SVUSD IT Blog

Attaching Email Messages in OWA

2012-03-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

In the new version of OWA, Microsoft has added the feature to attach an email message to a new message that you are composing. This is especially useful in our district when you want to report a SPAM message to RedCondor. In order for RedCondor to evaluate the message, it must be attached in this manner. The good news is that it is a very easy process.

While you are logged in to webmail, right click on the message the you would like to attach. (For Mac users, hold down ctrl and click on the message.)

Select "Forward as Attachment"

The new message window opens and you should see the message you selected listed in the attached field.

That's it. If you are forwarding SPAM samples to RedCondor, the email address is spam@redcondor.com

Webmail Changes

2012-01-18T13:20:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, we have converted the first two groups of users to the new Exchange 2010 system. The Pilot Group began using the system during Q3 of 2011 and the Early Adopters began using the system Q1 of 2012. We are preparing for the final migration of all SVUSD users next month. The latest change is to the Employee Mail URL on the district webpage. We have pointed it at the new Exchange 2010 login page. This new page is able to sign users in to either version of Exchange and get them to their mailbox. There was a blog post here that talked about the different parts of the login page.

Please feel free to contact the IT Department helpdesk if you have any questions or problems.

Q&A: Automatic Logoff Times

2011-09-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take some time to answer a few questions that I have been asked quite a few times lately:

Question: Why does Outlook Web Access (webmail) log me out after only 15 minutes?

Answer:
The automatic logoff of Outlook Web Access is determined by the Security setting that you choose when you log in to your account. If you choose the "Public" (which is the default option), the system will log you out after 15 minutes of inactivity. If you choose "Private", the system will log you out after 8 hours of inactivity.

It may also help to explain inactivity. Inactivity is calculated by the time since the last page was submitted to the server. Things like typing a new email are done in the browser and are not submitted to the server until you click the send or save button. So if you are using "Public" security and it is taking you a while to type your email message, click on the save button if you are getting close to the 15 minute logoff. Saved messages are stored in the Drafts folder. If you exceed the 15 minutes while typing (using "Public" security) , the system will log you out and the letter will be lost when you try to send it.

For more information take a look at the Exchange Team Blog article: Time Out! for Outlook Web Access

Question: Why does PowerSchool/PowerTeacher/GradeBook log me out after only 1 hour?

Answer:
The automatic logoff of PowerSchool is determined by which site you are logged in to. If you are the Administrator portion of PowerSchool, the system will log you off after 60 minutes of inactivity. (This value was changed from 3 hours when we implemented PowerSchool 7 to increase security on the Administrator portion of PowerSchool.) If you are in the PowerTeacher / Gradebook portion of PowerSchool, the system will log you off after 60 minutes of inactivity. If you are in the Public portion of PowerSchool (students, guardians, etc.) the system will log you off after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Inactivity in PowerSchool is very similar to Outlook Web: Inactivity is calculated by the time since the last page was submitted to the server. Things like typing on a page do not count as activity. It is not until you submit a page or navigate to another page the logoff time is reset.

Hope that helps clear up some of the confusion.

PowerSchool Public Access Available in Spanish

2011-09-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

On Thursday the IT Department began upgrading the Public Access portion of PowerSchool. New in PowerSchool 7, Pearson is offering over 50 different translations of the parent portal screens. Over the next few weeks we will be working with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction to identify and implement the native languages of our district families. On Thursday last week, we implemented the Spanish version of the pages. Look for new languages to join English and Spanish over the next few weeks.

PowerSchool 7 is live

2011-08-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 11:30 AM, PowerSchool 7 was deemed stable for SVUSD and made available for staff use. This version of PowerSchool sports a new user interface, a new version of PowerTeacher, and a total overhaul under the hood. We also completed the End of Year process which moves the system into the 2011-2012 school year.

Webmail Changes

2011-07-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

To prepare for Exchange 2010, I wanted to share some changes have been made to our existing webmail.

The first change is the https:\\ in the address bar. This is because webmail has been encrypted with SSL to ensure the integrity and security of your data as it crosses the internet. It is also mandatory to ensure that Exchange 2003 and 2010 can coexist.

The second and easily the most apparent change is the use of Form Based Authentication. Form Based Authentication is a fancy way of saying you need to log into a web page rather than to the prompt for user and password that we used before.

The new login screen looks like this:

The good news is that using the login page is pretty simple.

Type your user name in the first field (John Doe would use jdoe)
Type your password in the second field

Optionally you can change the following:

Choose a Client (Premium is for Internet Explorer and has more features, Basic is for all other browsers)
Choose whether you are on a Public or Private Computer

Then you click the Log On button and it takes you to the regular webmail page.

Please feel free to contact the IT Department if you have any questions or problems.

PowerSchool 7 Has Been Released

2011-06-20T09:44:00.001-07:00

On June 17, 2011, Pearson officially released PowerSchool 7, a major revision of the PowerSchool student information system. After testing the beta for the last few weeks, I am excited about the enhancements that this major upgrade will bring. The district will be migrating to PowerSchool 7 over the summer and it will be ready for teachers when the 2011-2012 school year begins. Below you will find the announcement for PowerSchool 7 and a video about the new version of PowerTeacher.

Power School 7

PowerTeacher 2.3

Summer 2011

2011-06-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Now that the school year is winding to a close, it is once again time for the IT Department to change gears and start working on the major projects for next school year. We have worked hard during this school year to plan our summer projects, and it is finally time to start implementing them. I wanted to share some of the projects that we have slated for the summer of 2011.

1. Exchange 2010
We will be implementing the newest Microsoft e-mail system. Exchange 2010 will improve all facets of access for teachers and staff. Webmail has been redesigned to work with browsers like FireFox and Safari (even on MacBooks!) E-mail access with a Droid or iPhone will include mail, contacts, and calendar. Active Sync will provide automatic setup of your e-mail client (including Droid and iPhone).

2. PowerSchool 7.0
We will be implementing PowerSchool 7.0, the newest version of our Student Information System. The most compelling feature of PowerSchool 7 is that the Parent Portal will be available in 18 languages to parents. Providing information to our community in their preferred language will help keep parents informed about their child's education. Also look for an updated version of the teacher grade book in PowerSchool 7.

3. Staff and Student Wireless
During Semester 2 of 2011-2012, the IT Department worked with Maintenance and Operations to install a new, state of the art wireless system on our secondary school campuses. The goal was to provide wireless access to all secondary school staff in the classroom. This summer we will be taking that idea and implementing it in our K-5 schools. The next step will be a limited pilot of student wireless access at our secondary schools. We understand how critical access to information is, and would like to test the "Bring your own Device" model. Students would be allowed to bring in their own laptops or other devices for use in class. The pilot will be to ensure that our network is not overwhelmed and that we can ensure responsible use of networked devices by students.

4. Multimedia Carts
During Semester 2 of 2011-2012, a select group of tech coaches and teachers were chosen to pilot a new Multimedia Cart for deployment into the district. The cart that was piloted was a multimedia cart from Bretford that included powered speakers. The cart came loaded with an Epson LCD projector and an Elmo document camera. The feedback from the pilot group was positive and we will be deploying the carts on a larger scale. Over the summer we will be preparing 100 - 150 carts for deployment when teachers return to the district. Tech coaches will be providing the training when carts arrive.

5. Lab and COW Maintenance
Our goal over the summer will be to update every lab and COW in the district. For some sites, this just means installing operating system updates. For others, we will be installing an updated version of the operating system, more ram, and/or a new version of Microsoft Office. We estimate that about 1/3 of our summer will be dedicated to maintenance of student computers.

6. IT Help Desk
Next year we will be providing a help desk to teachers and staff. The help desk will give you access to IT Staff and will be the primary point of contact for your technology issues. A technician will be available to help you via phone or e-mail with technology problems that you are experiencing. We hope this single point of contact for phone and e-mail requests will help streamline the process and alleviate any confusion about who to contact with tech issues.

These are just some of the projects we have planned over the summer. I hope you are as excited as we are about technology for the upcoming school year.

New District Status Page

2011-05-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

The IT Department has launched a second blog page. The SVUSD IT Status Page is the place to find information about software/system upgrades, planned outages, and service interruptions.

It can be found at http://svusdstatus.blogspot.com/
or you can click on the "District Status" link to the right.

User Names Have Been Corrected!

2011-03-31T16:18:00.000-07:00

I am glad to announce that all of the names have been corrected in our e-mail system. When you use the display name, first name, or last name search boxes you will get the proper result.

Here is a little background on the issue:

Over the last few weeks, the IT Department has been working to correct all 500+ names for our Windows login and email system. Many of the users in the system had been created incorrectly (a long time before I got here) with first and last names switched or no first and last name at all.

I was alerted to this by district staff and the IT Department set out to fix the problem. It took us a while to make the changes, but we are glad to announce that they are finally done! Please take a look in the address book to confirm that your name appears how you would like it to appear and let me know if you have any changes.

PowerSchool 6.2.2 is here

2011-03-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Over spring break, we will be upgrading to version 6.2.2 of PowerSchool. Along with usual bug fixes that are included in this update, there were a couple of notable new features added to PowerSchool. Below you will find a list of these new features.

New in PowerTeacher 2.2.2

Link to the New PowerTeacher Mobile App
On the PowerTeacher portal, a new App Store link is now available on the main menu. The link takes you directly to the Apple App Store to download the PowerTeacher Mobile application. This image and link are only visible if the teacher account is configured to use PowerTeacher Gradebook, and the district and school have Mobile Services enabled.

Weighted Mean Now Available as Standards Final Grade Calculation
Based on customer feedback, the weighted mean is now available as one of the standards final grade calculation options in PowerTeacher and PowerTeacher Administrator. The weighted mean uses both the total points possible and the assignment weights.

New in PowerSchool Parent and Student Web Portals 6.2.2

Download Export File Containing Student Data
With this release, a new Download icon appears in the navigation bar when the Grades and Attendance tab is selected. Click to download an export file containing student data similar to the printable view data. This data file is intended to help facilitate upload into other products, including Pearson's Alleyoop. Alleyoop is a social guidance network for college-bound teens. Alleyoop helps teens and their parents explore future college and career goals, set short-term grade goals, and get the coaching they need to get ready for success in college and beyond. For more information, see the Alleyoop Web site.

Exchange Server Retirement

2010-10-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

It has become apparent that our email server is just not cutting it these days. It is a few years old and is struggling to keep up with the explosion of email use in the district. In an effort to stabilize our e-mail experience, we have set up a replacement e-mail server on some high end Dell hardware.

This weekend I will be moving all of the district mailboxes to the new server. As a result, e-mail access will be intermittent over the weekend as boxes are transitioned to the new server.

From the end user's perspective, the mail interface will be the same as it is currently, just faster and more reliable! We are using the same version of Exchange (2003 Enterprise SP2) to ensure that the experience is consistent. The only notable change is that the webmail (OWA) address will change. The new address will be http://mail2.sonomavly.k12.ca.us/exchange

This is the first phase of a multi-phase roll out of the new Exchange 2010 e-mail system for the district. The next phase will be the testing and implementation of Exchange 2010. The goal is to have the new version of Exchange 2010 fully tested and deployed during Q1 of 2011.

As always, feel free to contact the IT Department with any questions or comments.

The War Against Spam

2010-08-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

I feel like far too often when I come in to work and open my Outlook there are messages for male enhancement pills, spam in Russian, or other SPAM in my inbox. I found myself wondering how this happens when we have RedCondor to filter our e-mail.

Yesterday I spent some time working with Red Condor to figure out why we have so much spam reaching our mailboxes and what steps we can take to reduce it. We examined the configuration of RedCondor's filter, how it interfaces with our mail system, and the configuration of our mail server (MS Exchange 2003). The result of our investigations was that there is a need to make changes in each of the following areas:

RedCondor Filter Settings
Connection settings between RedCondor and our Exchange server
Exchange server Settings

It was discovered that it is possible to send an e-mail directly to the Exchange server, bypassing the RedCondor filter. This is one of the ways spam enters the district. To correct this issue, on the evening of Friday August 13th, I will be reconfiguring the district's Exchange system to force all incoming e-mail (SMTP) through RedCondor. Unfortunately, this change will have side effects.

The security change will block all other traffic to the Exchange SMTP server. This will cause iPhones, BlackBerries (except district issued BlackBerries), and mail programs that are used off campus to no longer be able to send mail. (FYI: Outlook Web Access will not be affected.) The good news is, with a minor change to the configuration of your iPhone or other affected system, you will be back to sending and receiving e-mail.

If you believe that you will be affected by the changes to our e-mail system, please contact me so we can ensure that you are prepared for next Friday's upgrades.

I am excited to see the impact that these changes will have on our volume of Spam received. I expect that it will greatly reduce the amount of spam that reaches a user's e-mail box. And who doesn't want less Spam?

PowerSchool 6.2.1 is here

2010-07-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend PowerSchool was migrated to new hardware and updated to version 6.2.1. About a month ago Pearson tech support recommended in their release notes that California customers upgrade to the newest version of PowerSchool to ensure compatibility with California Reporting. Our PowerSchool application at the time was using an older 32-bit version of Windows 2003 R2 and a 32-bit Oracle database. We upgraded to new hardware with Windows 2008 SP2 64-bit and the new 64-bit Oracle 10g R2 Enterprise database for PowerSchool. The move to 64-bit Windows and Oracle will bring increased data processing power and the ability to utilize greater amounts of RAM. After upgrading the operating system and the Oracle database, PowerSchool 6.2.1 was installed and our data was migrated to the new server. The new version of PowerSchool also included PowerTeacher 2.1, a new version of our teacher grade book and attendance software.

Key Features of PowerSchool 6.2

• PowerTeacher 2.0 with full support for standards
• Mobile Web Pages for administrators and teachers
• Single Sign-On for parents with multiple students, plus automated password recovery for parents
• A new Graduation Planner
• ReportWorks 1.2
• Attendance Tracking & Notification
• Variable Credit for Alternative Education

Key features of PowerTeacher 2.0

• Associating any number of standards to an assignment
• Quick score entry using the new standards drawer
• New Student View mode on the Score sheet, allowing teachers to review all scores and determine final standards grades
• Automatic calculation of standards final grades based on a choice of sophisticated grading measures
• Key enhancements such as the inclusion of student photos, quick launch button, a preference to hide students not yet enrolled, performance improvements, and more!

I appreciate your feedback, so please let me know what you think of the upgrade.

Google Apps: Education Edition

2010-05-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce that SVUSD has been approved for Google Apps: Education Edition. Google Apps is a variety of cloud based tools that Google provides to the public. The Education Edition includes Gmail (an e-mail application), Google Chat (an instant messaging client), Google Calendar (a collaborative calendar), Google Docs (an Office suite), Google Sites (for creating websites), and much more.

The IT Department is very excited, not only because of the applications that Google provides, but because it provides solutions for two issues that we have been working on. The first issue was storage and remote access. Earlier this year, the IT Department set out to provide a place for students to store files that was accessible both on and off campus. Google provides us with a turn key solution with 7GB of storage per user that is accessible anywhere you have Internet. The second issue was student e-mail. Gmail gives the district with the ability to provide e-mail access to all of our students. Currently we are working out the details of the e-mail system and what features will be enabled when students are given access. Some of the questions are what grade levels will have access to the mail system and whether or not we will close the e-mail system, only allowing students to e-mail other students and/or staff at SVUSD.

The first feature that we will be implementing is the Calendar. Google Calendar is a collaborative calendar that can be shared amongst the staff, students, and even the public. At the Administrative Cabinet meeting last week, I gave a presentation about how it can be used by sites to share important dates and events with the public. A great feature of the calendar it that is easily embedded into websites, providing visitors a calendar that is updated in real time without IT intervention.

As we work out the details of our deployment plan for the district, I am hoping to get some input from teachers that currently use Google Apps or would like to use it next year. We are interested in hearing how you are using it in the classroom and what your experience has been like. Please feel free to e-mail me or post comments and feedback below.

Check back here often as I will post updates about our Google Apps deployment and other IT related information.

Prestwood Network Upgrade

2010-05-27T21:48:00.001-07:00

On May 13^th Brendan and I upgraded the network equipment at Prestwood Elementary. Every piece of network equipment on their campus, many of which were over 10 years old, were upgraded to brand new HP ProCurve switches. The new HP equipment provides gigabit LAN speeds (10/100/1000 MB) and Power Over Ethernet (PoE). Gigabit network speeds along with a new network layout (we deployed multiple VLANS on the student network to segment traffic) will provide faster LAN speeds and the ability to move data more efficiently through the Prestwood campus. Gigabit Ethernet and PoE will also be the foundation our new ShoreTel Voice over IP (VoIP) phone system that we are will be installing district wide over the summer.

The network upgrade went smoothly. Brendan worked diligently from the 10^th to the 13^th preparing the 8 network closets for installation. We started the installation at 4 PM on the 13^th and had all the old equipment removed and new equipment installed by about 9:30 PM the same evening. We were able to configure the new switches on site and had the new equipment up and running before the staff came in the next morning. By noon the next day, the network was tested and determined to be fully functional.

We have now installed new HP Procurve switches at the High School, Adele Harrison, Altimira, Sassarini, and Prestood. We have Dunbar scheduled to be installed right after school gets out and El Verano and Flowery scheduled in July when their equipment arrives. By the start of the 2010/2011 school year all of the sites will be fully upgraded.

We are working with Maintenance and our wiring contractor to find the best way to pull Fiber Optic cables from the High School to Prestwood. Fiber optic lines would provide far greater speeds (2 GB or more) between Prestwood and the High School and would alleviate the congestion and latency inherent in the the Proxim microwave solution (100 MB) that current connects Prestwood to the High School. We hope to have the specific details worked out soon with the help of the maintenance.

Charter Network Rescue

2010-05-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Last week the IT Department, with help from Maintenance and Operations, completed work on a new network for the Sonoma Charter School. We became involved when some of Charter's Token Ring network equipment failed . We took emergency measures to ensure connectivity (an outdoor Ethernet cable from the POP to a switch in the office and a wireless mesh) and assessed their situation. Spending time and money on the 10MB Token Ring technology didn't seem justifiable so we opted to create a new 10/100 Ethernet network from the ground up. For two weeks Ken and Andreas from Maintenance pulled and terminated new CAT5e throughout the campus. When they were done, we installed and configured 4 HP Procurve switches and an Ubuntu Server for DHCP.

The new network was well received at Charter. Office staff have commented on how much quicker webpages are loading. Teachers have expressed to us their excitement about having a network that is consistent and ports that are conveniently located. Ultimately, I feel like we accomplished what we set out to do: Implement a functioning, consistent, modern, manageable, and upgradable Ethernet based network infrastructure.