The one topic that has been hit-or-miss in terms of coverage during opening trainings with Staff MacBooks has been iChat. iChat is a program installed on the Mac that allows users to conduct text and video chats as well as do screensharing. As part of our server work during the Summer of 2009, we set-up an iChat server in the District, and with that, we are launching iChat as a service to support our Professional Learning Community Goals as we distribute the Staff MacBooks.

iChat uses a chat service called Jabber, much like AOL’s Instant Messenger (AIM). iChat is completely housed on a District server. This allows all chats to be logged (for legal and safety reasons), just like District email. While iChat has a video chat component (as well as screensharing), this cannot be used inside the District before or during the school day due to bandwidth concerns. Video chat can be used when both (or all three!) individuals are outside of District 21.

To use iChat, simply launch iChat and enter your Active Directory password when prompted. iChat is already configured for each user when the laptop is deployed. If you want to add colleagues to your iChat “Jabber List,” you can do so by clicking the “+” button at the bottom of the iChat Jabber List window.


In the next dialog that pops up, enter the following information:

• Account Name = Active Directory Username + “@district21odr.d21.k12.il.us”
• First Name = Enter the First Name as you want it to appear in your Jabber List
• Last Name = Enter the Last Name as you want it to appear in your Jabber List

See the example below...


After you click “Add,” a message will be sent to your Buddy the next time she or he opens iChat asking if they want to accept your request. If they currently have iChat open, they will receive your request almost immediately.

When a request is pending (such as Debbie Willing or Sue Werneske in the image below), the user’s name will be grayed out until they accept (or deny) that request. Other users who appear grayed out are individuals (like Tracy Crowley in the image below) who are Buddies in your Jabber List but are not currently online.


Online Buddies appear in the top portion of your Jabber List with their current status. If they are marked with a “red dot” status, they can contact you, but you cannot contact them, such as Sofia Klein and zzzsxk in the image below.


To change your status, you can simply choose from the pull-down menu that appears beneath your name at the very top of the Jabber List window.



What are some uses of iChat?
iChat is super-useful when doing “individual deskwork” for getting help or quick questions answered. Rather than having another email queue in your Inbox, if your teammate or colleague is also online, you can throw the question or comment to them via iChat, and they can respond. Following the exchange, both individuals can get right back to work. In our iTech team, we find that this is a great way to stay in touch across buildings and to get quick questions answered “on the fly”. It has significantly enhanced our ability to provide the information needed to one another to increase the productivity of staff members around us and to enhance student learning.


Can I use iChat with non-District 21 employees?
You can set up other Jabber or AIM accounts in iChat, but we are not able to provide support for doing so. Additionally, for personal chats, there are lots of free, online text and video chat services that can be used. For conversing via video, audio, or text chat with and between our students and other students, authors, or experts in the field, we currently are using Skype. We have dedicated Windows computers to handle this as we also need to, again, control the amount of bandwidth. If you are interested in doing a project such as this, please contact the Tech Office well in advance of your project, and we will be really excited to support you and your students in this. In the future, we hope to people to, through additional testing, ensure that District 21 staff members can connect via their District 21 iChat account with users of Google Talk. As we solve our need for ever-increasing bandwidth, we also hope to possibly add Skype to Staff MacBooks when they are re-imaged during Summer 2011.


As you use iChat, we would love to hear your specific examples of how it is improving instruction through enhanced collaboration and teaming. Please email those stories to us at tech *AT* ccsd21.org!

Tags: Staff MacBook, iChat

AtomicLearning.com is a great resource for staff members to learn countless details for effectively using Office 2008. Featuring short, specific How-To videos, staff members can be well-versed in learning the features that they want and need to learn when they want and need to learn them. (Remember, AtomicLearning.com does require a District 21 username and password for students and staff to access it. If you do not know this, please contact your school’s iTech teacher or the Technology Office.

In addition to AtomicLearning.com, there is another great resource for learning more about Office 2008, the Mac Business Unit at Microsoft. The Mac Business Unit has put together a number of great videos with additional information about Office 2008 and the software contained within it. View these additional Microsoft Office 2008 Help and How-To Videos!

Tags: Staff MacBook, Office 2008

When home, the process to add a printer is very simple. If your printer uses a USB cable to connect to the computer, the first thing you want to do, is plug in your printer to one of the two USB ports on the left side of your MacBook. If your printer is wireless, you want to make sure that both the printer and the computer are on the same wireless network and that they both can “see” the network with no apparent problem. (To test this, be sure that an already existing computer can print to the printer and be sure that the computer can get on the Internet.)

Then open System Preferences, which is found in the menu underneath the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen on the left side of the Menu Bar.


Next, from among the buttons in System Preferences, choose Print and Fax.


Once this Print & Fax preference pane opens up, you will see the already configured printers for your school. Under that, you will see the + button. It is important to note, that although the lock is shut, you do not need to unlock it, nor use the computer’s administrator password to add these printers.


At this point, your printer should be recognized and pop up in a new window. Click on the printer you would like to add. Then, click on the Add button.


Now, you will see the computer “thinking” and determining if/what options should be installed. Many printer drivers come packaged with Snow Leopard (this Mac Operating System on your computer at the time we distributed the machines, which is also known as 10.6), so it is often unnecessary to add drivers. This is the step in which the Operating System is installing the options necessary for your printer to function with the computer and the applications installed on your computer.


Once this process is complete, you will notice that your printer has been added to the list of printers for the computer.

Now, you can go ahead and use this printer just like any of the school printers that appear on the list. Just remember, you must select the correct printer to which you want to print before printing!

Tags: Staff MacBook, Printing

As per the CCSD21 Staff Laptop Policy, you can house Movies, Music, and Pictures on your laptop, and this does include Movies, Music, and Pictures that have been purchased. Remember, that due to bandwidth and server space limitations, these items do not sync to the server, so they should be backed up separately, using DVDs or CDs or an external hard drive. It is important that Movie files are kept in the home directory’s Movies folder, and the same is true for Music and Photos respectively. These items should never be stored in the Documents or Desktop folders. If these items are purchased for school use, and the staff member is reimbursed by the District, these are property of the School District, and a copy should be made to left with the appropriate individuals--i.e., the LMC Specialist, the iTech teacher, etc.

Purchases can be made through Amazon and through iTunes. Purchases may also be made through other online or brick-mortar-retailers as long as no software needs to be installed to import the purchase. (For example, no software is needed to import the contents of a physical audio CD that has been purchased as this feature is built-in to iTunes. Accounts are needed for each of these vendors.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Music, Movies, Media

With over 600 white Apple MacBooks being distributed to certified staff in School District 21, staff members continue to ask what they can do to tell their laptop apart from others. First, remember that regardless which company’s laptop was chosen to be the District 21 laptop, they would all look the same. This is also true in other school districts as well as in the corporate world. Typically, organizations will deploy similar or identical laptops to all staff, and the same question/issue would be true in those cases.

First, when you are logged in, you will know your laptop is your laptop because you will see your Desktop and your Documents. Additionally, under the Apple in the upper left-hand corner, you will see your name at the bottom of that menu (pictured below).


Second, you should know your laptop’s number, which is located on the bottom of the laptop on the CCSD21 Inventory Tag. (This is a five-digit number, and this is also the name of your computer.) This is on the bottom of your laptop.


Finally, no matter what you do, please do not use any adhesives on your computer, power pack, or Mini-Display Port adaptor. Likewise, do not use a Sharpie or similar marker to mark the surface of these objects.

Tags: Staff MacBook

As we move all District 21 staff members over to Exchange 2010 from CommuniGate during the closing months of the 2009-2010 school year, many staff members are interested in being able to access their email, calendar, and contacts on their personal smartphones. With certain parameters, District 21 is going to allow staff members to gain access to ActiveSync and their Exchange data beginning during the Summer of 2010. (Unfortunately, the CCSD21 Technology Office will not be able to devote time to supporting this until July 2010.)

Initially, we will only be able to support the iPhone/iPod Touch, and users will need to be running iPhone OS 3.0 or newer. From there, as described in the policy form, we hope to add Android OS 2.1 or newer to our supported devices. Then, in the Fall, when Windows Phone is released, we intend to add that OS, as well.

Beginning July 12, 2010, staff members can begin to contact the Tech Office to make an appointment (approximately 15 minutes) to get their phone enabled in the iPhone Management Software. For details on the policy, read it now!

UPDATED-12 July 2010

Tags: Exchange, SmartPhones

How do I have students use the Staff MacBook as the classroom computer?

One of the key components of the Staff MacBook deployment was that the Staff MacBook would also serve as the primary classroom computer. This decision was made initially and later affirmed by District 21 teachers through the Tech Plan process in 2008 and again in 2009. Based on this, the use of the Staff MacBook as the primary classroom computer was part of what was presented to the Board.

Of course, we do not want students (or other staff members) to be able to access an individual’s email nor files that are not being shared collaboratively via a team wiki or email. So, how do multiple users share the same computer without being able to access an individual’s private files?

Both Windows and Mac computers allow for the creation of multiple user accounts on a single computer. The MacBooks deployed to staff take advantage of this. As a staff member, you log-in and log-out of your account on the computer. Assuming you do not share that password with anyone, only you can access that email and those files.

When you want students to use your computer, to share their documents from the server, to create a new document, or to use the Internet, you first need to log-out of the computer. A student should never be on a staff laptop while the staff member is logged in!

Option 1--Use Generic Student Account
Each staff laptop contains a generic Student account. The username for this account is Student. The password for this account is student. Students can log-in to this account. From there, they can use the Internet. They can access their home directories on the server, and use files already saved or save new files. From this account, if the student needs to access the server, the student should use the Go > Connect to Server option from the menu bar.


Then, you will need to enter the address of your school’s file server. Just replace “field” with the name of your school. Then, hit enter.


Now, the student will enter his/her username and password and can access existing files or save new files.

This option is ideal when a number of different students will be accessing the staff laptop in a relatively short amount of time.


Option 2--Students Log-In with AD Username
The other option is that students can simply log-in with their own username and password, just like they do in the Labs/LMC. This will require the computer to be connected to the network, which will be no problem once the wireless network is up and running in May 2010. When the student logs-in like this on the staff laptop computer, the student’s home directory will pull down from the server. This will take just a few minutes for most students. Then, the student will work on the computer, and the work will sync back to the server every 10 minutes. It is important that the student logs out at the end of the work time.

This option is ideal when a single student will be working extensively on the staff laptop.


There are pluses and minuses to each of these options. Choose whichever seems to make the most sense at the time for you, and don’t be afraid to choose different options in different situations.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Classroom Instruction, Students

Converting Appleworks Documents

Many staff members continue to have files that were created in Appleworks. The file format for Appleworks has the extension .cwk at the end of the title of the document/file. This is a file format that has not been supported since 2002. As a result, Appleworks is no longer included on any current computers in District 21--the Mac Minis, the Staff iMacs, the new iMacs in the Labs, or the Staff MacBooks. So, it is necessary for users to transfer their documents to file formats that will continue to work well in to the future. We recommend using the default formats for Microsoft Office.

While there is a single file format for Appleworks documents (.cwk), Appleworks included the following types of applications and files:

• Word processor
• Spreadsheet
• Drawing
• Database

Fortunately, the word processor and spreadsheet files can still be opened using either Microsoft Word or Apple’s Pages.

Converting a Single .cwk File
When you want to open one of these files, first you need to click the document so that it is highlighted in your Documents folder (or the folder within your Documents folder in which the file resides). For example, the file fractions.cwk has been highlighted in the picture below by clicking on it one time.


At this point, it is very helpful to know if this is a word processing or spreadsheet file. (How would you know this? You’d know it because you created it, and you’d remember it or know from context clues, like the folder it is in.)

Now, you will right-click on the file name. When you do, you will choose Open with from the contextual menu that pops up.


If the file is a spreadsheet, click on Numbers.app. If the file is a word processing document, click on Pages.app.

Once you have the file open in Numbers or Pages, you can re-save it as an Excel file (.xls) for spreadsheets or a Word file (.doc) for word processing documents. You can do this by choosing File>Export.


Then, you can open the new file in Word or Excel. Do a Save As, and you are ready to use your new file well in to the future. In many cases, some components of the formatting will be lost, and unfortunately, in the case of database or drawing documents, entirely new documents do need to be created.

A Potential Shortcut for ALL .cwk Files
If ALL of your old Appleworks files (.cwk files) are of the same type (i.e., all word processing documents), then, you can take the following shortcut.

Again, highlight the .cwk file. Once you highlight the file, either press Command + I at the same time or right-click on the file and choose Get Info from the contextual menu that pops up. The following dialogue box will appear.


The important part of this dialogue box is the section labeled “open with”. Here you will notice a pull-down menu. This pulldown menu gives you the option to choose an alternate application (usually Microsoft Word and/or Pages) to open the document. Then, click the “Change All...” button to make that the default application. The computer will now automatically open all files of that format with the chosen application in the future.

Tags: Appleworks, Staff MacBook

What can I do to prolong the life of my laptop battery?

The Staff MacBooks that are being distributed during Spring 2010 are rated for 7-8 hours of battery life. Often times, this will mean that the laptop can be used throughout an entire school day by teachers and students. Nevertheless, to ensure this, there are some settings that can be changed that can maximize battery life. Staff members are encouraged to set these settings in this way, and then change them only when necessary. Changing them back when done with the need for that setting.

Turn off Bluetooth radio
As we have stated during initial trainings, staff members should not bring wireless devices, such as a Bluetooth mouse, to school. There are just too many wireless devices that we want to minimize the amount of interference. We have left the Bluetooth radio in the computer open to use, though, so staff members can take advantage of it when they are outside the District or if it should be needed in the future for a specific accessory at school. When your Bluetooth setting is on, which it is by default, the computer is constantly using power to search for other Bluetooth devices that might be in range to connect to. This is an unnecessary use of power if you are not going to use those devices. So, to save power and extend battery life, just turn off the Bluetooth radio.

Turn off the Bluetooth radio, by clicking on the Bluetooth icon in the white Menu Bar at the top of the screen and choosing “Turn Bluetooth Off” from the menu.


Once the Bluetooth is off, the Bluetooth icon will be grayed out in the white Menu Bar at the top of the screen.


If you should need the Bluetooth at some point in the future, just go back to this menu and turn it back on.


Dim your screen
Your laptop comes with a bright and glossy monitor. It looks beautiful, but your computer’s monitor uses tons of the machine’s power. To conserve energy and prolong battery life, you can dim the screen. In most lighting conditions, particularly inside our school buildings, you can easily use your monitor at the lowest brightness setting. This will save lots of energy and can significantly prolong battery life.

To dim your screen, simply use the decrease brightness key on the top row of the keyboard.



Keep as few applications as possible running
On a Mac or PC, you can have multiple applications (also known as programs or software) running at the same time. For example, when doing “desk work,” we typically leave Entourage and iChat open no matter what else we are doing (i.e., using Word, Keynote, or Excel). While it can increase productivity to have multiple applications running at the same time, you should also only have applications open that you need open. Running applications unnecessarily requires your computer to work harder, running more processes in the background, and this uses more energy, decreasing battery life.

You can easily tell which applications are open by which ones include a white dot to the right of the application icon on the dock. (See the picture below, which shows that Microsoft Word is open.)


To close applications, be sure to quit the application when you are done with it. Do not simply click the red dot in the upper left corner of the application window.


Rather, quit applications by:

• - Holding down “Command” + “Q” on your keyboard as the Quit keyboard shortcut
• - Choosing Quit from the application’s main entry on the menu bar

-Holding down the mouse over the application’s icon on the Dock and selecting Quit from the contextual menu that will pop up after a moment


These tricks will help your battery last even longer when you are not plugged in!

Tags: Staff MacBook, Energy Settings, Battery, System Preferences

Do I need to contact my insurance company to let them know that I now have a District 21 laptop?

We would not discourage any staff member from contacting her or his insurance company. The language used in the Staff Laptop Policy is consistent with past practice in District 21 regarding laptop checkout. It is also consistent with the language used in numerous other area school districts. While we have only had a small amount of experience with lost or stolen laptops up until this point, we have seen personal homeowners/renters insurance used to reimburse the value of the laptop. Finally, in the event that a staff member does need to utilize her or his insurance to provide reimbursement for the laptop, the District will provide a proof of the model and value of the laptop assigned to the staff member.

Tags: Staff MacBook

In your Documents folder in your Home Directory, there is a folder called “MIcrosoft User Data”. This folder is auto-created by Microsoft Office and holds important user data related to the applications in Office 2008.



While typically your Documents folders is a place that you should put what you want, move items around, etc., the Microsoft User Data folder should never be touched if you want your Office applications to most consistently work!

Tags: Staff MacBook, Office 2008

What is syncing?
Syncing is the process that allows users to save files locally on their computer’s hard drive, while also syncing those same files to the server when the computer is inside District 21. The most recent version of the file is the one that is saved. This allows the items to continuously be backed up. If something happens to the user’s computer, they can sync their files to the new computer from the server.

Syncing versus Saving
Syncing does allow the user’s files to be saved locally on the computer as well as on District servers. Syncing goes a step further than saving by cross checking with the server to see what changes have occurred. Then, a sync finds the most recent file and is sure that is saved in both locations.

Sync Errors
A sync error occurs when the computer finds two versions of the same file, one older and one newer. However, it does not know which one should be saved. When this happens, you will see a dialogue box asking which file is the one you would like to be saved. Sync errors can be avoided by only being logged into one computer at a time and by using your laptop as much as possible.

Logging In and Out
Every time a user logs in or out, a sync is performed. Also, a background sync is happening every ten minutes (the user can tell a background sync is being performed when the two houses at the top of the screen are alternating black and grey).



The best thing to do to keep files syncing smoothly is to log out before entering or leaving the District network. For example, log out at the end of the school day before going home, and again right after entering the District in the morning. If you forget to log out before leaving the district, the computer will be looking for the District server once you open your computer at home, and it will not be able to find it. Then, it will save locally to your computer. You may notice some sync errors when you log out, so it is best to get in the habit of logging out at the end of the day--each and every day!

Tags: Staff MacBook, Portable Home Directory, Sync

Should we ever use the option “Sync Home Now” under the Portable Home Directory icon in the menu bar?



If you look in the upper-right-hand corner of the menu bar, and click on the Portable Home Directory icon, you will see an option labeled “Sync Home Now”.


There is really no reason to choose this option, because the computers are set to automatically sync every 10 minutes during your work session. However, underneath this same option, you can ease your mind and verify this fact because it will tell you the time of the last home sync.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Sync, Portable Home Directory

Do we have to check in the computers at the end of the year or can we keep them through the summer?

Since the initial Staff MacBooks are being distributed late in the 2009-2010 school year, you will keep them through the summer of 2010. However, in future years, we will most likely require the computers to be brought back for short windows of time (i.e., three weeks) during the summer in order to do updates and maintenance. Once that task is completed, teachers will be able to pick up the computers and continue to use them during the summer.

Tags: Staff MacBook

Downloading Pictures to iPhoto
As soon as you connect a camera to your computer, iPhoto will pop up. You will see the pictures in iPhoto that are on your camera. Next, you will be asked if you would like to Import All of the photos or only Import Selected photos. If you only want to import certain pictures, first highlight the pictures and then choose Import Selected. If you would like all of the pictures to be saved into iPhoto, choose Select All. Now your photos are saved in iPhoto and you may remove the connection to your device by clicking the eject icon next to where your camera is listed in the left column of iPhoto.



Saving and Moving Photos to iPhoto Pictures Folder
If you already have photos in your Documents or on your Desktop, you can--and should--move these photos to iPhoto by simply dragging the picture over the iPhoto icon in the dock (pictured below). Even if iPhoto is closed, it will start opening and automatically import the photos in to iPhoto.


All photos stored in photo are also housed in the Pictures folder in your home directory.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Photos, iPhoto, Pictures

Should CCSD21 staff use flashdrives?

If you are using your staff laptop as intended, there really should be no reason to use flashdrives. Remember, all of your data is portable and can move to and from school with you on your laptop. All files in your Documents folder are automatically synced (backed up) on your school’s file server. Therefore, the use of flashdrives is really not necessary, and using flashdrives poses security risks as they are easily lost. If you do find yourself needing to transfer or archive data (perhaps movies, music, or pictures), your best option is to burn these onto disks, such as CD or DVD. The computer is equipped with a CD/DVD burner, so this process is very simple. (See Apple’s support article for more information.)

Tags: Staff MacBook

Changing Default Font
In Entourage 2008, you can change your default font and font size, however, you cannot change the default color. The default color will always remain black.

To change the default font style, first open Entourage, and then, under Entourage in the menu bar at the top of the screen, choose Preferences.


Then, in Preferences, choose Fonts from the column on the left side.


On the right-hand side, you can choose how to set different parts of your message to different font sizes and styles by using the drop-down menus. Once you are done, hit OK.


Manually Changing Fonts for Individual Emails
You can change the color, size, and style of the font for individual emails manually. To do so, first open a new email in Entourage and enter in the usual information (recipient, subject, etc..) for composing an email. Then, select the new font color, size, and style you would like to use from the menus, just like you would in a word processing document.

Once you begin typing you will see how the new font looks. When you are done with the content of the message, hit Send. Your next email will go back to your default settings.


When choosing fonts, colors, and styles, please remember that your text communicates voice and tone in an email, so when choosing to use bold characters, all uppercase letters, and/or specific colors, you are communicating non-verbal cues via email. Choose carefully!

Tags: Staff MacBook, Entourage 2008, Exchange

Which printers can I use at school with my Staff MacBook?

Before distributing the computers to teachers, the District 21 Technology Office worked with each school’s iTech teacher to make an accurate list of printers throughout the school that teachers would need for printing on a regular basis. These printers were all added on a district-wide server. From there, we can quickly and easily add a printer to all computers in a school’s Staff MacBook group.

However, there may be situations that a classroom printer is not included in the list, most likely because it is not in a common area, and/or will not be used by many teachers. If you find that you need a printer that is not included in the list, you can add it yourself by following the directions labeled Adding a District Printer (to be published shortly and linked here!). These instructions will work anywhere within the District, so if you go to a different building within the District and would like to add the printer, you can, and it will stick in your list of preferred printers on your Staff MacBook.

Tags: Printing, Staff MacBook

If you are using Entourage 2008 from home, when you begin to enter an email address, Entourage 2008 will remember the email addresses of people you’ve recently emailed or who have recently emailed you as well as the users that will pop up from Active Directory. Of course, if you’d like, you could add anyone in as a contact (See Atomic Learning). Then it will be stored in Entourage 2008 and on your computer, and it will sync to your Exchange account. Remember, though, that once everyone is switched to Exchange/Entourage, everyone’s default email address will be firstname.lastname@ccsd21.org.

If/when you use Outlook Web App (OWA/Exchange Webmail) feature through your web browser, only the users that you’ve written to before will be stored.

Tags: Entourage 2008, Exchange