Technology Updates for the 2017-2018 School Year

Welcome Back SDMA Staff!
Our Technology Services Team is excited to start the 2017-2018 school year. Here are some of the technology updates that occurred while you were out:

New Internet Filtering Solution
This spring we put our a request for proposals for a new Internet filtering solution. Our contract with CIPA filter is expiring and we wanted a solution in place prior to the start of the school year. We piloted and opted to sign a contract Securly, a cloud-based filtering solution that will allow us to filter Chromebooks in and out of the district.

General Information about Securly:

• It's always on, everywhere (on district devices or ANY device when you are logged into your Chrome browser with district credentials - details below)
• Requires a district Google account
• Supports multiple groups for filtering (staff settings vs. student settings)
• Parent access to student after school online browsing

How It Works:
All of our district devices will be set up to route all Internet traffic through Securly. This is true regardless of whether users are connecting to the Internet from school, home, or anywhere else.

When users first try to go anywhere they will be asked to log in to their district google account, using the @msd.k12.wi.us address. This identifies the user to the Securly system, so that we know who it is and can place them in the appropriate filtering group. If you are not logged into Chrome on district devices, you may receive prompts to login or be blocked from navigating the web until you sign-in. (See directions for signing into the Chrome browser below). 

Securly is activated whenever one of these two conditions occur:

• Anytime a district-issued Chromebook is used, the user is signed into their account when they go onto the Chromebook and Securly is activated.
• On all other district or home devices (desktop or mobile), Securly is activated only if a user signs into the Chrome browser using their school account. Securly does not activate on a personal device if the user just opens their email (see below). 

What’s the difference between signing into email and signing into Chrome?
This is an important distinction that should be clearly understood:

• You can open a browser window and sign into your school email, and you will not be signed into Chrome.
• However, if you sign into the Chrome browser itself with your district account, all extensions that are assigned by the District will become active in the browser, including Securly.
• The image below shows the Chrome menu and the sign-in status. In this particular browser, I am signed in, so Securly is monitoring my activity.

• ​This image below again shows the Chrome menu and the sign-in status. In this particular browser, no one is signed in, so Securly will not monitor activity outside of the district.

If you receive a message that an educational site is now blocked, please notify the the technology department by creating a help desk ticket and include the url to the blocked site.

We are also excited about the built-in auditing for self-harm and cyberbullying that Securly offers, as well as, the parent portal feature. Parents will soon have access to see how their kids use school devices at home and also receive notifications for self-harm or cyberbullying.

Computer Lab Removal, Device Retirement, and Re-imaging
Computer labs were removed district-wide as we move to mobile devices. Some desktops were re-imaged and re-purposed as classroom stations for accessing SMART Notebook for teachers who selected to move from MacBooks to Chromebooks this year. The remaining curricular labs were also reimaged for the start of this school year. Some of our Chromebook models were just months from their end of support from Google and would not be able to update for state testing this year. We opted to pull these devices out of service this summer and purchase replacements.

SMART Notebook Express is a web-based version of SMART Notebook that can be accessed on Chromebooks and/or personal devices where licensing is unavailable. Check out directions here. This is a great option for allowing students access to lessons and for teachers to create and/or open lessons from home.

Teachers with desktop stations needing admin access to download individual software unavailable through Self-Service, can place a tech ticket after logging in and we can grant you additional rights.

Staff Devices
Almost all staff who are keeping their MacBooks this year brought them in for hard drive replacement and reimaging either prior to the end of last school year or over the summer. We appreciate your annual cooperation in this important maintenance and encourage anyone who may still need to have their computer reimaged to contact us to schedule. The technology department does have devices available for checkout while yours is being serviced.

Para-educators were asked to turn in their devices over the summer and we were able to replace their Chromebooks with the same new Chromebooks issued to our teachers.


Grades K-5 Access
We are happy to share that even after the removal of the computer labs and MacBook carts, elementary students will have the same or better device access ratios this school year. The retired devices were replaced with carts of Chromebooks. Most Chromebooks were moved from the MS and HS levels and additional Chromebooks were purchased to account for the Chromebooks that Google is no longer supporting with updates and those damaged last school year. The ratio of students to devices will be approximately 2 to 1.



Grades 6-12 M-Powered Learning 1:1 Initiative
We are excited to begin the school year with 1:1 Chromebook access for our students in grades 6-12. Many of our students came in August to pickup their devices and take care of paperwork prior to the first day of school.

Our Technology and Curriculum Teams are excited to support teachers as we shift instruction to integrate technology in meaningful ways in order to increase collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity.

For more information on the M-Powered Learning Initiative, checkout our district webpage: http://tinyurl.com/sdmampower.

Students who have not yet received their Chromebooks will have the opportunity on the first day of school. If parents have not yet signed off on the insurance acceptance or waiver, the device will remain at school until forms are received.


New HP Printers
This spring we accepted bids for a new managed print services and the purchase of new printers. As part of this process, we evaluated our current printing analytics and reduced our fleet. This upgrade and reduction will allow us to see a return on our investment in less than two years.

All the new printers enable printing from Chromebooks as well as laptops and desktops.

Here are directions for printing from Chrome:

Here are directions for adding printers on Mac computers:

1. Locate Self Service in your Applications Folder
2. Under categories, select the printers for your grade level/building. 
3. Install the HP Print Driver.
4. Click Install next to all of the printer(s) and copier(s) you want to access.
5. Repeat until all printers you want are installed

There are no changes for adding/installing printers on Windows computers.

Creation of Student and Staff App Portal Pages
In order to provide easy access to our most frequently visited digital resources, the Technology Team has built an App Portal for staff and students. As part of this process, the team also enable Single-Sign On (SS0) options when they were available.

Additionally, in order to comply with FERPA and COPPA to protect student data and privacy, we have created a list of digital resources that have been evaluated by our Technology Team. If there are resources you would like to use that are not currently approved or under review, please submit an evaluation request. Chrome apps and extensions will not appear in the Webstore for students unless they have been evaluated and approved.


EduClimber
EduClimber now also includes

• HS - Credits earned
• MS - Gradebook 
• K-5 - Gradebook (reports grades for end of term)

Brightbytes Clarity Survey
The Brightbytes Clarity survey tool being implemented this year will allow us to monitor classroom practices, access (including home internet), skills and competencies, and environment in terms of technology. District staff, students in grades 3-12, and parents will be asked to take this 15-minute survey annually (twice this year in order for us to have a baseline). The results will help us identify areas of strength and growth. The database provides a comprehensive dashboard that allows for grade level, building, student to teacher, and statewide comparisons of data. Additionally, there are suggested actions and research that help guide action steps for areas of growth including "quick wins" and long-range planning.


Changes to the Technology Services Team
This summer we had some changes to our Technology Services Team. Ashley Close and Josh Huhmann left to accept new positions and we wish them well. We welcomed Spencer Wilson and Josh Squires, both recent graduates from CVTC, to our team.

In our staffing transition, we decided to fill the part-time role of the the district-wide Innovation Specialists with current teaching staff. This option allows us to recognize the talent we have in the district and meet the critical needs of professional development as we increase device access and learning opportunities for our students. Empowering building leaders to serve as coaches, trainers, and student advisors allows us all to capitalize on existing rapport and relationships for successful outcomes.

Here are the staff members available to help you in each building:

• Building Technology Integration Coaches
• High School: Andrea Smith, Michele Huppert, Kayla Oliver and 1 more position available.
• Middle School: Amanda Harrison, Jennie Cimino, and one to be confirmed.
• Downsville: Jessica Graham
• Knapp: To be confirmed.
• Oaklawn: Zachary Rubenzer and 1 more position available.
• River Heights: Kyle Gregerson and 1 more position available.
• Wakanda: Heidi Anderson and one to be confirmed.
• Career Cruising Trainers
• High School: Michele Huppert
• Middle School: 1 position available.
• HS Student Tech Team Advisor and MS Student Tech Club Advisor: Terry Staupe

If you are interested in any of the above openings, please email Sam Hoyt and your building administrator.

Need to submit a Tech Ticket?
The best way to contact the technology department for support is by creating a tech ticket through your email. This allows our entire team to view and track the status of your request. The address is tickets@msd.k12.wi.us. This is the only option available if you are submitting a ticket when you are outside of the district. Because we have new tech team members, it is very helpful to include your building, room number, and phone extension in the ticket/email along with a description of how we can help. In the event that you need immediate assistance, please call Morgan at extension 11142 and she will be able to direct you to any team members currently in the office.

Here's to a great school year!

The Technology Services Team

Katie Krueger, Josh Squires, Spencer Wilson, Danny Lehman, and Morgan Seguin

Set up Google Alerts

Google Alerts are a great way to easily track content and receive updates directly in your inbox. To get started, make sure you are logged into your Google account and navigate to google.com/alerts. By default, Google will recommend that you set an alert for your profile name. Notice that your name is in quotes, so that only results that have your first name and last name together are included in the results. 

Use the search box to setup alerts for additional topics you want to follow. Use best search term practices to populate the best results. Here are some examples and suggestions:

• "[your first name] [your last name]"
• "School District of the Menomonie Area"
• "Menomonie High School"
• location: Menomonie, WI
• "[your topic] location: Menomonie, WI
• "News" location: Menomonie, WI
• New [technology] this year or New [technology] 2017

Click show options to change:

• Choose often you receive notifications
• Select the types/formats of content to search
• Enter your language
• Choose region you want to receive information from
• Opt to see all results or top results
• Select the account you want to receive alerts

Once you have adjusted your settings, click create alert. You will now receive email notifications whenever Google finds search results for your topics. 

To adjust or delete your alerts, simply navigate back to google.com/alerts and click the pencil to edit or the trash can to delete alerts for any topic. To stop alerts by clicking unsubscribe at the bottom or an alert email.

Set an Expiration Date for Shared Access to Drive Files

Google allows Drive users to set an expiration date for shared access on documents. This is great for when you want to provide temporary commenting or viewing rights on documents. Expiration dates cannot be set for users with editing rights at this time.

Here's how it works:

1. Go to your file's shared settings.
2. Add your collaborators.
3. Mouse over a collaborator whose access you'd like to expire after a set time.
4. The timer icon will appear. Click it and set the expiration date for viewing or commenting rights.
5. Save changes.

For more information, check out the Google Apps Updates Blog.

Browser Slower Than Dial-up? Try OneTab

Ever feel like your browser is running slower than dial-up days? If you're anything like me, you may find yourself constantly opening new tabs while working on projects or researching. Once I hit about 10 tabs, I start to notice a difference in performance. What to do? I use OneTab, a Chrome extension, to organize open tabs in a single tab. Once installed, the OneTab icon (blue filter) will appear in your browser toolbar.

Whenever you get to a point where you are switching tasks or just have too many tabs open, click the icon and all of your unpinned tabs will automatically transfer to OneTab where they will be neatly listed and easily restored when you want to return to them.

Once in OneTab, you have the option to restore all your tabs, delete all your tabs, share your list with others, and restore/delete individual tabs. The ability to share a list as a web page can be helpful when you want to share research with a class or collaborative group.

You can even drag and drop tabs in you OneTab list to reorder them. Hold down the Ctrl key while restoring tabs and they will also stay in your OneTab list.

Even more options are found in the More drop-down menu. Here you can name a tab group, which is helpful when tabs are grouped by project or task. Lock a tab group to prevent yourself from accidentally deleting tabs, or Star a tab group to move it to the top of your OneTab list.

Additionally, if you want to specify which tabs are sent to your OneTab, right-click the browser icon to receive the following choices.

To customize the default OneTab actions, select the Options menu by right-clicking on the browser icon or using the menu located on the right side of your OneTab page.

Here you can determine how OneTab behaves in several situations based on your preferences.

OneTab is easily one of my favorite and most frequently used extensions.

Click here to watch my OneTab video tutorial.

Click here to get the OneTab extension for Chrome.

Building Momentum for the Day

I am always on the lookout for productivity and task managers to keep me organized and focused. The more I experiment with different tools, the more I understand my own preferences and the need for others to select tools for themselves as well. I tend to lean toward using multiple tools with simple interfaces and functions in lieu of more robust apps and extensions that have more functionality and "distractions" than I need. 

Momentum is one of my favorite extensions due to its simplistic nature and straightforward functionality. It works in multiple browsers to give you a customized New Tab page to help start and organize your day. 

Here is a screenshot of my Momentum Tab for the day:

Momentum automatically greets you each day with a new background image, motivational quote, and prompt to set a main focus for the day. The current time is also prominent in the center of the page.

Almost everything is optionally displayed based on your selected settings (gear in the lower right corner). Simply toggle each feature On and Off.

On the bottom right, you have the option to display a simple Todo list. It's nothing fancy--no advanced features, due dates, or other options--but you can drag items around to reorder them. I list what I plan to work on throughout a single day; however, the list does carry over each day. Since I prefer to keep it simple, the daily focus and Todo list are the only features I tend to use.

Other optional features available in settings include the ability to display the current temperature and location (in the upper right corner) and the choice to search within your tab and add quick links or bookmarks (in the upper left corner).  I tend not to use these features as I have other extensions to manage temporary bookmarks and have elected to use this extension as a purposeful tool to focus on daily outcomes.

Take Momentum for a test drive to see if it works for you.

Here are a few alternatives if Momentum is not the tool for you:

• Dayboard
• Dream Afar
• Leoh New Tab
• One Feed
• TabTab
• Wunderlist New Tab

Which new tab extension works best for you?

Map Learning with Tour Builder and My Maps

As Hyperdocs become increasingly popular, consider using maps as a rich alternative.  Maps can be a great way to tell a story, make history and culture interactive, and travel without leaving the classroom.

I've been a long-time fan of Google Earth and it's capabilities. While it is a powerful demonstration tool for students, it can be very time-consuming to learn the nuances of Google Earth in order to record and share tours. Enter Google's Tour Builder and My Maps.

Google's Tour Builder is a great way to share where you've been and what you've seen and learned on your journey. It enables you to pin locations, add text, images, and video, and easily share your tour. These capabilities lend themselves to a lot of educational uses--create and take tours of historical events, geographic features, world cultures, the election trail, biographies, literary settings, and more. 

To use Tour Builder in 3D, you do need to download the Google Earth browser plug-in and be logged into your Google Account. If the plug-in is not available on your device, Tour Builder automatically defaults to 2D mode. Tour Builder is intuitive and has great built-in directions and prompts, so it is easy for students and teachers to build their own. Each location you add is given a place marker that can hold text and up to 25 images and videos that are displayed as a gallery. The tours remain private until you choose to share them with others.  

One advantage of using Tour Builder is the ability to upload your own photos and videos without having to host elsewhere on the web. 

Tour Builder Resources:

• My Example: February 2016 Election Tour
• Google Tour Builder Tutorial
• Create your own

Google's My Maps provides another option for students to create interactive maps. My Maps appears in your list of Google Drive Apps and has the same sharing features and options as other Google Apps. Similar to Tour Builder, My Maps will allow users to attach images and videos to locations. Unfortunately, My Maps does not currently allow you to upload your own photos and videos unless you make them available on the web and/or YouTube.

Add layers to allow users to easily filter information on your map. For instance, if students were researching a country, one layer could be geographic features, another could be cultural sites, etc. My example district map allows viewers to filter district elementary, secondary, and office locations.  My Maps also has a measuring tool (distance and area) and the ability to develop routes based on transportation modes (walking, bicycling, or driving).

My Maps Resources:

• My Example: School District of the Menomonie Area
• Google My Maps Help Menu
• Create your own

Take these interactive maps to the next level by having kids create and embed their own videos using WeVideo or Screencastify.

Want even more ideas about how to use Google Maps in the classroom? Check out Kurt Wismer's Geo 4 Edu site for ideas, examples, and tutorials.

Clear Your Browser History

When you visit websites, your browser stores information about the sites that you visit and the files that are used to run online applications. Browsers do this to speed up the load time of sites you visit. The browser can display files shared in its cache much faster than it can pull files the first time your visit a site.

So why do we need to occasionally clear these files - cache and cookies - stored in our browsers?

When websites and applications are updated, your browser may still be loading the old files stored in its cache. This can mean that you are not seeing the most recent changes and can cause errors or prevent you from performing actions on a website or application.

Check out the video tutorial on Clearing your Chrome Browser Cache below: