tech news & notes
== may 2017 - shakopee technology services ==
Student Device Roll-In
We will be collecting student devices during the last week of school (and a little earlier for 12th grade). Tech will be communicating via secondary building administration to provide any notes, presentations, and other materials needed for roll-in. We will be collecting about 4000 devices in a time-frame that is even more compressed than this year’s roll-out, so we appreciate your assistance in helping to make this a smooth process.
Roll-in Schedule
Pearson
Part 1 - Pre-Collection Information (5/12/17)
Part 2 - Apple ID/Damage Assessment/Replacement Costs (5/19/17)
Part 3 - Collection Day (5/22/17, 11:00-1:00)
East & West Junior Highs
Part 1 - Pre-Collection Information (5/12/17)
Part 2 - Apple ID/Damage Assessment/Replacement Costs (5/19/17 & 5/22/17)
Part 3 - Collection Day (5/24/17, 10:30-1:00)
High School
PresentationPart 1: Thur. 5/11 during homeroom
Part 2: Tues. 5/16 during homeroom
High School Collection Dates & Times
12th Grade
Wed. 5/17 – 2:00-4:00 (open turn-in time)
Thur. 5/18 – 2:00-4:00 (open turn-in time)
Fri. 5/19 – All Day (call down by alpha any remaining seniors)
A-F - 2nd hour
H-L – 3rd hour
OPEN – 4th hour
M-R – 5th hour
S-Z – 6th hour
10th Grade Roll-In
Mon. 5/22 – 9:00-1:00 (call down by alpha)
A-F - 2nd hour
H-L – 3rd hour
OPEN – 4th hour
M-R – 5th hour
S-Z – 6th hour
11th Grade Roll-In
Tues. 5/23 – 9:00-1:00 (call down by alpha)
A-F - 2nd hour
H-L – 3rd hour
OPEN – 4th hour
M-R – 5th hour
S-Z – 6th hour
10th-12th Remaining Devices
Wed. 5/24 - 8:00am 2:00pm - OPEN device roll-in
10th-12th Remaining Devices
Thur. 5/25 - 8:00am 2:00pm - OPEN device roll-inRoll-In Notes on our website also includes useful instructions for iPad and MacBook back-ups, and how to use Google Takeout to create an archive of files.
Summer Student MacBook Opt-In
This year we will be allowing 9th-11th grade students the option to keep the district-assigned device (MacBook) over summer, with parent permission. We based our opt-in program on examples and experiences from area districts who have done this as well. Forms and notes on this can be found on the district website.
Summer Projects
As always, we have a number of summer projects. Some significant projects include:
Completion of an identity management system that will help streamline account creation and management, remove steps in password management that sometimes caused issues with Google passwords not being synced to the district account, provide more account management options for students, and lay the groundwork for a single sign-on environment (reducing the need to maintain additional logins and passwords for other software).
Removal of PC labs in a number of buildings either to accommodate the need for additional classroom space or as part of the media center/learning commons long-term design plan.
Addition of mobile Chromebook carts to replace many PC labs and refresh of an existing Chromebook cart at each K-5 building.
- Hire technology paraprofessionals to bring us up to building-level tech staffing that was promised as part of the technology levy.
- Repurpose 8th grade iPads for use in summer school.
Media Center Transition
Budget realities recently required us to make adjustments to the staffing and overall direction of our media center spaces throughout the district. This resulted in moving several staff and realigning job priorities and locations for media specialists (who will now be traveling staff with a media skills or catalogue management focus) digital learning coaches (now coordinators, each with a focus building, while still very much dedicated to professional development and technology engagement), media paraprofessionals (more focus on supervision and less on tech support), and technology assistants (more obvious presence in media center space and better aligned to PD efforts in the building).
The effect on staff is the most obvious and immediate impact. In the long term, we will be refining the mission of the media center and rebranding those spaces as the Learning Commons. An article on our website provides an overview of the Learning Commons vision. The concepts we are embracing for these spaces are very much aligned to the long-term goals expressed by our media articulation team. Some of our goals for the space will take time to realize due to the need for funding (such as a desire for flexible furniture options). However, we will be evaluating the spaces at each building to identify short term updates and acquisitions to ensure that they continue to remain a vital and engaging environment at each building.
K-5 Tech Focus Group
A while ago we did a focus group session with K-5 staff to work on questions such as: best practices for iPad use in K-5, digital citizenship, high priority apps for next year, and other topics. Click to view the agenda and data collected during that session.
Tech Note: "Hold for Authentication" Error when printing
Tips for resolving “Hold for authentication” error when printing. Steps below listed in order that seems to end up with the issue resolved; we have seen it resolved after step 1 but occasionally it gets to step 4 before total resolution.
- Refresh Kerberos Ticket.
- Delete print jobs and re-send.
- Restart computer.
- Uninstall/Reinstall printer.
Tech Note: Wireless changes
We will soon be implementing a change to our wireless network. What you’ll see is a new network name: SabersWireless. Two network names will disappear: saberstaff & saberstudent.
There are several reasons for this change:
- Fewer network names equals less network traffic (every “name” needs time to broadcast a signal, which creates network traffic).
- We used to use the network to differentiate between student and staff users; we will be handling that a different way which is how we can streamline the network and reduce traffic.
- The new design should provide a better experience for staff using personal devices.
Timeline:
Official cut over will occur between last day of school (May 25th) and Summer School (June 12).
SabersWireless is active and available for connection currently. District devices connect automatically and do not require any additional login steps. It replaces saberstaff and saberstudent.
SabersPublic will replace sabers-byod during official cut over.
Staff BYOD
Staff can connect personal devices to SabersWireless to gain filtered access to Internet
Quality of service is higher than the current byod (bring your own device) but below what is provided for district devices (Macbooks, iPads, etc)
Requirements to connect:
Staff Login (example below)
Username: clee
Password: Password1!
Accept prompt for certificate
This is our management server / gatekeeper, your device needs to acknowledge its authority to connect.
Install Securly Certificate
This is required to access any secure websites (sites that start with "https" in the website address/url)
Public BYOD
SabersPublic will replace “sabers-byod”.
It will have a splash page with an Acceptable Use Statement.
It will be filtered but will not require Securly Cert for secure sites (https).
It is a best effort network (meaning bandwidth is limited).
Tech will send out reminders about this change closer to the actual date when changes take effect.
Tech Note: Wireless Access Point Troubleshooting
Check the ceiling. Do you see a wireless access point up there? Occasionally, if you are having an issue with the wireless connection, the light on that wireless access point may help us with troubleshooting the issue. Here are some common colors and what they mean:
Wireless Access Point (AP) color codes
- Solid Green: Working, ready for devices to connect.
- Solid Blue: Working, devices are connected.
- Blinking Green: Starting up.
- Blinking Blue: Updating software.
- Any other type of blinking: Could be something wrong. Open a ticket with request type: Tech > Network Connection > Wireless Connectivity. Describe what the lights are doing and the location of the access point.
Apple TV Reminders [Yes, you have seen this before]
- Stream video from Safari using AirPlay mode. Whenever possible, do this.
- Connecting to an Apple TV.
- Apple TV Troubleshooting.
- How to remove the "rental video" banner from the start-up screen.
2017-2018 Apple Tech Deployments [Another Re-run]
- K-2nd: Existing 2:1 iPad deployment in Carts.
- 3rd-5th: [NEW] 1:1 iPads in gen-ed classroom carts.
- 6th grade: Continue with iPads; fresh batch.
- 7th-8th grade: Retain iPad from previous school year.
- 9th grade: Continue with MacBooks; fresh batch.
- 10th-12th grade: Retain MacBook from previous school year.
Recent Projects and Items of Note
- Apple device inventory clean-up in preparation for roll-ins
- Roll-in planning
- K-5 tech focus group
- Office of Civil Rights data submission
- 2017-2018 Digital Device Forms approved and posted.
- I had the privilege of doing a presentation on digital citizenship for a Community Ed parent night recently.
On-going or Starting Soon
- On-line payments module added to Infinite Campus
- Testing a new system for updating hallway TV displays at the high school
- Setting up identity management software that will streamline user account creation, logins, and eventually allow us to roll out a single sign-on option.
Help Desk Milestone
2017-2018 Tech Staffing
Old News
Shakopee Technology Services
Email: helpdesk@shakopee.k12.mn.us
Website: https://whd.shakopee.k12.mn.us
Location: 1200 Shakopee Town Square, Shakopee, MN, United States
Phone: 5100
Twitter: @ShakoTechDrozd