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TCEA responds
CTO/CIOGoogle Tips and Tricks

TCEA Responds: Connect with Google Certified Administrators

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Welcome to TCEA Responds #2.  Submit your own question(s) online. Today’s topic is Google Certified Administrator communities.

 

Dear TCEA Responds:

Would it be possible to get an email group together of the people who attended the Admin Domain bootcamp? I have questions and I would love to have them/y’all to bounce them off of. Thanks, Starling!

Dear Starling:

Absolutely, we can get a group together to support the Google Certified Administrator Bootcamp session, keeping you in touch with other session participants. In fact, TCEA Professional Development Director Diana Benner started a Google Plus Community to facilitate sharing among TCEA Certified Google Administrators (click the link to apply to join if you have already attended a Google Certified Administrator Bootcamp via TCEA).

Other Google Certified Admin Communities

TCEA RespondsThere are also many other communities for Google Certified Administrators on Google Plus. The benefit of joining several communities is that you get diverse perspectives and insights. For example, John Sowash asked in one Google Plus Community “What advice do you have for completing all the Google exams?”

Responses included some of the following points from Edward Dougherty and Amanda LeBlanc:

  • Remember that exams are “open book,” so organize your resources prior to the exam.
  • Complete the Fundamentals Training, especially if you are new to G Suite.
  • Review the Sample Questions provided by Google.
  • Find a study buddy who can ask questions and simulate scenarios for you.
  • Check out YouTube videos if you need assistance with one of the G Suite applications.
  • Take your time and double-check your work (especially with sharing rights).
  • Find a quiet space to take your exam with no distractions.
  • Reach out to other certified educators/trainers if you have questions (Twitter, Google+, email district members who may be certified).
  • Take time to practice with each of the tools as you go through Fundamentals training – take any “new to you” tools for a test drive so that you can see the connections in your day-to-day teaching and learning environment.

Participate in TCEA BootcampsTCEA Responds

Of course, completing the preparation course that TCEA Google Certified Administrators and trainers developed prepares you well, too! Why don’t you join us for a TCEA Google Suites for Education session? You will learn a lot more than just Google tips and how-to strategies. And you will connect to fellow Texans ready to learn and grow with you. Check the calendar to see when the next workshop is.

 

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TCEA responds
CTO/CIOGoogle Tips and TricksiOS Tips and TricksMicrosoftTechnical Support

TCEA Responds: Grants and Tech Planning

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Dear TCEA Responds:

My name is Raquel. My principal has given two of us the job of trying to find and upgrade our school’s technology. I was hoping I could reach out and maybe find out where a great place where I may start this journey. I am a member of TCEA. So, I know that you all have great resources.

First – is there a school or classroom where we might can visit that is already technologically advanced? We are a primary school, kinder through second grade. I was hoping you all would be able to direct us to a school that we can see technology being really used.

Next – our principal has asked us to find grants for technology. Where do we need to go look for some of these? Do you all have any ideas? Any help that you all might give, we would really appreciate it.

Dear Raquel:

First of all, thank you for approaching TCEA Responds with your questions. Let me start responding with the grant question first.

Question #1 – Grant Writing Resources

The TCEA PD Team has pooled its resources to provide you access to information available online in the Grant Writing Tips section. You will find a host of resources relevant to grants, including collaborative grant writing and grant writing tips. Some of the tips include:

  1. Celebrate people and gather stories. In order to be funded, a grant must make the reader feel a deep emotion.
  2. Develop a powerful, data-rich narrative.
  3. Build a writing team.
  4. Get your budget straight.
  5. Define success in measurable terms.

In addition to more information about these tips, you’ll find links to websites that provide lots of tips about grant writing and more. Also, be sure to check out this great blog post on Looking for Dollars in a Haystack. And keep checking the TCEA blog; when we hear about new grants being released, we always post them there.

Question #2 – Technologically-Advanced School

As to your first question about a model school for technology, I’d recommend reading this blog entry on Basic Tech Skills and how new expectations from Generation Z learners impact that list. Note that this blog entry is intended to focus on key ways we need to change our teaching to match Generation Z students (those students we have in our classrooms now). “New” basic tech skills teachers need to have can be accomplished with a wide variety of technology tools, whether they are (in alpha order) Apple, Google or Microsoft.

With these points in mind, the school you are looking for is probably using a combination of devices in schools. If you’re starting out as a technology director/CTO in a school district and wondering how to spend precious district funding, here’s how it might be done:

Device Choice

For the masses, the device of choice is probably an inexpensive, easily-managed touchscreen Chromebook or Windows 10 cloud laptop for students and mobile cart checkout. For high stakes testing labs, Windows is your best choice. For teachers/staff, one recommendation would be the Microsoft Surface tablet.

Scaffolding this multi-device environment is an embrace of no-cost Google Suites for Education to facilitate email, cloud storage, and productivity tools. (Although you have the freedom to rely on MS Office for staff, you can also give out LibreOffice free and compatible to MS Office) Again, if you are firmly entrenched in the Microsoft environment, you can definitely get Office 365 Pro Plus licensing.

If you have iPads, rather than raise costs by deploying them in a 1:1 configuration for students, disperse them two to three devices per classroom or grade level available for checkout. Apple iPad devices provide some great free apps for video editing, and those videos can be saved to Google Drive.

If you’re a Microsoft district, try this instead. For students, take a look at the Lenovo N23 Win10 laptops. For staff, SurfacePro tablets or SurfaceBooks can be a good choice.

Learning Management System

You will also need to nail down the learning management system (LMS) that will help to handle all of the amazing content your students and staff will be creating. You can use Google Classroom if you have adopted Google Suites for Education or Microsoft Classroom with OneNote Class Notebook. You may want to take a gander at this Classroom Smackdown blog entry.

Single Sign-On

On the back end, single sign-on (SSO) needs to also be set up. I wouldn’t roll out a wide variety of devices unless you first nailed down Active Directory with some type of account management solution that makes single sign-on a reality. (Enboard, ClassLink, or EST Group/Identity Automation are three top solutions.) In fact, this is probably your most important consideration.

About The TCEA Responds series: Have a question? Don’t hesitate to submit your question via this online form and we’ll get our team of educators to research possible solutions for you.

 

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digital learning trends
CTO/CIOEducational TrendsLeadership

Digital Learning Trends

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

The Speak Up 2016 survey results are starting to come in, and they’re showing some interesting trends in digital learning. Below are the seven concepts that are bubbling up to the top right now.

Trend #1

No surprise here. Superintendents are reporting that funding, bridging the achievement gap, and staff morale are their top concerns. These are the same concerns that have topped their list for the past six years. However, the level of concern on these topics has increased this year.

With the attacks from the media recently on the teaching profession, it’s certainly understandable why staff morale is low. And with reduced funding at both the state and national levels, there is even more reason for teachers to be unhappy right now. The achievement gap, despite the best efforts of our educators, seems to be growing as the digital divide across our country grows.

Trend #2

There is some good news, however. Campus leaders are reporting that data-informed instruction, social media communications, and online assessments are making a difference with today’s students. Other technology enhancements that seem to have a positive ROI include videos, simulations and animations within instruction; cloud-based applications and tools; student access to mobile devices in school; and online professional development for teachers. These might be good trends to investigate for your district this next school year. (If you need help planning for and implementing any of these, TCEA can help. Just email Dr. Bruce Ellis to get started.)

Trend #3

Online videos and online games top the list of digital content being used in the classroom now, with online curriculum and online textbooks following closely behind. The key takeaway from this result is that school districts (and their technology staff) must be planning for and providing greater bandwidth and more WiFi access as the need for online learning continues to grow. This is a trend that will only continue to grow over time.

Trend #4

Student use of devices shows some interesting changes. 58 percent of high school students and 25 percent of middle school students are now bringing their own devices to school for classwork. But how they choose to use those devices on their own is different from how their teachers are directing them to use them. When teachers direct, students use them to:

  • Do Internet research (81%)
  • Play educational games (60%)
  • Take online tests (50%)
  • Read online articles (37%)
  • Use online textbooks (32%)
  • Watch teacher-created videos (29%)

But when self-directed, those same devices are used by the students to:

  • Check grades (74%)
  • Look up class information (54%)
  • Email teachers (41%)
  • Receive reminders (39%)
  • Take notes (39%)
  • Take photos of assignments (29%)

This seems to indicate that the learners are using the technology for more productivity uses on their own, which may mean that they have internalized and adopted them more completely than their teachers. This would be a good discussion topic for future educator inservices.

Trend #5

This is a continuation of the previous trend, which shows that the four main groups surveyed (teachers, administrators, parents, and students) all remain on different pages when technology use for learning is discussed. According to the report, “Few teachers say they regularly assign Internet-dependent homework, more principals think Internet-dependent homework is being assigned, but students say they regularly use the Internet to help with homework.”

Trend #6

The report shows that social media is playing a larger role in learning for all surveyed.

  • In 2011, 50 percent of students in grades 6-12 said they could not access social media tools at school. In 2016, only 38 percent of students had the same complaint.
  • Nearly half (45 percent) of teachers said that they pinned a lesson on Pinterest in the past year and 19 percent use Twitter to follow education experts or fellow educators.
  • Eight of ten school principals say they are using social media to communicate with parents and students – 61 percent said it has a positive impact.

There continues to be a divide between social media used by students (Instagram and Snapchat) and that used by adults (Facebook). But 44 percent of students do say that social media is a must-have for their learning.

Trend #7

Parents more than ever prefer receiving a personal email from their child’s school. Face-to-face meetings and text messages were a distant second, as you can see from the chart below.

digital learning tools

From a report by Project Tomorrow

The results of this extensive survey with its longitudinal data should be shared and discussed at district leadership meetings and professional development sessions in every district. What are your students telling you?

 

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TCEA responds
CTO/CIOTechnical Support

TCEA Responds: Video Surveillance Solutions

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Welcome to TCEA Responds #10.  Submit your own question(s) online. Today’s topic offers tips on video surveillance cameras in schools.

Dear TCEA Responds:

I’m new to the technology coordinator role and have to set up video surveillance cameras across my district. Could you give me some pointers on what to keep in mind as I roll video cameras out to schools?

-Tim

Dear Tim:

Thank you for your question! Video surveillance is a big part of any school district technology program. Although video surveillance typically falls under the purview of the school district police department, deploying video cameras can be challenging. Often, district leadership perceives video cameras as an appliance that can be placed anywhere. Little consideration is given to the maintenance of video cameras or the expertise needed to configure and connect them to the network. Here are some tips as you consider launching video surveillance in your district or at your campus.

Tip #1 – Consider what vendor solutions are available

The answer many Texas districts will give is Video Insight. This vendor provides excellent, almost turn-key solutions to video camera setup and deployment. This solution also allows integration into Active Directory so that groups can be created to give users access to only their campus cameras. Not only do they provide onsite support, they also provide remote support using their software. Having experienced a video camera failure at a high school, I can attest to their customer service. They resolved the issue, working after hours into the early evening to get video surveillance back up and working before a busy weekend. Another solution that is more do-it-yourself is Guardian Security (video cameras in use are from GeoVision). Both vendors feature no recurring annual costs unless you need more support.

I’m often asked, should we be using IP or analog cameras? To optimize management, you will need to get an IP camera. Video Insight provides IP cameras, and you can replace your analog cameras as they fail. Although Video Insight will sell you cameras, you can also get Advidia video cameras. The Advidia cameras are compatible with the Video Insight management software.

tcea responds

Left to right: Woodrow Thomas (Mt. Vernon ISD), Miguel Guhlin (TCEA)

Meet Woodrow Thomas of Mt. Vernon ISD. Rather than server-based storage, Woodrow is using video camera based storage. Listen to a conversation I had with him at the TCEA Technology Leadership Summit.

Tip #2 – Remote management and viewing of video cameras

If taking advantage of Video Insight, then it comes with a solution that’s available and ready to go. For the price you pay, you get camera and the software it comes with.

Be aware that a hidden cost of video surveillance often involves providing key personnel at each campus, as well as at the district level, with the ability to view video from any video camera on their campus (or elsewhere, if they are district staff). Unfortunately, clerical staff tasked with watching video feeds during the day usually lack the computers with the necessary processors and upgraded video card needed. For that reason, some districts purchase a second machine with dedicated components. This second computer enjoys enhanced features and is placed in close proximity to the receptionist’s location. Some data you need to collect includes:

  • How many internal video cameras are in place?
  • How many external video cameras are in place?
  • What is the age of the receptionist’s desktop computer?
  • How much RAM does the computer have?
  • Are dual monitors in use?
  • Is a dual monitor card needed?

Finally, you can issue tablets to police and administrators, enabling them to monitor activities via video feed to that device while on the go.

Tip #3 – Placement of video camera server(s)

Depending on how much video you want to retain (two to three days isn’t unusual), you will need a Windows desktop computer (with terabytes of storage space) to serve as your campus video server. The cost of these machines is fairly low, although you can get a low-end server instead to house content. Again, your storage capacity on this machine should allow you to retain several days of footage, especially for long weekends or vacations. For high traffic areas, a more robust server may be needed with ample storage. As you might imagine, since you can access servers remotely, having a server on campus may be more convenient, but you can centralize your server. Avoid using a virtualized server due to performance hits that a virtual machine will endure.

As to where to place the servers, it is typically recommended that the server be placed onsite to minimize bandwidth used through the transfer of video over the wide area network. This may be less of a concern in districts who own their fiber network.

Tip #4 –  In-district support of equipment

“Should we TCEA Respondssend the network engineer up that big ladder to clean the video camera lens?” That’s the question that comes up when a fuzzy picture appears or there’s a network connectivity problem. Providing in-district support can lower costs, depending on the total number of cameras you have in your district. You may want to either hire a media technician or re-task a portion of an existing technician’s time. Here is a description of what they need to be able to do, along with a chart to use as a starting point.

The primary purpose of a media technician involves installing and maintaining computer equipment and multi-site video cameras throughout the district. This person will need to respond promptly to work order requests and work collaboratively with multiple departments (e.g. police department, technology, and administration) to ensure minimal disruption of service. Some additional duties include the following:

  1. Install/upgrade video surveillance cameras, as well as perform monthly inspection of surveillance cameras to retrieve and record backup video logs as needed
  2. Assist district staff with video monitoring, troubleshooting, and repairs
  3. Install/maintain cables, terminals, and connectors for all video equipment
  4. Compile and maintain accurate inventory of tools, video equipment, servers, and equipment as directed by supervisor
  5. Keep records of repairs, maintenance, and other service costs
  6. Serve as a liaison with the vendor
  7. Schedule backups of SQL server used for video surveillance camera

Additional questions to consider when deciding on placement of camera servers include: a) What will be the impact of video traffic?; b) Will you be storing video from special education cameras (that’s a completely different blog post) and for how long?

Tip #5 – Several miscellaneous points

Do you have special locations where there might not be a network drop? Some examples of remote locations include the bus barn, press box, or barn where livestock are kept. To take care of this, you can rely on long range wireless access bridges.

Another point to keep in mind is to turn off the skip video setting. The problem with the skip video recording setting is that you may inadvertently miss recording during a hallway situation. While turning off this setting will consume more space, you will at least have video recording of events.

 

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clickbait fish hook black and white
CTO/CIODigital Literacy

Teaching Kids (and Adults) about Clickbait

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

I noticed something happening on my Facebook the other day. Suddenly, I was getting a lot of “sponsored stories” (ie. ads) with salacious headlines. Things like “Stop eating chicken breasts immediately!” and “You won’t believe what this famous star has become.” Then I noticed them showing up on my news websites: “Enter your name, wait 12 seconds, and brace yourself.” (Really? Why 12 seconds? Isn’t 10 standard?) And once I started seeing them, suddenly they were everywhere. Welcome to 2017, the year that clickbait becomes the norm.

What Is Clickbait?

According to Wikipedia, clickbait is a term for “web content that is aimed at generating online advertising revenue, especially at the expense of quality or accuracy, relying on sensationalist headlines or eye-catching thumbnail pictures to attract click-throughs and to encourage forwarding of the material over online social networks.”

There are several parts of that definition that jumped out at me. First, it’s all about the bottom line of selling stuff to unsuspecting internet browsers (like your students). Second, the people who create clickbait are very okay with sacrificing quality and accuracy. And third, they really want us to forward this garbage on to our unsuspecting friends and family and maybe help it go viral.

Why Clickbait Is So Dangerous

What makes clickbait so insidious is that, according to the latest research, American adults are fooled by their headlines 75 percent of the time and believe that the headline is true and factual. This is very scary and explains, to a large degree, the great divide we see in our country today.

A recent study on how well students can research conducted by the  Stamford Historian Education Group (SHEG) titled Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning was released in November 2016. The study of 7,804 student responses was conducted between January 2015 and June 2016 for students in middle school through college across 12 states. In summary, SHEG described students’ research ability as “bleak” based on the following:

  • More than 80 percent of middle school students believed that  an advertisement, clearly identified by the words “sponsored content,” was a real news story.
  • Less than 20 percent of high school students used key details to notice that an unreliable source for a photograph was presented as evidence that nuclear radiation caused unusual growth.

I think all of us can agree that clickbait is something that we wish didn’t exist. It’s annoying and distracting. Even I, who consider myself a well-informed individual, find it hard to pull my eyes away from some of their headlines. And that’s why they are so powerful. They are created to appeal to our sense of curiosity, which makes them a natural for children and teens to click on.

The other thing that makes clickbait so dangerous, especially to students, is that it appears the most on social media sites. Since today’s youth practically live on social media, this means that they must be taught how to avoid clickbait and the problems it can cause. And because clickbait works, its use will only continue to grow.

What You Can Do

Here are some tips that something you are thinking about reading is not worth your time. If you follow them, you will easily be able to recognize clickbait when you see it.

The headline or title tells you nothing at all about the content of the article. For example “This Teacher Liked a Facebook Post; What Happened Next Is Awful.” Notice that the headline really doesn’t convey much about the story. What it does do is put a question into your brain: What happened to the teacher? They are counting on you wanting to know enough to click the link. Don’t!

clickbaitThe headline is too good to be true. I think my favorite example in this category is “17 Cats Who Should Be Running for President.” Really? Cats for president? What’s the point of this article? If it’s too ridiculous to be true, it’s too ridiculous to be true and isn’t worth your time.

The headline is in poor taste. Examples include “The Party Is Titanic!” and “10 Things Only People with Dysentery Will Understand.” Good journalists will not stoop to this type of headline. Enough said.

The headline is too funny, too positive, too terrifying, too exploitative, or too anything else. Headlines should simply tell what the story will be about. It is not their job to engender strong emotions. They are supposed to be simply stating the facts.

The headline follows a standard formula.

  • [?] tries to [?]. The reason why will make you [?]
  • [?] tries to [?].  You won’t BELIEVE what happened next!
  • This video will prove that [?]
  • 10 [?] you should never [?] to [?]
  • X was Y. First you’ll be shocked, then you’ll be inspired
  • 10 [?] that look like [?]
  • 10 [?] that you won’t believe [?]

Teaching Students About Clickbait

Share the tips above with your students and have an honest discussion with them about the fallacies and dangers of clickbait. Then try some of the activities below to help them learn to recognize clickbait.

  • Have them take a familiar story, like The Three Little Pigs, and create some obviously clickbait headlines for the story, the stranger the better!
  • Provide them with two headlines for the same story and ask them to decide which one is the clickbait. My favorite example is this one: Headline #1: “You Won’t Believe What This 13-Year-Old Did on His Holidays!” Headline #2: “The Kid Who Climbed Mount Everest”
  • Have students use a headline generator, like the Link Bait Title Generator. Simply enter a topic, like “cats” and the generator will create numerous useless headlines. Discuss why it is so easy for a website to create so many headlines on one topic and what this says about the quality of the headlines being created.
  • Discuss with them why clickbait can be bad. Have them create a PSA using video, audio, drawings, or writing to warn others.
  • Take a historical event and write clickbait headlines for it. Then ask the students how these might color our view of the actual event if they were the only thing we knew.
  • Ask students to write clickbait headlines for common teaching moments. An example is “You have a test today. You won’t believe #17!”
  • Assign a different topic that you have studied in the past to each student and have them create a clickbait headline for it. Then have other students try to guess what the topic is.
  • With older students, have an honest discussion about what problems fake news stories, such as clickbait, can cause. Make sure to have examples handy.
  • Have students play the Factitious online game. a way to test their news sense.
  • Your high school students can try their hand at “spreading” fake news in this ten-minute online game from Cambridge social psychology professor Sander van der Linden. The goal of the game is to teach people how disinformation is made and spread.

All of us can become better and more informed purveyors of the news stories being provided to us, but it will take a little work on our part. How will you help your students become better at this?

This blog was updated with additional content on February 22, 2018.

 

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internet cafe
CTO/CIOCybersecurityDigital LiteracyTechnical Support

Phishing Attack: Evil Google Email

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Have you received a strange email sent to someone with numerous letter h’s in their name? If so, even though you may know the person who has invited you to view the document (and their photo may be displayed), you are seeing a phishing attack. Stop and take a moment before you proceed.

What’s a Phishing Attack?

Phishing is “…the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and, indirectly, money), often for malicious reasons, by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication” (Wikipedia). That means, even though you see the face of someone you know in the email sharing a Google Doc with you, two things are still possible: 1) Their email has been compromised and 2) They didn’t send you that phishing attack. You can find more information and some helpful infographics about phishing attacks in this blog post by Pixel Privacy. In an earlier blog entry, It’s Not the Phishing, It’s Your Lack of Influence, I pointed out that education is all important when dealing with clever attacks like this. Let’s break down what’s happening.

Scott Laleman (Director of Technology, South San ISD) shares the following:

We’ve blocked mailinator.com in our firewall, filter, and management console, but the messages look like they’re coming from in-house and are “to” an address at mailinator.com (the address with the hhhhhhh in it) with bcc to each person or group, but blocking any messages to or from that domain seems to have stopped them from coming in at this point.

How Do I Avoid the Trap?

But before we do that, let’s ensure you know what your options are in this type of situation:

  • When you see a suspicious email asking you to enter your login credentials, you have several options. With Google Docs, simply go to http://drive.google.com and check the Shared With Me section. This will let you know if a document was actually shared with you.
  • Open a fresh Compose message and send it to the person who allegedly sent you the message, or call them, tweet them, or Slack them. Ask the question, “Did you share a Google Doc with me?” If the answer is “No,” then delete the document.
  • Scrutinize the From: and To: to verify they are authentic.
  • If you must click, copy the link to OPEN DOC and create an incognito or private browser window. That way, your login credentials stored in cookies in your browser will not auto-populate or show up in the username/login box. I keep a Firefox browser around for exactly this purpose.

As you will see, each of these steps would have foiled the phishing attack many fell prey to earlier today.

What’s Happening?

At approximately 1:57 pm Central time, users (Update 5/5/17: Google reported, as cited by Threatpost, 1 million user accounts affected) began receiving emails purporting to share a Google document:

Phish Attack

If they clicked on the button shown above, the user was taken to a site that looks like this:

phish attack

 

If they entered their email, they would see a screen that pulls in their name and email, then asks for their permission. This is unnecessary for Google Docs, and would normally be a red flag (but most users are unaware that it is).

phish attack

Image Credit: Robert Stubbs, Lockhart ISD

If you were one of the many users snared by this phishing scheme, make sure you follow the steps below to remedy it.

How to Mitigate the Phishing Attack?

If you have fallen for this particular attack, you will need to take the following action:

Go to Apps Connected To Your Account and REMOVE access, as shown in the image below:

Image Credit: Bryce Anderson

Unfortunately, two-factor verification would not have prevented nefarious hackers from accessing your account if you had granted permission. This particular attack has little to do with how you login, and more with how third party apps connect to your Google account.

For a more detailed step by step, check the Reddit Google Forum.

Update 05/05/2017: For school technology administrators, Amplified IT has offered a solution that takes advantage of GAM. “GAM is a command line tool that allows administrators to manage many aspects of their Google Apps Account,” states the GAM Wiki. You can access Amplified IT’s solution online. This solution can only be implemented by your technology administrator and is not intended to be an individual user solution.

What’s Next?

If you haven’t enabled two-factor authentication for your Google Suites for Education domain or begun to educate your staff on how to avoid phishing attacks, then those are your next steps as school district leaders. If you need professional learning on how to accomplish this, don’t hesitate to contact TCEA for assistance.

 

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payment system
CTO/CIOTechnical Support

Choosing an Online Payment System

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Need to start collecting payments from students, but don’t have a system in place? Take a moment to look at some criteria that will help you select an online payment system for your district. You will also find a short list of common payment systems in use in Texas schools.

Scenario

Over 800 AP exams totaling tens of thousands of dollar are manually processed. The High School Counseling Office expects to handle more than 1,000 exams during the current school year, at approximately $90 per AP exam at full price (slightly less for students on free/reduced lunch). A host of issues have arisen as a result of handling fees by hand, rather than through a web-based automated system. There is a clear need to streamline this process that brings in over $40,000 per year to the district, eliminating student and parent wait times and inconvenience. Given the AP exam fee program’s high participation, an online payment system is needed that addresses these issues. As the technology director, you have been charged with researching solutions and bringing a solution forward.

Possible Solutions

Looking for possible solutions? Here are a few in common use in Texas schools:

Features and Points to Keep in Mind

Here are some considerations you can use to make a selection:

Cost formula

  • Initial launch costs/Setup costs
  • First year cost
  • Maintenance cost for year 2 and beyond
  • Login identifies or provides for two payment tracks, including 1) free/reduced lunch or 2) regular.

Criteria

  • Customer experience
  • Bank transaction fee for processing payment (for example, $.42 of $10 payment)
  • Average cost for a district processing fee that can be charged to parents
  • Requires student/parent to agree to disclaimer that all payments are non-refundable, etc.
  • Online credit card payments are accepted and deposited in a school district account
  • Online echeck/direct withdrawal payments are accepted and deposited in a school district account
  • Online payment allows for partial payment options that include automatic withdrawal from customer credit card or bank account (eCheck)
  • Online refunds can be initiated as credits back to customer credit card or bank account
  • Solution provides for the ability to generate emailed purchase confirmations for customers
  • Solution provides for the ability to generate print receipts

Solution Administration

  • Training on administrative portal
  • Administration console available that provides access to various reports that allow staff to see who has paid for what and when
  • Administration console allows staff to enter information
  • Solution allows a campus to set pricing (e.g. $90) for each exam based on needs of student
  • Solution allows a campus to set a handling or processing fee for transaction
  • Solution allows a campus to set up discounts for payments made before a certain deadline
  • Solution allows a campus to turn it off/on as needed and post an announcement that purchases are no longer permitted
  • AP exams double-booking is prevented by registration

Marketing Materials/Support Available

  • Parent helpline to assist with online support

Technology Considerations

  • Import of data files for students that pre-populates data fields
  • Accepts https:// (SSL) secure web-based payments
  • Access to confidential student data is assured and verified by having a letter on file from the vendor

What payment processing solution have you adopted in your school district?

 

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capacity
CTO/CIOLeadership

Three Things to Remember When Building Capacity in Staff

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Whether you are working with a small number of staff that report to you or a larger group that you supervise, building capacity is an important skill. You may need to work on building capacity in a particular staff member due to a changing job environment. Or, building capacity may need to be done because your department is receiving additional work but without the addition of positions to take on the additional work. Here are three things to keep in mind when trying to build capacity in your staff.

Set Them Up for Success

capacityTaking on new skills and the learning curve that goes along with it may be a frightening and/or frustrating task for your staff members. When possible, always try to set them up for success. They may not know how to break the skill down into manageable pieces, for example, so you may need to help model that aloud. Depending on the skill, you may also need to provide additional resources or training to help them become confident and successful. Put yourself in their position and consider what might be helpful in order to stretch…without breaking.

Have a Dialogue

capacityTalk to your staff about the additional tasks and the need to grow and take on new skills. Having an open discussion can alleviate some of the fear that comes from encountering something new, different, or unknown. When possible, ask questions to find out what they think. They may have a completely different understanding based on their past experiences (or lack thereof). Open dialogue should not be constrained to a single staff meeting however; encourage the conversation to continue. Let your staff know that you want to hear their ideas. Though you may have no control over the growth that needs to take place, you do have a great deal of influence on how well they develop capacity to meet that need.

Set Realistic Expectations

capacityWhen talking with a friend about building capacity in his team, he mentioned that he has a few people that can juggle six or seven major things, and he has one person that can only juggle four. No matter how much he wants the four-task-juggler to grow into a five-task-juggler, he realizes that it just isn’t going to happen. And the best thing he can do is recognize it and use it to both his and his staff member’s advantage. In doing so, he needs to set realistic expectations for each individual staff member. Just because you and I find certain tasks easy to juggle doesn’t mean that a another staff member will obtain the skill with ease. If we think back over our experiences, we probably had much more time (and resources) to build capacity in that area. With that in mind, consider how you can adjust expectations, but still arrive at the required destination.

The goal in building capacity in your staff is that you all come to work with the same (if not more) joy than what you had previously. If you will take into account these three tips, you’ll avoid many of the pitfalls that can end the joy and introduce despair.

 

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post its in rows
CTO/CIOCybersecurity

When People Fail Technology: Digital Evidence Search

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

As a technology leader in a school district, we’ve all had that worrisome call from HR to pick up an employee’s computer for immediate action. In most cases, it’s not that the technology that has been overcome by spyware and malware. Rather, it’s a school district staff member that has failed the technology, causing it to be collected for evidence. What do you do?

Steps to Take

In my tenure as technology director, I encountered at least seven to eight situations where campus technology had to be confiscated and staff terminated due to inappropriate use of technology. Accounts in district systems had to be frozen, passwords changed, or, heaven forbid, deleted. In other cases, a Google email account had to be delegated to another for review. What steps should the technology leader take to safeguard the district and its assets?

As a matter of course (e.g. in cases of porn on a staff member’s computer), I caution districts from expecting the technology department to play a digital forensics role. This ensures that the technology department staff, well-meaning as they often are, will not inadvertently destroy evidence. Larger districts have the benefit of in-house police detectives who specialize in computer forensics, and in smaller districts, there is a push to get a district officer trained in digital forensics. It only takes one Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS/DOS) attack by a dedicated group of students, or inappropriate technology use by staff, to make this a worthwhile investment.

Some steps I have overseen include the following:

  1. Require a complaint form to be submitted and authorized by the Superintendent and/or Human Resources leadership staff. If a principal has a complaint, I refer them to Human Resources immediately. I explain that the Technology Department can take no action until HR becomes involved. This prevents a host of issues from derailing the evidence gathering process later. In the meantime, I recommend confiscating the affected equipment.
  2. Conduct a digital evidence search. Again, computer forensics is not something to be entered into lightly. But there are other things that can be done without affecting the evidence, such as a detailed search of internet logs to see what an individual user has been up to. Of course, any user with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or Private Internet Access (PIA) for all devices or Windscribe VPN on a mobile device (to mention two which I have used, but this is not an endorsement) can protect against prying eyes.
  3. Submit confidential findings to appropriate staff and then take action as directed.

Digital Evidence Search

Below, you will find the digital evidence search form I used in a previous school district. It is adapted from many you can find online. Here’s the Google Docs version.

Digital Evidence Search Request

Directions: HR staff will complete Section I of this form, then send it to the technology department for completion.

Section I: About the User

(to be completed by Human Resources staff member)

Active Directory (AD) Username:

___________________________________
Current Assignment: ___________________________________

 District Equipment To Be Assessed:

__Desktop computer (Win / Mac)

__Laptop computer (Win / Mac)

__Tablet (iPad / Android)

__Mobile Device / External USB Storage

Requested Actions Authorized by: __________________________

__Recover district equipment issued

__Investigate computer storage for suspicious (e.g. offensive, explicit, graphic) content

__Review internet logs for suspicious website traffic and/or content

__Suspend Account (Circle: Email | Gradebook | PD Tracker | Computer Login/AD)

__Change Google Apps Password/ New Password:__________________________

__Change Computer Login/AD/PD Tracker Password

__Change Web Content Management System Password

__Delegate email account to _________________________ (designated district employee)

Requested Completion Date/Time: ____________________________

Section II: Digital Evidence Discovery

(to be completed by a technology department staff member)

Actions Taken by Technology Department
(all efforts will be made to protect evidence from contamination)

__Internet Logs Reviewed __Internet Browser(s) Cache Searched and Analyzed

__Hard Drive Search and Analysis __Made copy of computer hard drive

__Files copied to compact disc (CD) __Suspended accounts requested in Section I

__Anti-malware software verified as up to date __Review Computer Registry and/or Preferences

__Review of software/apps loaded on device(s) to ensure appropriateness and legal status

__Requested Actions Authorized by:____________________________  /  Completed (See above)

Notes:

Section III: Findings

  1. Was inappropriate content, as defined by the Responsible Use Agreement (RUA) and District Policies/Procedures, located on any of the user’s devices? (Circle: YES | NO )
  1. Describe in detail what inappropriate content was found, including websites, descriptions of images, video, documents, unauthorized software, etc. in the space provided below:
Sources of Digital Evidence: Description
Device Storage
Internet Logs, including websites and IP addresses
Images
Videos
Documents
Computer Registry, Preferences, Library
Concealment of Data (e.g. wiped hard drive, encrypted data, steganography)

Recommendation

__No suspicious content was found.

__Recommend that further digital forensics investigation be conducted

__Other: _________________________________________________________________________________

  1. When and to whom has this form been submitted to in Human Resources:

Whom:____________________________ Date and Time:______________________________

Conclusion

If you have been on the receiving end of a call from district leadership about a staff member who is digitally behaving badly, what steps have you taken? Please share your experience in the comments section below.

Update: This blog entry was updated with fresh links for the VPN on 4/23/2018.

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advocacy update
AdvocacyCTO/CIOFunding

Advocacy Update: IMA, Planning, Student Data Privacy

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

TCEA is working very hard to ensure that the Texas Legislature enacts good public policy that is necessary to implement digital learning in Texas classrooms. Below is an update on what is happening related to educational technology.

Technology Lending Grants

The Texas Senate Education Committee took testimony on SB 1483 that would provide grant funds to help give access to devices and internet for students who are unable to afford them. These grants would ensure that students have access to digital content both at school and at home. In the Project Tomorrow Speak Up survey, 81 percent of Texans who identify themselves as community members indicate it is important for students to have consistent, safe internet access Chairman Larry Taylor outside of school time to be successful in school. The survey also revealed that 75 percent of Texas 6th through 12th graders use the internet at home for school work. Those who do not have internet access at home are at a distinct disadvantage. Not only do they have fewer options in terms of access to content; they are unable to develop the technical skills necessary in an economy driven by technology. SB 1483, authored by Chairman Larry Taylor (right), is designed to address this problem.

Student Data Privacy

Representative Gary VanDeaverOn Tuesday, April 11, the House Public Education Committee will take testimony on HB 2087 which is authored by Representative Gary VanDeaver (left). HB 2087 gives schools the much-needed ability to use digital tools to individualize and customize learning and improve student educational outcomes, all while maintaining strong privacy protections for student data. Among other features, HB 2087 will:

 

  • Totally ban the sale or rental of student data
  • Ban targeted advertising to students based upon their use of educational services
  • Ban building a profile of students for any purpose other than for education
  • Sharply limit disclosures of student information obtained by educational tech providers
  • Require educational tech providers to maintain reasonable security practices and procedures to protect student data, and
  • Require deletion of student data whenever a school or school district requests that the data be deleted.

You can watch the hearing live on the Texas House Video/Audio page.

Instructional Materials Allotment and Planning

Also on Tuesday, April 11, the Senate Education Committee will take testimony on SB 1481. This bill is designed to help districts utilize the Instructional Materials Allotment as intended: a dual purpose fund for instructional materials and technology. In a survey conducted by TCEA, only 44 percent of the respondents said their district always includes technology staff when making decisions on the use of the IMA funds. This bill is designed to make it clear what the legislature’s original intent was for the IMA. SB 1481 will:

  • Change the name of the IMA to the Instructional Materials and Technology Fund to communicate the intent and purpose behind the creation of the IMA
  • Require the SBOE to update the Long-Range Plan for Technology at least once every five years
  • Require the SBOE to consider the technology needs of districts when planning the adoption process and proclamation schedule
  • Update statute language to align with industry usage by replacing “open source” with the more accurate and applicable “open education resource” to identify these educational resources
  • Require school districts to consider Open Education Resources when they adopt new instructional materials.

You can watch the hearing live on the Senate Broadcast page.

advocacy update

TCEA Lobby Day 2017

TCEA is working on behalf of Texas school districts to ensure that good policy is developed to assist in their implementation of digital learning. You can monitor these and other bills as they move through the legislative process and learn how to be more involved on the TCEA Advocacy site. Together, we can make a difference!

 

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