Sept. 2020 Technology Newsletter
By: Michael Kealy
Please Be Patient
Please Welcome Nick Middlebrook To The Technology Department
First Week Google Meet Issues
During the past couple of days (9/14-9/15) some users and other school districts have reported issues with Google Meet. Below is a statement from Google regarding these reported issues.
In their statement Google suggested district's eliminate the use of 3rd party extensions such as the Google Meet Grid View Extension. As a result our department stopped force installing the extension for users, which removed it from Google Meet, and it is now allowed to be installed by individuals (teachers and students) if they choose to continue using it.
Another recommendation is to make sure your Chromebook is updated to the latest version of Chrome. Chromebooks typically check in with Google to get updates automatically however, it often takes time for all devices to check in. You can manually check and install an update by following the directions below.
- Click the bottom right corner of the Chrome OS desktop.
- Select the Settings icon.
- Click About Chrome.
- Click Check for updates.
- To apply the update, click the arrow icon and select Restart to Update.
Lastly, our hardware configurations meet the expected use cases for Google, but users should limit the number of open tabs to 1 or 2 tabs during a Google Meet to help improve performance.
Statement From Google on Issues:
Meet is crashing or students/teachers can’t access meetings.
There are known issues about Meet's connectivity on certain devices. We have fixed some of the known issues and are investigating those that remain.
In certain cases, browser extensions can interfere with Meet. We recommend disabling extensions, especially those that add functionality to Meet.
If you do encounter these issues, we suggest attempting to reconnect to the Meet. If that doesn’t work, restart the device and then attempt to rejoin. If the issue persists, please file feedback.
Meet’s CPU usage is very high and users are running into performance problems.
What is going on and when will this be fixed?
We’ve noticed an increase in Meet’s use on lower end hardware. While Meet adapts to a computer’s capabilities, prolonged use, extensive multitasking, presenting, and large meetings may degrade performance and video quality.
We’re committed to improving the Meet experience to ensure that teachers and students can have a great learning environment while using Meet for distance learning. In the upcoming months various performance improvements are expected to become available for low-end laptops.
For Chrome OS devices, we’re continuing to make improvements to improve performance. Please make sure your device is on the latest Chrome OS version.
We recommend G Suite users evaluate their hardware configurations to ensure they meet the expected use cases and follow the troubleshooting guidelines as applicable.
Google Meet and Interactive Board Sound
We have discovered that by default audio does not go through an interactive board, and rather plays through the laptop. Google does this to help prevent feedback. Google is forcing the microphone and speakers to come from the same source, the laptop. Google alerts you with a little warning that pops up (see first screenshot below).
If you miss the warning, you can click the 3 dots and then in settings force audio through the interactive board that way (see second screenshot below). However, you will need to make sure your computer is muted to avoid causing/receiving feedback in the Google Meet.
PowerSchool Performance Matters Data Dashboard
To access the dashboard a teacher should login into PowerSchool and click the square icon (pictured below) in the upper right hand corner and select "Performance Matters".
Invite Parents To Your Google Classroom!
About guardian email summaries
A teacher can invite a guardian to receive email summaries about their student’s work in class. To get summaries, the student must use Classroom with a G Suite account (looks like student_name@school.edu). Email summaries do not include grades.
What’s included in an email summary?
- Missing work—Work not turned in when the summary was sent.
- Upcoming work—Work that’s due today and tomorrow (for daily emails) or that’s due in the upcoming week (for weekly emails).
- Class activity—Announcements, assignments, and questions recently posted by teachers.
Guardians who sign up for email summaries can’t see the Stream, Classwork, People, or Grades pages in Classroom.
How do guardians get summaries?
- A teacher or admin sends an invitation to a guardian.
- After a guardian accepts the invitation, they choose when to get email summaries for each of their students.
By default, email summaries for classes are turned off. If you’re a teacher, you can get instructions to turn them on.
When do guardians get summaries?
Guardians can get emails daily or weekly and can unsubscribe at any time.
Guardians won’t get an email summary if:
- There's no activity to report for the given time period.
- All their student’s teachers turned off notifications for their classes.
- They accepted the invitation but chose not to get any summaries.
- They aren't connected to any student in Classroom.
Screencastify
KAMI
Nearpod
Kindergarten Usernames Are Changing
Please Use Student ID Numbers When Referring To Students In Electronic Communications
Use Google Confidential Mode When Sending Emails Containing Personally Identifiable Information
REMINDER: Add Windows Ink To Your Laptop
Enable Windows Ink To Draw On Your Interactive Board
To enable Windows Ink on a computer take the following steps:
Right click on the ^icon in the bottom of the Windows page near the date/clock.
Select "Show Windows Ink Workspace Button"
An icon that looks like a pen drawing should appear next to the date/time
Click the pen icon
* As of 9/14/20 there appears to be a Microsoft update that was released which is preventing this program from installing correctly on some computers.
Don't Forget To Add Ricoh Printing To Your Computer
Cybersecurity Tip: Lock Your Screen! Did You Know Hackers/Criminals Are Lazy?
Criminals are lazy! Criminals that infiltrate a machine typically wait for the user to stop working on the machine before executing malicious commands and code. Since you are not at your computer a user will not typically notice the unusual activity. Locking your screen can prevent this from happening. Once you lock your computer, even if a criminal has infiltrated your machine the lock will prevent them from executing commands. In many cases when a criminal encounters a locked screen they will just move onto find an unlocked machine that is easier to work with.
BEWARE: COVID-19 Email Scams
Cybercriminals are opportunistic and have used the COVID-19 pandemic to their advantage. That is why it is so important to remain alert and scrutinize any emails with COVID-19 related information.
KnowBe4 recently reported the ten most clicked on email subjects (globally). They include:
1. Password Check Required Immediately
2. Vacation Policy Update
3. Branch/Corporate Reopening Schedule
4. COVID-19 Awareness
5. Coronavirus Stimulus Checks
6. List of Rescheduled Meetings Due to COVID-19
7. Confidential Information on COVID-19
8. COVID-19 - Now airborne, Increased community
transmission
9. FedEx Tracking
10. Your meeting attendees are waiting
By following these basic recommendations you can avoid becoming the next victim.
• Scrutinize the sender email address and subject line. Do you know the sender?
• Was the email address or subject line misspelled?
• Were you expecting this email?
• Content: Look for bad grammar and spelling mistakes. Be wary of content that expresses urgency, requests documents, presents a promotional offer, or includes hyperlinks and/or attachments.
DO NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS OR CLICK HYPERLINKS YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING.
When in doubt speak directly to the person who sent the email; do not reply directly to the sender until you are sure the attachments and links are safe.
REMINDER: Adobe Flash Is Going Away in 2020
Check the websites you frequently use and in your instruction now to see if they use Adobe Flash as Adobe announced in 2017:
If the website(s) you use contain Adobe Flash please begin thinking about alternatives. Adobe has said they will end support for this product on 12/31/2020.
Michael Kealy
Beacon City School District
Email: kealy.m@beaconk12.org
Website: https://www.beaconk12.org/domain/24
Location: 101 Matteawan Road, Beacon, NY, USA
Twitter: @techkealy