The Read&Write for Google WEB Toolbar can be used to access web pages in the Chrome browser. Students and staff can use supports like text to speech, word prediction, talking and picture dictionaries, study skills highlighters and more.
Last May (2019), all Google EDU account holders around the world that had YouTube Brand accounts were notified by Google that their YouTube Brand accounts would be deleted a couple of months later, in July 2019. While worldwide millions received that notice, in our district it was ~60 staffers and ~2400 students. Google later decided to instead suspend EDU Brand accounts in July and only outright delete them this coming November (2019). For the ~60 P-CCS staff, the Technology department submitted online forms necessary to obtain a temporary one year extension (until July 15, 2020) from suspension / deletion of their Brand accounts. Student brand accounts were not eligible for any extension and were suspended this past July.
One major result of the account suspensions that were not foreseen by Administrators or Google, is that if a user had configured their Brand account to be the default account to use when signing into YouTube, they could not view YouTube videos at all until they changed the default channel by selecting the box under “Settings > Advanced Settings” within YouTube.
If you encounter any students unable to view YouTube, please let them know the following:
Affected student users need to sign-out of Google (or delete their cookies) then navigate to youtube.com/channel_switcher and sign in again, remembering to change the default channel once they sign-in. Once this has been done on one device, it will fix the issue on any of their other devices.
Some students might find it easier/possible, to simply delete their Brand account by browsing to https://myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts and deleting the Brand account. Once deleted, they should be able to again log into YouTube.
For those interested, especially those staffers with Brand accounts and a one year extension, guidance on content retention as well as more background on the situation can be found here.
If you think you might have missed an email sent to a group that you’re a member of, head to groups.google.com, click on My Groups, then find and click on the name of the group and in most instances a page will open listing past email messages to that group.
At Groups, you can also adjust how emails are sent to you for each group for whom you are a member by clicking the down arrow to the right of “Every new message” found on the right hand side of the landing page:
Note, some groups are set to show who are their members; others are not. If set to show, click on “Members” to see a list along with the date they were added/joined the group.
If this does not resolve your issue, please submit a service request.
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If you ran into the issue with Gmail this week, you know who you are. From time to time, Google’s Sync technology that allows your browser to save your bookmarks, passwords, form data, etc., seems to get a bit glitchy. This week, it appears to have kept some of you from being able to access your Gmail.
Fortunately the fix is easy and can get someone back up and running in a snap. So, if you have an issue with one or more Google apps and you hear the suggestion that it might have something to do with your profile (or you just want to try this and see if it helps), here’s what to do:
Remove your “profile” and then add it back to the browser. After doing so, you will want to choose “Link Data” when you are adding your profile back so that it syncs important things like bookmarks, passwords, form data, etc. See elaboration on these steps below:
Remove a person or profile
After you remove someone from Chrome, their bookmarks, history, passwords, and other settings are erased from the computer.
On your computer, open Chrome.
At the top right, click Profile .
Click Manage people.
Point to the person you want to remove. For this exercise you want to remove yourself.
At the top right of the person (aka you), click More Remove this person.
Confirm by clicking Remove this person.
Once you have removed yourself, you can add yourself back as well and re-sync or link your data again. See below for the steps to add yourself back to the Chrome browser.
Add a person or profile
On your computer, open Chrome.
At the top right, click Profile .
Click Manage people.
Click Add person.
Choose a name and a photo.
Click Save. A new window will open and ask you to turn on sync.
(Optional) Turn sync on in Chrome with a Google Account for the new profile. Their bookmarks, history, passwords, and other settings will automatically sync.
Technology can be the spark for wonderful things, but its real value comes from empowering users – in the workplace, at school or at home. To get the most out of the Texthelp products, we offer three main areas of support.
Courses – From learning the basics to integrating into instruction, Texthelp short courses bring together strategies and best practice. Each course has simple instructions, videos, and great examples to help you become experts in Texthelp software. You can gain achievements along the way!
Certification – Here is a chance to show what you know with two levels of certification: Level 1 Certified User requiring passing an assessment and Level 2 Role-Specific Practitioner requiring passing and a project. Earners receive badges and certificates.
Resources – Why recreate the wheel? We have plenty of checklists, lesson plans, strategies, help/tip sheets, presentations, and ideas to get you started and keep you going. Many are contributed by educators just like you.
If you’re wondering how to enable your new ID/door access proximity card to work with many of our copiers instead of having to input a PIN number, please see the directions and a link to a video below.
1. Place the ID/ proximity card in front of the card reader on the copier
2. When asked if you’d like to associate and account with the ID, tap “yes”
3. Input your network credentials (what you’d use to login to a district desktop computer) NOT your Google login information
4. Tap “set”
5. Place the proximity card in front of the card reader again and you should be able to login without the need to input a pin number
Every 90 days, your P-CCS network password is set to expire, and you are automatically prompted to create a new password. [Each time, we urge you make it a “strong” one. See here for guidance.] While this may seem frustrating at times, it keeps our network AND your data safe. There are some specific ramifications that occur when this process happens. Once you reset your new password on your P-CCS ProBook, desktop, or other district-provided laptop, it is important to IMMEDIATELY also reset your password on any personal devices connected to the Staff WiFi network. The illustration below highlights the systems and devices that are affected when changing your password:
If you DO NOT change your password, your other devices, such as an iPhone or Android might well continue to “knock on the network door” with your OLD PASSWORD multiple times, thus locking you out of your account and causing frustration. When dealing with iPads, iPhones, or Androids, it’s a good idea to also tap “Forget Network” first before entering your new password for the network WiFi. See the links below for further assistance in this regard.
Due to a continuing concern around the impact on security and functionality of a constantly changing set of available apps, extensions, and browser themes in the Chrome Web Store, P-CCS students will only be permitted to download and install VETTED and approved Chrome apps/extensions/browser themes. Staff will still be able to add apps/extensions/browser themes via the Chrome Web Store just as they have done in the past.
On the following dates Chrome apps, extensions and browser themes that have not been vetted/approved will be uninstalled/removed from student accounts AND students will no longer be able to add apps, extensions, and browser themes, apart from those that are district-approved:
September 12, K-5 Elementary School students
September 12, 6-8 Middle School students
October 1, 9-12 High School students
We realize that this may pose an inconvenience for some teachers and support staff, as well as frustrate some students, but this policy change is designed to keep our network safe, eliminate extension conflicts otherwise on the rise for our Chromebook users and reduce the myriad of distractions for our learning community being added to the Web Store daily. Seriously, we know how much everyone is going to miss Ncage, the extension that turns every picture on any website into a picture of Nicholas Cage.
Nick Cage, love him or despise him. His extension is gone.
But we digress. Moving forward please note that there are now about 80 approved extensions/apps that are available for both staff and students to explore and install via the P-CCS landing page of the Chrome Web Store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/for_your_domain
When logged into a Chrome browser, both students and staff will be taken to the P-CCS landing page where you will see the list of approved extensions and apps.
We also recognize that new and amazing educationally sound apps will be developed and in some cases already exist, so the process for requesting approval for Chrome apps and extensions mirrors the process we have in place for iPad apps.
Please use this form to request a Google Chrome App, Extension or browser theme that isn’t otherwise already available for your students . You may wish to bookmark it for future reference: https://forms.gle/tQdYz7icMhmqRmo36
A review of the requested app, extension, browser theme will go through our core departments (technology/technology integration, curriculum, ELL, and specialized student services). If approved the app, extension, or theme will be available for download in the Chrome Web Store by the last Friday of the following month. While we will try and expedite the first wave of requests to be available much sooner, in general this process cannot be rushed, so please plan accordingly when submitting your item for review. Please also note at this time we will not be accepting requests for any paid apps or extensions, only those that are free.
As always, if you have any questions regarding tech integration, you can email tis@pccsk12.com or in case you need technical or integration help, you can submit a service request.
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 of accessing the system.
Once there you will use your GMAIL Email address for your “Username”.
For “Password” you will then use your network password (not necessarily your Google password) – Your network password is the password you would use when you might log onto any district desktop computer
Then you fill out form that best describes your situation.
Once on the site, consider bookmarking the Service Request url by clicking the Star on the right side of the address bar, so that it is easy to return to the page if needed.
The Find-Me printing choice continues to be our best and most popular option for timely releasing and roaming print jobs. Please review the following diagram to understand how to set up “Find Me Printing” after which, when you select it, you may then walk up to one of our new multi-function printers and upon logging in, be presented with the choice of which jobs to print. This guidance and other helpful tips for staff laptops can be found at https://tech.pccsk12.com/devices-hardware/hp-probook-g5-handbook/
Please also remember to choose “Black and White” in the drop-down menu.
