Friday, November 12, 2021

ASA Tech Tips & News for November 12, 2021

Pixabay.com
I've clearly been covering various security topics quite a bit lately. There has been a lot of info about what not to do, and what you should do. What hasn't been mentioned is what happens if you interact with something you shouldn't? There's a video below that will explain just that. Among other outcomes, if your social media or email accounts have been hacked, chances are good this video may solve that mystery for you. Hopefully this knowledge will keep your accounts more safe and secure going forward. 

What Happens if You Click on Links in Phishing Emails



Infinite Campus Upcoming Maintenance

Infinite Campus will be undergoing maintenance at the following times, one of which is while the grading window will be open:
  • Saturday, Nov 13 10am - 6pm
  • Saturday, Nov 20  10am - 6pm
During these maintenance times you may experience intermittent outages or slowness. 

New Canvas Features Coming November 20th

Full details about each of these updates is available on the Canvas Release Notes page.

Assignments Submission Feedback Indicator

Students will now be able to see when new comments have been added. The View Feedback and Show Rubric links on the Assignment Details page will display an indicator if comments have been added to an assignment.

Dashboard Course Creation Subaccount Menu

If you are allowed to create a manual course, you will be able to select which account the course will belong to.

List View Dashboard Conference Links

If a video conference, such as a Google Meet, is created for a course as a calendar event, the event displays in the List View Dashboard for students. Students will be able to view and join scheduled conferences directly from the List iew Dashboard.

Settings Tab URL Links

Currently, when you access the Settings page, it returns you to the Course Details tab. Now it will return you to the tab you were previously on. If you were in multiple tabs, you will be able to use the browser back/forward button to navigate through all of them.

SpeedGrader Assignment Text Entry Word Count

Instructors will be able to display the word count in assignment text submissions while grading in SpeedGrader. The word count will display at the top of the sidebar. This will only work for text entry assignments, not to any other submission type.

New Quizzes Stimulus Orientation

Watch the demo here for new and improved stimulus prompts in Quizzes.

How to Set Up Notifications for Changes in Google Sheets

How to Set Up Notifications for Changes in Google Sheets, From How-To Geek by Sandy Writtenhouse
Do you need to know when someone has made changes to a Google Sheet, such as a field trip response? Find out how easy it is here. 

How to See Who Edited Specific Text in Google Docs

Need to see who made each change to a Google Doc, or maybe who edited a specific section of text? Maybe your students are collaborating on a Doc, or you are collaborating with co-workers. Learn how to find that information here. 

How to Create a Random Name and Group Picker

No spreadsheet needed anymore!


Build a"What I Am Thankful For" Turkey with Google Slides

Build a"What I Am Thankful For" Turkey with Google Slides, from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts
Get a template to use with your students. They will build a turkey, where each tail feather represents something they are thankful for. 
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Thursday, November 4, 2021

ASA Tech Tips and News for November 5, 2021

commons.m.wikimedia.org
Yes, I realize Cybersecurity Awareness Month is over, but then I ran across a video that so clearly shows what to look for to identify a phishing email, that I posted it anyway. Besides, we need to be diligently skeptical and on alert with email and online practices at all times, not just one month out of the year. I hope you are enjoying the crisp autumn weather and beautiful changing colors of the leaves. Speaking of change, I've included some Infinite Campus and Google Workspace updates as well. 


Anatomy of Scam Emails - How to Recognize a Phishing Scam Message

This video clearly shows what to look for in an email to help you determine if it's legitimate or not. 

Infinite Campus Updates


Disruption to Messenger and Ad Hoc

Last weekend's Infinite Campus update to v.2144 is causing issues with Messenger and Ad Hoc for schools in Michigan. You may be experiencing difficulty sending messages. IC is working on a solution to this issue. 

Emergency Contact Information on the Roster

Emergency contact information for each student is now visible on the roster. This will allow users to access emergency contacts more quickly. 

Google Workspace for Education Updates


Gmail:  Updates to the To, CC and BCC Fields

Improvements to the To, CC and BCC fields include:
  • New right click menu shows recipient's full name and email, and allows editing contact info, copying email addresses, and open the information card.
  • Recipient's Avatar chip will be displayed with their name
  • Clearly IDs users outside the organization in yellow
  • Clear indication if you've already added the user with a checkmark and grey tone
  • Use the menu to change how a recipient's name is displayed
If you are not already seeing this update, you should see it within the week. Full information and screen shots about this update can be found here. 

Google Calendar:  Set Focus Time

Just like setting Out of Office time on your Calendar, you can also now set Focus Time. By blocking out a range of times and designating it focus time you can set Calendar to automatically decline invitations, and that time range will appear busy in your calendar. This gives users uninterrupted time to get work done. Here are directions for using Focus Time. Learn all about this update here. 

Google Docs:  Now Quicker and Easier to Add Citations

Adding citations just became easier. Part of the process has been automated to create the source and correctly format it. You'll be able to search for books and online sources, then automatically populate some attributes for those sources. Learn how to add citations to a Google Doc here. This feature should appear sometime during the month of November. Complete details can be found here. 

Google Meet:  Hosts Have More Control of Participants' Audio and Video Feeds

Meet hosts will now have the ability to turn off the microphones and cameras of other participants. The participants will not be able to turn their microphone or camera back on until the host unlocks them. This will reduce Meet disruptions. Meet hosts are also able to mute all participants at once. You'll find these features in the Host Controls. Participants must have Android v.M or 6.01 or newer, iOS version 12 or newer, and the most updated version of the Meet or Gmail app or they will be kicked out of the Meet and prompted to update when the host locks their video and/or audio. This feature is available now. Read all the details here. 

Google Sheets:  Easier to Find Key Features With Enhanced Menus

Then menu bar and right click menus have been shortened to fit within the screen. Some features have moved, menu descriptions are shorter, and icons have been added. This is designed to make it easier to find key features by putting them in more intuitive places. You should see this update this week, if you aren't already seeing it. Here are full details of this update. 

Google Workspace for Education Teacher Tutorials

KISD has published a crowd-sourced tutorials for Google Workspace for Education apps. They are all compiled in this Google Sheet. In the sheet is also a link to a parent/student version. 

See All Comments in a Google Doc - Even Resolved Ones

Sometimes you need to go back and review all comments in a doc. When a comment is resolved, it seems to disappear from view. You can still go back and view even those resolved comments. If you don't already see this update, you should see it during the month of November. Here are all the details. 

How to Quickly Email Google Calendar Event Guests

How to Quickly Email Google Calendar Event Guests, from How-To Geek by Sandy Writtenhouse
Need to quickly update your meeting attendees, or a parent who has scheduled a virtual conference? You can do so quickly from Calendar. 
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