Starting with the 2011-2012 school year, when a teacher goes on leave and has a long-term substitute fulfill his or her assignment, the teacher's laptop is provided to the long-term substitute for the duration of the assignment as the laptop "stays with the students." When this occurs, the long-term substitute teacher has his or her own account and his or her own password. (For PowerTeacher, the long-term substitute does log in as as the permanent classroom teacher for attendance. For the PowerTeacher Gradebooks and Inform, the long-term substitute uses the team account.)

For the Teacher--Preparing for Leave

• Documents--Move important documents and files for the long-term substitute either to your team wiki or to a transfer folder as per the directions in the next section.
• Wiki Access--Notify the Technology Office (Send an email to: tech@ccsd21.org) if your substitute will need wiki access and send the main links of those wikis within the email by copying and pasting them from the URL address bar in the web browser in to the email.
• Media--Create a flashdrive with any music, movies, or pictures that the substitute will need. The flashdrive can be brought to the Tech Office with your laptop, cords, and dongle when you turn in those items to the Tech Office for the Long-Term Substitute.
• PowerTeacher Homeroom Password--If you are an elementary school core classroom teacher who takes daily attendance, reset the password for your PowerTeacher account to be sure that it is a password that you are comfortable sharing with your Long-Term Substitute. (The Long-Term Substitute should not be given your Active Directory password!)
• PowerTeacher Team Gradebook Password--The Long-Term Substitute will need to use the team's Gradebook password to access PowerTeacher Gradebook. If the team needs to change this for each Gradebook account, the team should do so.

Sharing Documents Between Teacher & Long-Term Substitute--
A Critical Preparation Detail
As a result of each teacher having his or her own account on the laptop, while the permanent teacher's files are on the same device that the long-term substitute is using, the substitute does not have access to those files in the other account. To address this, there are two options that the permanent teachers can choose from:

Option 1-Upload documents to a specific page on the Team Wiki

• Permanent teacher uploads necessary files to a specific page on the grade-level team wiki
• The long-term substitute should have access to this wiki after receiving the laptop from the Tech Office. If, after working with teammates, to access the wiki, the long-term substitute cannot access it, he or she should contact the school's iTech teacher or email tech@ccsd21.org.
• During the course of the assignment, the long-term substitute posts new or modified documents to the same page on the wiki for the permanent teacher to access upon his or her return.
• At the end of the assignment, upon turning the laptop back in, the long-term substitute will be removed from having access to the team wiki.

Option 2-File Transfer

• As the permanent teacher prepares for his or her leave, he or she should create a folder within the Documents folder on his or her computer entitled, "Transfer." Then, as he or she moves through his or her final weeks before the Leave, documents that will be needed by the long-term substitute can be moved in to that folder.
• Then, when the teacher drops off the laptop prior to his or her leave with the Tech Office at the Ad Center, he or she will tell the Tech Office that there is a "Transfer" folder that needs to be moved to the long-term substitute's account. This folder will be moved to a flashdrive at this time.
• When the long-term substitute arrives at the Tech Office to claim the laptop, following his or her login to the new machine, a new folder entitled, "Transfer" will be created on his or her Desktop. The items from the permanent teacher's "Transfer" folder will be moved in to the long-term substitute's "Transfer" folder.
• During the course of the assignment, the long-term substitute places new or modified documents in to the "Transfer" folder.
• At the end of the assignment, the "Transfer" folder will be moved back from the long-term substitute to the permanent teacher.

Laptop Drop-Off (Teacher) & Pick-Up (Substitute)
The following items should be dropped off to the Technology Office prior to your Leave:

• Laptop computer
• Power brick, extension cord, and slide-on plug for brick
• Mini-DisplayPort Adapter (Dongle)

The Long-Term Substitute teacher should be directed by you to contact the Technology Office (847.520.2834 or tech@ccsd21.org) to set-up a time to come in and pick it up. Long-Term Substitutes should have already completed one of the mandatory Staff Laptop trainings prior to receiving the laptop.


End of Leave Transitions
At the end of the Leave period, the Long-Term Substitute should bring all of the above items to the Technology Office. Upon his or her return, the permanent teacher who had been on leave should contact the Tech Office (847.520.2834 or tech@ccsd21.org) to set-up a time to come in and pick-up the laptop, which will entail logging in to the laptop, transferring documents back to the teacher's account, if necessary, etc.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Long-Term Sub, Leave of Absence

During the course of 2011, in an effort to implement significant changes more quickly and to compete with the fast-growing Chrome browser from Google, Mozilla, the organization that develops Firefox, has made major changes to how Firefox updates.



In the past, a new version of Firefox was released approximately every 1-2 years. Now, Firefox has transferred to a "rapid-release cycle," with new versions coming out approximately every six weeks. We will now take the unusual step in an enterprise computing environment to setting Firefox to auto-update. (As a user, you will not have to do anything for this to take effect.)

To change Firefox's behavior to auto-updating, we need to deploy the newest version of Firefox with this setting marked. When we do that, it will delete any bookmarks that you had previously in Firefox and those will need to be re-created. Those should not need to be recreated in the future again, unless Mozilla makes a change that causes this.

The new version of Firefox will be deployed to Staff MacBooks beginning on Monday, October 17th. If you have any bookmarks you want to save that are only in Firefox, please note those URLs (website addresses) prior to October 17th.

Most importantly, Safari remains District 21's supported web browser on your Apple computers. Your bookmarks in Safari will not be impacted by this change. Firefox is simply included on Staff MacBooks as a secondary browser in case a website performs better in Firefox than in Safari, which is rare in 2011. Likewise, for PowerSchool Administrator users who do frequent exports, like office staff members, Firefox is often preferred for those tasks.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Firefox

While most staff members move from one school to another during the summer, staff members do change their names throughout the year and, at times, change schools during the school year. In both cases, there are implications for the staff member's computer and Active Directory account.

When staff members have a name change or change schools, we will need to do work over a three-day period on their computer. We will need the computer in order to:

• Create these changes on both the servers and on the staff member’s computer, resetting the school and/or the account name
• Make the appropriate changes in our Active Directory system
• Complete any necessary changes in email
• Move all of your documents from your home directory back on to your computer

Staff members should contact the CCSD21 Technology Office by email (tech@ccsd21.org) at least 48 hours in advance of the Macbook service session and to sign-up for one of the following sessions:

October:
October 25 - Drop-off: 7.30-9.00 AM
October 27 - Pick-up: 12.00-4.30 PM

December:
December 5 - Drop-off: 7.30-9.00 AM
December 7 - Pick-up: 12.00-4.30 PM

January:
January 11 - Drop-off: 7.30-9.00 AM
January 13 - Pick-up: 12.00-4.00 PM

February:
February 22 - Drop-off: 7.30-9.00 AM
February 24 - Pick-up: 12.00-4.30 PM

April:
April 9 - Drop-off: 7.30-9.00 AM
April 11 - Pick-up: 12.00-4.30 PM

May:
May 9 - Drop-off: 7.30-9.00 AM
May 11 - Pick-up: 12.00-4.30 PM


To sign-up for your date and time, email: tech@ccsd21.org

Then, on your assigned date, please drop your computer off with a member of the Technology Team in the Administration Building.

Tags: Staff MacBook

As staff members prepare for the start of the 2011-2012 school year, we have some very important tips that should make your transition from working outside CCSD21 to back in your school buildings even more smooth.

Over the past two summers, we have learned that there is some common ailments that impact staff members and their laptops during the summer. These (along with the solutions!) are described in previous Modern Pen posts. Additionally, we know that by following the steps listed below, you can resolve many issues on your own and enable yourself to have a smooth transition with your computer back in to the CCSD21 network.

When you come back in to District 21 with your laptop for the first time for the 2011-2012 school year, please follow these steps:

• Prior to coming in to the District, please shut down your laptop.
• When you arrive at school, please plug your computer in to an Ethernet port.
• Start up/power on your computer.
• Wait one minute prior to logging in.
• Login. Allow your computer to fully login to your account. (This will take at least a few minutes as you've been gone!)
• Restart your computer. (Go to the Apple symbol in the upper left corner of the white menu bar and choose Restart from the menu.)
• Log in, again.

This process will wipe out all of the printers on your laptop and re-create the school printers (with the exception of special education printers). This is necessary due to changes that we have made to our network over the summer.

Individual printers will need to be re-added to your computer. Special education printers can be added by iTech teachers (and can only be added on special education staff computers). You will need to re-add home printers on your own. (You can use these directions from The Modern Pen.) (The benefit of this is that we have updated the drivers on your laptops with the OS updates done this summer and more new printers will work with your laptops.)

If you continue to have problems after following these directions, please call the Help Desk at 847.934.8100 (press 2).

Tags: Staff MacBook

We have had some recent reports of a new error popping up for users when launching Outlook 2011. (We have been using and testing Outlook 2011 since last fall, and we have not seen or experienced this error until this past week-and-a-half.) The error that some users have received is pictured below.




While this is annoying, this is actually an error that you can fix yourself when you see it pop up. It is simply a matter of finding the correct "fake file" and deleting it.

First, begin by going to your home directory in the finder. (Pictured below)



Then, from there, you will navigate over to the "Library" folder in your home directory. (Ordinarily, this is not a folder that you need to go in.)



If you are getting this error, inside your "Library" folder, you will see what appears to be a file called "Caches" with a little arrow in the lower left corner. This is not actually a file. It is an alias, a "fake file".



Drag it to the trash (or right-click on it and select "Move to Trash"). Empty your trash.

Now, if you re-launch Outlook 2011, it should open for you without any trouble. Additionally, for the staff members who have applied this solution up until this point, we have not yet seen this problem re-occur.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Outlook 2011

It's the second summer that District 21 staff members have had District laptops, and while they are being pulled back for a few weeks to complete some major updates, staff members will have their laptops with them through most of the summer. As a result, here are some links to some articles for frequently asked questions from last summer.

General Troubleshooting Tips

It's Summer: Got a Problem--Here's What to Do

My computer won't connect to the Internet any more or my computer's date and time are all messed up or my computer no longer has its dock!

Remember, when calling the Help Desk (847.934.8100--press 2), using iChat can allow the Help Desk to screenshare even when you are not in District 21. At the same time, remember, we cannot (and would not even within District 21) access your computer remotely without notifying you first.

Like during the school year, the best way to most quickly and successfully resolve your issue is to call the Help Desk!

Tags: Staff MacBook

Changing schools for 2011-2012? Changing your name? If either of these pertain to you, there are a variety of computer-related implications, particularly for certified staff members with a staff laptop.

When staff members have a name change or change schools, we will need to do work over a two-day period on their computer. We will need their computer in order to:

• Create these changes on our servers and on the staff member’s computer, resetting the school and/ or the account name
• Make the appropriate changes in our Active Directory system
• Complete any necessary changes in email
• Move all of your documents from your home directory back on to your computer

As described in this post, Staff MacBooks are being updated this summer. We will not complete any name or school changes until after the update has been complete on the staff member's machine. So, please check the dates for your 2010-2011 school. Then, you can select a drop-off and pick-up date for your name and/or school change that follows the completion of your computer's update.

Staff members should contact the CCSD21 Technology Office by email (tech@ccsd21.org) at least 48 hours in advance of the Name/School Change Session you have chosen in order to sign-up. Then, you can drop off your machine on the designated day and time:

Group 1: Cooper, Kilmer, Poe, Longfellow Only - UPDATED DATES

• July 19th-Drop-off: 7.30-9.30 AM
• July 21st-Pick-up: 11 AM-3.30 PM   

 
Group 2: Field, Hawthorne, London, Riley, Tarkington (AND Group 1)

• August 1st-Drop-off: 7.30-9.30 AM
• August 3rd-Pick-up: 11 AM-3.30 PM  

 
Group 3:  Frost, Homes, Twain, Whitman (AND Groups 1 & 2)

• August 15th-Drop-off: 7.30-9.30 AM
• August 17th-Pick-up: 11 AM-4.30 PM

 
All Groups:

• September 13th-Drop-off: 7.30 AM-4.30 PM
• September 16th: Pick-up: 12-4.30PM

To sign-up for your date and time, email: tech@ccsd21.org

 

Tags: Staff MacBook

When laptops were distributed to certified staff members during Spring 2010, staff members were told that, because the machines were new, they would not be collected at all during the Summer of 2010. Staff members were also told at that time that in 2011, staff laptops would likely be re-collected for major updating.

Even with the initial success of using Casper Suite to remotely deploy software and update machines, this Summer does require that all staff laptops are collected for updating. We will be collecting the laptops for the shortest time possible given our resources.

During the updates, staff laptops will:

• Be updated from OS 10.6.5 to 10.6.7 (or possibly 10.6.8 with its impending release)
• Be updated with Mac OS X software and security updates
• Be updated with Microsoft Office 2011 replacing Microsoft Office 2008 (This includes the replacement of Entourage 2008 with Outlook 2011 as the primary email, calendar, contact, and tasks client application.)
• Be updated with iLife 11 from iLife 09
• Be renamed with a name that includes the abbreviation of the school at which the laptop is primarily located (and which will continue to include the asset tag number)

All updates will take place at London Middle School in the Library Media Center. That is typically where staff members will drop off and pick up their machines.

To facilitate this process of updating over 600 laptops, each school is going to be assigned a specific drop-off and pick-up day.


Important Details

• 2010-2011 Schools--If you are moving schools for 2011-2012, your computer is to be dropped off on the date for your 2010-2011 school.
• Drop-Off Conflicts--If you cannot attend a drop-off day, you can drop off your computer at the CCSD21 Technology Office prior to that day during normal summer business hours.
• Pick-Up Conflicts--If you cannot pick up your computer on a scheduled pick-up day, you will have to wait to until the next pick-up day to gather your computer.
• Only Computers--Technology Office staff members will only be accepting computers (no power cords, dongles, or other accessories).
• No Cases--Computers should not be dropped off or left in cases of any kind. District 21 is not able to take responsibility for cases dropped off with the computers.
• Computer Skins--District 21 will not remove skins on computers but also is not able to take responsibility that these skins will not be damaged while they are in the care of the District for updating.
• Summer School--If you are teaching in a District 21 Summer School program and are scheduled to drop off your computer during that program according to your 2010-2011 school's date, you will be able to drop off your computer following Summer School on a special July 6 drop-off day.
• Physical Damage/Warranty Issues--If Technology Office staff members note physical damage or warranty issues while performing the upgrades, the computers will be sent out for repair during the summer, and the staff member will be contacted with an update on the status and timeframe for fixing the computer.
• Personal Delivery--All staff members are responsible for personally dropping off and picking up the laptop at the Administration Center/London Middle School. Other individuals, including staff members and family members, cannot come and pick-up your laptop for you.

Computer Drop-Off/Pick-Up Days
June 13 - Drop-Off Day for Cooper, Kilmer, Longfellow, Poe (7.30 AM - 3.30 PM)

June 23 - Drop-Off Day for London, Hawthorne, Field, Riley, Tarkington (7.30 AM - 3.30 PM)

June 28 - Pick-Up Day for Cooper, Kilmer, Longfellow, Poe (7.30 AM - 3.30 PM)

July 6 - Drop-Off Day for Summer School Teachers who worked at Cooper, Kilmer, Longfellow, Poe, London, Hawthorne, Field, Riley, and Tarkington during the regular 2010-2011 school year. (7.30 AM - 3.30 PM)

July 12 - Drop-Off Day for Holmes, Frost, Twain, Whitman (7.30 AM - 3.30 PM)

*UPDATED DATE* July 14 - Pick-Up Day for London, Hawthorne, Field, Riley, and Tarkington and teachers from the first group who were unable to pick up their computer on June 28th (7.30 AM - 3.30 PM)

August 3 - Pick-Up Day for Holmes, Frost, Twain, Whitman (7.30 AM - 3.30 PM)

August 8 - Pick-Up Day for All Schools (@Ad Center-Technology Office) (7.30 AM - 3.30 PM)

August 15 - Pick-Up Day for All Schools (@Ad Center-Technology Office) (7.30 AM - 3.30 PM)

August 22 - Pick-Up Day for All Schools (@Ad Center-Technology Office) (1.40 - 4.30 PM)

Tags: Staff MacBook

Over the past couple of weeks, the use of server storage space has increased dramatically--over 100 GB of additional space have been swallowed up weekly! This increase has been caused by the number of movie, music, and picture files traveling across the network from the Portable Home Directories on individual computers to the home directories on the school file servers.

During the training in which staff members participated when they received their laptops, it was explained that movies, music, and pictures needed to be kept in the correct folders in their home directories (the movies, music, and pictures folders respectively). At that time, it was also explained that these folders would not sync to the server.

To protect bandwidth on the network and space on the servers, we will begin blocking movies, music, and picture file types from syncing to the server at all, regardless of the folder in which they are placed.

Please remember to ensure that your movie, music, and picture files are placed in those folders. Also, please remember that these files do not sync back to the server. As a result, staff members are responsible for backing them up on their own if they choose to have these files backed up.

This change should have no impact on the files on your computer. This is simply a more comprehensive implementation of the policy that has been in place since the distribution of staff laptops began in March 2010.



One final technical tip: If you are using iMovie, iTunes, or iPhoto all of these programs will, by default, store your movies, music, and pictures in those folders within your home directory.

Tags: Staff MacBook

Sometimes, particularly during the summer, District 21 and Help Desk staff members will use iChat to provide support remotely to an individual computer user. First, as a point of clarification, let's be clear that, using iChat, technical support team members cannot access your computer, including screensharing and video chat with your webcam, without you accepting the request.

When a technical support team member seeks to connect with your computer using screensharing through iChat, you will see a box pop up on your screen that looks like that pictured below.



When this box pops up, you will need to move your mouse over this dialog and click on it.

After you have clicked on the box, it will morph in to a dialog like the one pictured below:



After clicking Accept, the screenshare will begin, and audio will be live between both participants. (You can hear one another!)

Tags: iChat, Staff MacBook

Did you know that your MacBook can be used to input in multiple languages all with the same English-language keyboard? There is nothing new that needs to be installed, just some features that need to be turned on with a few simple steps in System Preferences.

First, open System Preferences by going to the Apple logo in the upper-left corner of the display and choosing System Preferences from the pull-down menu.



Once you select System Preferences, choose "Language & Text" as pictured below.


Once in the Language & Text preference pane, choose the "Input Sources" tab. Within that tab:

• Check the box for the Keyboard & Character Viewer in the window in the left half of the preference pane.
• Check the boxes for any languages you would like to have displayed from the list of languages in the window in the left half of the preference pane.
• Check the box (at the bottom) for "Show input menu in menu bar"

Once that is complete, you will now have a flag appear in your menu bar in the upper-right portion of your monitor. When you click on the flag, a pull-down menu will appear with your options.



Remember, also, for typing en Español, there are also key commands that you can use to type in Spanish while still using the regular English settings. Those are also posted on The Modern Pen.

Tags: Staff MacBook, ELL, Bilingual

In order to qualify for Federal funding, including E-Rate funding that significantly offsets the cost of District 21's telecommunications bills, District 21 is required to comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). One of the requirements of CIPA is that a web filter is in place to provide an additional layer of protection for students from inappropriate websites. Additionally, limited bandwidth also requires District 21 to filter streaming media as those sites would quickly overwhelm the network with traffic.

Last school year, District 21 sought and received clarification that a differentiated Internet experience for students and staff is a legally acceptable practice, and the District 21 Technology Office has worked with the District 21 Education Association, other administrators, and technical aspects of both the filter and Active Directory to make this differentiated Internet experience a reality. After putting this structure in place last Spring at Holmes Middle School, additional technical details had to be addressed.

This weekend, District 21 is rolling out this new filtering by group feature that will be almost entirely transparent to users with one exception:

(For Windows users in Thin Client, this process is completely transparent following your login to Thin Client. There are no additional steps.)

For Mac users, when the new filter is turned on, you will:

• Log in to the computer as usual with your Active Directory username and password.
• Launch Safari as one would do normally.
• When you navigate to a website outside of District 21, the browser will ask you to re-authenticate using your Active Directory username and password, again. (See the picture below.) If you also check the checkbox, you should not be asked to enter your username and password again.

As each student and staff member completes this process, as long as the user has logged in to the computer (as one should be doing regularly), Active Directory and the SmartFilter will, in concert, provide the student or staff member with the appropriate level of filtering based on their status as a student or staff member.

At times, you may be greeted with a dialog that looks like the one pictured below. When you see this, simply click the "Always Allow" button.



As a result of this change, staff members will have much greater access to a wider swath of the Internet than they have ever had previously since District 21 began filtering following the passage of CIPA a decade ago. This access includes Google Images, Flickr, and other sites for identifying instructional resources for school.

As a result of this change, older computers on Mac OS 10.3 will no longer be able to access the Internet. In truth, this is a small price to pay as these computers were not able to access most current websites over the past few years anyway.

One important reminder: with this change, prior to using a new website with students, staff members will need to test whether or not students have access to that site with their level of filtering. This can be done in this way:

• log into a student's account (even on the teacher laptop)
• launch Safari
• navigate to the website (If it's accessible from within the student's account, it's accessible to all students!)

Should staff members have any questions about this change, please check with the school's iTech teacher.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Filter, Internet

When we introduced Staff MacBooks, nearly a year ago, and along with them, Portable Home Directories, one of the key points we tried to stress was the importance of logging in and logging out. Logging in and logging out correctly is the best thing that individual users can do in order to ensure that their documents sync correctly to and from the file server.

Guidelines for logging in and logging out are:

• Arrival in CCSD21--Log In: When you arrive in District 21 from home, the coffee shop, or elsewhere, you should be logged out of your computer (or it can be shut down). Then, when you open your machine within District 21 and on the District 21 network, you log in. This does mean the before you will have left your previous location, such as home, you need to have shut down the computer or logged out of it.
• Leave CCSD21--Log Out: Prior to leaving District 21, you should always log out and/or shut down.

These simple steps will greatly ensure the successful syncing of your Portable Home Directory.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Portable Home Directory

Recently, we've had a rash of complaints from certified staff members whose Internet Service Provider is Comcast about their inability to access their District 21 email via Entourage 2008 on their Staff MacBook. Typically, these staff members have received a message like that pictured below:


We know that this error is real and is taking place, but we have been unable to consistently replicate. Nothing has changed on our end in regard to our District 21 Exchange server, firewall configuration, or other technical structure that should be causing this. We believe that the issue is on Comcast's end, but in order to help resolve this, staff members are asked to do the following when they see this dialog box while working at home with a Comcast connection:

• Record the specific date and time that this took place
• Open Safari and try to navigate to http://webmail.ccsd21.org
• Email helpdesk@net56.com and tell them exactly when this took place and whether or not you were able to access Exchange Webmail at http://webmail.ccsd21.org
• If you were unable to access Exchange Webmail, too, you might also choose to call Comcast and report the issue to them.

Thank you for your assistance in collecting data to track down this problem.

Tags: Exchange, Entourage 2008, Staff MacBook

You’ve found a great instructional video online on YouTube or TeacherTube, and you want to show it to your students. Yet, YouTube is blocked at school, so you cannot simply stream this content. Well, nearly all streaming media sites are blocked at school due to bandwidth limitations, but you can access these videos to share with your students where they will benefit instruction when they are on sites that do not block the ability to download the videos (such as YouTube).

So, how do I download the video that I want in that case? First, you need to make sure that the video can be used. Outstanding guidelines for Fair Use can be found from The Center for Social Media as well as in a simplified form in this blog post from Edutopia.

Once you’ve established that the video does not violate Copyright laws, you can download it by...


(Unfortunately, because of our bandwidth limitations, this does need to be done outside of CCSD21 for the time being.)

In Safari, go to the YouTube video you want to download.




Now, in the white menu bar for Safari at the top of the screen, go to Windows > Activity and click.



Now, and this part will make you feel like a computer programmer, go ahead in the Activity window/dialog and find the largest file in the list of all of the files. (It will usually be a certain number of MB rather than bytes or KB.) (MB are bigger than KB or bytes!) Simply, double-click on the link to the left of the file size of that largest file. You can do this while the video is playing.



Your video will start downloading directly to your computer (either your Desktop or your Downloads folder) as a Flash file.



When your video is done downloading, you can open it using either Quicktime Player or VLC, both of which are on your Staff MacBook. If you right-click on the file’s icon, you can select Open With... and have the option to choose between either Quicktime Player or VLC.


In either, you can expand the video to full screen, though the quality will vary depending on the quality of the video that you downloaded.

Finally, if you do plan to show video to students from your computer, do be sure to test sound and light quality with speakers and the projector beforehand!

Tags: Staff MacBook, Media Download, Media

Technology refers to tools that humans (and other primates!) use to get jobs done. As a result of the very spirit of human beings, this has always meant that technology is in a constant of evolution. Today, that evolution takes place at a very, very rapid pace. In the past, individuals would learn and adopt a new technology and use it for centuries, such as the plow. Of course, during that time, there were improvements to it, but those improvements were gradual and marginal, and they did not result in a plow that was completely different than previous plows. Over time, the pace and significance of changes in technology has grown more and more rapid. Such that today, technology that is more than five years old, and sometimes as little as a year-old, is truly out-of-date.

What does this mean for teachers and students? Simply that we need to continually adapt and learn how to use new technology as it changes.

Software manufacturers continue to update their software on a regular basis (i.e., every 1-4 years), and sometimes these updates result in very different ways in which to use the software. Both Microsoft and Apple, for example, regularly make such changes. When this happens, as end users, whether we like it or not, we need to also change.

For example, while in a furious rush to produce professional development video for staff members throughout School District 21, we came across our first real need to use iMovie 09. Like iMovie 08, it had completely abandoned the timeline editing of “production” movie editing suites. Yet, it was still likely the best and fastest tool for us to use to edit web video. So, after some frustration and attempts at trying the new software, what did we do???

We accessed the Help Menu (pictured below) built right in to the iMovie application (and all Mac OS X applications) in the white menu bar at the top of the screen.



By selecting the Help Menu, we were able to go directly to video tutorials on Apple’s website. (This work was being done outside the District...) As pictured below, you can see that there was a long list of videos on the website.



We needed to learn how to trim clips first, and we went straight to that video, watched, learned, and then, were able to do!

No single person, no matter how geeky or techy, knows all technology. Nevertheless, just like with The Modern Pen, individuals and organizations put the information out there on the web. Much of the time, finding one’s answer is simply a few clicks away!

Tags: Staff MacBook, iMovie, Help

When I am plugging in the power cord from my MacBook in to the outlet in the wall, it sparks! Is that normal? Is it bad? Will I get hurt? Will the computer get hurt? It is normal. You probably won’t be hurt, but let’s not risk it. It may not be good for the computer. So, what do we do?



The solution is really simple. If you use the following steps, you will not have this problem.

1. Plug the power cord in to the wall.
2. Plug the magsafe adapter end of the power cord in to the computer.

That’s it! (This same process should be used with all laptops, regardless of the manufacturer or type of adapter.)

Tags: Staff MacBook

“Our servers should be younger than our Kindergarteners.”

This adage is one that school districts aspire to achieve and maintain.

In our quest to provide the best possible tools for students and staff members within our existing resources, we have moved to the Enterprise-class Microsoft Exchange email, calendar, contacts productivity server. Rather than move everyone in a single, sweeping, over-the-weekend transition is as often-the-case with such a change, we have taken a different approach. We have slowly moved groups of people over during the course of the last three years. On Friday, August 27th, the last current CommuniGate user will be moved to Exchange (and celebrations will ensue throughout District 21)!!!

The CommuniGate server will be shutdown this coming Sunday evening, August 29th, after 7.00 PM. After that time, messages on CommuniGate will no longer be available to be retrieved. Most staff have had at least three months to clear these messages from the CommuniGate server in the event that they wanted to retain the messages.




From Listservs to Groups
With this move, we are also in the process of enabling the groups in Active Directory as Mail Groups. These function a little differently than listservs.

First, Active Directory is designed to control most functions within our school district related to computers for each student and staff member. It provides a map for each individual’s electronic life in CCSD21, connecting you with your files, your email, etc. When someone is hired, she is put in to Active Directory, and when she leaves CCSD21, she is taken out, and all of those permissions vanish with her!

Another feature of Active Directory is that we can make groups, and then, we can use that same group for multiple purposes. For example, each school has a Staff group, and that group has permissions on the school-wide staff wiki on the teams.ccsd21.org server and that group will now also be the school’s staff email group.

So, what do you need to know in order to use the new email groups?

• Composing an email--To send an email to the entire staff, just do what you’ve done in the past--send an email to the group. For example, in the screenshot below, I am sending an email to the iTech and Principals groups. If I wanted to send one to the staff at London, I would enter london_staff in the TO line of my email. Then, everyone in the London Staff group in Active Directory would receive the email.
• Replying to an email--This is one of the biggest changes from a listserv. Now, when you hit reply to a message that was sent to the entire group, it will only be received by the original sender of the email, not by the whole group. The benefit is that this eliminates the possibility of accidentally sending an unintended response to everyone, as so often happens! If you want everyone to see your response, you simply hit “Reply to All” instead of “Reply”.

With this change, all of the new teachers, who were only included in Exchange and never entered in to CommuniGate will start receiving school staff emails. So, beginning next week, the staff email group (Remember, it’s not a listserv anymore!) for each school should be complete.

Finally, as with all of the users in Active Directory, the group names are searchable in Entourage 2008, Outlook 2007 and 2010, and Outlook Web App, so you can look up a group if you don’t know its name. To make this transition as easy as possible, nearly all group names match those that were previously used in CommuniGate!

Tags: Staff MacBook, CommuniGate, Exchange, Entourage 2008, Webmail

Staff members can and should begin the troubleshooting process by first doing some basics:

• Restarting the computer, if possible
• Ensuring that the computer is plugged in to power
• Ensuring that the computer is connected to a network (Ethernet is ideal. If you’re having problems with a wireless network at home or elsewhere, the issue could be with that network, not the computer. Are other computers working on the same network? Will your computer work on another network?)

If all of those basic items are working, continue troubleshooting by seeking out information from the following sources:

• Atomic Learning
• The Modern Pen
• Your Computer’s Built-In Help in the Menu Bar

If, after doing that, you are still having difficulty or if you are prompted for an administrator password, please call the Help Desk (847.934.8100--press 2).

Some might ask, can I simply take the computer to The Apple Store? The short answer is “No”. The long answer is that Apple is one corporation, but they are one giant corporation. They are a corporation that, while increasingly focused on the enterprise market (large organizations--like CCSD21), continues to be primarily structured for consumer sales and support. While we are all familiar with The Apple Store and The Genius Bar, these are not tools that are designed to support School District 21 computers for a variety of reasons. Additionally, CCSD21 is also a large organization and part of the government. As a result, we have made specific decisions about the hardware that is deployed and how it is deployed. The Apple Store is unaware of those decisions.

We have worked with our Government/Education Apple representatives and the small business associates in local Apple Stores to support us on certain small hardware purchases. Those rare instances are handled directly by the District 21 Technology Office.

Otherwise, as a rule, District 21 Apple computers are not purchased from or taken to the Apple Store by District employees. Rather, sales are handled through the CCSD21 Technology Office and Apple Education. Troubleshooting and maintenance should be addressed by the individual staff member through the Help Desk (847.934.8100-press 2). From there, when a computer is under AppleCare and needs repair from Apple, we initiate that via the internal processes that we have in place and that Apple has set-up for enterprise customers like CCSD21.

Tags: Staff MacBook

What happens if you are at home and notice that the time and date on your District 21 laptop is wrong???

First, you have to understand that the date and time on computers in an enterprise environment, like District 21, is much different than the importance of the date and time on our personal computers in our homes. The date and time are the basis for everything from logging in with your Active Directory username and password to ensuring that your files sync accurately.

When you are away from the District, your time should be accurate, matching the time of computers within the District. For example, this passage is being written outside of the District, and the time on this computer exactly matches the time on computers throughout District 21 right now. When this time is off, the solution is simple (though not necessarily convenient), and one that you can implement yourself.

To correct your time, simply:

• Be sure that the computer is shut down the next time you go into a District 21 school (any District 21 school)
• Once in the school, boot up the computer and login
• Your time will automatically sync with the District time servers!
• If that still doesn’t work. Log-out. Try to log-in one more time. If the time still doesn’t correct, call the Help Desk at 847.934.8100 and press 2.

After your time is correct, you may receive more syncing errors than you have typically received. If you have only been using your staff laptop to do your schoolwork, select the mobile/portable version as the key version that you want to retain on the server!

Tags: Staff MacBook, System Preferences

Previously, we had anticipated being able to begin allowing CCSD21 staff members to access Exchange via their personal smartphones as early as today. Unfortunately, our current mix of staffing and other ongoing summer projects is going to cause us to delay this. As we move through our summer projects, we are continuing to re-evaluate how best to accomplish all of them in an efficient and timely manner while continuing to provide training and resources to staff in order to accomplish these projects. As soon as we are ready and able to begin scheduling appointments with staff regarding signing up to access your District 21 email, calendar, and contacts on a personal smartphone, we will communicate that to all staff via email. Again, we thank you for your patience.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Exchange, SmartPhones

What do I do if my computer isn’t working right and it’s summer?

First, you need to call the Help Desk. They will try to help you over the phone, but if that doesn’t work, the next step will be that the user will have to bring the computer in to the District. Especially during the summer, if the computer is operational, it is critical that the user logs in and logs out of the computer inside of the District 21 network to ensure that another home sync takes place, thereby securing their Documents and Desktop folders. This may also resolve the issue. In the event that the computer is still not working, the computer will need to be left in the Technology Office along with some Summer Contact Information for the user. The ticket will be reviewed by one of our field engineers. They’ll check with AppleCare and the Support Forums to see if there are any OS-related fixes that they can apply first (and/or firmware updates). If there’s not and they believe it that it’s an isolated hardware issue, then the ticket will be transferred to our Operations team, and they will send the machine to AppleCare. When we receive it back from AppleCare, depending on what was done to the machine, we may need to do the pre-set-up (Binding, Place in Group in OD/WGM, etc.) again. We will ask the user to arrange a time with us to come in. Then, we will have the user log-in before we do the rest of the set-up—Entourage, iChat, Office Default Save Locations, Deletion of Safari and Firefox Bookmarks, etc. After that, the user can take it home. (The user will be in the office for about 10-15 minutes at this point if a field engineer is available.) So, first, call the issue in to the Help Desk—847.934.8100 and press 2.

Finally, please do remember that summer is actually the busiest time of year as we try to take care of projects when students (mostly) and teachers (mostly) are not around as much, so our field engineers are not sitting and waiting for individuals to come in and address tickets. Rather, the projects alone keep us very busy. As a result, typically, one should not expect to be seen when the computer is brought in the first time by a field engineer. Rather, the user should plan on coming in to the District, logging in to the computer, and checking to see if the problem is still there after the log in is complete.

Tags: Staff MacBook

During the last two weeks of July 2009, we installed 30 new Apple Xserves, and we completely re-configured the relationship between users (people), clients (regular computers you use), and servers (servers!). At this time, we also set-up two dedicated wiki and blog servers--one that is designed to serve the public (teacher blogs for parents, classroom projects with students, etc.) and one that is designed to be used collaboratively by teams (to support teaming).

When we installed the servers, the operating system was at 10.5.7. Shortly after the school year started, we upgraded all thirty servers to 10.5.8. Then, Apple released 10.6, Snow Leopard. This type of update was too significant to perform over a weekend. (It is taking us nearly three weeks to do during the summer!) In the past, we’ve typically left servers running with whatever operating system it was using when it was originally set-up. Now, with new servers in place along with lots of new clients, we have upgraded the servers to Snow Leopard. Specifically, each of our Mac servers will be running OS 10.6.4 by the end of this week.

We’re excited that by the end of this week, all of our open directory and file servers will have been upgraded. We have already upgraded the iChat, wiki, and teams servers, yet there is additional work that has been required on each of these before we can be fully up and running. So, here’s the run down on exactly where these servers are at right now:

iChat
After an extensive period of tweaking settings and testing, we are pleased to officially announce that iChat is back open. It seems to be working just fine with both text and video chats working. iChat is open right now as this is written, so chat away!

Teams
The teams.ccsd21.org wiki server that is used by teams is also working, but we’re needing to go through and reset permissions for each group. We had worked extensively with Apple prior to this upgrade in order to determine what type of issues we may have with blogs and wikis. Even from inside Apple, we heard very different reports on how this update might go. Overall, this update went well, but we are having to reset permissions on each of the approximately 200 wikis that we have in use for teams in District 21. We hope to have this work done later this month. Once this work is done, we will ask iTech teachers to go in to Active Directory and update which staff members are in which groups. When this work is done, everyone will be able to be a part of whatever teams they are a part of for the 2010-2011 school year! We do thank teachers for their patience as we work through this process for the first time.

Wikis
The wiki.ccsd21.org wiki and blog server has seen the same issues as the teams.ccsd21.org server. Here, though, there will be additional testing that we are undertaking as we look to potentially utilize Active Directory to manage the users on the wiki server. (Prior to now, we have had to enter each user individually on this server. We have done so in order to meet our web page policy that requires us not to post the first and last names of students.) Individual wikis and blogs will come back online as we can (with sites in which only staff post being up first), and we will let the individuals running those sites know when they are up.

Tags: Staff MacBook, iChat, Wikis, Teams, Blogs

One thing you can do to personalize your desktop is use a picture to make it more personal. To do this, you do not need to open any System Preferences. If you already have the picture or graphic on your computer, it is very simple.

First, navigate to the location on your computer that the picture is sitting. It is easiest if it is just on the Desktop, like in the picture below. Right-click on the picture (see Managing Your Trackpad for more information on learning how to right-click on your MacBook), and choose Set Desktop Picture. See the picture below.



One potential problem that may occur is that the picture may become pixilated (showing all of the little squares/pixels that make up the picture). The best way to avoid this is to use pictures of high resolution, such as a full-size picture from a modern digital camera.

If you would like to use a picture that is stored online, that, too, is simple. First, you can only use a picture if the copyright allows you to do so--either because it is open source under something like Creative Commons or a picture that is now in the public domain. Then, go to the online site that hosts the picture that you would like to use. Next, you will typically be on a page that displays thumbnail images, smaller versions (lower resolution) of each picture. So, click on the picture you want to use in order to enlarge it to its highest resolution (to avoid or minimize pixilation).

Next you will right-click on the picture, and you will choose Use Image as Desktop Picture.




At that point, your picture will be set on the Desktop. Depending on the size of the original photo, you may only see a portion of the photo on your Desktop.

Tags: Staff MacBook, System Preferences, Display

How do I check my Exchange email when I don’t have my Staff MacBook with me?

If you are without your laptop and want to check your email, calendar, and contacts, simply go to Outlook Web App (OWA), also known as Exchange Webmail. This is linked on the left sidebar on the Staff homepage, and can be found at:

webmail.ccsd21.org

There is also a PDF document that is available to help you navigate using OWA. To access this document, which is on the CCSD21 Exchange Support page, you will need to enter your Active Directory Username and Password.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Webmail, Exchange

Can the Technology Office access staff laptops remotely?

Inside, the CCSD21 network (in any of our 14 buildings), we do have the ability to access your computer. We will only do this after either specifically announcing that we will be accessing your machine or after asking for your permission. This is a great advantage for everyone as we can provide remote support immediately upon your initial phone call in many cases.

The only ways that the Technology Office can access your computer outside the District is with the IP address of your computer and knowing that the appropriate ports are open in your firewall or through an iChat conversation. In either case, you would have to provide information or accept the iChat invitation, and we will not access your computer remotely without your permission unless some type of investigation or process required us to do so.

Tags: Staff MacBook

When at school most of the schools computers have been automatically added to your printer list. However, if there is a computer missing, or if you need to add a printer for a different school, the process to add a printer is very simple. The first thing you want to do, is 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 (the white bar that runs across the top of the screen).


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, the “Add Printer” dialog appears. There are three important steps you need to do in this dialog. First, choose the IP icon. Then, choose HP Jet Direct for the Protocol field if the printer you are adding is an HP printer. If the printer is from any other brand, chose Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) from the pull-down menu.


At this point, you will need to put in the ip address of the school printer you want to add. You may find this number posted on the printer or perhaps your iTech teacher has made a school-wide list for your school. Otherwise, ask your school’s Itech teacher, who has all of this information. You also want to “name” this printer so that you can remember which printer is which when you go to actually print. Then, press the Add button.


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 appeared on the list already. Just remember, you must select the correct printer to which you want to print before printing!

Tags: Staff MacBook, Printing, System Preferences

How do I set-up right-clicking with my trackpad and learn more about what gestures I can use?

The trackpad below your keyboard on your staff MacBook is made out of glass and is similar to the screen of an iPhone or iPod Touch, supporting a variety of different hand movements as types of computer inputs. Additionally, there is no easily identifiable and separate button. As you’ve learned by now, the entire trackpad (particularly the bottom half) is the button.

To learn more about what your trackpad can do and to set specific preferences yourself, first, go to System Preferences by choosing it from under the Apple icon in the white menu bar at the top of the screen.


Select the Trackpad button by clicking on it.


Once you are in there, you can select the options you want to enable and watch the videos built-in to the System Preferences dialog to understand what these options really do!


Try some different options, and please do not be afraid to experiment with these settings!

Tags: Staff MacBook, Mouse, Trackpad, System Preferences

If I receive a prompt to upgrade software, should I allow it or not?

You should not allow it, but even if you did, you do not have the technological permissions to do software upgrades. You should not actually see dialogs asking you about updating software, though.

All software upgrades will typically be performed remotely and on a schedule to all computers in a school and/or across the District at the same time after we have tested the software upgrade to be certain that it does not create and/or cause new problems with our staff laptops.

During the summer of 2010, a software system will be installed to allow us to perform these upgrades en masse. More information will follow as we run such updates.

Tags: Staff MacBook

Bookmarking a frequently visited website is easy! If you find a website that you would like to go back and visit and would like to bookmark it, when in Safari, simply go to the Bookmarks Menu option in the white Menu Bar at the top of the screen.


Choose Add Bookmark...


When you add your bookmark, you can either put it in the Bookmarks Menu like the one that appears below...


...Or if you think you’ll use your bookmark frequently, you can add it to the Bookmarks Toolbar in the browser, which is pictured below.


To add a bookmark to the Bookmarks Toolbar, when you add your bookmark after selecting Add Bookmark..., you will see a new dialog box pop up. It looks like the one pictured below. Before you click the Add button, choose where you want to put the bookmark from the pull-down menu.


If you want it out of the way and listed in the Bookmarks Menu, choose that. If you want it in the Bookmarks Toolbar, select that. You can even put it in to your Top Sites view.


Once you have lots of bookmarks, you can even organize them, by organizing your bookmarks. In Safari, doing this is as simple as clicking on the Bookmarks Button in the Bookmarks Toolbar on the far left side.


Once there, you can organize with folders, re-order bookmarks, and/or delete bookmarks.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Safari

Due to technical and legal (i.e., licensing) reasons and our current level of manpower, we cannot install software individually on individual computers. The software provided in the base image for the MacBooks provides the vast majority of software for nearly everything that they need to do, yet we realize that some teachers have very specialized needs in terms of specific software.

Beginning during Fall 2010, we will be able to plan projects with schools or central office departments to install needed software for which we have licensing on specific groups of computers. Even once begun, this process will not be quick and easy. We will need to:

• identify exactly which computers need the software
• determine whether or not we own the licensing or if it needs to be purchased
• test the software on test MacBooks to make sure it does not conflict with other software on the machines and works within our larger deployment
• schedule and prepare to install software on multiple laptops

Once we’ve done all of that, we’ll be able to actually install the software.

More information on this process will be made available during the Fall 2010. In the meantime, staff members can and should continue to use their specialized software on the existing computers on which they have been using it.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Software

Over the past few years, staff members have been strongly encouraged to consider the role that podcasting might play in their classroom. Audio podcasts can be made very quickly with little production time, allowing students to create fantastic, authentic products that are available to the whole world via the Internet and our media server. With tools like USB microphones, iPods with voice recording capabilities, and Garage Band, students can create a podcast in no time, and instead of spending lots of time working on the computer producing, they can move on to learning new concepts and content and skills.

Producing video rather than audio typically requires a much greater investment in time working on the computers. In spite of this, there are many times and reasons why teachers will want to use video in the classroom. From capturing video on new iPod Nanos to Flip cameras to more traditional Canon, Panasonic, and JVC video cameras, there are lots of different types of video cameras available for schools to purchase and use with our MacBooks.

One of the changes that has taken place in the video cameras in recent years has been the shift from recording on tape to recording on hard drives (not so good for a school environment) or flash memory (ideal for tapeless cameras). While hard drives and flash memory can offer lots of storage, there are more complications in terms of compatibility with different operating systems and software depending on how the video is being encoded. To be sure that a compatible camera is being purchased for use with iMovie 09 on the Staff MacBooks, visit Apple’s guide to compatible cameras.

Tags: Staff MacBook, Video, iMovie

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

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

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

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

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

What is the Home Directory?
Each user has a home directory. It is represented by the house icon and the user’s username as pictured below. Until the deployment of MacBooks to staff, these home directories have really only existed on the school server. Now, with the MacBooks, they will exist on the laptop, and that home directory will sync to the server when the user is in the District.


Inside your home directory, you have a series of folders that are automatically created as part of the home directory. (These are pictured below.)


Everyone’s home directory should look just like this—with these same folders in the same order (alphabetical).

There should not be any other files or folders laying out at this level in the home directory. In many cases, staff and students do have files and folders sitting here. These should be moved, typically to the Documents folder. (The Desktop folder will also sync, but we recommend having as few files on your Desktop as possible.)

Until now, these home directories have only existed on the server. For staff members who are assigned an individual computer for their use, such as a Staff MacBook, this home directory will automatically sync from the server to your computer when the Technology Office team sets up your computer. Thus, it is critical that all of your files are correctly organized in this folder prior to your school’s MacBook Set-Up Day.

So, get your Home Directory in order ASAP!!!

Tags: Home Directory, Staff MacBook, Server

Beginning in March 2010 and continuing through May 2010, new Apple MacBooks will be distributed to all non-administrative, certified staff members. During this same period, all District 21 staff members will be moved from the CommuniGate email server to Microsoft’s Exchange 2010 server.

Certified staff members will utilize Entourage 2008 with Exchange Web Services as their primary application for accessing their Exchange 2010 email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes. Entourage 2008 is installed on individual Staff MacBooks. Initial training with Entourage 2008 will take place when staff members receive their laptops. From there, staff members will be able to access the wealth of resources available on AtomicLearning.com to learn more about Entourage 2008.

Non-Certified staff members, such as assistants and custodians among others, will access their Exchange 2010 accounts through the web browser using Outlook Web Access. These individuals receive their initial training from District Technology Office staff or building iTech teachers.

(Central Office staff in the Business Office, Human Resources, and Operations will use Outlook 2007 as the client through which they will use to access their Exchange 2010 email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes. Training for these individuals, where necessary will come from District Technology Office staff and via AtomicLearning.com.)

Some important information about the move from CommuniGate to Exchange:

• Email from CommuniGate will not be transferred to Exchange. When you are first moved in to Exchange, you will have an empty Exchange 2010 Inbox.
• You will have continual access to your CommuniGate Inbox until June 2010. No new emails will come in to that Inbox, but it can serve as an archive during the transition to Exchange. On a daily basis, it will only be necessary to check this email daily.
• If you would like to do so, you can forward your CommuniGate messages to yourself, but this is not recommended. You will not be able to reply to the original sender of those messages. Rather, it is recommended that if you would like to archive certain emails, you should do so by saving them as PDFs and filing them as documents in your home directory. You can do this by using the Print dialog box on a Mac and choosing Save as PDF from the lower left corner of that Print dialog box.

• In Late June 2010, the CommuniGate email server will be permanently disconnected and will no longer be accessible.

Finally, the day before staff members receive their MacBooks, users will cease to receive new emails in their CommuniGate Inboxes. They can log in to CommuniGate and send emails during the interim period, but no new emails will arrive there. Users will be able to view new emails once they have logged in to their Exchange client, Entourage 2008 or Outlook Web Access (OWA).

Tags: CommuniGate, Exchange, Staff MacBook