Category: Blog

Two Key Highlights from Zoom’s August Releases

New and Enhanced Features

Focus Mode: In Focus Mode, only the host can see participants’ videos and profile pictures. You can start Focus Mode from the “More” menu on the toolbar of the desktop client. This setting is available at the account, group, or user level setting pages. To use Focus Mode, you must have desktop client version 5.7.3 or higher for Windows or macOS.
Authentication exception for single instance of recurring meeting: If only authenticated users are allowed to join the meeting, account owners and admins can allow authentication exceptions for a single instance of a recurring meeting to allow guests to join the meeting. This feature can be enabled in the Meetings > Security Web Portal settings.

Focus Mode

Focus Mode does just that – it helps keep people focused in a Zoom meeting. Designed with educators in mind, Focus Mode places meeting participants in a view where they are only able to see themselves, the host/co-hosts, and the content they are sharing. In this view, hosts and co-hosts can also choose to view participants in gallery view, enabling them to see all participants simultaneously.

Don’t forget to download the latest version of Zoom to access these features and more.

REMC Back-to-School Learning 📅 Register for September Virtual Courses, earn 10 Free SCECHs

Passing along news from REMC: 2021 SEPTEMBER REMC Virtual Courses
Kick off the school year with new skills and tools to engage students.
Earn up to 10 Free SCECHs

Take advantage of September’s Virtual Courses for all your back-to-school needs. It’s a great time to learn a new skill in an instructor-led virtual course setting. Each course offers 10 free SCECHs, registration deadline is Friday, September 3rd.

The REMC Virtual Courses offer an easy, convenient way for teachers to connect and collaborate from the convenience of their home. The Virtual Courses are free, offer free 10 SCECHs when completed, and are open to all Michigan school personnel. There are no SCECH fees because REMC SAVE’s vendor partners provide support for all REMC professional learning opportunities.

Register by Friday September 3rd – Classes Begin September 6th.

If you have questions or need further assistance with your course registration, please contact Erin Rommeck, REMC Event Coordinator.

Two-factor authentication now required for MISTAR access

As shared in an earlier newsletter posting, due to enhanced cybersecurity insurance requirements in response to the dramatic rise in cyber-attacks, districts now have to ensure that staff pass two-factor authentication to gain access to personally identifiable data (PII), including student data, in two MISTAR applications (Q and Student Scan).

Upon logging in, each staff user will be required to retrieve and enter a system generated six-digit number.
The number will be emailed to their email address and will come from noreply@resa.net with subject MISTAR-Q Login Code.
If logging into the mobile app and notifications for the app are activated on the device, the number may also be received via push notification.
Staff will need to authenticate only once per day (as opposed to each login throughout the day) using the same browser and same device. Each browser or device will require authentication each day access is attempted.
Each initial login attempt will generate an email of a different six (6) digit code and the most recently emailed code will be the only code that will work to successfully log in.

NOTE: since the Student Connection and Parent Connection applications accessed by our students and parents ARE NOT required to have two factor authentication at this time, our district has decided to NOT MAKE that a requirement for successful login for those account holders.

BrainPop subscription renewed for entire district’s access

Just a reminder that BrainPop (and at the elementary level, BrainPop JR) are available digital resources for all of our elementary, middle and high school students. Log in is via Clever (clever.com/in/pccs).

Their latest newsletter offers the following:

Get started with setting up your class(es).

Visit your Teacher Dashboard to create an assignment.

New! Invite co-teachers to collaborate in BrainPOP.

See all we offer with BrainPOP 101.

Canvas Support Office Hours

We hope you had a relaxing and rejuvenating summer break. As you work on getting your Canvas course(s) up and running, we want to offer you support. On Wednesday afternoon (September 1) we will offer office hours via Zoom from 12:30-3:30 pm. Add to your calendar.

If you are looking for other forms of support, the Help option on the Course Navigation Menu has several great options. See the image below.

You can also schedule a one-on-one coaching session with a Canvas representative, also known as a Panda Pro. https://tech.pccsk12.com/panda-pros-coaching/

Canvas

District Overdrive subscription with Sora renewed

The online Sora app was designed around the modern student reading experience. This app, developed and curated by Overdrive, empowers students to discover and enjoy ebooks and audiobooks, for both leisure and class-assigned reading. ALL STUDENTS in all of our district’s schools AND ALL STAFF can log into our Sora page using their Google Accounts at http://links.pccsk12.com/sora and begin checking out ebooks!

Once logged in, students and staff are able to “borrow” ebooks and audiobooks from a selection of thousands of titles available in their school, district and/or Wayne county library collections. Check out this 2 minute video for how to access the app via the Google apps launcher (aka waffle) as well as how to add a library collection (only need to do that once per year).

P-CCS Canvas Best Practices

As we enter our second year with Canvas as our district’s learning management system, it’s important to continue to have it serve as the digital centerpiece for our classrooms. In an effort to foster a more uniform experience for our students and families, staff are encouraged to construct and maintain their Canvas courses bearing in mind these P-CCS Canvas Best Practices.

If you have questions or would like assistance implementing any of these practices, please consider attending a “WorkLab” session on Thursday, August 26 during Canvas Camp or one of the Canvas Q & A sessions on either Thursday, August 26th or Monday, August 30th.

Finally, know your friendly, district Technology Integration Specialists will also plan sessions for each of these items during the first six weeks of school (and sessions will be recorded and posted) as embracing these best practices will help our students.

Canvas

Remember To Please Submit a Service Request if/when seeking Tech support

With over 2,000 staff members and over 15,000+ devices to support, it’s important to have a system to track issues, document trends, and assign support to the appropriate technicians or tech integration specialists. If you are needing assistance with anything technology related, we ask that you use the Service Request ticketing system. There are a couple of ways to access this system.

Go to links.pccsk12.com/helpdesk

Once there, to log in, you will input your district GMAIL Email address for your “Username”.

For “Password” you will input your network password (not necessarily your Google password) – Your network password is the password you use to log onto a district desktop computer.

Then you fill out the service form with the details that best describes your situation and support needs.

Alternatively, to locate the service portal…

Browse to the PCCS Website: http://www.pccsk12.com
Hover over Staff
Click on Technology Service Request

If you might submit more than one service ticket during the year, consider bookmarking the Service Desk url by clicking the Star on the right side of the address bar (see pic below), so that it is easy to locate the page again.

Canvas Camp 2021

Pack your bags for Canvas Camp! Join your Technology Integration Specialists for Canvas sessions heading into the new school year. We will be offering a variety of sessions:

Worklabs: Set aside some time to work on your Canvas course with Matt and Kaelyn available to assist. Set a goal for your worktime and join breakout rooms with others working on the same thing: home page set up, organizing modules, or getting back to the basics of setting up your course. Elementary and Secondary sessions offered. Join virtually or come to the Tanger Media Center.
Studio and Canvas Q & A sessions with Canvas trainers (limit of 30 virtual participants)
Course Design Considerations with a Canvas trainer (limit of 50 virtual participants). Topics include course home page design, organizing modules, and setting up assignments in a more user-friendly way.
Tech Integrationist Face-Off: Canvas Tips: Watch Matt and Kaelyn showdown about their favorite tips and features of Canvas.

SCECHs are available for attendance. Interact with the image below (click the + button) for more details and to add the sessions to your Google Calendar click here.

Special Free PD from OTIS: Alice Keeler, Bryan Miller, & Michelle Blanchet

Looking for some tech-related PD? Consider signing up for a free basic OTIS account to access their free course content . Their calendar to see what’s available when can be found here. OTIS is bringing some special guests for great back to school webinars! They’re covering everything from Google apps, to coding, to engaging educators in professional learning. Two of their many sessions are noted below. More free courses can be reviewed and signed up for here.

Back to School with Google Forms

Tuesday, 8/17, 3 PM – Alice Keeler

Google Forms is the greatest thing since sliced bread. You know the basics of creating a Google Form, but what else can you do to leverage the learning power and student engagement elements of Google Forms? Let’s go over how to reuse your Google Forms from last year. Why and how to use Branching Forms. Join Alice Keeler to start the school year off right by upping our Google Forms game!

Teaching with Google Jamboard

Tuesday,8/24, 3:00 PM ET – Alice Keeler

Join Alice Keeler for this session, which is an intro for teachers on how to use Google Jamboard app in the classroom. It will cover everything from the basics of how to navigate to lessons/activities you can use today! Alice will also cover some important pedagogical considerations to help you know when and how to use Jamboard…