I.T.S. a Tech Update
September 2021 - Welcome to Fall
September 2021 - Welcome to Fall
Greetings Teachers and Staff,
Fall is just around the corner. I'm sure many of you are ready for the start of the cooler weather. By now, your class roster is complete but never-ending, you probably know all your student's names, and you have done some initial testing for the beginning of the year. Your students are still trying to work out the differences from the last 18 months to the reality of being back in the classroom. Hopefully, by now, they have figured out that they can't mute us, ignore us, or turn off their cameras, so we don't see them. Some are still working it out. Don't worry, they will get there sooner than later.
We also hope that your Schoology or Seesaw class is all ready to use both in class and outside. We have wrapped up the Active and Blended Learning Academy and have some very enthusiastic teachers ready to implement all they have learned. Don't worry, we will start another academy next year and we hope you will join us. We are also ready to kick off our Apple Teacher Vanguard Academy for the 2021-2022 school year. Thank you to all who have taken this next adventurous step.
In this edition we will be covering:
- Film Festival News
- MacBook Cleaning Tips and Tricks
- Microsoft Teams Reading Progress
- Username and Password Safety and Security
- Phishing Emails
- How to Use the ClassLink QR Code Feature
As always, please contact your Instructional Technology Specialist if you have any questions, or if you need him/her to stop by and assist you with technology integration. We love working with you and your students.
2021-2022 EPISD Student Digital Film Festival
Start spreading the news! Planning for EPISD Student Digital Film Festival for the 2021-2022 school year has begun!!! 🎥🎬📽
We still need to work out dates and hopefully use our wonderful Bowie Fine Arts Auditorium. We are planning for Spring 2022 and hope everyone is fine by then. So what can you do? You can start continuing those awesome writing skills and working on dialogue and scripts. You can dust of the iPad and Padcaster and have the students practice recording their learning as assignments in Schoology or Seesaw. As you read, discuss the importance of a good story/plot, dialogue between characters, and the importance of scenery in the story.
We are will be working on updating film festival categories, rubrics, and rules, as well as searching for a great local host for our festival night and working on lessons, dates, and times for our sponsored film schools. Keep an eye out for more information in your email and the upcoming newsletter as we get ready to yell, "ACTION!!!" 📣
🎶"Hooray for Hollywood..."🎶
MacBook Cleaning Tips and Tricks
To find out how much hard-drive space you have on your computer, click on the Apple to open the Apple Menu and select, About This Mac. Then click on the STORAGE tab and it will tell you how much space you have available on your device.
Below you will find our MacBook Spring Cleaning document a link to a short tutorial on how to free up some space and keep your MacBook running at its best!
MacBook Clean - Up - https://youtu.be/Ul0jfglQRD4
Microsoft Teams Reading Progress
"Reading Progress is a free tool built into Microsoft Teams designed to support and track reading fluency in your class. Students record their reading on camera or just audio and submit it to you. As you mark and return their work, data is automatically collected and organized in Insights, helping you spend more time with students and less time analyzing data."
All of our teachers and students have access to Microsoft Teams and teachers are able to create a class within Microsoft Teams to take advantage of this great tool. Some of our team members were part of the Beta testing over the summer and we have been keeping up with all the updates to the feature. Reading Progress is not just for elementary, it is for any students struggling with reading, whether they are in the 1st grade or the 12th grade. You can use this tool in general education, bilingual, dual language, and foreign language education. This can definitely be used with new students coming into the country.
Currently, Reading progress supports various languages, including English and Spanish using a feature called, Auto-Detect that listens for the language being recorded. You can find a list of the various languages supported by this tool, here.
We will be working on districtwide virtual training sessions for all take attend. Meanwhile you can find more information on your Schoology Reading Progress course by clicking on the following link - https://episd.schoology.com/course/5155913815/materials
As always if you have any questions, please be sure to contact your Instructional Technology Specialist.
Student Username and Password Security
Unfortunately, some schools decided that making this information public using social media like Twitter or Facebook was the fastest way to get the information out. This was done with good intentions in mind, but ultimately we paid the price because parents and students are not the only ones that monitor social media. Hackers love capturing data and information like this to access accounts and it's like we have given them authorization when sharing the information in such a public manner, as we have seen by the many phishing attack emails coming into our accounts.
If there is another password reset and template change in the future, please make sure that this is only shared between you and the students by word of mouth, and if possible in your classroom so that nothing is posted or shared digitally where the bad guys can get a hold of it.
Remember, if you or your students have questions and issues with usernames or passwords, please be sure to contact Zendesk via a ticket, or by calling them at 915-230-2601.
Phishing Email Attacks
This is what a typical phishing email attacking our district email servers looks like:
JOB POSITION - Field survey officer
A field officer collects data, often used for research purposes. Field officers conduct surveys for a wide array of industries, from anthropology to geography, marketing, advertising and social sciences. The reason for this survey is that some companies and stores have been reported several times for slow services and customer relations. You are not to pay or invest your pocket money to get started
WORKING HOURS
Job only requires 2 hours of your time weekly
SALARY
$300 weekly, there is also a generous bonus program.
ELIGIBILITY
PROSPECTIVE APPLICANTS MUST HAVE A VALID BANK ACCOUNT
CLICK BELOW TO APPLY
We all know where to go for job postings and after checking the email address, you can tell it is a student. All you have to do is click on the avatar icon on the left of the sender's name to find out who it is. Even if it were a staff member, this offer looks too good to be true and EPISD does not post job offerings to email. Something like this would be shared with your administrators and this would be shared with all those who would be affected.
So what do we do with these emails? Each and everyone one of us needs to take a screenshot of the email and submit a Zendesk ticket. After speaking to Technology Services we were told that "the more information they receive, the better they can find these threats and work within their security systems to block them." Please note that the Instructional Technology Specialists, nor any of the facilitators can report the attacks for you. Each mailbox is different and thus has to be handled individually. Believe us that we are also receiving these phishing attacks and need to report them as well.
So what can you do with the emails after you report them? You can use Outlook's Security Options to report the email threat to Outlook as well.
- Open the email, but do not click on any links
- Click on the three dots on the top right inside the email body.
- Hover your pointer over Security Options
- Click on, "Mark as Phishing"
This will remove the email from your Outlook mailbox but also report the email threat to Microsoft so that they too can take care of the threat. With all of us working together, we can minimize the various attacks against our district.
If you have any questions, please be sure to contact your Instructional Technology Specialist.
Report Phishing Emails to Microsoft
2. Click on the three dots on the top-right, inside the email body
3. Hover your pointer over Security Options
4. Click on, Mark as Phishing
Finalize the Report
EPISD Classlink QuickCards (QR Code)
What is needed?
- Make sure to use the correct link to EPISD's Classlink. launchpad.classlink.com/episd
- The teacher should generate the QuickCard for students.
- The student device will need access to a built-in or attached camera.
- Allow access to the camera when selecting, "Sign in with QuickCard."
When should we use Quickcards?
- Notice a student or students are struggling to log into district tools or Classlink.
- Not sure what a student username or password is, use it until it is reset or until the information is shared with the student.
- Students are still learning the letters, numbers, and the location of buttons on their device.
Troubleshooting
1. Make sure the camera has been enable for the app. Check Settings/System Preferences>Privacy to make sure this has been activated on the iPad or the MacBook.
2. QuickCards will not work if beginning with QR Code Reader. Students must scan their cards in EPISD's Classlink.
Schoology's Elementary Experience
Attention all Early Childhood and Special Education Teachers
Schoology has just released their Elementary Experience for all Schoology Enterprise courses and this has now been activated by the powers-that-be at EPISD, to be enabled in your Schoology course. This simplified view will make it easier for students in PreK-2nd and any students with special needs to navigate your course and complete assignments, discussions, and assessments with little to no difficulty.
You can learn more by viewing our EPISD Connect presentation here.
Inside the presentation, you will find links from Schoology that will introduce you to the Elementary Experience, as well as show you how to create course materials and assignments that will fit well in this unique view.
Be on the lookout for a Schoology course where we will house all training videos and information having to do with the new elementary experience.
New Password Change Procedures
There is a new way that you and your students can change your EPISD password in case you are having any issues login in, or you suspect that someone might be using your account without your permission.
Information Technology/Zendesk has set up a One-Login page that you can use to change your password. You'll need to first log in and set up your One-Login account with your EPISD email and password and then you will be able to change your password as needed. We have included two documents below explaining the One-Login initial setup and a "how to change your password" document.
*Note: All students in 6th-12th grade who were still using their birthdate as their password, had a password change this summer. This information has been shared with principals and PEIMS clerks by Technology Services. Please do not post this new information and password formula on any website, or social media. This information is only to be shared with the students/parents directly via email or face-to-face.*
If you do not remember your current password, or if it does not work on the One-Login page, be sure to contact Zendesk at 915-230-2601.
New Elmo Document Camera Setup
Some campuses are purchasing the new, ELMO L-12W / TT-12W document cameras. It seems that they arrive with the USB to computer feature disabled.
Miracast which is used by most Android and Microsoft devices is enabled by default. This has caused a lot of teachers to become frustrated if they are trying to use the document camera with their Macs and with Zoom.
For those of you that have or are going to be receiving these new document cameras, watch the video below to learn how to set up your document camera to your computer and your digital projector. Also, click on the link below for documentation on how to use it with Zoom, MS Teams, and to view the owner's manual.
Feel free to contact your Instructional Technology Specialist if you have any questions.
Promethean Support Tutorials
As always, you can contact your Instructional Technology Specialist if you have any questions.
- August 31 - September 02 Apple Teacher Vanguard Academy Kick-Off Event
- August 31 - September 02 Webmaster Refresher Training
- September 01 - American Chess Day
- September 03 - College Color Day
- September 05 - National Pet Rock Day
- September 06 - Labor Day Holiday and National Read a Book Day
- September 07 - Grandma Moses Day
- September 08 - International Literacy Day
- September 10 - World Suicide Prevention Day
- September 11 - Patriot Day 🇺🇸
- September 12 - Grandparents Day
- September 13 - Roald Dahl Day
- September 15 - International Dot Day and National Online Learning Day
- September 15 - Hispanic Heritage Month Begins and Mexican Independence Day
- September 17 - Constitution Day 🇺🇸
- September 22 - Fall Equinox
Active Learning Monthly Newsletter
Apple Professional Learning Virtual Conferences - Online
Explore helpful resources, practice new skills, and reflect on ways Apple technology can support great learning and teaching. Hosted by Apple Professional Learning Specialists, these hands-on sessions run for approximately 60 minutes and are offered twice daily, Monday through Thursday. Click on the image to register.
*iPad is used for all sessions unless indicated otherwise.
*Please note the time zone when registering.
EPISD@Home iPad Tips
EPISD@Home MacBook Tips
Three-Minute Quaranteaching Tips
***NEW*** Macsimizing Your Mac - EPISD Teachers and Staff
Course Title: AL201: Macsimizing Your Mac Online Course - Fall 2021
Course #: 202747
Course Section #: 21112
3.0-Hours of CPE Credit
This course will guide teachers in using features and settings that will assist them every day in completing tasks on their new MacBook Air laptops. Most importantly though, it will assist them in creating great resources to use in their lessons and delivery to differentiate the learning which will allow students to achieve mastery in many different ways.
If you are in need of a district-issued MacBook Air laptop, upon completion of the course, you will download your certificate at EPISD University, and schedule an appointment via the Zendesk, or by calling Technology Services at 915-230-2601to schedule an appointment to receive your device.
Click here to register for the course.
EPISD Digital Learning Resources and Updates Courses Hub
EPISD Schoology 101: Professional Development
Course Code - ZMB94-7NCS4
Macsimizing You Mac - Student Edition
Please share the course code with students in grades 3-12th only - 3P9R-88K7-7CQB4
Contact Us
We are Instructional Technology Specialists that serve all campuses in EPISD. We spend most of our time sharing ideas and teaching best practices for integrating technology as a seamless part of learning in the classroom. Please contact us if you are looking for a technology integrated session that would best meet the needs of the students in your classroom.