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.

A common issue brought to tech by parents is confusion about the source of e-mail messages. When the subject line does not indicate a school or sender, this can be confusing, especially if the family has multiple students enrolled in the district. It is very helpful to parents to have some identifying information in the subject line of messages that go out. Consistency is also helpful, since it makes it easier to find and sort messages that are received.

We recently completed the process of cleaning up e-mail distribution group automation for the buildings.

The next groups we will be working on are the Certified and Noncertified lists.

Project background

• Where possible, it is preferable to automate the process of assigning staff to district-managed email groups.

• In order for automation to work, certain standards/rules for consistency must be established.

• Group names should be indicative of group membership. In other words, anyone selecting a particular email group should be able to make a reasonable and accurate inference about the recipients of a message.

Here are the current planned membership rules for the Certified and NonCertified email groups:

• Certified

• Automated Assignments

• Administrators

• Consisting of:

• Principal

• Asst. Principal

• Dean

• Licensed Staff

• Consisting of:

• Social Worker

• Speech-Language Path

• Occupational Therapist

• Physical Therapist

• Nurse

• Counselors

• Teachers

• By request

• District Administrators

• NonCertified

• Automated Assignments

• Any active staff not a member of above group:

• Consisting of (but not limited to):

• Food Service

• Secretaries

• Paraprofessionals

• Custodians

• Health Assistants

• Cultural Liaison

• Interpreter

• etc

• By request

• District Administrators

Each of these takes the form of:

• Site initials_Certified (such as SW_Certified)

• Site initials_Noncertified (such as SW_Noncertified)

We will soon be making a change to how Apple IDs are managed by the district. Additional details about this will be sent out this week.

This is essentially a preview of that communication and related resources:

• Managed Apple ID - Migration
• Managed Apple ID - Sign In for Staff (iPad)
• Managed Apple ID - Sign In for Student (iPad)
• iPad - iMovie Backup Process
• Google Slides presentation detailing the transition and rationale for Apple ID changes

Key reasons for this change:

• Additional options for restoring data in the event of an iPad replacement
• Improved and more secure management of accounts
• More flexibility in managing Apple Classroom groups (rostered and ad-hoc groups will be possible)

Side-effect of this change that may upset a few people:

• Managed Apple IDs do not support messaging and Facetime (among other things). It's a trade-off for the aforementioned functionality and compliance with data privacy requirements.

The district's duplicating services will be moving to the District Office. Tentatively, this will be occurring during spring break, the first week of April. A more specific timeline and statement about how this impacts printing requests will be sent out closer to the actual move.

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.

In case you missed it: Adobe Flash is no longer supported. Read about it at this tech tools article.

On Feb. 22nd, 2021, you'll notice a change in the Scott County Library's digital platforms for eBooks & Audiobooks. The Cloud Library and RBDigital platforms will be replaced by the Libby platform to create a one-stop shop for eBooks, audiobooks, and eMagazines with a greater selection of kids, middle grade, and young adult materials.

Here are some resources to help students and staff with the change (Katie and I will also post these items on your school's website this week):

• A 2-minute video tutorial for Shakopee students on how to access and log in to Libby on their iPads or MacBooks (this could be shown in the Media special to help with set-up)
  
• Print instructions for how to get started with Libby
• An informational letter from the Scott County Library about the transition from Cloud Library to Libby
• A transition worksheet for readers
  

A couple important things to note:

• Libby is already available in Self-Service.
• Libbyapp.com (for HS students with Macbooks) looks just like the Libby iOS app .
• Cloud Library will expire on Feb. 22, so students will lose access to materials they have checked out.
• All materials from Cloud Library will be available in the Libby platform on Feb. 22.
• Students will need to re-check out the books they were reading in Cloud Library in the new Libby app on or after Feb. 22.

~ Sandy Reishus

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