Planning for Home Learning
Parent Edition: Issue #4
What do I do if I'm not getting district emails?
Dear Parents,
As of late, there have been many important email and phone communications that have gone out to parents. We've also seen an increase in demand for Google Classroom Guardian emails.
If you are not receiving these communications, it is most likely a result of missing or incorrect information in PowerSchool.
I encourage all parents that suspect that their information is out-of-date or incomplete to log in to Parent Portal as soon as possible and make necessary updates.
Take a look at this help document for instructions.
*If you know of a parent that is not getting emails, they may not have seen this unless they've read it on Twitter, Facebook, or our website. Please forward this information along to them.
Thank you!
Video Conference Safety Concerns and Protocols
Video conferencing through platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet is an excellent way for students and teachers to connect. It is one of the few ways that students can interact with each other, their teacher, and course material simultaneously. If done well, this method can be extremely effective. It's possibly one of the most effective ways to deliver instruction moving forward in the closure.
Unwanted Guests Joining Meetings AKA "Zoom Bombing"
With all good things, there are some drawbacks. You may have read reports about unwanted guests joining meetings. Lewiston-Porter takes this seriously and has put in place specific safety measures that our teachers will utilize to avoid those issues. As parents you need to be aware of the following protocols:
- When creating Zoom Meetings teachers will use randomly generated meeting IDs and require passwords. This information that is required to join will only be shared with intended participants so that unwanted guests cannot join.
- Zoom meetings will also include a virtual waiting room. The use of the waiting room prevents anyone from entering a meeting unless the teacher allows them in.
- Google Meet conferences only allow members of the Lewiston-Porter organization to join unless they are specifically invited. If a member outside the organization tries to join, the teacher will deny them access before they can get in.
Student Conducted Meetings
Another concern is that there is the chance students will utilize this software to conduct unsupervised meetings. While there is a possibility that some students may choose to misuse this tool, there are far more positives that come out of it. Furthermore, if it isn't Zoom or Meet it could be a dozen other applications that students already have access to (e.g. Snap Chat, FaceTime, House Party, Facebook, Twitter, Texting, Duo, etc.).
If misuse occurs we will deal with those students or incidents accordingly and not deprive everyone of this great educational tool. Lewiston-Porter feels that this is a good opportunity to teach our students to be good digital citizens and utilize technology safely and productively. That said, we have put the following protocols in place:
- Teachers conducting Zoom meetings with students will end the meeting for all participants at the call. This will prevent students from conferencing with each other when the teacher leaves.
- Google has put into place a similar feature that will end the meeting for all participants when the teacher ends the meeting. It will also deactivate the meeting link. Please note this feature is being deployed some time in the next two weeks. Until that point, teachers will wait for students to exit and then delete the link.
Student Privacy
Zoom is one of the most widely used video conferencing services in the world. With that being said, neither BOCES or Lewiston-Porter currently has a data security contract with Zoom like we do with Google. We have been informed that it is in the works. For the time being, we will continue to use it as it has proven to be effective; however, we do not encourage students to create zoom accounts. We recommend students join meetings simply by submitting meeting IDs and passwords (no account required).
Recorded Meetings
Parents need to be aware that only the teacher has the ability to record meetings. Teachers have been instructed not to record meetings that include students. While there may be times a recording could be helpful, we can not share a recording with other students on it.
Nicholas Hill
Lewiston-Porter Central Schools
For immediate technology needs please call (716) 821-7171
On campus technicians: Ken Bass (Monday & Tuesday); Jeff Murphy (Wednesday-Friday)
Tech Integrator: Melanie Kitchen (Mondays & Tuesdays)
Email: nhill@lew-port.com
Website: www.lew-port.com/technology_services
Phone: (716) 286-7295
Facebook: Facebook.com/LewistonPorterCentralSchools/
Twitter: @lewportcsd