10-17-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

  

In today's Tuesday Tech Tips, read all about adding interactivity to (and removing ads from) YouTube videos, connecting your classroom with experts and organizations around the world, annotating your Google Slides presentations, & more! ➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 By default, the compose window in Gmail is popped into a small window in the bottom, right corner in Gmail. For some of us, that small window feels claustrophobic.  Have you ever wished you had a larger composition mode? In this week's Quick Tip, learn not only how to change the compose window to full-screen, but also how to make this the default view in new emails, plus how to go to full-screen in reply emails.

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New Tool: Interactive Questions for YouTube Videos in Google Classroom

We recently shared some information about avoiding ads in YouTube. Subsequently, there were changes in Google that made some of those directions obsolete. In response to that, we'd like to share another option, which is a new functionality in Google Classroom: Interactive Questions for YouTube. Teachers can use interactive questions for YouTube videos to:

• Create interactive YouTube video assignments (think Edpuzzle)
• Save time with the autograde tool
• Simply share YouTube videos in Classroom to make them ad-free even without adding the interactive questions (we think*)

*Throughout our testing, it has been the case that this process removes ads in YouTube, although we haven't been able to find any documentation that explicitly says that.

As always, make sure the video you're working with is labeled "Watchable by greececsd.org" or "Video approved for greececsd.org," otherwise your students won't be able to access it. Staff members can approve videos labeled "Video not approved for greececsd.org," but keep in mind that doing that approves the video for all GCSD students, so please exercise caution.

Plenty of details and directions on this exciting new feature are available HERE.

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Make the World Your Classroom

One of the most transformative ways to leverage technology in education is to break through the four walls of the classroom, and collaborate with experts from around the world. A resource that can help you connect with virtual learning opportunities is the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC).

CILC partners with world-renowned museums, zoos, science centers, experts, and more to connect individuals to live, interactive, virtual visits that inspire learning. Just a few of the hundreds of providers accessible through CLIC are:

• National Museum of the U.S. Army (info HERE)
• Smithsonian American Art Museum (info HERE)
• The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center (info HERE)
• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (info HERE)

Registration is free, as are hundreds of the videoconference opportunities found there.  Visit CILC by clicking HERE, and reach out to your ITT for any support you need.

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Annotate your Google Slides with its New Pen Tool

Google has introduced a feature that lets you highlight or emphasize key content while you present in Google Slides. With the new pen tool, you can circle, underline, draw connections or make quick notes directly on your presentation.

Whether you're delivering a lesson with your students, or you're in a department meeting at District Office, annotations can help make your presentations more engaging, interactive, and impactful.

All the details can be found HERE.

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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.

10-3-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

 

In today's Tuesday Tech Tips, read all about ensuring your Toshiba copier doesn't run out of toner, how to access and share YouTube videos that won't include some of the ads, some Chromebook printing info, & more! ➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 Have you ever wanted to write an email that looks like a newletter, announcement, or is just slick? Well, Gmail has that built right in. It's called a "branded email," and it's just a click away.

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Copy This

If you see the “waste toner is full” notice on a Toshiba copier, make sure you inform your school secretary/key operator to arrange replacement of the toner box immediately to avoid jobs being automatically canceled by the copier.

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Image coutesy of www.freepik.com

Subtract Ads in YouTube

Unfortunately, many so-called "YouTube adblocker" extensions are not safe, and may even contain malware. So how do you show a YouTube video to your students and ensure that there aren't any embedded ads? There will still be in-play ads, but there won't be ads surrounding the videos. Here are two ways to do this:

• Embed the video in Google Slides. This is helpful if you want your video to start and/or end at times within the video, and you can choose to manually start the video or automatically start it when the slide changes!

• View a YouTube video in your Chrome browser without ads by changing part of the URL you get from the address bar (not the ‘share’ link to the video). Just replace the text in the URL from watch?v= to embed/. For example, make this change:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK1Gy1Bre2s

• https://www.youtube.com/embed/xK1Gy1Bre2s

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Here's a setting you may want to change on your Chromebook

If you plan to print pdfs from your DOWNLOADS on your Chromebook, be sure to change the default setting for viewing your pdfs, otherwise printing to PaperCut will not be an option.

We highly recommend that you follow the steps HERE to change the default setting for pdfs to the "Viewer" rather than the new "Gallery" app.

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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.

9-12-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

Welcome to a new year of Tuesday Tech Tips!  You can read this week's Tech Tips by clicking HERE, or through the Canva newsletter embedded below.  

You can advance to the next page or go back to the previous one by using the arrow keys on your keyboard, or by clicking on the page.

Blue Creative Welcome Back To School Newsletter by Joseph Lombardo

6-20-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

   

A quick reminder to request all equipment moves from techhelp@greececsd.org or complete a ticket at webhelpdesk.greececsd.org;   Non tech staff may NOT move PCs, printers, etc on their own.  Such moved equipment will be returned to the original location.

Staff not returning in the fall are asked to return all personally assigned mobile devices (laptop, Chromebook, iPad, etc) to their direct supervisor.

In today's Tuesday Tech Alerts, read more about Chat GPT and AI, plus how to organize your digital data with Wakelet, an exceptional way to spend the end of Summer Vacation, & more!➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 Have you ever wanted to remove the background from a photograph or other image, but didn't know how? Check out the linked video below, and you'll learn how to do it quicky and easily.

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Shutterstock

What's the DL on AI?

Whether you've seen on the news that you might be replaced by a robot, or you read on Instagram that you can use Chat GPT to create a recipe for you with whatever you have in your icebox, or if you fastidiously devour every installment of these Tech Alerts, you've probably heard about Artificial Intelligence, or "AI."

To help you navigate this Brave New World, we've curated a wealth of resources about Chat GPT and AI in general in this highly informative Wakelet linked HERE. We invite you to check it out!

PS- If you're interested in what Chat GPT produced when I supplied the prompt "write a short paragraph telling my readers to visit our Wakelet to read about AI," here's what it wrote:

Attention, readers! Are you eager to explore the fascinating realm of Artificial Intelligence? Look no further! I invite you to embark on an enlightening journey by visiting my Wakelet profile. There, you will discover a treasure trove of captivating articles, insightful discussions, and cutting-edge insights on AI. From its groundbreaking applications in various industries to its profound impact on society, my curated collection will satisfy your curiosity and expand your understanding of this rapidly evolving field. So, join me on this intellectual expedition and dive into the boundless possibilities of Artificial Intelligence. Your adventure awaits at my Wakelet page!

That's not bad...hmmm, maybe the person who writes the Tech Alerts is the one who should be worried about being replaced by a robot! 😟😯😧

 

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Wakelet Up, Before You Go-Go (on Summer Vacation)

After checking out the Wakelet in the section above, you're probably wondering, "What exactly is Wakelet, and how can I make my own?"

Imagine Pinterest, but instead of just images, Wakelet allows you to capture, organize, and save any kind of content that you find online. We're talking videos, social media posts, blogs, websites- anything with a web address. And of course, any content that you create yourself.

Have a look at this short video below, which is also linked HERE, to learn more about Wakelet directly from their own experts.

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We know August is a long ways away, and maybe not exactly what you want to think about here in the last week of the school year. But come late summer, you might just be ready for some time away from your kids/parents/significant other/neighbors, etc., and what better excuse than to spend some quality time, from one hour up to a few days, with your ITT Team learning about instructional technology?

So give yourself something to look forward to all summer, and sign up for some Tech Camp sessions! With 19 sessions offered and over 15 hours of possible PL, there are plenty of choices for leveling up your instructional technology use next school year. There's something at Tech Camp for everyone, and it's open to all GCSD employees.

Register for one session or many, and learn about all of the offerings, by visiting the schedule HERE.

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Well friends, that about does it for the Tuesday Tech Alerts for the 2022-2023 school year. We hope these have been a valuable source of information for you, and thank you for taking the time to read them. Assuming that whole AI takeover thing doesn't happen in the next twelve or so weeks, you'll start hearing from us every other Tuesday starting again in September! Until then...

6-13-2023 Special Edition Tuesday Tech Alerts: Summer Tech Camp for PL

 Special Edition Tuesday Tech Alerts: Summer Tech Camp 2023 

In this Special Edition, and penultimate Tech Alerts for the school year before our summer hiatus, we are pleased to announce the Summer Tech Camp 2023 schedule (available HERE) for professional learning. With 19 sessions offered, including a Tech-Focused Unconference, and over 15 hours of possible PL, there are plenty of choices for leveling up your instructional technology use next school year.  

Visit https://bit.ly/SummerTechCamp2023 to view the schedule and to get the Frontline registration links today!  Each offering is an individual session- come to as few or as many as you want.  There may even be prizes, so register soon- we can’t wait to see you there!

6-6-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

 

In today's Tuesday Tech Alerts, read all about some new guidelines related to student Chromebooks, a troubleshooting technique that may save you lots of time if a website isn't working as expected, news on some recent phishing campaigns directed at GCSD, PL opportunities for all staff, & more!➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tips 💡 Have you ever wanted to postpone an email and temporarily remove it from your inbox until you need it?  Or schedule an email you've written to send at a later day or time? 📧📧     &    📧📧

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New Guidelines for Student Chromebooks

Stickers should NO LONGER be put directly on Chromebooks or cases. Removing stickers requires a lot of effort and chemicals when repairs and swaps are made. Instead, students can position a decorated half sheet of paper under the transparent cover on the top lid. Masking tape is the only other acceptable option for labeling Chromebooks. Thank you for adhering to this (pardon the pun) going forward.

And remember, Chromebooks at K-5 should not move with students from year to year.

You can read more details about these guidelines HERE.

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You can solve problems twice as fast as Hollywood
legend Nicholas Cage when you know about this

Your Website Problems Could be Gone in 30 Seconds

Is something not working for in Chrome for just you or a few users? Do THIS as your first line of defense. Just follow the steps shown in this quick video on the site that you're having an issue with. You just may be able to fix it that quickly.

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You're Doing a Great Job Tackling Phishing Emails, GCSD!

In the last few weeks, we've seen an increase in the number of Phishing emails being sent to our users. In the wake of our first Phishing Drill campaign, we're seeing users doing an outstanding job marking them as spam or phishing, which has helped TSS remove many Phishing emails from users' inboxes before they even saw them. Teamwork really does make the Dream work!

Remember, there's no need to forward a suspected phishing email to TSS. Please continue to help proactively thwart phishing by using the "Report spam" and "Report phishing" functions in Gmail, and following the suggestions found HERE.

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Bonus Entry!

Repeat from our last issue...On the off chance that you want, or perhaps need, to get some PL hours in by the end of the school year

Please check out our curated PL offering from our partner vendors HERE. More has just been added!

Make sure you scroll down on that page to see the links to sites to get certifications directly from companies such as Nearpod, Book Creator, and Kami.

The Book Creator certification HERE is very good. Plus, the vendor has promised to send us some swag if we get more of our teachers, by percentage, to get certified than their current leader, those know-it-all's in Kansas City Public Schools. It's a recently updated, media-heavy PL that will teach you all you need to know about this outstanding resource in less than two hours.

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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.

5-23-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

  

In today's Tuesday Tech Alerts, read all about the current status of our Interactive Panel Rollout, how to keep your students' emails from going to your Spam folder, PL opportunities for all staff, & more!➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 Need to speedily switch between programs or swiftly go between tabs in Chrome? With one of our favorite keyboard shortcuts, you can do either of these in an instant, on both PC's and Chromebooks. Alt + Tab is a keyboard shortcut to switch between open programs on the device.  To switch between open tabs in Chrome, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Tab.

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Updates on the Status of Our Interactive Panel Rollout

Planned for 2023-24 school year:

• Classrooms at Arcadia and Odyssey will receive ViewSonic Interactive Panels, with Athena and Olympia happening the following school year. (We will be consulting with Phoenix Academy on a plan that works for them.)

• Secondary teachers can get started now with the myViewBoard software without having the panels.

• On a Windows device, it's the desktop icon that looks like this: 

• If you don't already have it, you can go to the Software Center in Windows and install it yourself.  

• There's also a "lite" version of the software for Chromebooks.  To install it, go to the Play Store and click on the icon there.

• SMART Notebook is being retired by the vendor.  We'll continue to make the software available, but eventually it will no longer work.

• If you still have SMART Notebook files, then there's good news: They will open in and convert to myViewBoard.

• Elementary classroom teachers can continue to go through Principals to request removal of SMART Boards if desired, but either way, the projectors will stay mounted. This will allow teachers to continue to project in one place, while also using the panel as an instructional display space.

• Please visit our help page on Interactive Panels and the accompanying myViewBoard software HERE.

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Have You Been Missing Emails from Your Students?

We've seen a significant uptick in the number of emails from GCSD students to GCSD staff members ending up in the staff member's Spam folder. We're working with Google to resolve this. We highly recommend that all staff members, especially teachers, check their Spam folders now to see if there are any student emails in there. If there are, you can mark the email as Not Spam, which will send it to your inbox and keep future emails from that sender from going to spam.

We always encourage all users to regularly monitor your Spam folders to check for emails that you might want but were marked as Spam.

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Self-Paced, Instructional Technology PL, Anyone?

If you're in a position where you'd like to (or maybe need to) get some PL hours in before the end of the school year, or you're just a go-getter and want to learn something new, please check out our curated PL offering from our partner vendors HERE.

Make sure you scroll down on that page to see the links to sites to get certifications directly from companies such as Nearpod, Book Creator, and Kami.

The Book Creator certification HERE is very good. Plus, the vendor has promised to send us some swag if we get more of our teachers, by percentage, to get certified than their current leader, those know-it-all's in Kansas City Public Schools. It's a recently updated, media-heavy PL that will teach you all you need to know about this outstanding resource in less than two hours.

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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.

5-2-2023 Special Edition Tuesday Tech Tips: Don't Get Phished!

 Special Edition Tuesday Tech Alerts: Don't Get Phished! 

About 90% of the Time, Cyberattacks Are Successful Due to Human Error

Cyberattacks, such as phishing emails, are a real and serious concern for school districts. School districts are prime targets for cybercriminals, as we manage a wide range of personal data and have limited resources for cyber protection. Based on state regulations and recommendations from our external auditors, we've identified and prioritized our need to increase our users' capacity to recognize phishing emails. This is a critical skill- click HERE to read about how phishing emails have resulted in some school districts being effectively incapacitated.  March 2023 saw the highest ransomware victim count in two years, up 60% according to our insurance carrier.

As part of our ongoing efforts to protect staff and student data, the Office of Technology recently partnered with Knowbe4, a Phishing Drill Software System. Knowbe4 will help us:

• provide feedback to users on how to avoid being a victim of phishing
• run small-scale drills through 2023-2024, and
• increase engagement with staff regarding how to recognize and respond appropriately to phishing.

In March, we worked with Knowbe4 to obtain baseline data by conducting a district-wide drill consisting of a spoof phishing email to all of our staff members. This email asked users to click on a link and supply their Google password for a verification check. 2,909 users across all bargaining units read the email. Their responses to it are shown in the graph below. As you can see, we have room for improvement.

The point of the drill was NOT a "gotcha." It was to see how we're doing, and to help us plan with Knowbe4 on how to improve. 

Our goal is to empower and educate our users--there is nothing punitive about this undertaking.

In the coming weeks, the poster pictured below will be shared with school staff members either at a staff meeting, and/or as a flyer in your mailbox. Please take a few moments to review it 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!

Going forward, our plan is to run several small-scale drills through 2023-2024. Just like fire drills and lockdown drills are important and necessary to protect our staff and students, these drills are part of our plan to protect our staff and student data. The results from these drills will help us target where more training is needed.  Plus, users may get digital feedback from Knowbe4 if they did something wrong, such as clicking on a suspicious link, and this feedback includes teaching these users how they can avoid making a mistake again.

Thank you for your efforts to protect our staff and student data!

Image used courtesy of the Dept. of Agriculture