How To Install Apps on New Dell Laptops
As of now, all instructional staff working with K-12 students should have been issued a new Dell Latitude 3520 laptop, with the exception of a few make-ups that have yet to be deployed. We appreciate everyone’s patience and want to thank staff for being cooperative, given our expedited time frame to issue all devices in the district. Even we are adjusting to the new technology and all the changes involved with the new Dell laptops. Besides the differences in the look and feel of staff laptops, one of the biggest changes is the addition of the Microsoft Company Portal.
What is the Company Portal?
The Company Portal is part of a new data management system that allows PCCS staff to securely download and install district-vetted programs and updates. The Company Portal can be thought of as an App Store for PCCS, including all apps and utilities used in-district. We surveyed the list of programs that were being used by teachers and staff members in the district and included the vast majority of these in the current app list in the Company Portal. The list of available apps in the portal is ever-growing,
You may have noticed that installing programs outside of the Company Portal prompts for an administrator username and password. This is completely to be expected and is designed to protect your laptop and files safe from malware or malicious programs. Safeguarding devices connected to our network protects our infrastructure and makes our districts less susceptible to cyber attacks. It’s also something our insurance company has begun to insist on for us to remain with coverage.
How do I install the Company Portal on my computer?
The Company Portal should install on your laptop after about an hour of initial use. Once you log into your laptop for the first time, it gets pushed out to your device and usually takes about that long to appear. Once installed, and following another restart, a shortcut to the Company Portal should later appear on your desktop. If you do not see an icon for Company Portal, it’s possible that it hasn’t been pushed to your device yet. A restart often helps, but it is also possible that you can find the Company Portal by searching for it.
If you click the Start button and begin to search for “company portal”, you should see the app populate in the search results. Once the program opens, feel free to right-click the icon at the bottom of the screen and select Pin to taskbar so it is readily accessible when you want to open the Company Portal in the future.
Once the Company Portal opens, click Apps to see a full list of all available apps in the Company Portal.
How do I install the apps I need?
Click the app you’d like to install and click Install. Please do not disconnect from the Internet or close the lid during the installation process. Some apps are larger than others and require more time to download and properly install.
You will know an app is completely installed when you see the blue checkmark and Installed at the top of the screen.
Should I install everything in the Company Portal?
There is no need to install all available apps in the Company Portal. If you have a specific software need, there is likely an app added to the library to meet that need. See the table below for some examples.
To use: | Install these apps: |
---|---|
Smart Notebook software | SMART Education Software
SMART Product Drivers |
Microsoft Office | Microsoft 365 Apps for Windows 10 |
Please note, if it is a paid app or subscription service (and some of them are), and you don’t have the license for it, you won’t be able to run it even if you do install it.
There is software I would like to use and it’s not available in the Company Portal. How can I install it?
If there is software you’d like to use and it provides educational value, you can request to have it added into the Company Portal. Please click here to submit a tech request and choose Computer Software Request. We will gladly evaluate the request and add it to the Company Portal if it is something Teaching and Learning and/or the Technology Department deem educationally valuable for staff members.
I still don’t see the Company Portal on my laptop. What do I do?
If you don’t see the Company Portal, even after searching for it, it may be due to a setting tied to your logon profile. Please submit a tech request and let us know so we can look into it!
Have any questions?
If you have any questions about how the Company Portal works or need help setting up any apps, please submit a tech request and a member of our department would be happy to help you.
Meet OrbitNote (formerly the Texthelp PDF Reader tool)
The TextHelp PDF Reader has officially been reborn as OrbitNote!
Earlier this summer, the Texthelp PDF Reader was updated and became OrbitNote. This update included a new look & easier onboarding. P-CCS students & staff have access to all the PREMIUM features of OrbitNote detailed below.
If you’re not familiar with it yet, OrbitNote allows staff & students to transform and interact with PDFs and digital documents in a completely different way. It helps to create an accessible, dynamic and collaborative space that works for everyone.
You & your students can use OrbitNote to:
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- -Collaborate in real-time within digital documents
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- -Read text, including math & science equations, aloud with easy-to-follow dual color highlighting
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- -Type text on top of your PDFs with the Text feature
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- -Highlight and extract information with colored highlighters
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- -Add text and voice comments or use pushpins for helpful hints or instructions
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- -Use freehand or shape drawing to scribble and draw on your digital documents
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- And more!
There is NO ACTION required for students or staff who were already using the PDF Reader; the new OrbitNote extension auto-updated. Students and staff may have to update permissions with the first use of the new tool.
Staff who have not used the Texthelp PDF Reader in the past will need to install the extension here.
For more information about using OrbitNote, including Canvas LMS integration, go to the RW4G@PCCS website: https://bit.ly/PCCS-OrbitNote
The new OrbitNote Quick Reference Guide is available here.
Videos: https://text.help/orbitvids
Technical Support: https://support.texthelp.com
You might also want to check out this video of OrbitNotes used in Canvas and/or a comprehensive overview of many of TextHelp’s features:
OrbitDoc (now OrbitNotes) used in Canvas
[How-To] Connect to the P-CCS Wi-Fi Network
Second Notice: End of the Year Canvas Support-Action Required
*PLEASE NOTE: In early August, ALL MISTAR created courses will un-sync and therefore courses will be deleted off of dashboards. Please make sure you follow the directions below to ensure all work (assignments, discussions, videos, etc.) will save correctly.
With Canvas being utilized for the foreseeable future, and with the end of the year approaching, we wanted to pass along some directions on how to ensure that your course(s) and work created this year can be used for next Fall. The directions below will enable you to copy your course into a “Sandbox” type course, so when you return in the Fall, all you will need to do is import your “Sandbox” course, into your MISTAR rostered course.
Watch the less than 3-minute video below or watch it on YouTube. https://youtu.be/ibyFUeqSurY
Optional, further back up step: For Directions on saving your course to your computer/google drive click here
End of the Year Canvas Support – Action Required
*PLEASE NOTE: In early August, ALL MISTAR created courses will un-sync and therefore courses will be deleted off of dashboards. Please make sure you follow the directions below to ensure all work (assignments, discussions, videos, etc.) will save correctly.
With Canvas being utilized for the foreseeable future, and with the end of the year approaching, we wanted to pass along some directions on how to ensure that your course(s) and work created this year can be used for next Fall. The directions below will enable you to copy your course into a “Sandbox” type course, so when you return in the Fall, all you will need to do is import your “Sandbox” course, into your MISTAR rostered course.
Watch the less than 3-minute video below or watch it on YouTube. https://youtu.be/ibyFUeqSurY
Optional, further back up step: For Directions on saving your course to your computer/google drive click here
Visual Thinking with GitMind
GitMind is a great, free tool for mind maps and brainstorming. You can easily sign-up with your Google account. There are several templates ready for use and they have a category for education. Below is a video overview.
There are no ads on the page. The only “paywall” I can find is the ability to export in other formats, which you can do with “points” you earn by using the platform. You can easily share work with a link and you can add collaborators.
Ideas for Classroom Use
If you teach younger students you might not have them create their own, but you can work as a class. There are templates for the elements of a story and working with words.
Older students could create their own, there a templates for timelines and essay structures. At the year’s end students could create a mind map to review material from the entire course. You can also edit your mind map by editing or importing an outline and the program will add it to your mind map.
Managing Your Modules
Anyone with a year-long course (or 100+ modules), might be noticing that is takes quite a long time for all your modules to load. Students and families may also be experiencing this lag when they click the link for their daily work module. To help save time and frustration we recommend that you free up some space in one of two ways:
- Unpublish modules from early in the school year.
- If you or your students are still experiencing a slow down, you can copy the module to your Sandbox course and then delete it from your main course.
Semester 2 and Quarter 3 Courses Published in Canvas
Publishing of Canvas Courses
To assist teachers, Canvas automatically published all Semester 2 and Quarter 3 courses automatically generated through the MISTAR/Canvas sync.
Please note the following:
- Students only have access to Published courses. If you have any courses that you do not want students to see, please be sure to Unpublish those courses. (see below) If a course is Unpublished they will not see it on their dashboard. To Unpublish a course, go to the course you don’t want students to access and select Unpublish at the top-right part of the screen. You cannot unpublish a course after you assign something to a student.
- Manually created courses were not automatically published. If you would like to publish any of your manually created courses, please follow these instructions.
Reminder: Customizing Your Canvas Dashboard
To customize the teacher or student dashboard to show certain courses please see the graphic below:
[How-To] Install QOMO QPC22 USB Document Camera on your District Laptop
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605708649208{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Received a new QOMO QPC22 Document Camera?
Here’s how to get it working.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605639101901{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Please click the following button to visit the download page for the QOMO document camera. Follow the instructions with provided screenshots to get your device up and running.[/vc_column_text][mk_button dimension=”flat” corner_style=”rounded” size=”large” url=”https://qomo.com/download/qcamera-software/” target=”_blank”]QOMO QPC22 Software Download Page[/mk_button][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/qpc25_4.png” image_size=”medium”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605639322678{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Click on the large download button to begin downloading the software package. If prompted, please chose where to save it.[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/qomo-dl-page.jpg” image_size=”medium”][mk_divider style=”thin_solid”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605639421372{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Once the download completes, click on the small arrow next to the file name and select “Show in folder”.[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/show-in-folder.jpg” image_size=”medium”][mk_divider style=”thin_solid”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605639470845{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]A new file explorer window will open up with the zip file for the installer. Right-Click the zip file and select extract all.[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/extract-all.jpg” image_size=”medium”][mk_divider style=”thin_solid”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605639538004{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Be sure to select the checkbox for “Show extracted files when complete”[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/show-extracted.jpg” image_size=”full”][mk_divider style=”thin_solid”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605639617809{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Once it is complete, a new window will open up with the contents of the zip file. Double-click the file called “Setup”[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/setup.jpg” image_size=”medium”][mk_divider style=”thin_solid”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605639826189{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]A pop up from Windows Defender may come up. This is just a warning for the software not having a publisher saved. Click on “More Info” then click on “Run Anyway”[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/windows-defender-1.jpg” image_size=”full”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/win-def-run.jpg” image_size=”full”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_divider style=”thin_solid”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605639903469{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Another window will open up with a list of items that will be installed. Click on the “Install” button to continue.[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/install.jpg” image_size=”full”][mk_divider style=”thin_solid”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605639992424{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Click the “Next” buttons through the install wizard until you reach the following step. Be sure to select the radio button for “Everyone” when the installer asks.[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”https://tech.pccsk12.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/wizard-2.jpg” image_size=”full”][mk_divider style=”thin_solid”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1605640139039{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Click “Next” on the last few prompts and let the installer continue. You may get a few pop up windows asking if you want to allow changes to be made. Select yes or allow on all of them. Once the installation is complete, you may plug in your document camera and begin using it with the QCamera software which will now be on your desktop or with iPevo Presenter.[/vc_column_text][mk_divider style=”thin_solid”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]