Tech Notes

Thanks to everyone who has completed the K-5 Device Usage Survey so far. We have a bit over 60 responses at this point and would love to get a few more. The purpose is to get a more complete and nuanced view of how we anticipate using devices in elementary buildings next year. We are looking for consistency where we can find it and to better document our rationale for how and where devices are being used.

Time for the occasional reminder to be aware of email phishing attempts.

Red flags include odd or mismatched email addresses, unexpected requests, links that appear suspicious, creating a sense of urgency, or file attachments with no context.

Phishing is often a gateway for things like ransomware, and next thing you know you're paying off hackers and filling plastic bags with gas. Nobody wants that.

A few tech notes and suggestions for any staff leaving the district.

• Google Takeout: Note that Google Takeout functionality has been disabled for staff in order to be compliant with data privacy standards. Departing staff who may need assistance with archiving data should submit a help ticket for assistance.
• Seesaw Activities: Will post notes or process for "keeping" activities created in Seesaw. At this time we believe this will be possible but still need further clarification from Seesaw support on the specific process.
• Shakopee.k12.mn.us e-mail account: This account is disabled as of last day of assignment (end of school year or end of contract).
• Shakopeeschools.org e-mail account and files: This account is disabled as of last day of assignment (end of school year or end of contract). Drive files are typically purged 6 months after last day of assignment. Please submit a help ticket for any general use files that may need ownership transferred.
• District devices can be turned in to the building tech staff, office staff, or at district office.

Related Notes

1 year Leave of Absence - Accounts remain active but devices should be turned in.

Less than 1 year Leave of Absence - Accounts remain active and device can remain in possession of assigned staff.

Devices issues to paraeducators as part of COVID-related classroom technology support (ie., any device issued after March 2020) should be returned to building tech staff or district office by the last day of school. Device deployments can be re-evaluated for next school year using our established process for determining need; this is also covered in the Paraeducator Device Process article.

Device Roll-Ins: Planning is basically done for device roll-ins and communications are going out to buildings and students over last few weeks of school.

School-specific notes and reminders will go out as well as we clean up any loose ends with roll-in process.

Here are a few additional notes/reminders for the staff side of roll-ins:

K-5: Devices bagged, labeled, and put in charging carts by last day of school (tech will supply bags and labels). This allows us to check them in, note any missing, and have devices identifiable for sorting into next year classes. If we have not gotten a help ticket for damage on a device by the last day of school we would expect that it is being put away for summer intact and functional. Bags should just have the iPad; it is not necessary to keep the charger with the iPad when storing it in the cart.

If chargers are "loose", just put them all in a box (tech will drop off a box). We know we are going to have some lost/missing chargers; we'll see what the counts look like and tech will handle any shortages over summer.

Middle School: Devices returned for summer; process will look similar to what we have for roll-ins pre-pandemic.

High School: 9th-11th grade will continue to be allowed to retain devices over summer.

ESY Students: Students attending ESY programming will be permitted to keep devices through summer, especially as many of the students have dependencies (such as communications) on the device.

Upcoming and Ongoing Projects

• Tech Tools Revamp: We will be redesigning and relaunching the Tech Tools site to better serve our needs. Click for a preview of a very early draft of the site.
• Food Service transactions: All food service payments and transactions will be housed in Infinite Campus next year. RevTrak will be phased out. For families in particular, this reduces the number of systems they need to interact with without sacrificing service

• Staff MacBook Refresh: We are continuing to reach out to staff who are on the list for a newer MacBook. Please work with your building tech staff to coordinate these updates.

LINK to current documentation on the process.

We do not have a consistent process in place for acquiring software and site subscriptions. This project seeks to remedy that by implementing a consistent process for selection and review.

Current Challenges

• Reduction in building level tech support (DLCs) creates a challenge for supporting a wide scope of software and subscriptions in terms of professional development and classroom integration.

• On-going technical challenges of supporting the wide variety of sites currently in use.

• Inadequate vetting of sites as it pertains to terms of service, data privacy, and student records.

• Inconsistency of student experience across and even within buildings.

• Difficulty in supporting parents and students due to variances in how a service is implemented.

• “Free” versions of such resources require time and personnel to support; no current accounting of such costs.

• On-going budget constraints and use of external funding sources create inequities and inconsistencies in deploying these resources.

Process (which incorporates remedies to the challenges noted above)

Digital Resource Request form collects data on:

• Anticipated building, grade level, curriculum area and student population usage.

• Specific costs associated with the resource.

• How the resource fits within the existing curriculum or environment and expectations for use.

• Student data privacy and processes.

Once completed, the form is then brought to the appropriate administrative PLC or curriculum group for discussion and to determine next steps. Outcomes for this portion of the process include:

• Identifying and avoiding redundancies in resource selection.

• Determining the scope of resource usage and possible steps related to professional development, communications, and documentation.

• Deciding what specific funding source will be used for the resource.

• Setting checkpoints for additional review and applicable criteria, such as usage data, assessment results, or other measurable outcomes.

The map above shows general clusters of mi-fi distribution in the district. Sharing this partly because it is interesting information and partly because it is relevant to an FCC program for households to sign up for an Internet subsidy: https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit

A household is eligible if a member of the household meets one of the criteria below:

• Has an income that is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, or Lifeline;
• Approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision in the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
• Experienced a substantial loss of income due to job loss or furlough since February 29, 2020 and the household had a total income in 2020 at or below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers; or
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider's existing low-income or COVID-19 program.

There are also enhanced benefits for applicants with tribal affiliation: https://getemergencybroadband.org/do-i-qualify/tribal-benefit/

List of MN Service providers participating: https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-broadband-benefit-providers#Minnesota

Sign-up page: https://getemergencybroadband.org/

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.

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