Troy Patterson

Google Apps Email

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Google Apps provides for a lot of power for users.

With great power comes great responsibility.

Recently it has become apparent that some users may have changed some settings.

This can be very powerful if you are aware of what you are doing. However, if you aren’t, this can cause confusion.

One example of this is the Priority Inbox. This can be extremely powerful. Many people receive a huge amount of email every day (several hundreds to thousands). Unfortunately, not everyone agrees on proper email etiquette and SPAM does exist. Thus, for power users, Priority Inbox can be very powerful by presenting important email in a separate inbox. This does take some training, but can make individuals much more efficient.

Problems can occur though if the Priority Inbox is turned on (each user has to take specific actions to turn it on) and then don’t do anything with it. Email will be delivered to that inbox and the user may never check it. Thus, something that can be powerfully useful and make people more efficient can lead to frustration.

Please take advantage of some of the powerful features that are available for you when you are ready. In the meantime, grow as many dendrites as possible with the current settings.

iLearn Update Complete

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We have completed an update of iLearn. This was an extensive update. However, it is now complete. Here are some of the features that the update brings:

Improved grading features

  • Easily review and provide in-line feedback by annotating on PDF files directly within browser.
  • Conveniently allocate student assignments to different markers, and control when marks are released to individual students.
  • Certainty-based marking in Quizzes now provides improved feedback for learners.

Dynamic and streamlined course management

  • Quickly edit course activities and resources across all devices.
  • Easily add a Single activity course format.

Annotate uploaded PDF files in browser

Provide feedback directly within PDF file submissions by using a variety of annotating tools available, including stamps and phrases from a comment bank. (Requires ghostscript on server.)

 

Enhanced marking workflow and allocation

Control when marks are released for viewing, for example, when they have been reviewed and moderated. Individual markers can also be allocated assignments and these allocations will show up clearly in the gradebook.

 

Enhanced feedback in Certainty-based marking

Quizzes using Certainty-based marking now provide better feedback for learners.

 

Easily edit course activities and resources

Editing tools have been grouped together to in a simple drop down menu for easy accessibility across desktop and mobile devices.

 

Add a Single activity course format

Simply select and add any one activity as a standard course format which is displayed directed on the course page (This feature supersedes the old SCORM course format).

 

Experience a better learning platform

  • A more user-friendly TinyMCE editor
  • Easily access files from Microsoft Skydrive.
  • Improved calendar handling with multiple calendar support
  • Simplified username and password recovery
  • Improved file management in TinyMCE editor
  • Better responsive design across devices

 

A more user-friendly TinyMCE editor

The improved TinyMCE editor can be resized to suit various browser widths, and features user-friendly icons and a collapsible toolbar menu.

 

Improved calendar handling with multiple calendar support

Moodle 2.6 supports and displays the same date in multiple calendar system, including Gregorian, Hebrew, Islamic and more, so you can select a preferred calendar system.

 

Improve file management in TinyMCE editor

Add and manage files previously embedded in a text area with the new TinyMCE Manage Embedded files plugin and Embedded files repository.

 

Better responsive design

Moodle works and looks better across all devices, including desktops, tablets and phones.

Google Apps Sign in Page

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New Google Sign in page:

The new sign-in page began rolling out to select Google domains in January 2014.

The new sign-in page provides a streamlined and cohesive sign-in experience for all users, an account chooser that makes it easy to switch between Google accounts, and security enhancements, including advanced bot detection and improved account hijacking protection.

Important:

  • The new sign-in page requires users to sign in with their full email address (example: joe@company.com). (The old sign-in pages only required users to enter their username, but that convenience was offset by the complex URLs users needed to access those sign-in pages.)
  • The Stay signed in checkbox is selected by default. Users who want to sign out of Google Apps automatically when they close their browser should deselect this checkbox. Users who leave this checkbox selected when they sign in will remain signed in for two weeks or until they click the Sign out button that appears when they click their photo in the upper right corner.

New Password Criteria

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We will be slowly rolling out a new set of password criteria. We will begin with ninth grade students and then expand to all students and employees.

The new password requirements will be as follows:

  • Passwords must be different than your last 3 passwords.
  • Passwords must be at least 5 characters long.
  • Passwords must contain characters from three of the following four categories:
    • Uppercase characters
    • Lowercase characters
    • Number (0 through 9)
    • Nonalphanumeric characters: ~!@#$%^&*_-+=`|\(){}[]:;”‘<>,.?/

So, why update our password requirements? Well, we believe that it is important to teach good habits to students and to practice what we “preach”. You may be aware that several large businesses have had breeches of their online services. Good passwords can help protect against damages. Remember, you should not be reusing passwords on different sites.

Email Group issue

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We have discovered an issue with email sent to groups that began yesterday. The issue is related to users who’s last name begins with the letters A-D. These users may not have received email that was sent to a group of which they are a member. For example, email addressed to the ASC building would not be received by Ruth Bankhead. Ruth also would not receive emails sent to the group Dept. Human Resources. Ruth would receive her sent directly to her.

We are working on a resolution.

Free Webinars

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In the spirit of Digital Learning Day, #TeamJXN will be offering several FREE online, after school, webinars. Each On Air PD will feature local educators sharing how they use technology in their own classrooms.

Teachers who view the On Air PD live will have the opportunity to ask questions live to the panel. Each session will be recorded for later viewing for those who can’t attend the live sessions.

On Air PD Lineup:

  • Monday, February 3 at 3:00 p.m. – Coding in the Classroom (Theresa Helm)
  • Tuesday, February 4 at 3:00 p.m. – Building Engineering into Your Curriculum (Lloyd Hilger)

 

Participate in On Air PD’s at https://edtech.jcisd.org/on-air-pd.htm

Blended Learning Questions

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A bit ago, I sent out an email to an opportunity to take part in a Blended Learning Course that is being offered around the state. Several teachers have taken advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

  • Which resources are provided by or supported by your district and/or other service agencies (such as an ISD or ESA) that you might have access to? (Such as a learning management system, blogs, other software) Make a list of these resources, marking each as provided/supported/mandatory, and noting who provides the resource if it is provided.

Dearborn provides a wide array of resources for teachers.

Resource Usage Provider Notes
Mi-STAR Required RESA SIS (School Information System) provided by RESA.
iLearn Supported Dearborn Dearborn hosts its own installation of Moodle.
iBlog Supported Dearborn Dearborn hosts. This is used to allow teachers to create public facing web sites. Built in WordPress, this tool provides teachers with an easy way to communicate to parents, students and the community.
Mahara Supported Dearborn Student ePortfolios
EtherPad Supported Dearborn Allows for collaborative writing- with a timeline- for students and teachers.
Engage Supported Dearborn Allows for students and teachers to create private, class based web sites.
PinIt Supported Dearborn Similar to Pinterest. Allows teachers to share links with students. Since this is controlled by teachers, it doesn’t have to be filtered.
BigBlueButton Supported Dearborn Full web conferencing built into iLearn and iBlog.  Allows teachers to provide study sessions and collaboration outside of the classroom for students.  This can be teacher led or just provided as a place for students to meet.
United Streaming Provided RESA Wide range of videos that support education.
ParentConnect Supported RESA Provides communication to parents.
StudentConnect Supported RESA Provides communication to students.
Email Supported Dearborn Provides communication to students.
Google Apps for Education Supported Dearborn Allows for collaboration amongst students and teachers.

 

  • What district policies should you be aware of when implementing blended learning? Especially ask about: the use of pictures/names; the creation of student accounts; the ability to share publicly.

Dearborn has long supported Blended Learning. Students are all provided with an account for the school district. This account is then tied into the various services that we provide (such as iLearn, iBlog, etc.). Our general policy on pictures applies to Blended Learning just like all usage. Parents can opt out of having their child’s picture posted or printed.

  • Does your administration expect you to contact parents to notify them that you will be using the Internet as a teaching tool? If so, what information do you need to provide them?

Dearborn has long supported Blended Learning. This is not viewed as something “different”. Rather this is an extension of learning. Most of the tools that we provide are designed to be used by classrooms. Thus, they have similar protections as physical classrooms.

Google Apps

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We are well underway with the Google Apps for Education transition. Lots of teachers, staff members and administrators are loving it. Some are still early on in the journey to utilizing Google Apps for Education. So, why are some farther along than others? Well, simply put, it is a journey. Google Apps is a different way of thinking. It is the digital way. This can be a bit disconcerting for some. After all, the way that they are used to working worked right?

Google Apps is really about a mind shift. It can be much more efficient and effective. However, it does require thinking just a little bit differently.

Working digitally provides us with an opportunity to do things more productively. In the past, we would send out calendars and have hundreds of people all typing in the same information on different calendars. Invariably, someone would make a mistake. This would take a great amount for each person. If there were any changes to the calendar, the calendar would have to be sent out again. Then hundreds of people would need to completely review their entire calendar to see what had changed. This could occur through several iterations.  Now we simply create a calendar and let people subscribe to the calendar. If anything needs to be adjusted, it is corrected in one place and hundreds of people have a calendar that is correct and up to date. This saves massive  amounts of time and decreases communication errors.

Sharing documents is another example. The old way of doing things is to send out and email with an attachment. If feedback is needed or if any corrections need to be made, that means more emails with attachments. The receiver of the emails is now charged with keeping track of which email is the “correct” one. This can lead to lots of wasted time and communication errors as well. This also ends up meaning that people spend lots of time looking at documents and emails that they’ve already looked at. Instead, a shared document can streamline that whole process. Instead of receiving several emails, the individual can view the most current version of the document. The author of the document has complete control over who can see, comment or edit the document. This provides for great flexibility.

This just touches on the possibilities. Sure, in some ways the “old ways” “worked”, but they took a lot of time and are no longer really efficient. People work differently now. It’s time that we reflect the new possibilities.

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