ASA Tech Tips and News for January 8, 2021

Of course, with any new opportunity, such as the COVID-19 vaccine, comes a new batch of scams. Continue to be vigilant of phone calls, emails and texts. Most legitimate entities will not contact you this way. Something else to be concerned with is the end of Adobe Flash. If you have a Windows laptop/PC you most likely have it installed, and should uninstall it right away. Flash has never been a truly safe solution, and will only become more dangerous to have on your device. It will no longer be supported, receive security updates, and websites using Flash will no longer be accessible. Uninstall instructions appear below. The end of Flash will also start to cause some educational websites to no longer work if they rely on Flash. It's time to move on and find replacements for them, if you haven't already done so. It may be a little painful, but it's long overdue. In this week of even more turmoil than usual in "the new normal" I send much love your way. If we've learned nothing else in the last year, it's that we are resilient and can accomplish great things when we work together with love and kindness. 

• Be Warned:  COVID-19 Vaccine Scams are Now Appearing Online, Over Text, and by Email
• Adobe Flash is Dead: Here's What That Means
• The Dos and Don'ts of Cleaning School-Issued Devices
• Two Easy Ways to See if a Website is Down or if it's Just You
• A New Habit for a New Year: Schedule Your Gmails
• Draw on Your Screen in Google Meet
• How to Create Flexible Hybrid Classrooms with Audiovisual Tools
• Five Easy Ways to Improve Your Videos
• 10 Green Screen Project Ideas for the Classroom

Be Warned:  COVID-19 Vaccine Scams are Now Appearing Online, Over Text, and by Email

Be Warned:  COVID-19 Vaccine Scams are Now Appearing Online, Over Text, and by Email, from ZDNet by Charlie Osborne

Stay vigilant, my friends. 

Adobe Flash is Dead: Here's What That Means

Adobe Flash is Dead: Here's What That Means, from How-To Geek by Tim Brookes

Beginning January 12, you may start to see educational websites you've used for years no longer work. This means they were running on Flash, and although the developers had years to convert them to newer programs, they never did. Hopefully you'll be able to find another resource to replace those tools. In addition to this possible inconvenience, if you have Flash installed on your Windows laptop, you should uninstall it for security reasons. This is a quick task, so please make it a priority. To do this in Windows 8 or 10, 

1. Search for Control Panel and open it. 
2. In control Panel, look in the upper right corner for View by:. Make sure it is set to either large icons or small icons. 
3. Then look through the options for Programs and Features. 
4. Look for Adobe Flash in any variation, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Flash Player Plugin, etc. Click on them one by one and select Uninstall. 
5. Click Yes in the window asking you to confirm the uninstall. 
6. Click Yes in the window asking if you want to allow Adobe to make changes to your computer. If nothing is happening and you don't see this message, look at the bottom, in your taskbar, to see if there is an icon flashing. Click on it to see the message. 
7. When it is finished uninstalling, repeat these steps to uninstall the next appearance of Flash. Once they are all removed, close Control Panel. 

The Dos and Don'ts of Cleaning School-Issued Devices

The Dos and Don'ts of Cleaning School-Issued Devices, from EdTech by Micah Castelo

With the definite need to keep devices clean and sanitized, it's important to understand the best way to do it so they don't get damaged. Liquids and electricity are not a good mix!

Two Easy Ways to See if a Website is Down or if it's Just You

A New Habit for a New Year: Schedule Your Gmails

A New Habit for a New Year: Schedule Your Gmails, from A Lever and a Place to Stand by Amy Roediger

This is also a good security habit. Emails sent during business hours are less likely to be marked as spam. 

Draw on Your Screen in Google Meet

Draw on Your Screen in Google Meet, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne

Type or draw on your screen to call attention to important details, or add info. There's also an instruction video in this post. 

How to Create Flexible Hybrid Classrooms with Audiovisual Tools

How to Create Flexible Hybrid Classrooms with Audiovisual Tools, from Ed Tech by Mike Peters

Teachers are SO flexible and committed to teaching their students! Although we have remained open and in person this school year, anytime teachers have a student quarantining, they must instantly pivot to a hybrid learning situation. Here are some ideas for you to consider. 

Five Easy Ways to Improve Your Videos

Five Easy Ways to Improve Your Videos, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne

Now that you are pretty well versed in recording videos, here's how to refine the process.

10 Green Screen Project Ideas for the Classroom

10 Green Screen Project Ideas for the Classroom from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller, guest post by Megan Diede and Kara Rigsby

We have a green screen at each ASA campus. If you are unfamiliar with the green screen concept, it allows you to create a custom background for any video you record.