Quick Tech Update: Meet “Follett Work Orders” (It’s What You Already Know!)

Follett logo

Have you recently seen an email from “Follett Work Orders” and wondered, “What is this? Did I sign up for something?”

Don’t worry, you’re not getting spam! This is just a quick, friendly update about a small change to a system you already know and use.  Follett Work Orders is the new name for our district’s help and request system, which you have known as Master Library. That’s it! The company that runs the software was purchased by Follett, so they are updating the name, logo, and website colors.

 

 

Update to Your Google Calendar Settings

I mage of paper calendar and the text, "Spam! No thanks!"

Ever open your Google Calendar and see a strange, spammy event invitation from someone you don’t know?  It’s cluttered, annoying, and, honestly, a little concerning. To help clean up our calendars and boost our district’s security, we’re enabling a new Google Calendar setting.

Don’t worry! This is a simple, positive change. This post will quickly explain what’s new and the one simple step you might need to take.

What is this Google Calendar Change?

Think of your calendar like your physical mailbox at school. Until now, anyone could slip a flyer (a calendar invite) into your box, and it would just appear there.

With this new setting, your calendar gets a “hall monitor.”

From now on, only event invites from people your calendar “knows” will be automatically added. This includes:

  • Anyone else in our school district
  • People already in your Google Contacts
  • People you’ve emailed with before

So, what happens if someone new (like a parent, a guest speaker, or a webinar you signed up for) sends you an invite?

You will still get an email invitation just like always. The event just won’t automatically appear on your calendar grid until you click “Yes” in the email.

Next Steps

There is one simple action you should take to make sure you don’t miss important meetings from people you trust.

Add Your Trusted Connections to Google Contacts.

The next time you get an email from a parent, a regular guest speaker, or a community partner, take 5 seconds to add them to your contacts.

Here’s the easiest way (in Gmail):

  1. Open an email from that person.
  2. Hover your mouse over their name at the top of the email.
  3. A small card will pop up. Click the “Add to Contacts” icon (it looks like a little person with a plus sign).

That’s it! Once you do that, all future calendar invites from that person will be automatically added to your calendar, just like you’re used to.

URGENT: Security Risk and Policy Reminder – AI Browsers (ChatGPT Atlas, Perplexity Comet)

Construction cones and cautions signs related to AI browser security risks

We need to make you aware of a new category of software that poses a significant security and data privacy risk to our students and our district: AI-powered web browsers.

You may see news about browsers like ChatGPT Atlas (from OpenAI) and Perplexity Comet. These are not standard browsers like Chrome. They are built with powerful AI “agents” that can take actions on a user’s behalf, such as summarizing pages, booking appointments, or even completing tasks for them.

While the features may sound helpful, they introduce severe dangers that violate our student data privacy obligations and acceptable use policies. Teachers and students should not be using these browsers for school-related business.

The Core Dangers: Why These Browsers Are Not Permitted

  1. Extreme Data Privacy & FERPA Risks:
    • Unlike Chrome, these browsers are designed to read, understand, and “remember” the entire content of every webpage a student visits.
    • OpenAI’s “Browser Memories” feature in Atlas, for example, creates a persistent profile of the user’s activity.
    • Using these tools with any student information (grades, IEPs, or even just student names) could be a direct violation of FERPA, as unvetted third-party companies would be collecting and storing protected educational data.
  2. Critical Security Vulnerabilities (Prompt Injection):
    • Security researchers have demonstrated a new attack called “indirect prompt injection.”
    • This is where a malicious website hides invisible instructions (in code, comments, or even white text on a white background) on its page.
    • When a student simply asks the AI to “summarize this page,” the AI can be tricked into executing those hidden, malicious commands without the student’s knowledge.
    • In documented tests, attackers used this method to steal a user’s email, access their private Gmail account, and extract passwords.
  3. “Agent Mode” Can Be Hijacked:
    • The “agent mode” in these browsers is designed to take autonomous actions for the user.
    • OpenAI itself warns that these agents are “susceptible to hidden malicious instructions” and that their “safeguards will not stop every attack.”
    • This could lead to an AI agent being tricked into downloading malware, making unauthorized purchases, or sending sensitive data from a student’s account to an attacker.

Our Policy: Google Chrome is Required

Our district’s acceptable use policy, which requires that all students (including BYOD) log in to and use Google Chrome, is in place specifically to prevent these kinds of risks.

  • Google Chrome is Vetted: We manage the Chrome environment. We control the extensions, enforce safe browsing, and have a data privacy agreement (DPA) with Google that ensures FERPA compliance.
  • AI Browsers Are Unvetted: We have no DPA with these new companies. They are not enterprise-ready for schools and, as one security firm noted, can be up to 85% more vulnerable to phishing attacks than Chrome.

What to Do:

  • Do Not Install: Please ensure these browsers (ChatGPT Atlas, Perplexity Comet, etc.) are not installed on any school device. If you as a teacher bring your own device to work, do not use these browsers for school-related business.
  • Talk to Your Students: Remind students that using unapproved software on their BYOD devices while connected to the school network is a policy violation. Explain that while the new features seem “smart,” they can easily be tricked into stealing their personal information.
  • Reinforce Chrome Use: Please ensure students on BYOD devices are logged into their school-provided Google Chrome profile. This is our first and best line of defense.

If you have any questions, please submit a tech ticket.

Thank you for your help in keeping our students and their data safe.

Goodbye, Canvas Studio! Here’s Your New Toolkit for Creating, Hosting, and Assigning Videos

Introduction: A New Chapter for Video in Our Classrooms

Please note this was first announced in Spring 2025.

This is an important update for all Canvas users: effective for the 25-26 school year, Canvas Studio will be discontinued. The critical deadline to remember is November 30, 2025. You must download any videos you have created and wish to keep from Canvas Studio by this date. On December 1, 2025, our access will be removed, and all stored videos will be permanently lost.

While this news marks the end of one tool, it also opens the door to a more powerful and integrated video toolkit already available within our district’s Google ecosystem. This change represents a positive evolution, providing you with more versatile tools that offer enhanced functionality for creating and sharing video content in your classroom.

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1. First Things First: Where Do I Save My Videos?

The new central hub for all your personal video files will be Google Drive.

To preserve your work, you will need to download any videos that you personally created from Canvas Studio and upload them to your Google Drive account. Please note that videos you may have imported from other sources, like YouTube, cannot be downloaded.

This move to Google Drive is a significant benefit. It provides ample storage for your video files and, most importantly, integrates seamlessly with the other Google tools you already use daily, creating a more streamlined workflow.

You might also choose to upload existing videos to Edpuzzle if you envision yourself using the features listed (more details below).

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2. The Teacher’s Toolkit: How Do I Create New Instructional Videos?

Videos are a powerful tool to activate background knowledge, spark engagement, and take students beyond classroom walls.

Meet Google Vids

Google Vids is the district’s video creation app, included as part of Google Workspace for Education (located in the Google Waffle or at vids.google.com). Its core function is to allow educators to create professional-quality videos up to 10 minutes long, without needing any prior video editing experience. Vids saves you time by providing a rich set of creative tools, including a library of stock images, videos, and music. This allows you to create dynamic content without needing to find your own media or record your own narration.

You can create dynamic content in Google Vids in several ways:

  • Start from a library of pre-built, professional templates.
  • Record your screen, webcam, or document camera directly within the app.
  • Turn an existing Google Slides presentation into an engaging video.

Google Vids is the perfect tool for creating engaging lesson hooks, dynamic presentations for parents, or compelling introductions for student projects.

For Quick Screencasts & Interactive Lessons: Edpuzzle & Google Slides

For more direct screencasting and lesson recording, you have two excellent options that are already at your fingertips.

First, the Edpuzzle Screen Recording Chrome Extension is a versatile tool for quick recordings. Its key features allow you to: record a single browser tab, your entire desktop, or just your webcam; easily trim the beginning, end, or even the middle of your video to remove irrelevant sections; and use a voiceover feature to replace sections of audio if you misspeak.

Second, you can now record screencasts directly in Google Slides. By clicking the record icon on the right-side menu you can easily create a screencast of your presentation, position your facecam in any corner, and save the final video directly to your Google Drive.

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3. The Power-Up: How Do I Make Videos Interactive and Track Student Viewing?

Edpuzzle is our premier tool for transforming passive video watching into an active learning experience. Login information can be found here. It empowers you to take almost any video—whether from YouTube, your own screen recording, or the Edpuzzle Originals library—and embed interactive elements to check for understanding and provide deeper context.

With Edpuzzle, you can add a variety of interactive elements to your video lessons:

  • Embed multiple-choice and open-ended questions to check for understanding as students watch.
  • Allow students to submit audio responses to open-ended questions.
  • Add your own voiceovers to explain concepts or provide instructions in your own words.
  • Cut or trim videos to show only the most relevant sections for your lesson.
  • Add notes containing text, external links, or images to provide additional information.

One of the most powerful features is Edpuzzle’s integration with Canvas. You can create Edpuzzle assignments directly in Canvas, and student grades are automatically synced to the Canvas gradebook.

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Putting It All Together

Imagine this: You create a polished lesson hook in Google Vids, which automatically saves to your Google Drive. You then import that video into Edpuzzle to embed comprehension questions. Finally, you assign the interactive lesson directly in Canvas, with grades syncing automatically to your gradebook. This seamless workflow is the true power of your new video toolkit.

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Conclusion: More Than a Replacement—An Upgrade

While we are saying goodbye to Canvas Studio, the new toolkit at your disposal represents a significant upgrade. The combination of Google Drive for hosting, Google Vids for polished creation, and Edpuzzle for interactive instruction provides a more powerful, flexible, and integrated video ecosystem for you and your students.

With these new creative tools at your fingertips, what’s the first new video project you’re excited to try with your students?

We will follow up with more details and guides on these video tools in coming blog posts. In the meantime, if you need help logging in or accessing, please submit a tech ticket.

Meet “Gemini in Chrome”

teacher sitting at desk imagining all the things they can get done using Gemini in Chrome

You may have noticed the Gemini symbol (a little, black diamond) appear near your Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons in the upper right corner of Chrome. This is an AI browsing assistant built directly into the Chrome browser. Its key capability is its ability to use the context of the current web page you are on, plus up to 10 other open browser tabs, to answer questions, synthesize information, and conduct in-depth analysis. This makes it an incredibly powerful tool for complex tasks like content research and summarizing multiple sources. Please note that it is only available for teachers using their P-CCS account.

Key Features of Gemini in Chrome:
Intelligent Summarization: Gemini can quickly summarize the content of lengthy articles and web pages, providing you with the key takeaways in a concise format. This allows for rapid comprehension of complex topics and saves valuable time.

Cross-Tab Information Synthesis: One of the most powerful aspects of this integration is Gemini’s ability to understand the context across multiple open tabs. You can ask questions that require information from different sources, and Gemini will synthesize the relevant details to provide a comprehensive answer.

Seamless Integration with Google Workspace: For users of Google’s productivity suite, Gemini in Chrome offers a significant workflow advantage. It can interact with Google Docs, Sheets, and other Workspace applications, allowing you to perform tasks like creating documents, summarizing notes, or drafting emails directly from the browser’s AI interface.

Here are concrete, time-saving ways Gemini in Chrome can help a teacher during a busy school day.

Please note: While AI tools like Gemini in Chrome can feel incredibly helpful, remember they are powerful tools, not magic wands. They assist and generate based on data, but human judgment, creativity, and critical thinking remain essential for effective teaching.

  • Differentiate on the Fly: Have an article that’s too difficult for some students? With the page open, tell Gemini: Rewrite this text for a 4th-grade reading level.
  • Generate Materials Instantly: Need a quick activity? Ask Gemini: Create a 5-question exit ticket about the water cycle. or Make a simple grading rubric for a student presentation on a historical figure.
  • Brainstorm Quick Ideas: Stuck in a planning rut? Ask: Give me 3 creative ways to start a lesson on fractions.
  • Summarize Long Resources: Found a long district document or a dense article? Have Gemini Summarize the key takeaways from this page so you can decide if it’s worth a full read.
  • Create Simple Explanations: Struggling to explain a concept? Ask: Explain photosynthesis using an analogy a 6th grader would understand.

 

Navigating Canvas Quiz Accommodations

Navigating Canvas Quiz Accommodations blog post

Ensuring fair and accessible assessments often requires providing accommodations for individual student needs. Within Canvas’s New Quizzes, teachers have access to two distinct, yet complementary, tools for managing these adjustments in the Moderate tab: Course Accommodations and Current Quiz Accommodation. This post serves as a guide and reminder of how to effectively use these features. We will cover the specific function of each—from setting course-wide adjustments to handling single-quiz exceptions—and explain how they can work together.

Teachers can manage individual student needs for assessments by going to New Quizzes > Build > Moderate tab to access Course Accommodations (1) and Current Quiz Accommodation (2).

Edit pencil icon to set quiz moderation

Course Accommodations: Course-Wide Adjustments

Course Accommodations are used to apply specific time modifications to a student for all quizzes in the course. This is a set-it-and-forget-it feature, ideal for students with documented extended-time needs.

  • Applies to: All New Quizzes in the course.
  • Settings include: Adding/removing a specific amount of time, or applying a time limit multiplier (e.g., time), or reducing answer choices.
  • Rule: Only one course-level accommodation can be set per student.
  • How to access/View:  Click the Student’s Name in the Moderate tab within the New Quiz Build screen and your settings will be visible under the Accommodations column.

How do I add accommodations for a student in New Quizzes for all my course assessments?

    • course accommodations click name
student accommodations settings for time adjustments and reduced answer choices

Current Quiz Accommodation: Single-Quiz Control

Current Quiz Accommodation is used to make adjustments for an individual student on one specific quiz. This is your tool for handling one-off issues or exceptions.

  • Applies to: Only the quiz you are currently moderating.
  • Settings include:
    • Reopening a student’s most recent attempt (their previous responses are saved, and the timer resumes from where it left off).
    • Managing timer settings (adding a specific amount of time to all attempts, or removing the time limit entirely).
    • Granting extra attempts.
    • Reducing answer choices
  • Rule: Moderation timer settings apply to all attempts for the quiz in which they are set.
  • How to access/View: Click the Edit pencil icon in the Moderate tab within the New Quiz Build screen and your settings will be visible under the Accommodations column.

How do I moderate a student’s quiz attempt in New Quizzes for a single quiz?

quiz accommodations click pencil icon

current quiz accommodation menu

How Course and Current Quiz Accommodations Work Together

When a student has both a course accommodation and a current quiz accommodation applied, the settings stack:

  1. Course Accommodations are applied first.
  2. Current Quiz Accommodation settings are applied on top of the accommodation.
  3. Important: Moderation timer settings can never reduce the time granted by a course accommodation.

Critical Timing Note

Keep in mind that Quiz availability dates are the final authority. Even if you grant a student extended time, the quiz will auto-submit and close if the “Until” date passes while they are still working. Always ensure the “Until” date is wide enough to cover the maximum time any student (including those with accommodations) might need.

Currently, New Quizzes does not support bulk moderation, and student names will not be visible if anonymous grading is enabled.

Related Blog Post: 

There are a lot of moderation options in Canvas. Below you will find a resources on how students can resume a Quiz, moderating New and Classic Quizzes, and how to reopen an attempt for students.

Please submit a ticket if you have additional questions about this.


You may also view this collection of resources here: https://wke.lt/w/s/5aK43b

A Cybersecurity Month Reminder: Stay Vigilant Against Phishing Attacks

As we continue our efforts to maintain a secure digital environment for our school community, the Technology team would like to provide a timely reminder about phishing awareness and the tools at our disposal.

 

First, we want to extend our thanks to everyone for your engagement with our KnowBe4 cybersecurity initiatives. Since we began our simulated phishing campaigns, we have seen a positive increase in awareness across our staff. However, the landscape of cyber threats is constantly evolving. Attackers are using more sophisticated and personalized techniques, making it more critical than ever to remain skeptical and vigilant. To put this in perspective, the latest Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report found that 74% of all breaches involved the human element, such as falling for a phishing scam. This highlights that our awareness is truly the first and most effective line of defense.

 

Our simulated phishing campaigns will continue periodically throughout the school year. Remember, these are not tests designed to catch you out, but rather practical exercises to help us all stay sharp. Think of them as fire drills for our digital safety. The goal remains purely educational: to provide a safe space to practice and hone our skills in identifying and reporting suspicious emails. As before, there will be no disciplinary repercussions for interacting with these simulations. Our focus is on continuous learning and improvement for everyone.

 

One of the most powerful tools at your disposal is the Phish Alert button. Your active use of this button is essential to our defense strategy. When you report a suspicious email using this feature, you are not just deleting it from your inbox; you are immediately notifying our technology team. This allows us to analyze the threat, block the sender, and remove similar malicious emails from other inboxes across the district, protecting your colleagues before they might even see the threat.

 

As a quick refresher, the Phish Alert button is located in the Gmail side panel on the right side of your email window, alongside your Calendar and Tasks icons.

Phish alert screenshot

We want to address a common question: “What if I’m not sure if an email is a phishing attempt?” The answer is simple: When in doubt, report it! It is always better to be overly cautious. There is no penalty for reporting a legitimate email by mistake. Your vigilance helps create a safer environment for our entire school community, including our students’ data and our shared resources.

 

Your continued partnership in this effort is crucial. By staying alert and using the tools provided, you are an active participant in safeguarding our institution. Together, we can build a resilient “human firewall” against cyber threats.

 

Should you have any questions or need a refresher on identifying phishing attempts, please do not hesitate to reach out to our IT department by submitting a service request.

 

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to keeping our community secure.