Troy Patterson

MicroSoft is ending support for Windows XP during the next school year. This means that we will need to update our computers so that they are running Windows 7. In order to accomplish this with as little instructional disruption as possible, we will attempt to update as many computers during the summer as possible.

 

(Please note that we have updated some computers throughout the district. If your computer is already running Windows 7, we won’t be updating. However, it is still a good idea to back up your data. If the hard drive of your computer crashes, we have no way of getting that data back for you.

 

What this means to you.

• You must back up your data.
• (Please note that we back up network drives. Thus, any information that is on a shared drive or your H: drive is backed up).

How?

*   As long as you save all of your files to your H: drive* (the network drive with your user ID in the name), you are all set.

*   If you have your files on your C: drive, please copy them to your H: drive. This includes documents that are saved only on your desktop or in your “My Documents”.

 

What we do. 

• We will try to reinstall any standard applications that we can. (If you have specialized programs, we may need the install disks). This includes Promethean software.

This is also an opportunity to clean up computers. We have seen computers where there are six different toolbars that have been installed. One computer had over half of the screen permanently covered with tool bars.

Please note that once we update your computer, we have absolutely no way of retrieving your data. Any data that is left “just on your computer” will be erased. All data saved to your H: drive will be safe, sound and backed up. Saving files to your H: drive is good practice as we back that up.

 

As we move forward with Google Apps for Education, you will want to save your documents in Google Drive. Google drive is persistently backed up through Google.

 

Thanks.

We’ve identified an issue with Gmail delivery. Due to that issue, we have suspended delivery to Gmail accounts.

Resolution will be soon. In the meantime, please continue using Outlook to view and respond to email.

 

Thanks.

As we have tried to open the web more and more for adults, we have hit upon a few stumbling blocks. We still need to filter the Internet appropriately, there are lots of things that are totally inappropriate for schools.

 

You may see an Authentication Box if you are attempting to access sites that are blocked for students. This includes YouTube.

 

We are working on the issue.

 

‘Tis that time of year again. Time when many schools are holding assemblies and putting together retrospectives of the year. We know the power of music, and many schools want to include music in their retrospective projects.

 

Unfortunately, many people don’t stop to think about their actions. It is very easy to download a piece of audio from the Internet, or a CD that someone brings in, or buy a CD.

 

However, is it legal to use that music as part of presentation?

The short answer is no.

 

If you are playing the music for the school, it becomes a public performance. Public performance is different than personal use. Here is the definition of a public performance:

 

A “public performance” of music is defined in the U.S. copyright law to include any music played outside a normal circle of friends and family. Songwriters, composers, and music publishers have the exclusive right to play their music publicly and to authorize others to do so under the copyright law. This is known as the “Performing Right”. This right was designed to enable and encourage music creators to continue to create music.

When you see the words “All Rights Reserved” on a movie that you’ve rented or purchased, you know that playing that movie before a public audience is prohibited. The same restrictions apply to music that is purchased, broadcast, or live musicians that are hired to play in a public setting. Every business or organization must receive permission from the copyright owners of the music they are playing before playing it publicly.

 

Publicly includes schools. There are some “fair use” conditions that allow schools to use parts of copyrighted music, but those don’t generally cover assemblies. There is a popular misconception that because it is used in a school, copyright doesn’t apply.

 

The good news is that there are some resources that can be used. These are generally found by looking for Creative Commons licensed material. Specifically, you want to look for is licensed under ShareAlike.

Please see below for clarification from Creative Commons:

 

Can I use any song with a CC license on it?

Almost — you need to make sure that what you want to do with the music is OK under the terms of the particular Creative Commons license it’s under. CC-licensed music isn’t free for all uses, only some — so make sure to check out the terms (you can find these by clicking on each song’s license icon).

Most importantly, you need to use music that is not licensed under a No Derivative Works license. This means that the musician doesn’t want you to change, transform, or make a derivative work using their music. Under CC licenses, synching the music to images amounts to transforming the music, so you can’t legally use a song under a CC No Derivative Works license in your video.

Also, make sure to properly credit the musician and the track, as well as express the CC license the track is under. For example, you might include text like this at the end of your video:

This video features the song “Desaprendere (Treatment)” by fourstones, available under a Creative CommonsAttribution-Noncommercial license.

 

 

The technology department is pleased to let you know that we are working on the transition to Google Apps for Education. This transition will fully take effect beginning in August of 2013.

 

However, we are hard at work to make sure that the transition is as easy as possible for you.

 

Why are we transitioning? 

 

• Google Apps for Education is free. This will save the district money in terms of licensing.
• Flexibility
• Communication
• Sharing
• Spam filtering
• 21st Century Teaching opportunities
• Accessibility
• More space

 

What can you do?

 

• Please do NOT create a google account using your district email.
• Become familiar with Google Apps for Education by viewing the links on this page.
• Clean up your email account:
  • Delete items that you don’t need
  • Empty your deleted items (remember that when you push the delete button or click the X, you are just putting in the trash, not completely deleting it. This is akin to throwing a something in the kitchen trash can, eventually you have to empty that trash can (ie, delete your “deleted items”).)

 

Next Steps:

 

• We are creating an account for every employee in the district.
• We are identifying Trainers per school to be resources.
• We are testing our implementation.
• We are reviewing which options make the most sense for our district.

 

This will be a change for many people. This is also a terrific opportunity to learn some new workflows, make things more efficient and effective. With some things, there may be mindset changes.

A piece of SPAM has made it past our filter. However, our well educated staff is not falling for it. Several teachers have sent me the SPAM. Please note:

• There is nonsensical wording at the bottom of the email.
• They are asking you to open a .zip file (this is a common way to spread a virus)
• Lots of people are listed in the To: file (this doesn’t make sense for a package delivery)
• Threat of charging you money if it’s not received.

Here comes the SPAM:

USPS notification

Our company’s courier couldn’t make the delivery of parcel.

REASON: Postal code contains an error.
LOCATION OF YOUR PARCEL: New York
DELIVERY STATUS: sort order
SERVICE: One-day Shipping
NUMBER OF YOUR PARCEL: 3I4KJ7D1R5
FEATURES: No

Label is enclosed to the letter.
Print a label and show it at your post office.

An additional information:

If the parcel isn’t received within 30 working days our company will have the right to claim compensation from you for it’s keeping in the amount of $8.26 for each day of keeping of it.

You can find the information about the procedure and conditions of parcels keeping in the nearest office.

Thank you for using our services.
USPS Global.

 

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Here is a quick overview of our upcoming Curriculum Mapping Tool. Please click on the link below to view an 8 minute video tour of DEC.

DEC Overview

You can also preview the live site at https://curriculum.dearbornschools.org. Please note that you must use the “sign in as guest” link- we do not have the user sync set up yet.