#nisdengange Google Apps for Education and Students

#nisdengage Google Apps for Education and Students

shared with Elementary C&I large group on Monday, September 8, 2014

Google Apps for Education (GAFE) and students is coming soon!

The GO LIVE date has been set for October 6, 2014.

I wanted to share a bit of information with you on this topic...also to continue the dialog as we dive into all of the awesomeness this opens up for instructional opportunities and learning!

The plan at the elementary level is to integrate exposure for students K-5 to GAFE (Email and Drive) through the ECT rotation lab. This will not happen immediately. We will be working with the ECT group to get them trained and their curriculum updated to include GAFE components. Again, the intention isn't that students will know all of the "ins and outs of GAFE, the teach piece will be ongoing and will include multiple staff members:

Technology Support Specialist - TSS (campus-based, 2 campus split at elementary) - will support teachers and staff with GAFE basics

Elementary Computer Technologist (ECT) (campus-based - facilitate lessons in the rotation lab providing exposure for students K-5 to GAFE (Email and Drive)...this plan will develop over time as we prepare the ECTs and modify their current curriculum to include GAFE

Campus Instructional Technologist (campus-based, 2 campus split at elementary) and Academic Technology Coach (district-staff, 6-7 campus split at elementary) - will support teachers and staff with integrating GAFE and students, how it can look in the classroom, what are the possibilities with students, best practice with students, etc.

As you can see, GAFE is definately going to be supported via a team effort!

Google Classroom will also be an EXTREMELY helpful tool to teachers as we move forward with using Google Apps for Education in the Classroom. Check out this short video overview!

 

Academic Technology Staff Lists

Academic Technology Staff Lists

Academic Technology Campus Staff
includes CIT schedules and phone numbers, ECTs, CTFs, and CATs

CIT Groups for Google Contacts
includes updated lists of CIT groups for Google Contacts

Accessing Gmail from Student Computers

Accessing Gmail from Student Computers

Gmail has been blocked on student stations, while under the student login.

This has always been the case, but for a long span of time this year it was unblocked for all of the trainings going on across the district...as we have been in the process of migrating from GroupWise to Google. Now that we have completed that that migration to Google, Gmail is now blocked again on student stations, while under the student login.

Teachers and IAs can still access their Gmail with one additional step.

They will need to authenticate into the browser.

1. Open Chrome
2. Go to a page that is blocked for students (suggesting youtube.com)
3. On the blocked page, click on "For further options, click here"
4. Your staff member will login to the Web Access Authentication
5. Make sure to keep the keep the small Authenticator window open
6. Type sso.nisd.net in the Chrome browser to access Gmail
7. When finished, close ALL windows

How do I change my network password?

How do I change my network password?
Posted to Google Groupies by Ernest Vasquez

You will continue to change network passwords in GroupWise for the rest of this school year. GroupWise is 90% disabled. The goal is to have it 100% disabled and removed from ALL desktops by the time you come back in August. You will be given instructions on the new way to change network passwords at the beginning of next school year. We control when GroupWise goes away completely so we won't leave you out there with nothing. Thanks for your patience in this massive undertaking of converting over 12,000 e-mail users.

TCEA 2013: Oh the Places You'll Go...Google Edition

TCEA 2013: Oh the Places You'll Go...Google Edition
session presented by Diana Rosas and Anna Sexton

It was so fun!!! Look what I made :)


View All About Me in a larger map

Chrome Shortcut for Staff Desktops

Chrome Shortcut for Staff Desktops

Many of you have been wanting to get the Chrome shortcut out to your staff so that they are able to have it on their desktop for Google Email and Calendering. This is easy to do in just a few steps!

Login as yourself (you want to make sure you have access to your campus Staff Share folder)
Go to My Computer
Go to Local Disk (C:)
Open Program Files folder
Open Google folder
Open Chrome folder
Open Application folder
You will see the Chrome.exe icon
Right click on the Chrome.exe icon and click Create Shortcut (You can rename it to Chrome)
You can now place this Chrome shortcut icon in your Staff Share folder
Opening Chrome will take you directly to the SSO login

Most of you should have a Staff Icons folder inside your Staff Share folder from when we organized your icons during your most recent deployment...this is the perfect place to put your Chrome shortcut icon. Your staff can access that folder and drag the Chrome shortcut icon to their individual desktops.

For directions on Pinning Chrome to the Taskbar (for Windows 7 Users ONLY), click here.

NISD Going Google CIT Share

NISD Going Google CIT Share

The first official NISD Going Google Webinar was completed yesterday, Monday, November 5...CHECK!!!

If you were in attendance during yesterday's webinar, I think you probably had these takeaways:
The trainer was very knowledgeable.
The trainer was very organized.
The trainer went very fast!

In my opinion, the webinar accomplished what it set out to accomplish. BUT, it went very fast and didn't allow for all teachers to neccessarily follow along, be hands-on, etc. It was VERY good with information and knowledge. I think it gave teachers a nice overview of Google Mail and Calendar.

Jim Baker "Mr. Analogy" said it best when he said, "The webinar was great because it exposed everone to the possibilities for Google Mail and Calendar. It's like a buffet. If you don't walk by and see all the choices being offered, you don't know what all you will want to put on your plate."

Although there is no "required training" for Google you are responsible for beyond facilitating these initial webinars...I KNOW most of you are already thinking about your individual campus needs and ways you plan to followup on the Going Google Webinars.

I wanted to start this post as a place for you to share ideas you plan to use for followup Google training on your campuses.

Feel free to reply to this post to brainstorm ideas with each other :)

 

IE8 and Yahooligans!

IE8 and Yahooligans

As you know, IE8 has an integrated search box in the upper right window. There was a need to determine a district-wide search engine default standard and that district-wide search engine default standard is Google.

I asked for Yahooligans! to be added to the list of search engines when IE8 was sent out to your campuses, but I failed to tell you all about this and HOW EASY it is to change your search engine default to Yahooligans! so that you had a student safe search engine at your student's finger tips :)

Per Machine:
Open IE8
Click the black delta, which is part of the integrated search box
Select Manage Search Providers
Right click on Yahooligans! and select Set As Default
Click Close

Yahooligans! is now the search engine default on that computer!

If you haven't already, this is something you will want to do on your lab computers, as well as other student stations.