Cybersecurity Engagement Winner!
Congratulations to Angela Anderson, the drawing winner from our Cybersecurity Safe Schools module challenge that was included in our last newsletter. Thank you to the 11 staff members who completed the module. The prize was a Marshall Tigers stocking cap! Next challenge opportunity is below.
Student Data Privacy Law ~ Update
What is H.F.2353?
I wanted to write again about a new law that you should all be aware of. This summer MN Legislators enacted a new law that addresses Student Data Privacy. The new law referred to as H.F. 2353 sets forth requirements on districts and technology providers to ensure appropriate security safeguards for educational data. In partnership with Southwest West Central Service Cooperative, member districts implemented tools to identify applications that each district was utilizing. The product “LearnPlatform” was implemented at a regional level and allowed us to quantify applications being accessed from our networks. Learnplatform had already evaluated over 10,000 edtech tools and provides the district with an Inventory Dashboard that made the process of identification and evaluation much simpler. I remember the phrase “You can’t manage what you don’t measure” when thinking of this process. Internally we have a process that we would like you to follow when requesting new resources. This form must be completed for any and all digital resources you plan to use that require any student information or accounts. By following this path, we can then request LearnPlatform to evaluate the app for compliancy.
Did you know that our district has identified 547 applications in use across the district? With the top 3 being Office 365, Schoology, and Clever. In the link below is a list of applications and their approval status as identified by LearnPlatform. From this list you can click on a resource to learn more about their compliance status with the new law. As always please let us know if you have any questions.
Microsoft Teams Notification
Have you reviewed your Teams notifications recently? You may want to do this so in the case of an eLearning day you are not missing any notifictions (or any other time). To check and set your notifications in Teams, click on the three horizontal dots in the upper right purple bar within Teams (to the left of your profile icon). Choose Settings from the dropdown menu and then locate Notifications in the left menu bar. Review and update any settings as needed. In the section of Teams and channels, you can customize your notification settings, which gives you a little more granular control. Let me know if you have any questions.
Clever Teacher Pages ~ Adding Resources ~ Should I or Shouldn't I?
"I see I can add this resource (free one) to my teacher page in Clever and it will read my rosters and setup my students - so that's OK, right?"
Not necessarily. When doing this, you as the teacher are agreeing to share private student data with this resource or app, potentially violating the new studetn data privacy law in the state of Minnesota. Do you know what they will use that student data for or what they will do with it (will they sell it to a third party)?
So what do I do? Ask the tech department. If there is a resource or app that you would like to use with your students, please complete the Digital Resource Request form so our team can evaluate the app and determine whether it meets the student data privacy criteria. Just because it is available through Clever does not necessarily mean it is OK to use with your students.
Microsoft Teams Meetings ~ Are you ready?
Have you been keeping up with the updates and changes to Microsoft Teams that I have been sharing in our newsletter? With the possibility of eLearning days near (or here), I would encourage you all to do a sample Meeting to ensure you are ready for students. You could do this with your PLC group or department/grade level team. If you have questions or need assistance, please let me (Karen) know.
Microsoft Store ~ Company Portal
The Microsoft Store that you have used in the past to look for and install apps (staff & students) is no longer used. In it's place is Company Portal. You can find the Company Portal by going to your Windows Start menu (4 blue squares in taskbar) and type Company Portal in the search bar at the top of the popup window - this should show you the Company Portal app - if not, please submit a tech ticket. Once in Company Portal, you will be presented Recent and Newly Published app for Marshall Public Schools - scroll right through these apps to find the app you are looking for. For example, your students may be looking for Minecraft - this is where you will find it. If you are not finding the app you are looking for, you can submit a tech ticket requesting the app. For questions, please check with me (Karen) - I am happy to help!
Where to find additional copyright-free photos:
How Clever Are You?
I have some Clever swag to give away, so this school year, I will be running a report approximately every month to find which teacher is engaging (logging into) Clever the most. For example, November was MMS, December I will draw for Southview, etc. Watch for our future winners! Congratulations to Melissa Speakman, 6th grade math teacher, our first winner!
AirDrop
Do you have an Apple phone or iPad/iPod? Do you have AirDrop enabled? If so, you may wish to consider turning it off (or at least set to Contacts Only) at school to avoid receiving content from students. To turn your AirDrop (only on Apple devices) on or off, go into Settings on your phone > General > AirDrop. In this setting you can have receiving set to Off, Contacts only, or Everyone. I would recommend you either set it to Off or Contacts Only. Let me (Karen) know if you have questions.
Contact Me
Karen Londgren, District Digital Learning Coach
karen.londgren@marshall.k12.mn.us
Middle School: extension 4070
High School: extension 1133
Direct line: 507.929.2696