For those of you about to begin a well deserved two-week break, which we hope will be all you hope for and a bit more, before you leave on Friday…

WOULD YOU PLEASE SECURE ALL VALUABLES in the classrooms and office spaces you inhabit. This includes laptops, document cameras, Apple TVs, remotes, and interactive pens. 

Further, would you please make sure all iPads and Chromebooks are in their carts and those CARTS ARE LOCKED and plugged in before leaving.

Finally, would you please also POWER OFF any of the following equipment, if it is equipment you handle:

• projectors
• sound amps
• SmartBoards
• desktop computers
• monitors
• printers
• copiers
• and hit the lights on the way out, if you’re the last one 😉

Want to brush up on your Google Skills?  Bookmark this Google Tip Sheet to help you on your journey or make a copy to keep in your Google Drive.

Also, don’t forget that you can use G Suite Training that is located at the question mark at the top right-hand corner of ALL of your Google Apps! Here’s a brief video about how it works.

As the new laptops are deployed to staff, and once you log in, please notice an icon on the desktop that will take you to a page on the website tech.pccsk12.com that will help you set your laptop up. Topics covered include Chrome Sync, Inputs and Outputs, Printing, Connecting to Displays, and Lanschool.  This will continue to be updated as new issues and services arise. Please submit a service request for any issues that might arise and seem outside of what the Handbook can help you with.

Looking to integrate emerging topics into YOUR classroom? REMC Virtual Courses are FREE and open to all Michigan school personnel. You can take courses “just to learn” or you can complete all assignments for SCECHS! The next round of courses begin in January. Staff can register for January – March courses. Here are the January course topics:

• OER to Support Early Literacy
• Student-Designed OER for 21st Century Learning
• Inquiry and Questioning: Igniting Student Curiosity with Technology, Level 1
• Authentic Student Learning and Gamification
• Applying Google Apps for Education in Chrome, Level 1
• Transforming Education – Maker Movement
• Increasing Efficiency and Productivity

All courses are facilitated by Michigan educators. Each lasts three weeks and consists of two one-hour webinars and four to eight hours of resource review, assessment development, discussion boards and written reflection. SCECHs range from 6 – 10 depending on the course.

Starting November 27th, 2018, Google made some small changes to the appearance of the Google sign-in page. These follow changes made earlier this year, which updated the sign-in page to match the Material Design principles used in other Google products.

Specifically, you might notice outlines around some entry fields, and changes to the spacing and styling of other text on both the web and mobile screens. The changes started to take effect on November 27th and may take up to two weeks to reach all users.

Welcome to the new PCCS Tech blog!  We are excited to announce a new way of getting important tech updates and a new way of searching for resources that you have access to. Now, instead of a long newsletter quarterly, a curated collection of blog posts will come to your Gmail inbox each week! We hope this is a more digestible and more immediate way of disseminating information from the Tech Department.

Based on your feedback, we also made a new Tech website that is easy for you to navigate and more responsive to your needs: https://tech.pccsk12.com

One thing you’ll notice right away is the streamlined look of the site. We’d like to think that the most important feature of the website is the Resources Page.  The most exciting part is how easy it is to search for resources based on your particular needs. So, you can search by grade level, device type, Danielson Domain, or subject, helping you narrow down the resources you have available to you as subscribed to by the district, or other resources that are free!  This will be easier than a Google search!

Furthermore, you will be auto-subscribed to our blog and website update that will be tailored to your grade level, so you don’t see the information you don’t need, thus saving you time…and who couldn’t use more time?

If you haven’t noticed already, Google Apps are no longer available in the Chrome Web Store. Google has phased them out and has had plans to soon announce Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).  PWAs will function just like apps on your desktop with icons that can be launched from your desktop just like a conventional program or app.  More on this to come, but in the meantime, the only way to get a Chrome Web App is through a direct link from a software provider’s website or via a link that is still present in your already added Chrome Apps Launcher.  To read more, click here.