Today is Sunday, August 28, 2016. This week's 3-2-1 contains all new material because some of you went to sleep for the Olympics edition. Read these issues each week . . . You might miss something good.
On these pages, you'll find:
- a weekly status update on the TOP3 concerns of the week,
- 2TIPS to help things work a little better in your classroom, and
- oneIDEA to consider about technology and teaching.
This week's TOP3.
- I am convinced the Internet is Broken. Well, in your tiny little piece of the world, there is a chance that something is broken. Help us help you by sending tickets to Support@Nucentric.com. Please, please try to send a picture of what isn't working. We will jump as soon as we can on those tickets. Don't trust a text or my or Joe's email. We will likely not see it same day, but Nucentric can. In the meantime there are some steps you can take to quell that sinking feeling that nothing works and feel like a Titan of Technology. (See background photo.)
- Fake the login screen into popping up. Many devices are inefficient when it comes to popping up that little WiFi login screen we all need to sign on in the morning. To make it appear:
- Open a browser window on your device.
- Ignore it like the Titan you are and do not be afraid when it insists there is no connection.
- Type in a Web site address. (It can be just about anything but I try to choose a newspaper site, because they are rarely down, present company--as in Charlotte Observer, notwithstanding.)
- The login screen generally responds. It will eventually get that you want it to appear quickly.
- Give your WiFi card a jump-start. If the login screen still resists your best efforts to make it show, try turning your WiFi card off and then turning it on again. If this problem persists, send a ticket.
2TIPs
- Are you sharing documents with parents or students via Google Drive? If so, you probably know that saving your document as a PDF before sharing is the best way to ensure everyone in your audience sees the document as you intend. The problem comes when you need to update the document to fix a typo, add more information, or reuse it in another year. This issue is particularly vexing for those of us who share documents links on the Crier. But now . . . Problem solved! Did you know you can update the PDF and maintain the link you've already shared by using the "Manage Versions" option available in Google Drive? Just use the link below for short, easy, step-by-step instructions.
http://www.labnol.org/internet/update-files-in-google-drive/28928/
- Team8 and HS Teachers: Remember that staff and students now use the SSO (single sign-on) site below to access Google Apps and Schoology. Remember that if you keep lots of tabs open in multiple browsers, you will need to log out of your Google account to login to another person's Schoology page.
TO MAKE LIFE A LITTLE BIT EASIER.
An IDEA of note.
Have you tried InBox by Google yet? We have, and we mostly like it as an alternative to the clunky GMail mobile app we've all been forced to use. Take a test drive by downloading it free from your App Store. We like the way it
- keeps threaded conversations together,
- offers quick response prompts to reduce the amount of typing you need to do, and
- allows you to pin messages to a To-Do board or schedule them for attention at a later time.
We do not love that it is not easy or intuitive to prioritize your unread messages. The current work around uses the search bar to find messages that match the following query: "is:unread." Clunky. But then it's Google. Something had to be.
Don't forget:
Support@nucentric.com: wired pcs and laptops, CSD.local domain, wireless or wired Internet connection, etc.
Tech Team Students are available for triage and diagnosis ONLY. Please do not tempt them to make changes to your device! They remain on provisional licenses only!
