anti-Virus at home?
6. Millions from the Nigerian Lottery? I didn’t even buy a ticket!
7. New homefolder servers for Gause, Canyon Creek, and Jemtegaard rolled out
8. Still getting a pop-up about Sophos needing an update?
9. Need help? Please ask!
1. Need a video camera? Check one out from Les Brown
WSD Tech purchased a set of 5 HD video cameras for use by teachers. You can check out one, or the entire set if you’re doing a movie-making project with your students. Contact Les Brown to make arrangements. There are tripods available for all of the cameras, too.
2. Digital Collages Class 3-10-2011 by Ali Miller and Les Brown
Les Brown and Excelsior High School teacher Ali Miller are putting together a class on creating digital collages with students. This is a great way to integrate visual literacy into any classroom topic or unit. Photoshop is a powerful way for students to create posters to illustrate their understanding of a topic with others. This will be a fun, hands-on class, from 4-7 PM in the Excelsior High School computer lab. Pre-registration with Rebecca Miner is required.
3. Out of the office and want to check your e-mail?
All WSD employees have access to web-based e-mail which can be accessed anywhere you have an Internet connection. Simply go to the WSD Website (you can search Google for Washougal to find us, or type in http://www.washougal.k12.wa.us ) and then click on the “For District Employees” link. The e-mail server is listed in the left hand sidebar toward the top.
4. Phishing? But I don't own a tackle box!
A recent e-mail with the subject line "Deactivation of Your Email Address" went out to many 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. Wish you had Excel/PowerPoint/Word/Inspiration/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 filling it out. Make sure you note which application you’re after. (WHS Only - WHS staff can also request Adobe's Creative Suite 4 - which includes Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver, the full version of Adobe Reader, Illustrator, Flash, and Fireworks. These applications are available for use with work-related projects.)
6. Millions from the Nigerian Lottery for me? I didn’t even buy a ticket!
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. Be a wary web surfer, and keep an eye out for offers that sound unbelievable, they probably are.
You should also watch out for fraudulent messages from banking or other financial sources, many would be identity thieves are 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.
7. New homefolder servers for Gause, Canyon Creek, and Jemtegaard rolled out
WSD Tech staff have been busy over the past month setting up new home folder servers at Jemtegaard, Canyon Creek, and Gause. For Jemtegaard and Canyon Creek, the new servers will house student home folders, moving them off a server shared with staff. At Gause, the new home folder server replaces a server that's now 5 years old and ready to be retired.
8. Still getting a pop-up about Sophos needing an update?
Sophos, the Anti-Virus software WSD Tech licenses for your computers, recently released a major upgrade. If you are getting daily pop-up messages that the software needs to be upgraded, please make sure you've recently restarted your computer. If you've done that, please let your building tech person know. They will install the update, which will make the message go away.
9. And Finally - If You Need Help? Please ask!
Sean Elkinton, Anthony Collver, and Les Brown are all available to answer tech questions via schooldude, e-mail, or the phone from 8:00 - 4:30. Even if Sean and Anthony are not in your building, you can get help from them over the phone or via e-mail. Les is available to do screen-sharing if you’re on a Mac, too! 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. Ask your building's tech support staff person, or Les Brown, if you need the submittal password.
1. Need a video camera, check one out
2. Digital Collages 3-10-2011
3. Out of the office and want to check your e-mail?
4. Phishing? But I don't own a tackle box!
5. Wish you had Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Inspiration/Anti-Virus at home?
6. Millions from the Nigerian Lottery? I didn’t even buy a ticket!
7. New homefolder servers for Gause, Canyon Creek, and Jemtegaard rolled out
8. Still getting a pop-up about Sophos needing an update?
9. Need help? Please ask!
1. Need a video camera? Check one out from Les Brown
WSD Tech purchased a set of 5 HD video cameras for use by teachers. You can check out one, or the entire set if you’re doing a movie-making project with your students. Contact Les Brown to make arrangements. There are tripods available for all of the cameras, too.
2. Digital Collages Class 3-10-2011 by Ali Miller and Les Brown
Les Brown and Excelsior High School teacher Ali Miller are putting together a class on creating digital collages with students. This is a great way to integrate visual literacy into any classroom topic or unit. Photoshop is a powerful way for students to create posters to illustrate their understanding of a topic with others. This will be a fun, hands-on class, from 4-7 PM in the Excelsior High School computer lab. Pre-registration with Rebecca Miner is required.
3. Out of the office and want to check your e-mail?
All WSD employees have access to web-based e-mail which can be accessed anywhere you have an Internet connection. Simply go to the WSD Website (you can search Google for Washougal to find us, or type in http://www.washougal.k12.wa.us ) and then click on the “For District Employees” link. The e-mail server is listed in the left hand sidebar toward the top.
4. Phishing? But I don't own a tackle box!
A recent e-mail with the subject line "Deactivation of Your Email Address" went out to many 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. Wish you had Excel/PowerPoint/Word/Inspiration/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 filling it out. Make sure you note which application you’re after. (WHS Only - WHS staff can also request Adobe's Creative Suite 4 - which includes Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver, the full version of Adobe Reader, Illustrator, Flash, and Fireworks. These applications are available for use with work-related projects.)
6. Millions from the Nigerian Lottery for me? I didn’t even buy a ticket!
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. Be a wary web surfer, and keep an eye out for offers that sound unbelievable, they probably are.
You should also watch out for fraudulent messages from banking or other financial sources, many would be identity thieves are 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.
7. New homefolder servers for Gause, Canyon Creek, and Jemtegaard rolled out
WSD Tech staff have been busy over the past month setting up new home folder servers at Jemtegaard, Canyon Creek, and Gause. For Jemtegaard and Canyon Creek, the new servers will house student home folders, moving them off a server shared with staff. At Gause, the new home folder server replaces a server that's now 5 years old and ready to be retired.
8. Still getting a pop-up about Sophos needing an update?
Sophos, the Anti-Virus software WSD Tech licenses for your computers, recently released a major upgrade. If you are getting daily pop-up messages that the software needs to be upgraded, please make sure you've recently restarted your computer. If you've done that, please let your building tech person know. They will install the update, which will make the message go away.
9. And Finally - If You Need Help? Please ask!
Sean Elkinton, Anthony Collver, and Les Brown are all available to answer tech questions via schooldude, e-mail, or the phone from 8:00 - 4:30. Even if Sean and Anthony are not in your building, you can get help from them over the phone or via e-mail. Les is available to do screen-sharing if you’re on a Mac, too! 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. Ask your building's tech support staff person, or Les Brown, if you need the submittal password.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tech eNews Feb 16 2011
Topics in this edition of WSD Tech eNews for February 16, 2011
1. Teacher PILOT Survey due by 2/28/2011
2. Mini-Grants for $2,000 for Tech pilots available
3. Need help? Please ask!
4. Professional Development Opportunity - Digital Collages 3-10-2011
5. Fiber Optic Project complete
6. Please shut down your computer at night
7. Can’t find the right menu in Office 2007?
8. Want to get on YouTube at work?
1. OSPI Required Teacher PILOT Survey (Response Due 2/28/11)
Thank you for the time during your staff meeting to introduce the new and updated version of the annual PILOT survey that teachers are required to take.
We appreciate the time you take to fill out the survey, and use this data to create Technology Classes that will meet teachers where they are at, and help you move towards Tier 3 teaching in your classrooms. We ask that you finish the survey by February 28th, to give us time to submit it to OSPI.
If you've taken the PILOT survey in previous years, you already have an account! Follow these directions:
Go to http://www.edtech.wednet.edu/pilot/
Click on the "Login" button, and enter your e-mail address in the Username box. Enter the password you selected previously in the next box, and click login.
If you can't remember your username/password combo, you can have it automatically e-mailed to you using the "Forgot Username/Password" link. The PILOT site will e-mail you your login and password.
Once you get in, please choose the "Technology Integration and Proficiency Self-Assessment". After clicking this link, it'll ask you for your grade level, please choose either Grades K-4, or Grades 5-12 as appropriate.
When you're done, just click "Submit Answers" at the bottom, and your scores are saved. You can view your results from the main menu, and see how you've improved over the past year.
2. Tech Mini-Grants – $2000 – Deadline 3/9/2011
The Washougal School District Technology Committee is interested in having teachers pilot technology that might be adopted into wider use as part of the standard classroom model. To further this goal, the technology committee is seeking proposals from staff for technology they are interested in piloting. Applications must meet these criterion:
Technology funded through this mini-grant must lend itself to Tier 3 teaching. (for a definition of Tier 3 teaching, please visit the OSPI Tech website at http://www.k12.wa.us/EdTech/ ) The Technology should have an impact on student learning. Technology funded through this mini-grant should have applications for several curriculum areas and grade levels.
The technology should have reasonable support and system requirements. Technology should be inexpensive enough that it could be made part of the district standard. Applications should cost less than $2,000, and cannot be for software or subscriptions to online services.
Grant seekers should be interested in piloting the technology, and also willing to share their experiences with the committee, and to co-teach a class on utilizing the technology if it were adopted in wider use.
If you are interested in learning more, or would like to fill out the application, you can find the application on the District webpage under Business/Operations then Technology.
If you have any questions, please contact your building's tech committee representative, Rebecca Miner at ext. 3002, or Les Brown at ext. 3310.
3. Need Help? Please ask!
Sean Elkinton, Anthony Collver, and Les Brown are all available to answer tech questions via schooldude, e-mail, or the phone from 8:00 - 4:30. Even if Sean and Anthony are not in your building, you can get help from them over the phone or via e-mail. Les is available to do screen-sharing if you’re on a Mac, too! 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 tech staff person, or Les Brown if you don't know your password to submit the tickets.
4. Digital Collages Class 3-10-2011 by Ali Miller and Les Brown
Les Brown and Ali Miller are putting together a class on creating digital collages with students. This is a great way to integrate visual literacy into any classroom topic or unit. Photoshop is a powerful way for students to create posters to illustrate their understanding of a topic with others. . This will be a fun, hands-on class, from 4-7 PM in the Excelsior High School computer lab. Pre-registration with Rebecca Miner is required.
5. Fiber optic project complete
Hathaway, Jemtegaard and the District Office were connected to the WSD wide-area network last Spring, and Cape and Canyon Creek were connected in early January. The new fiber-optic connections provide more than 1,000 times the bandwidth of the old circuits, and provide a reliable, future-proof way to add capacity in the future. The new circuits were paid for by a 3 year, $600,000 grant from the FCC, written by Les Brown, with the balance paid out of District Tech Funds. The new circuits make video streaming and video conferencing possible, and any web-based services at these sites faster.
6. Please shut down your computer at night!
It is important for you to shut down your computer at night for several reasons. Backups of WSD staff computers and homefolders happen overnight. If you stay logged in, your files do NOT get backed up, and we will be unable to retrieve a copy of your important files if your computer crashes. Les Brown also routinely works on the district’s servers in the evening. If you leave your computer turned on and logged in, you run the risk of having corrupted files, which has happened to several people recently. Also, it costs money to keep computers turned on over night. An estimate by Clark PUD says that leaving a desktop computer turned on overnight for a month would cost the district an extra $7 per month, per computer. If half of the districts computers are being left on overnight year round, this would add up to $42,000 per year.
7. Can’t find the right menu in Office 2007?
Windows users – if you’ve recently been switches over to Office 2007, and you’re having a problem finding frequently used items, you’re not alone! The redesigned “ribbon” in Office 2007 marks a pretty radical change from the previous versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Microsoft has published a visually oriented clickable map of the menu functions for each program, and shows where to find the corresponding feature in the new versions of Microsoft applications. We’ve put links to these pages on the District website under Business/Operations, then Technology. It’s towards the bottom, in the left sidebar.
8. Teachers, want to get access to YouTube or other Audio-visual sites?
While WSD restricts access to YouTube and other streaming sites for bandwidth and student management reasons, teachers can sign up for a filter bypass which makes these sites available. To sign up for a bypass, please download the Filter Bypass Agreement from the WSD Technology page, and send it to Les after signing it. The bypass will let you into YouTube and other streaming sites, but does not bypass the filter for things like Facebook or MySpace.
1. Teacher PILOT Survey due by 2/28/2011
2. Mini-Grants for $2,000 for Tech pilots available
3. Need help? Please ask!
4. Professional Development Opportunity - Digital Collages 3-10-2011
5. Fiber Optic Project complete
6. Please shut down your computer at night
7. Can’t find the right menu in Office 2007?
8. Want to get on YouTube at work?
1. OSPI Required Teacher PILOT Survey (Response Due 2/28/11)
Thank you for the time during your staff meeting to introduce the new and updated version of the annual PILOT survey that teachers are required to take.
We appreciate the time you take to fill out the survey, and use this data to create Technology Classes that will meet teachers where they are at, and help you move towards Tier 3 teaching in your classrooms. We ask that you finish the survey by February 28th, to give us time to submit it to OSPI.
If you've taken the PILOT survey in previous years, you already have an account! Follow these directions:
Go to http://www.edtech.wednet.edu/pilot/
Click on the "Login" button, and enter your e-mail address in the Username box. Enter the password you selected previously in the next box, and click login.
If you can't remember your username/password combo, you can have it automatically e-mailed to you using the "Forgot Username/Password" link. The PILOT site will e-mail you your login and password.
Once you get in, please choose the "Technology Integration and Proficiency Self-Assessment". After clicking this link, it'll ask you for your grade level, please choose either Grades K-4, or Grades 5-12 as appropriate.
When you're done, just click "Submit Answers" at the bottom, and your scores are saved. You can view your results from the main menu, and see how you've improved over the past year.
2. Tech Mini-Grants – $2000 – Deadline 3/9/2011
The Washougal School District Technology Committee is interested in having teachers pilot technology that might be adopted into wider use as part of the standard classroom model. To further this goal, the technology committee is seeking proposals from staff for technology they are interested in piloting. Applications must meet these criterion:
Technology funded through this mini-grant must lend itself to Tier 3 teaching. (for a definition of Tier 3 teaching, please visit the OSPI Tech website at http://www.k12.wa.us/EdTech/ ) The Technology should have an impact on student learning. Technology funded through this mini-grant should have applications for several curriculum areas and grade levels.
The technology should have reasonable support and system requirements. Technology should be inexpensive enough that it could be made part of the district standard. Applications should cost less than $2,000, and cannot be for software or subscriptions to online services.
Grant seekers should be interested in piloting the technology, and also willing to share their experiences with the committee, and to co-teach a class on utilizing the technology if it were adopted in wider use.
If you are interested in learning more, or would like to fill out the application, you can find the application on the District webpage under Business/Operations then Technology.
If you have any questions, please contact your building's tech committee representative, Rebecca Miner at ext. 3002, or Les Brown at ext. 3310.
3. Need Help? Please ask!
Sean Elkinton, Anthony Collver, and Les Brown are all available to answer tech questions via schooldude, e-mail, or the phone from 8:00 - 4:30. Even if Sean and Anthony are not in your building, you can get help from them over the phone or via e-mail. Les is available to do screen-sharing if you’re on a Mac, too! 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 tech staff person, or Les Brown if you don't know your password to submit the tickets.
4. Digital Collages Class 3-10-2011 by Ali Miller and Les Brown
Les Brown and Ali Miller are putting together a class on creating digital collages with students. This is a great way to integrate visual literacy into any classroom topic or unit. Photoshop is a powerful way for students to create posters to illustrate their understanding of a topic with others. . This will be a fun, hands-on class, from 4-7 PM in the Excelsior High School computer lab. Pre-registration with Rebecca Miner is required.
5. Fiber optic project complete
Hathaway, Jemtegaard and the District Office were connected to the WSD wide-area network last Spring, and Cape and Canyon Creek were connected in early January. The new fiber-optic connections provide more than 1,000 times the bandwidth of the old circuits, and provide a reliable, future-proof way to add capacity in the future. The new circuits were paid for by a 3 year, $600,000 grant from the FCC, written by Les Brown, with the balance paid out of District Tech Funds. The new circuits make video streaming and video conferencing possible, and any web-based services at these sites faster.
6. Please shut down your computer at night!
It is important for you to shut down your computer at night for several reasons. Backups of WSD staff computers and homefolders happen overnight. If you stay logged in, your files do NOT get backed up, and we will be unable to retrieve a copy of your important files if your computer crashes. Les Brown also routinely works on the district’s servers in the evening. If you leave your computer turned on and logged in, you run the risk of having corrupted files, which has happened to several people recently. Also, it costs money to keep computers turned on over night. An estimate by Clark PUD says that leaving a desktop computer turned on overnight for a month would cost the district an extra $7 per month, per computer. If half of the districts computers are being left on overnight year round, this would add up to $42,000 per year.
7. Can’t find the right menu in Office 2007?
Windows users – if you’ve recently been switches over to Office 2007, and you’re having a problem finding frequently used items, you’re not alone! The redesigned “ribbon” in Office 2007 marks a pretty radical change from the previous versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Microsoft has published a visually oriented clickable map of the menu functions for each program, and shows where to find the corresponding feature in the new versions of Microsoft applications. We’ve put links to these pages on the District website under Business/Operations, then Technology. It’s towards the bottom, in the left sidebar.
8. Teachers, want to get access to YouTube or other Audio-visual sites?
While WSD restricts access to YouTube and other streaming sites for bandwidth and student management reasons, teachers can sign up for a filter bypass which makes these sites available. To sign up for a bypass, please download the Filter Bypass Agreement from the WSD Technology page, and send it to Les after signing it. The bypass will let you into YouTube and other streaming sites, but does not bypass the filter for things like Facebook or MySpace.
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