Information

As you know, we have been frustrated by the inability of the EduLink phone callout system to perform as we expect. Please see the letter that we have received from them:

Well, sometimes we get teaching opportunities…..

A piece of spam made it through our filter. While we do try to eliminate all spam, the reality is that some of it will always make it through. Of all of the email in the district, roughly 67% of it is spam that is deleted prior to anyone seeing it.

What we’ve done:

• We’ve intercepted any remaining instances of this email and deleted them.
• We’ve started blocking the web page that this email links to.
• We’ve added the email into the SPAM learning filter.
• We’ve blocked this sender.

Since you’ll be dealing with email (both at work and at home probably), here are a few tips to help you decide whether or not something is spam…

• If you mouse over a link (but do NOT click on the link), it will reveal where the link is going. The part that is important is the first three sections. [Here we go….let’s say that you mouse over a link (without clicking on it) and the following address shows up https://www.myrussiantheft.com/bankofamerica.com/users.html – you may think that this relates to bank of america since it is in the web address. However, it is the first three parts that are important. Thus:
  • Part 1: https or httpss – the s means that it should be a “secure” site.
  • Part 2: www.domain – this is made up of everything on both sides of the first period. This is where the most important part (for our purpose) is. This is where the link will really take you.
  • Part 3: whatever is after the second period. This should be .com or .net or .gov.
  • Part 4 is everything else: this matters little for our purposes right now. This is frequently used to “trick” users into thinking that the link is legitimate by adding parts that “look good”.

• Thus in the case above, the site that you are going to is really myrussiantheft

Be suspicious if…

• If the signature is generic, be suspicious.
• If there are lots of spelling errors, be suspicious.
• If something “just doesn’t seem right”, be suspicious.
• If the site asks for both your user name (or email address) AND a password, be suspicious.
• If something is addressed generically (Dear Email User, Dear ____, etc) be suspicious.
• If the return address doesn’t match what you would expect, be suspicious.

Please note that this is not a comprehensive list. These are just a few guidelines to help you stay safe on the internet. SPAMer’s are constantly upgrading how they attempt to get your information.They have gotten much better at copying logos and making things look legitimate. Additionally, it is really easy to make an email seem to be coming from somewhere else (this is akin to sending a piece of mail with a return address on the outside of the envelope- really easy to fake).

We have a piece SPAM that has made it through our SPAM filter (see below). Please delete it. Do NOT click on the link.

(For educational purposes, please note the if you mouse over – but don’t click on – the link, it will show you where the link goes. If it doesn’t go to dearbornschools.org or dearborn.k12.mi.us, it is SPAM)

SPAM MESSAGE FOLLOWS:

Dear Email User,

This to inform you that you have almost exceeded your mailbox size in our database. You have used 19.2GB out of your allocated 20.5Gb. You will be unable to send/receive mails as soon as you reach your mailbox limit. Please delete your sent items and empty your deleted items (thrash) to free up some space in your mail box, you are also required to upgrade to our new 25GB Webmail. Click UPGRADE NOW below to automatically upgrade your mailbox.

UPGRADENOW

This will automatically reset/upgrade your mailbox size into the new 25GB faster and better webmail system.

You will be notified as soon as upgrade is completed.

Thanks for your co-operation.

System Administrator.

Powered by Microsoft Outlook JSU Department.

Grant Announcement

Wireless/Mobile Pilot Programs Wanted

Educators in Wayne RESA public school districts – this is an opportunity to experiment with and demonstrate the value of wireless/mobile technology for students and educators.

Community Telecommunications Network (CTN), through its member organizations, serves K-12, higher education, and public television communities in the metropolitan Detroit area, including Wayne County.  In Wayne County, CTN works with the (MISD,OS, Wayne RESA, DPTV, WSU, DPS) on behalf of its local school districts.

Through the CTN/Wayne partnership, educators in your districts have an opportunity to apply for early-stage funding to establish pilot projects that intend to demonstrate the value of access to wireless Internet in enhancing teaching and learning.

CTN is looking for innovation pilot programs to support and share with others projects that demonstrate 21century applications of technology, learning and communication.

Grant awards range between  $5,000 and $25,000, and are funded one year with possible extension for a second year.

To review the mission and goals of CTN and summaries of previously funded proposals visit the CTN website at <https://ctnonline.org>.

Yesterday was our first Snow Day of the year. As some of you are very aware, we experienced some issues with our phone out system.

Please be aware that we use multiple systems to communicate crucial information to staff and students:

• News outlets are informed (this goes to all major TV and radio stations).
• News media web sites also keep a comprehensive list of school districts that are closed.
• Phone call out system is started
• Facebook site is updated ( https://www.facebook.com/dearbornpublicschools )
• Twitter update is posted ( https://twitter.com/DearbornSchools )
• Web site is updated.  (https://dearbornschools.org/ )

So, what happened yesterday? The decision to close schools was made by Mr. Whiston by 5:15 am. By 5:20 am, Mr. David Mustonen updated all of the above sites. That is, the news media was informed, the Facebook site was updated, the Tweet was sent out, and the web site was updated, and the phone call out system was entered.

However, there was a delay between when the phone message was recorded and sent to be delivered and when some individuals actually received the calls. We have discovered that there was a glitch that meant multiple calls were going out to some individuals whilst another group wasn’t receiving any calls.

An additional call was sent out in the afternoon to make sure that all students and staff members were aware that Tuesday would be a full day of school (Facebook, the web site and Twitter were also updated). These calls were sometimes duplicated multiple times.

We are working with RESA as to the phone issues. RESA (and we- along with most districts in Wayne County) switched phone providers this year. RESA has been working with EduLink (the company that provides the phone service) on these issues. There is an update coming within the next couple of weeks which should rectify that issue.

• We rely on having updated information from Human Resources. HR is currently updating the information regarding staff information. If you have changed your contact information, please contact Human Resources.
• We work really hard to provide communication to all of those who need it. We have built redundancy into the system as we don’t want to rely upon a single method of communicating. Too many things can go wrong with any one method of communicating. Although the phone system can make 5,000 calls a minute, when all of the school districts are calling off school at the same time, this can lead to delay in the process. Dearborn’s calls should all be made within 5 minutes, but there may be a delay as the system is calling other districts.
• We will be running an updated test of the phone system once EduLink and RESA have worked out a few issues.
• *Insider’s tip, I generally find Facebook the fastest way to get the information. 

Thanks.

Some of these may be a bit of a drive , but some are nearby.
EdCampOAISD ~ *Free*   February 23 ~ A day of connecting, learning, collaborating, and networking for all educators! Follow @edcampoaisd on Twitter!

Blended Learning in the Classroom online course ~ *Free*  5 CEUs/50 SCECHs This blended course will prepare teachers to be effective blended instructors in their own environment

Digital Learning Day ~ *Free*  Digital Learning Day is a national campaign that celebrates teachers and shines a spotlight on successful instructional practice and effective use of technology in classrooms across the country. The inaugural Digital Learning Day boasted tens of thousands of teachers representing nearly 2 million students.

Safer Internet Day ~ *Free*  Safer Internet Day (SID) is organised by Insafe in February of each year to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world.

Connected Educator Series ~ *Free*  Always available. REMC’s Connected Educator Series brings the ideas and practices of exceptional technology using Michigan educators right to teachers and administrators in an easy to access, easy to use, cost effective manner.  Access these videos directly from your desktop and play them at your convenience.

Day of Discovery ~ *Free*  Berrien RESA/REMC 11 is hosting a free professional development focused on creative ways to motivate students, engage higher order thinking, support retention and transfer, and achieve learning goals with creative integration strategies using Discovery Education media assets. Learn ways to foster student learning with Discovery Education streaming, Assessment and an array of Web 2.0 resources!

The SBAC is developing an online digital library that will offer professional development related to the balanced assessment system.  The MDE seeks to recruit 75 to 90 Michigan educators to become a network of educators that will recommend resources for the digital library.  More information, including time commitment and reimbursement, is available at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/StateNetworkofEducators

The online survey application must be completed by Friday, January 25th, 2013.