Massac Tech Ed

I wanted to remind everyone that it is best practice to backup your files. While this is one of those things that we take sometimes take lightly, it is a good idea to have a copy for that worst case scenario. Below are a few ideas on how and where you can backup your important files. *Purchase a flash/external hard drive. -They seem to be getting cheaper by the day and are very simple to use. *Use your Massac Account. (1 GB Free Space) -Go to http://docs.massac.org -Login using your Massac Google Account credentials. -Click the Upload button in the upper left portion of the screen. -Here you will see a spot to add files to upload. -Once you have selected the files you wish to upload, click the Start Upload button. -Your files have now been uploaded to your Massac Account. *Use Dropbox. (2 GB Free Space) -Go to http://www.dropbox.com -Click Download Dropbox button. -Follow the Installation instructions. -It will also prompt you to set up a new account,

From the Washington Post: Q&A with OpenDNS: We're being blocked, FCC should act on net neutrality By Cecilia Kang As the Federal Communications Commission grapples with the timing of a net neutrality vote and Republican lawmakers demand the agency drop it, companies like OpenDNS fear the issue is getting mired in politics. And that could crush startups like them, says OpenDNS founder David Ulevitch . He says the San Francisco domain name service is already being blocked by Verizon Wireless. He fears other Internet service providers trying to compete with it could do the same. update: A Verizon Wireless spokeswoman said Monday its network engineers "see no issue from our end" and that the service isn't being blocked. Since it launched with a couple million dollars in angel investment four years ago, OpenDNS has attracted 20 million customers – consumers and businesses such as Staples, Century 21 and Fuji Film – who prefer the service’s domain name look-up service

We have now added a new page listing useful links that have caught our eye. If you have a link that you use, and one you think maybe of use to other teachers, you may email Tom or Joel and we can post your link to this list. You can find this page by going to the Technology Department Site http://tech.massac.org and go to useful links. or directly by clicking on the following link. http://sites.google.com/a/massac.org/massactech/useful-links

Joel and I have updated our Massac Technology Site ( http://tech.massac.org ) with a few neat features. On the home page you will now find a Systems Status feed that will show projects we are currently working on, updates on outages (InformationNOW, SubCaller, etc.), and other various items. You will also see a feed for this blog and one for general tech news. The updated tech site also has links for recommended (and free!) software , as well as documents (website reports, technology plan). Check it out!

If you haven't already noticed, our Massac Apps have gone through some important changes. Your Massac account is now essentially a full Google account. A list of the services available for your account can be seen at http://www.google.com/options/ To access these services (Blogger, Picasa, etc.), make sure to enter your full Massac Email address in the Email field (i.e. twalker@massac.org) along with your password. Another interesting feature you will find is the Call Phone option in the chat window (bottom left hand side of your Email inbox). As long as you have a microphone and speaker on your computer, you can click this feature and call any US/Canada number for free. (International calling is also available at a cost.) Enjoy these new features!

Hope everyone is off to a good start for the 2010-2011 school year. This is just a reminder to highlight some of the helpful links for you to use. Technology Trouble Ticket - http://sl.massac.org/ticket InformationNOW - http://sl.massac.org/infonow Computer Lab Sign Up ( MCHS only ) - http://sl.massac.org/labsignup Make sure to visit the district website ( http://massac.org ) and the school sites for up to date information. Have a good year!

If you utilize the online address book in our Massac Apps infrastructure, there is now a short link directly to it. http://sl.massac.org/contacts You can also access the Contacts link from your E-Mail Inbox page by clicking the more link (dropdown arrow) at the top of the page and selecting the Contacts link. If it does not automatically log you in to the contacts page, use your Massac E-Mail username and password to gain access.

One of the better free anti-virus/malware programs I have found useful is Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). The update process is very quick when compared to other solutions I have used or tested. I also found the time when running a system scan to be on par with other programs I have seen. MSE automatically updates like other anti-virus programs and doesn't seem to be a drain on system resources while it is scanning or updating. In order to use Microsoft Security Essentials you will need to be running either XP, Vista, or Windows 7. Check it out at... http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Thought I'd share these changes happening to our Massac Apps (more specifically the Documents portion) From Google Over the next few weeks, we will be releasing important updates to Google Docs for all Google Apps customers. These updates are incremental and will not require you to retrain your users. ● Starting on June 16th, 2010, we will introduce new sharing settings in Google Docs, designed to make sharing easier and to give your users more control over their files. Now your users will be able to assign a sharing setting to a file in just one step and see at-a-glance how each document is shared. To learn more, please visit the help center at http://goo.gl/I8Jp . ● Starting on June 21st, 2010, we will begin activating the new Google documents editor for all users. This new editor offers character-by-character real-time collaboration, better document import fidelity, and many new features like built-in chat with co-editors. To learn more, please visit the help center at http://

Hey everyone, Hopefully you've all grown accustomed to our new e-mail, website, etc. infrastructure through the use of Google Apps for Education. This summer Google plans to roll out even more additions for our Massac Apps including the following: -Picasa (Find, edit, and share your photos) -Blogger (Share your life with an online blog) -iGoogle (For us, this is already available at http://start.massac.org . Just sign in with your Massac account to begin) There are other services that are planned additions, but those above are just a sampling. Stay tuned, there are some exciting features coming soon!

In one of the more recent Facebook updates it was announced that Facebook was collaborating with Microsoft to bring Docs.com to Facebook users. Right now it is in beta but has a fairly short wait time. All it is, is a watered down version of Office 2010, much like Google Docs. That certainly is not a bad thing as the new office is very polished. Take a look at a screen shot of the Docs.com in Chrome. The only complaint I have so far is that the Docs.com website doesn't look right in Chrome or any other browser I have tried. I had to highlight the top part of the page to be able to see where to click to upload or create a new document. So what do you need to try out this new service? You need a Facebook Account, then you can sign up for the beta and they will contact you when they are ready for you to login. If you are just now signing up for a Facebook account, be sure to take a close look at the privacy settings, so that none of your information is shared without your cons

Google has finally added the themes functionality to our e-mail. To access this, click the Settings link in the upper right portion of your Massac e-mail page. In the row of links under the word Settings, click the Themes link. You will see several different options for changing your background image and colors. Click a theme and watch the image/colors change like magic! Have fun!

This applies only to Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome users for the time being. This will work for our Massac E-Mail and GMail. Click the link below. http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/drag-and-drop-attachments-onto-messages.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+OfficialGmailBlog+(Gmail+Blog)

Please visit our new school district website at http://massac.org Our new method will allow us to work more collaboratively on the district site. If you would like to visit the old site, click the Legacy Site link at the bottom of the links section on the new site. The old site will remain up for the remainder of the school year, then it will be permanently taken down.

Some more free tools to play with... Using our Massac Apps (Mail, Docs, etc) logins we now have access to Aviary. What is Aviary? "Aviary is a suite of FREE web-based design tools. Aviary offers the power and capabilities of leading desktop editors and design tools, with the freedom and flexibility of browser-based applications. Whether you are trying to edit a screen capture of your website, remix a music track, or create a logo, Aviary has the right tool for you." After playing around with this for a couple of days, it truly is a great free web-based tool...no installation needed. There are plenty of options to play around with. You can access Aviary by clicking this link http://sl.massac.org/aviary or from your Mail Inbox page: Click the more link at the top of the page (left side), Click Aviary in the drop down menu Have fun playing around!

I found this great open source program that is available for pretty much any operating system though a new computer would run it well.  http://www.stellarium.org/ You can even use a average projector and project this to study constellations, and planets. 

This is a small change, but a nice one. Google has added a thumbnail view for Google Docs. Our Docs site can be accessed at http://docs.massac.org To change from list view to thumbnail view, click the button as shown belown You will see a thumbnail display of your files like this Just wanted to share the update for our Docs.

Now this truly is handy. With your Massac E-Mail (Google Apps) Account, you can now upload, store, and share any file in Google Docs. I attempted this with a song (.mp3) and a picture (.jpg) and it worked. The real power of this lies in the fact that if you are working on a Word Document (2003/2007), Excel Spreadsheet (2003/2007), or PowerPoint (2003) you can save it to your online storage space without having to convert it. This way your files are stored in their original format and are downloadable from anywhere. (I tried downloading from my phone...and that worked too!) 1. To access this visit http://docs.massac.org and login with your E-Mail credentials. 2. In the left hand column, click the button that shows 'Upload' 3. If you are choosing to upload a document and you would like to preserve original formatting, uncheck the box that says Convert documents, spreadsheets, & presentations... 4. Click the Start Upload button. File upload make take a little time. 5. If

Do you have Office 2007? If so you have seen the dramatic differences in the user interface. Amongst the changes is the addition of the ability to publish to a web blog. The way that you set this up is to click on the office button and select publish. Then you can select blog. All you have to do then is select your blog provider. Then Word will prompt you to enter in your account username and password. After that you can start publishing directly to your blog from Word 2007!

From Scholastic's Blog: As 2009 draws to a close and lists of the Decade's Big Ideas abound, it only seems fitting that education get its 15 minutes of fame. The education brains here at Scholastic have named  10 Big Ideas in Education  from the first decade of the 21st Century--10 groundbreaking ideas that changed the landscape of American Education. They are: Alternate Paths to Teaching  -- from  Teach for America  to Troops to Teachers  to urban Teaching Fellows programs (like NYC Teaching Fellows  and  Teach NOLA ), schools of education are no longer the only place that teachers begin their careers. Transformative Technology  -- From  interactive whiteboards  to online education, 1-to-1 computing to  eReaders , for the first time in the history of American education, classrooms are increasingly plugged in -- and so are the students. Accountability  -- No matter where you stood in the debate on No Child Left Behind, it's impossible to deny that this decade marked a new e

With the addition of Google Groups to our Apps, we now have the ability to create simple profiles using our Massac logins. 1. To access this click this link http://groups.google.com/a/massac.org/groups/profile?myprofile 2. Sign in with your Apps (E-Mail) Username and Password. 3. Next to the words My profile, click edit. 4. Here you can upload a picture (even crop it!), as well as enter information such as job title, location, quotes, etc. These profiles are used in the Massac Groups section which can be accessed by visiting, http://groups.massac.org With the other items Google has added for our Apps over the year, it would appear these profiles are a start to having our own small social network. Have fun!