Technology News & Updates
End of the school year edition
Please find technology related end-of-the-school-year information below as well as some resources you may wish to explore for your classroom for next year. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Karen. Thank you for taking the time during the school year to read our newsletters! Have a wonderful summer and I will see you next fall.
Winners from the last newsletter giveaways/drawings:
Erin Walerius - snowball microphone
Laura Miller - response to new tech tool implemented this year
In this issue:
- End of year movies/streaming
- Flipgrid
- Alternative for Kahoot
- Quick Tips
- Digital Resource request form
- Student Device Collection
- What's new in Edge
- Canva
- Twelve new Outlook features
- Windows 11 - what's new and updated from Windows 10
REMINDER ~ End of year movies/streaming
It is the intent of the Marshall Public School District, its school board, staff, and students to abide by the provisions of current copyright laws and Congressional guidelines. Employees and students are to adhere to federal and state copyright laws and publisher licensing agreements related to duplication, retention, and us of copyrighted materials. Specifically:
- Unlawful copies of copyrighted material may not be produced or used with district-owned equipment and/or software, within district owned facilities, or at district sponsored functions.
- The legal and insurance protection of the district will not be extended to employees who intentionally and unlawfully copy and use copyrighted materials.
- Employees who make copies and/or use copyrighted materials in their jobs are expected to be familiar with published provisions regarding fair use and public domain and are further expected to be able to provide their supervisor, upon request, the justification under sections 107 or 110 of USC 17 materials that have been used or copied.
PLEASE NOTE: Streaming movies in your classroom from services that you subscribe to personally is a direct violation of the licensing terms you agreed to when you subscribed.
Click here for more information on movie and streaming content and how we can help facilitate this for your classroom.
Looking for alternatives for Kahoot?
Also, here are 35 ideas for exit tickets!
Quick Tip ~ How to turn an email into a calendar meeting
How to use the NEW PowerPoint slide recording feature
How to remove a image background (credit to RByrne)
Student Device Collection
Information and additional details have been shared at each building with the device collection process that will be used. Please refer to those details as needed, or contact me with questions for any clarification.
- Park Side: carts to the media center by the end of the day on Friday, May 27th
- Southview: carts to the technology room (Tammy's classroom) by the end of the day on Friday, May 27th
- MMS: devices collected during Advisory on May 26th & May 27th
- MHS: seniors devices collected May 27th. Grades 9-11 collected on Tuesday, May 31st end of the day.
- MATEC: end of the day on Tuesday, May 31st
Canva - If you haven't looked at Canva, I would recommend it for all ages/levels!
Canva is a graphic design tool in itself, so students can do the work inside of Canva. Canva is free for education and I can help you setup your class/students accounts via Clever. There are hundreds of templates available for your use. Just a few of the examples are:
- flyer
- book cover
- presentation
- brochure
- menu
- bookmarks
- timeline
- infographic
and more!
Take a look at the brief overview below for an introduction on how you might use Canva in your classroom and/or with your students.
Windows 11 - Top New Features
Redesigned Task Bar/Start Menu
You can customize the Start menu from the Windows Settings to match your preferences. For instance, you can restore the left-aligned Start button or change the icons’ sizes from the
Taskbar settings in Windows 11’s Settings. All Apps list under a menu button.
Enhanced Multi-tasking – snapping layouts
Windows OS is known for its flexibility — especially since it allows the use of multiple apps and windows side-by-side. This flexibility a notch higher with Windows 11. The reason being it offers more powerful tools for multi-tasking like Snap Groups, Snap Layouts, and Virtual Desktops.
Windows 11 comes with several predefined snapping layouts for you to quickly snap applications. These layouts will help you optimizely utilize your screen space and organize your application windows for a visually clean desktop.
Redesigned File Explorer
The File Explorer in Windows 11 has fresh new icons, esthetic rounded corners, and better dark mode options. The interface is modified to suit both keyboard and mouse as well as touch users.
It is also easier to select, rename, or delete files as the ribbon toolbar is replaced by a command bar that lets you quickly access commonly used actions like rename, select, and delete, etc.
Windows Widgets is back
If you have used Windows XP or Windows Vista and remember using desktop gadgets, you’d know the usefulness of Windows Widgets. They are small widgets like Android Widgets that display some information about the system or from the web according to how you customize it.
Windows Widgets is an AI-powered personalized feed that changes dynamically based on the time of the day and the apps you are using — just like the Start menu.
This personalized feed slides over the screen like a glass piece without disturbing what you are working on. The widgets are accessible from the dock, you can choose from plenty of widgets like weather, news, search bar, etc.
Improved battery settings
The Battery settings page has seen a much-needed change in Windows 11. You may know it by Battery saver settings or Power & sleep settings in Windows 10. The new page provides detailed graphs about battery usage, which helps you understand your device’s battery usage over the past week or anytime sooner.
Focus Assist in the Notification Center
Windows 11 has added the Focus Assist settings directly into the Notification Center for easy access.
Your Technology Team
Karen Londgren
Nick Esping
Kent Powell
Email: karen.londgren@marshall.k12.mn.us
Website: https://www.marshall.k12.mn.us/domain/17
Phone: 507-537-6920