Tech Notes

E-mail: helpdesk@shakopee.k12.mn.us

Web: Log in to help desk at: https://whd.shakopee.k12.mn.us/

If you need a call-back please add a good number and time to contact you in ticket.

Whenever possible and necessary we may also use remote support tools such as Splashtop to assist you.

Details help! For instance, student name and ID number is useful when submitting a ticket in regards to a student issue. Or letting us know if you already tried common troubleshooting steps such as restarting. We appreciate the detail and it helps speed up the process of resolving an issue.

This has been pretty well communicated, but in case you missed it. As of January 16, Canvas will implement a change for how their page editor works. Please see the Overview article on Tech Tools for details and notes for adapting to this change.

Chart below shows latest phishing practice results. Even though our percentage went up a bit, there was increased difficulty in this round so the results really are not too bad. A tech tools article (linked below) has also been written to provide a more in-depth review of how to recognize and avoid phishing attempts. Every time I write about this topic, I can do a google search and get a new wave of examples of schools being harmed; bad actors aren't going away so it's important to keep reinforcing this practice to ensure the safety and security of our systems and information.

You should now be seeing a "phish alert report" icon in Outlook. A full tech tools article is linked below that walks you through how to use it, but the short version is that it is one more option available to you to report potential phishing attempts. I understand how this topic sounds a bit like a broken record sometimes but we continue to see attempts being made to lure staff into clicking on or responding to illicit messages. So, we will continue to look for ways to combat any attempts to compromise our systems.

Adobe Flash software support has been officially ended. Continued use of Flash creates security gaps and will not be supported. If you utilize Flash components in lesson plans or other content you will need to find an alternative. DLCs and tech staff are here to help transition away from Flash. Open a help desk ticket by emailing helpdesk@shakopee.k12.mn.us or schedule time with a DLC.

The district's duplicating services will be moving to the District Office within the next couple of months. This move has been in the works for a while, with Community Ed graciously rearranging their spaces a bit to help create a good location for the duplicating team and equipment. We will communicate a more exact timeline soon, and will attempt as best as possible to minimize disruption of services. Realistically, there will be some interruption since relocating is not as simple as putting machines on a truck and moving them across town.

In addition to the Smart Notebook software, the district also has limited licensure for SmartSuite. This is a web-based tool for working with Smart Notebook files.

Anyone attempting to create an account for this site should use their district Google (shakopeeschools.org) account. If not currently licensed, the site will have you set up a 45 day free trial; in the meantime you should submit a help desk ticket to get added to the licensed user list.

We are approaching the end of our process of rebuilding the automation for placement of staff in various e-mail groups. This is a natural result of moving from Infinite Campus to Skyward for employee management; without automation we would need to manually edit every group whenever there was a new hire, exit, or building change.

As we work on each building or group, there will be TWO e-mails sent out:

The first (example shown below) will go to the staff who are on the newly configured e-mail group. This is intended as a confirmation for all recipients that they are in that specific group.

The second e-mail will go out to all staff; this is to allow anyone who would expect to be in a specific group but who did not receive the first message to speak up (via help ticket) to let us know that they were missed.

Correcting email group automation is an on-going project; we are about 3 weeks away from completion.

Techs will predominantly be on site and remotely helping students and staff through help desk tickets. Techs will be scheduling on-site appointments through help desk tickets for issues that cannot be resolved via remote support. Drop-ins are discouraged. Even though Tech is on site, we will be supporting all staff and students remotely unless it is determined that in-person help is required.

We are pleased to announce that Kara Osmundson and Eric Hills will be taking on the role of Blended Learning Coordinator for the 2021-2022 school year. This position is part of the reconfiguration due to budget reductions in the Instructional and Digital Learning Coach roles.

Tech currently has a vacancy for a building-level Technology Assistant if you know of anyone who may be interested.

Email: helpdesk@shakopee.k12.mn.us
Website: https://techtools.shakopee.k12.mn.us/
Location: 1200 Shakopee Town Square, Shakopee, MN, USA
Phone: 5100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/shakopeedlc/
Twitter: @ShakoTechDrozd