TechBytes

• April 8: Enhanced Teacher Portal in Clever is active for all teachers (see info below)
  
• April 15: Deadline to complete Panorama Survey
• May 31: Deadline to input Physical Fitness Scores

Financial institutions and investment companies will often reach out to staff members, claiming to be working with the District on retirement opportunities. These emails are not requested or sponsored by the District. District sponsored emails will come from a PUSD email address.

When you receive an unsolicited email such as the email pictured, you can click on "Report Spam" or "Unsubscribe" to reduce the chances of receiving future emails from that vendor.

If you have questions regarding your benefits, reach out to the Benefits department. If you receive an email that may be phishing, please submit a ticket at gopusd.com/helpdesk.

Updates for educators: More flexibility in Highlights

In April, Hapara will be releasing two updates to the Highlights “Guide browsing” feature for teachers.

Teachers will soon be able to remove a link from an active Focus or Filter Session in Highlights. This will give them more flexibility to provide personalized learning. To remove the link, teachers will visit the active session and click the X next to the link to remove it.

How teachers can use this for learning:

• Remove an assessment website link when a learner, a group or the class is finished with an assessment.
• Some learners may struggle to focus right after lunch or another time of day. Create a guided browsing session for them. Then remove some links if they’re ready for more browsing responsibility before the session is over.

Add up to 50 Highlights Filter Session links

Teachers will also be able to add up to 50 links in a Highlights Filter Session. Previously, teachers could add up to ten links. This increase will allow for a more customized browsing experience to keep students from visiting distracting websites.

How teachers can use this for learning:

• Ask learners for feedback about websites that distract them. This will support student agency, empower them to take responsibility for their digital citizenship choices and help them reflect on their learning.
• Adelee Penner did this in her classroom, and learners created a list of websites they wanted blocked in a Highlights Filter Session.
• Create a Highlights Filter Session template by adding the links the class wants blocked. Then reuse this template day to day.

Did you know that you can use the Webex app on your PUSD laptop to call extensions within the District as well as outside phone numbers, such as families?

To get started, place a Service Request for Softphone access. You will need to submit your extension number and the type of device you want your Softphone access granted to (Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, etc.).

For staff members who are leaving the District (now or at the end of the school year), they need to make sure they've followed the steps below before their last day of employment.

1. Return all devices (laptop, cell phone, hotspot). Workstations stay installed at the work location.
2. Download or Transfer all files and export Canvas content (if applicable).

These steps should be started a few weeks before the last day of employment to ensure everything has been completed before then and so they can reach out for assistance if needed.

Please review the detailed steps linked below and reach out to ITS with any questions.

Due to changes in budget for the 2024-25 school year, the following applications will no longer be paid for by the District:

• Nearpod
• Learning A-Z/Raz+
  
• Edulastic/Pear Assessment
• Newsela
• Scholastic (print and digital)
• Avanza Level Learning (Spanish ONLY)

For alternatives to some of these applications, please check out the resources linked in the Smore below.