Rum River Technology & Learning
Back to School Edition: Fall, 2015
Welcome Back to Another School Year!
You might be interested to know that the district is looking at going 1:1 for Chromebooks across the board. Parents would be asked to pay $25 per the four year lifetime of the Chromebook. Students who cannot fund the $25/per year will be backfilled by the district. It is still up for discussion and more research is being done. Edina and Spring Lake Park districts have moved to 1:1 usage already. Stay tuned for more!
Meet the New AhApps Domain Name and Login
There is a new sign in for AhApps. The account has been linked to Active Directory and it will link with all password changes. You or your students will no longer have to key in the 19 characters. It has been thankfully shortened. The new domain name is:
Student AhApps Account Logins
As part of the work we are doing with the Google apps domain change – especially the password sync piece – we need to change our student default password. This is because Google Apps won’t accept a password that isn’t at least 8 characters – many of our student IDs are NOT 8 characters long. Last four passwords cannot be used.
After 7/29, all elementary students password will be the triple zeros + their student ID. They will not be forced to change their passwords moving forward and they will have the same password for their Google apps accounts.
The Status of District Wireless Testing
The Technology Team in the district has determined that there will be no wireless testing of our students. Our school district is not authorizing wireless testing because of security and the large batch size. Our district is the largest test file in the nation. Wow! Because of this, we pull down a lot of data. Although Pearson says it will be fine, our district is leary of the consequences with so large a testing population.
Typing Club Has Been Renewed
Typing Club has been renewed and is good to go for 3rd and 4th Grade students only. As you know, 5th Grade is considered a “maintance year” by the Curriculum Department. If 5th Grade teachers want student accounts, you can set up a class in the “free” version or find other online options to practice. The beauty of Typing Club for our 3rd and 4th Graders is accountability, assessments, and progress charts.
2015 District Technology Goals presented by Joel VerDeun to School Board
Goal 1: Investigate, develop and implement a set of standards and experiences for students that place emphasis on the 21st Century Skills Framework of Life and Career Skills, Learning and Innovation Skills, and Information, Media and Technology Skills.
Goal 2: Implement a district vision of an effective digital learning environment (DLE) that generates and replicates best practice ideas and scaffolds the skills of students to both learn about technology and to use technology to learn.
Goal 3: Realign or redesign district structures and resources so that they are aligned to effectively support the digital learning environment.
Goal 4: Provide an improved capacity building system for educators and leaders to better support a shift to digital learning.
Goal 5: Create efficiencies in operational areas of the school district to better support the work of educating students.
Goal 6: Improve our level of stakeholder involvement for the purposes of engagement, collaboration and support.
EveryDay Math Accounts
Heads Up on Future Email Changes!
Another FYI: If you are a Google Group user, take note. Hattie will whack Student groups and all hand-made teacher groups created in Google each year. There are too many random things and groups out there. To level things, Hattie is coming up with a district naming convention for all teacher groups.
Are You a User of Google Classroom?
Thank You to the 2015-2016 RRE Technology Committee! You Rock the School!
Sandy Perkerwicz: Chair
Open: Kindergarten
Julie Waldock: First grade
Josh Smith: Second grade
Nikki Weinert: Third grade
Cory Moore: Fourth grade
Tom Powers: Fifth grade
Paul Dudley: Web Master
Jessica Sandberg: Special Education
Melyssa Carlson: Integration Technology Teacher
Alice Hanley: Techno Genius
Deb Shepard: Administration
Ann Herlofsky: Administration
Atomic Learning and Technology Integration
Rum River Technology & Learning Newsletter
Email: sandy.perkerwicz@anoka.k12.mn.us
Website: http://www.anoka.k12.mn.us
Location: 16950 Verdin Street Northwest, Andover, MN, United States
Phone: (763) 506-8205