Week of May 9th

 

New Print Shop Ordering Website Coming SOON

We are in the final stages of TESTING our new printshop ordering system.  Please look for a "launch date" coming soon (by the end of the month of May).  Some notable changes and improvements you will find:

1. Same URL - http://printshop.ttsd.k12.or.us (or via the Staff Portal)
2. Direct communication via the system to/from the printshop regarding the status of your order
3. NO more "shopping cart" - you'll submit each print job request individually
4. You will receive a "your job is complete" email, letting you know your job is with the courier for delivery.

Please Thank Your Technicians!

Our 10 school technicians (for 17 sites) are working their way through supporting 700+ certified staff with swapping out their computers for their NEW laptops. Hopefully you have already received your new laptop, and it was a smooth process.  Hours and weeks have been spent preparing the computers, documentation and refining the steps to make this as smooth as possible. Technology tools have become a critical part of our everyday home and work lives, but for some staff making this transition can be stressful and many times our technicians are counseling our staff through this process.  Please take a moment to THANK your technician and ask them if they need any additional support from you.

Week of May 2

Chrome Browser Update to version 101 

• 
  Chrome is the TTSD preferred browser for most resources.
• Run updates regularly (weekly) to apply security updates.
• Please UPDATE your Chrome to version 101 
• OPTION 1:
• Look for the UPDATE button in the upper right corner
• Click UPDATE (this will restart your browser AND update your Chrome)
• OPTION 2:
• 
  Click the Chrome Menu
• Click About Chrome
• Note if there are updates and if there are, you will be prompted to "Relaunch Chrome"

Want to get your message out? 

Make Your PDFs "ready" for ALL USERS...

WHAT: PDF files can either be a picture or readable TEXT.  Optimally, all PDFs TTSD users post online are readable TEXT.   

WHY: Often, a PDF is inaccessible for our students because PDFs are "flattened" documents or a picture of words, not actually words, on a page.

HOW:  You can easily make your worksheets, handouts, any printed or scanned page accessible by using the OCR button on the copiers in every workroom in every school. OCR stands for Ocular Character Recognition and all that means is the words are readable by digital devices. A few years ago, Tualatin High School made a step-by-step guide on how to use OCR. Follow this link to find those directions because it works on your machine, too.

How to OCR Your Document

MORE INFO: You might have noticed that little purple puzzle piece   in the top right corner of your Chrome browser toolbar. This powerful tool is called Read&Write for Chrome and TTSD has a district wide license for it which means that everyone (teachers, staff, & students) has access! As long as you sign into a Chrome browser with your TTSD email credentials you and your students have access! District or personal devices! With Read&Write everyone has access to Text to Speech (TTS), translation, dictionaries, and so much more! Follow this link for a quick video to introduce Read&Write.

Introducing Read&Write

Installing Read&Write

If you would like to have a more in depth training on Read&Write or any Assistive Technology (it’s not just for SPED) please reach out to Jamie Maier, TTSD Assistive Technology Specialist.

Week of April 25

June 2022 Last Month for "Data Warehouse" @ TTSD

We have used the Data Warehouse ("Oregon Data Suite", aka ODS) since 2008.  With the data reports available in Synergy and our new ION MTSS system, TTSD will stop using "Data Warehouse/ODS" at the end of June 2022.

• If you have questions or concerns regarding this, please reach out to our Assessment Department and Paul Verstraete.

Video use in Classrooms - reminder Policy IIABB:

As our streaming providers continue to improve their technology to protect copyright materials, including showing movies in a classroom, many classrooms this week experienced problems using their Apple TV and other devices to stream Netflix, Amazon, etc.  Please note:  it is NOT allowable to use your personal streaming services at school for classroom use.  For additional guidance around sharing movies in classroom, please see the following TTSD school policies:

1. Use of Feature Films/Video/Other Media  :: Policy IIABB
1. "Prior administrative approval for all non-G-rated films"
2. "The use of commercially produced and rated films, and other media must adhere to existing copyright laws."
2. Guidelines for the Use of Copyrighted Materials :: Policy EGAAA
1. "The employee using emerging technology will be responsible to ensure that the intended use of the media does not conflict with copyright law"

Netflix: Educational screenings of documentaries

A Netflix subscriber will have to abide by their Terms of Use (https://www.netflix.com/TermsOfUse)

"The Netflix service and any content accessed through our service are for your personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household." 

Still have a question about "Fair Use" in the Classroom?  Check out this resource Fair Use Evaluator

Week of April 18th

New Synergy Tool for Secondary Level Teachers - "Student Profile"

• From the TeacherVUE seating chart view, click on any student & select "Student Profile" from the list. A dashboard of data about the selected student will appear, including the following data:
• Attendance
• Discipline
• Course History/Graduation credits
• Test History
• Health concerns

Cyber Security Awareness @ TTSD

• Why Cyber Security?
• Data protection
• personal privacy
• student/staff safety
• business operations (ie payroll)
• How?
• phishing scams (email)
• SMS/text message
• phone calls
• Internet/Web "hacks"
• Computer compromise = Ransomware
• TTSD Response to Improve Cyber Security (a few...):
• Multi-factor authentication on staff Google accounts
• Improve security access to servers/systems
• Remove local administrative rights on user/staff computers
• EDUCATION
• Spring Cyber Security Training for ALL Staff can self-enroll in the course HERE: https://ttsd.instructure.com/enroll/NHFETL (to get a jump-start)
• You can also wait to be invited to the Canvas course at the end of April 2022.

Week of March 28th

 Admin By Request

Beginning April 2022, TTSD will slowly be implementing a new security setting on TTSD laptops and computers.  

• WHY: 
• Most cyber scams and security scams are successful because when they reach the computer, they have FULL rights to run any program they want - there is NO granting o permission required by the user.
• Our cybersecurity insurance policy requires that our computer "end users" are not administrators in order to protect the district from cyber crime ($).
• WHAT:
• What this means for all TTSD staff is eventually, you will need to request permission to install an application that is not found in Self Service in your Mac "Applications" folder.
• WHEN:
• This new security precaution will be rolling out slowly beginning with the new teacher computer replacements in April 2022 and should be completed by the end of the calendar year. 

For More Information....

Down Day Weekend - Sunday, April 3, 2022

The first Sunday of EACH month is reserved for the IT Department to perform disruptive (but necessary) maintenance on our networks systems.  With 24/7 access to online resources for our staff and students, we have reserved the FIRST Sunday of each month to perform this work.

Please note Sunday there will likely be disruption to various systems that may impact your access to: TTSD phone system, network resources (wifi), internet filter and Mac/iPad "Self Service"

Week of March 14 2022

Computer replacement for licensed staff coming soon...

• All licensed staff computers will be replaced this spring - beginning soon after spring break.
• Please make sure during spring break you have prepared your TTSD computer to be swapped out.  STEPS TO BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER
• Your computer will need to be backed up before we can swap it out for a new one.

DIAL 8 FOR AN OUTSIDE LINE - Beginning March 21st

"Due to the number of accidental 9-1-1 calls on our district phones over the years, TTSD will be moving to a "DIAL 8 for an outside line" system March 20th (Spring Break) on ALL DISTRICT PHONES.  Beginning Monday, March 21st, ALL district phones (including Jabber) will require users to DIAL 8 to get an outside line, and then enter the phone number.  

Examples:

• Local call = 8, 503-555-5555
• Long Distance = 8, 1-612-555-5555
• TTSD Extension = 4051. [no "8" if using just the district 4 digit extension]

NOTE: Dialing 9-1-1 will continue to work in the case of an emergency (Dial 9,1,1 --- NO DIAL 8 necessary) 

Happy Classified Employees' Week!

 

THANK YOU to all of our classified employees - this week and all year long!

Please take a moment to say a sincere "Thank you!" to at least 2 classified staff each day this week!

All TTSD Employees, please review the following guidelines 

Technology Acceptable Use Agreement:

• Key elements: 
• NEVER share your password with anyone (other staff, subs, etc) [Change Password instructions]
• If electronic communication regarding a student is necessary, users will send ONLY the student’s ID number and initials for identification.

Electronic Communications Guidelines

• Key elements: 
• All official TTSD school or District social media sites will be communicated to the Communications Department.
• Remember that online posts and content are an extension of your classroom or the workplace.  
• Long-term (24hrs+) storage of student and staff data:
• Is permitted on TTSD file servers
• Is permitted TTSD (only) Google apps for education domains - TTSD or TTSDSTUDENT (no personal Google accounts)
• Is not permitted on mobile device (ie laptop) local drives 

Is not permitted on flash drives

Equipment Checkout Form

• Key elements: 
• Any loss or damage due to theft, burglary or vandalism must be reported to both the police and the IT department via a Tech Request (include TTSD Tag number) by the next business day.
• TTSD equipment is not intended for personal use (including personal photo storage)

Internet Filter Rules by Grade Level 

• Key elements: 
• List of topic categories blocked
• If you find a site is blocked but mis-categorized, please submit a Tech Request with the URL in question.