ASA Tech Tips and News for November 5, 2021

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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
• Infinite Campus Updates
• Disruption to Messenger and Ad Hoc
• Emergency Contact Information on the Roster
• Google Workspace for Education Updates
• Gmail:  Updates to the To, CC and BCC Fields
• Google Calendar:  Set Focus Time
• Google Docs:  Now Quicker and Easier to Add Citations
• Google Meet:  Hosts Have More Control of Participants' Audio and Video Feeds
• Google Sheets:  Easier to Find Key Features With Enhanced Menus
• Google Workspace for Education Teacher Tutorials
• See All Comments in a Google Doc - Even Resolved Ones
• How to Quickly Email Google Calendar Event Guests

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

See All Comments in a Google Doc - Even Resolved Ones, from Workspace Tips

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.