Phishing is nothing new. Recently, we’ve had a successful phishing attack.

I posted some tips from Eastern Michigan University back in 2012 which are still relevant.

Phishing

Once an attacker is successful, it becomes easier because the attacker can use that account to send to others. Now the email will appear to come from someone you know. However, the same concerns are still present.

A few definitions to help:

• Phishing – this is an email sent out in the hopes of getting the user to “give up” log in information. Frequently, this will include as much “known” or popular information as possible.
• Spear phishing – like above but targeted at specific individuals. This is by far the most successful type of attack. These frequently include information that is accurate to the individual.
• Clone phishing – an attack that uses a legitimate email as the basis. The link or attachment is changed and then sent out again.
• Whaling – phishing attacks that are targeted at high level officials.

Some reminders (if you didn’t read above), of what you can do to help protect yourself:

• NEVER enter your user name and password into a Google Form
• Always look at the actual email address the email comes from
• Hover over a link, without clicking on it, to see what the URL is (hint: https://www.imrippingyouoff.com) is probably not a link that you want to follow.

As many teachers and others are aware, we take copyright seriously. More and more teachers are using video resources in class. Many teachers have a personal Netflix account. The issue is in using that personal account in the classroom. Using Netflix in this way appears to be in violation of their Terms of Use.

The Netflix service, and any content viewed through our service, are for your personal and non-commercial use only. During your Netflix membership, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, license to access the Netflix service and view movies and TV shows through the service on a streaming-only basis for that purpose. Except for the foregoing limited license, no right, title or interest shall be transferred to you. You agree not to use the service for public performances.

Please note a couple of important distinctions. When you sign up for a Netflix account (or Amazon Prime or Hulu Plus,etc.), you are agreeing to their terms and conditions. Generally, those conditions include that you will only use it for personal use. The classroom is not personal use. The classroom is a public performance.

There are some basic guidelines that you can follow:

• If you pay for an account, it probably can’t be used in school.
• If you need a user name and password to access, it probably can’t be used in school.

We recognize the value of video. We have opened up YouTube to staff and students. Media Specialists can approve videos for students to view if need be. This allow us to follow appropriate Copyright law and provide appropriate video resources for learning. Certainly it is not perfect yet. We do hope that it will continue to get better and better.

Pretty much, no one loves passwords. They are, however, a necessity of our current life. The passwords that we use need to be “good” passwords. Below are a few tips:

• Never tell your password to anyone (this includes the HelpDesk and techs)
• Create a password using a phrase instead of a word. Much more secure and easy to remember.
• Never write your password and post it on your monitor (or under your keyboard, that isn’t fooling anyone).

One of the safest ways to create good strong passwords is to use a Password Manager. Most of these have a cost associated with them. ( I use one, it’s worth my sanity).

• 1Password
• LastPass
• Dashlane
• PassPack

Here is an article on passwords that you may find interesting and informative.

Video is a valuable teaching resource. In the past, showing video was very much teacher controlled. The teacher would select a video, preview it, and decide if it was worth showing to students. The teacher would place the VCR in the VCR Player, gather the students around and view the video.

Boy how times have changed. Video is now readily available. YouTube has more than 300 hours of video added every minute. However, not all of that video is appropriate for students. YouTube can be a great resource, but, by Federal law (and common sense), students need to be protected from seeing inappropriate material.

We have been working hard on providing a way for teachers to provide YouTube videos to students. We have now made restricted videos available for students. This means that videos that are labeled as restricted (or those that are specifically approved by the district) are available for students to view. Thus, YouTube videos can now be embedded into an iLearn course, or linked on a blog for students to view. That’s right, students now have access to YouTube (at least a portion of it).

Teachers retain full rights to YouTube videos. However, teachers must be signed into Google in order to have full rights (otherwise, teachers have a restricted view as well). If you are a teacher, please make sure to sign into Gmail before going to YouTube. As always, make sure that you don’t leave a computer signed in as a teacher.

We will be working with the TAC to identify a process of approving videos. (There was a period of time where all teachers could approve videos, but that has been corrected.) As always, we will continue to work to empower teachers and students for the best possible learning conditions.

We are working hard to implement a solution to allow students to view some YouTube videos. YouTube offers many wonderful resources. Many of our teachers currently take advantage of the videos and visual learning opportunities that YouTube has. However, we also need to do our due diligence to filter inappropriate material. Thus, we will be working on providing students the ability to view restricted YouTube videos.

This change will allow teachers to embed or link YouTube videos in iLearn or on a blog.

The TAC will be reviewing the best possible scenario to approve videos specifically for Dearborn Public Schools.

The School Blog Committee continues to work to refine the process and procedures of communication through blogs. The full meeting notes are available.

Link to the document.

Non-instructional Evaluation

Recently we’ve converted the non-instructional evaluation process to a paperless version. In order to assist with the changes in the process, we’ve created a video to provide some help.

RESA staff will be performing server maintenance this Sunday 11/15 from 8AM to 4PM. During this maintenance window there will be no access to Wayne RESA applications including SMART, PolyPlot, eEmployee, RESA Web site and MISTAR. During some portion of the time period you may not be able to sign into e-mail (passwords hosted here at RESA). 

A MicroSoft update last night is causing an issue where computers that have a touchscreen will experience a black screen upon start up. Since Promethean Boards are considered a touchscreen, this is impacting a large number of our computers. We have immediately put a fix in place. The fix requires a restart of the computer.