6-3-2025 Tuesday Tech Tips

          

In today's edition, you can learn all about: A neat Windows tool to take copying and pasting to the next level A reminder about Phishing emails Notes about saving in MyViewBoard The importance of regularly updating your Chromebook and more!  ➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 We highly encourage you to please update your Chromebooks regularly- and encourage your students to update, too!  Make that a "classroom job,"- have a class "Chromebook Update Encourager."  Or make it a classroom routine- every Friday morning, everyone updates.   To update, click on the clock, the gear, then on the bottom left, "About Chrome OS."  Then in the top middle of the screen, "Check for Updates." Updating can solve problems before they happen! Updating regularly is the best way to keep your device running efficiently After an update, the device will prompt the user to restart.  Restarting regularly is also a great way to keep the device running efficiently If you don't manually update, the device will eventually update on its own.   But if you update manually, it usually takes just a minute or two, tops- whereas waiting for the device to update on its own results in longer update times. Regular, small updates are quicker than occasional large updates.

Do you have a tip or idea for the Tuesday Tech Tips? Or a request for a topic or question you'd like to know more about? Please let us know! You can email us at joseph.lombardo@greececsd.org with your submission.

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Reminder- Don't Get Phished! About 90% of the Time, Cyberattacks Are Successful Due to Human Error.

Please take a few moments to review the poster above to see how to recognize and avoid phishing emails. These skills don't only apply to your GCSD email- your personal email is likely a target of phishing, too!

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Did you know you can access the history of what you've copied on a Windows device, and paste it easily any time? Using Windows Key + V is a great way to easily paste text that you regularly use over and over. You can also use this function to paste items other than what you most recently copied. This is includes both text and images.

Check out the video HERE, also embedded below, for an explanation on how to use this handy, time-saving tool for Windows users.

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Coming Soon....News on Summer Tech Camp 2025!

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MyViewBoard auto save only autosaves after you’ve manually saved once.

When autosave is enabled in myViewBoard, it automatically saves your progress every 10 minutes. However, if you haven't manually saved a file yet, the autosave feature does not work. It is essential to manually save your work using the Save as function to designate a specific folder destination on your local drive or cloud storage.

To ensure your work is saved correctly, follow these steps:

• Open File Manager

• Press Save as

• We recommend saving to Google Drive

• Name the file and press the confirm button to save

Yes, we learned this the hard way.

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For assistance with these topics, or anything else related to instructional technology, please click HERE to book an appointment with your building's ITT.

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Tuesday Tech Tips Special Edition: Dangerous TikTok Chromebook Challenge 5-20-2025

 

GCSD Staff-

The message below was recently sent to families across the district regarding a TikTok Chromebook Challenge. We’ve observed this trend in some Greece classrooms and wanted to make sure everyone is informed with this consistent message. 

According to the article HERE, an individual in RCSD was just hospitalized due to a "smoking" Chromebook.  While it hasn’t been confirmed yet that this was connected to the Chromebook Challenge, at least five of these incidents across New York are reportedly connected. 

Dear Families, 

We need your help addressing a dangerous trend happening in some of our schools. A current TikTok challenge encourages students to insert pencil lead into Chromebook USB ports, which can cause sparks, short circuits, and even fires.

Unfortunately, in many cases, students are damaging other people’s devices—not their own—leaving their peers without a working Chromebook. This is unfair and disruptive, especially since we do not have an unlimited supply of replacement devices. 

Please talk with your child about respecting school property and the impact their actions can have on others. Make them aware that any student found intentionally damaging a Chromebook will face disciplinary action, and families will be responsible for replacement costs—up to $200.

Thank you for your support in keeping our schools safe and focused on learning.

5-13-2025 Tuesday Tech Tips

         

In today's edition, you can learn all about: Great ways to earn PL hours by June 1 A reminder about Phishing emails Some sad news about Loom and more!  ➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 Here's a tip we got from TechNotes... In Docs, Sheets, etc., "Use @ to Insert Smart Chips and Building Blocks. Typing @ in a document lets you quickly insert: People Calendar Events Files Checklists Meeting Notes Decision Logs Road Maps Trackers And that’s just a handful of what pops up. Just type “@” and skip the menus—everything you need is right at your fingertips!"

Do you have a tip or idea for the Tuesday Tech Tips? Or a request for a topic or question you'd like to know more about? Please let us know! You can email us at joseph.lombardo@greececsd.org with your submission.

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Reminder- Don't Get Phished! About 90% of the Time, Cyberattacks Are Successful Due to Human Error.

Please take a few moments to review the poster above to see how to recognize and avoid phishing emails. These skills don't only apply to your GCSD email- your personal email is likely a target of phishing, too!

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We're saying goodbye* to an old favorite of the ITT Team. We just learned that Loom stopped offering their fully-upgraded accounts free to teachers. As there are many other similar products that we already subscribe to, we're no longer recommending Loom as a screen-recording tool.

Instead, the same functionality can be found in Google Vids, the WeVideo extension, Annotate, Canva, and Screencast, which is the built-in Chromebook screen recorder. Look for specific articles about those tools in upcoming Tuesday Tips!

Now, about that "*." If you already have the free, full version of Loom, the vendor tells us "users who are currently on the old free education plan will remain on that plan for now. Please rest assured that if there are any future updates to the plan or its terms, we will be sure to notify all affected users via email in advance."

We're afraid we don't know anything beyond that, but our Spidey Sense is telling us to start brushing up on Vids, WeVideo extension, Annotate, Canva, or Screencast.

We probably all know what "for now" means.

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Coming Soon....News on Summer Tech Camp 2025!

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Are you a GTA member who needs to finish up your required 10 hours of PL by the hard deadline of June 1st? Are you looking for high-quality professional learning related to Instructional Technology?

Be sure to check out the ITT page for Recommended Professional Learning opportunities HERE, where you’ll find webinars, certifications, and especially some new AI learning material…all for PL credit!

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For assistance with these topics, or anything else related to instructional technology, please click HERE to book an appointment with your building's ITT.

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