You may notice an update in your Gmail / Google Workspace. Google has a new navigation menu to allow you to easily switch between your Inbox, Chat, Spaces, and Meet. The rollout began today. If you haven't noticed it yet, it will be coming soon.With this update, Chat will no longer be in the lower right corner of the browser window, but instead found on the right side in the navigation menu.

Navigation in List View

Navigation in Icon View

Keeping the Creative Cloud updated is important as the updates that occur can sometimes be wildly beneficial to the user.  They can improve load times, add quality of life changes, or even improve security.  I've created a quick video on how to update Adobe so that you can get the most out of your programs.

If the video is not viewable below, it can be found on our channel within Microsoft Stream.

You are checking your email and see one from your boss or coworker and you open it.  They say they are stuck in a meeting and need you to run an errand to buy them gift cards for their great nephew’s cousin’s best friend’s sister’s dog’s birthday present.  This is a suspicious email, and there are many others like it to try and trick you to giving out personal information or to steal your money.  Knowing the signs and tricks of these malicious senders can help you prevent a security breach or losing your hard-earned money.

Phishing Emails

Phishing emails are messages that attempt to gain access to your accounts by tricking you into sending logins or passwords.  This can come about in a variety of ways, but usually the sender poses as a company you have an account with, then can say something like “Your account has been compromised, please click this link to confirm your login” and steal your information through the bad link you clicked.  Many of these emails look identical to the real thing, so how can you tell the company from the phisher?

By checking the email address of the sender, you can check to see if the domain name is correct for the company.  For example, an email address of “confirmation@apple.com” is much more trustworthy than “confirmation@grapefruit.com” because the domain name isn’t accurate.

Spoof Emails

Spoof emails are any email that says it comes from a person, but the email address is not correct.  Like we saw with the phishing emails, the domain name is often incorrect when dealing with a spoof email.  However, spoof emails can appear like they are from anyone, like your coworkers or boss.  You could receive an email that looks like it is from someone you know, but it could have malicious attachments or ask you to buy gift cards.  Often when you open these emails, the writing style of the person is off from what you know, it may be lacking their usual signature, and it could have bad grammar.  All of these should be red flags in your mind, all of which can be confirmed by an odd email address like the phishing ones mentioned earlier.

Compromised Emails

Unlike spoof emails, these emails come from a legitimate email of someone you know.  That person’s email was hacked, which can happen if they click on something suspicious or perhaps fell victim to a phishing email.  This makes it more difficult to tell if the email is legitimate because you cannot check the email address. However, the writing style, signature, and bad grammar mentioned earlier can still apply.  If you are suspicious, don’t click anything.  When in doubt, give the person a call or ask them in person if they sent you the email.

What Do I Do If People Tell Me They Are Getting Suspicious Emails from Me?

Most often, the emails they are receiving are spoof emails.  There is not much you can do with those, and they are harmless so long as no one clicks anything or sends money.  The best course of action is to have the receivers verify that the email address is not your real email address, and then let your coworkers know about the spoof emails so they are prepared to delete them.

What If My Email Is Actually Compromised?

Firstly, you should call helpdesk at (906) 632-5673 or extension 5673 to let them know the situation.  You will have to change your active directory password, which will change email and computer passwords.  Then let your coworkers know to look out for suspicious emails from your account and let them know you are compromised.

Throughout the region, grade 12 students have graduated and are moving on to the next phase of their lives. Many of these graduates are enjoying that one last summer before a job-search, college, or military service. Some time, around September or October, some will realize that they had created materials or created accounts with their school email that may be helpful in their current endeavors. So, what happens to those accounts?

Phase 1 - Same Access

Once a student graduates, their accounts remain fully active through September 30th of the year of graduation. 

Phase 2 - Email Only Access

October 1st through December 31st of the year of graduation, student accounts are set to email-only. This will provide a limited window in which they may update their contacts to provide a new, personal email address.

Phase 3 - Account Disabled

January 1st of the year following graduation, student accounts are disabled. Once this occurs, graduates needing access to their account will be directed to the Superintendent of their school district. Only a Superintendent may authorize and request access to an account which has been disabled.

Software runs our schools, whether it is for collaborating, billing, attendance, communication, or any other aspect of your district. Unfortunately, outdated or misconfigured software is a highly sought-after target by attackers; with it, they can gain a foothold in your systems and potentially exfiltrate data. Because schools host a wide variety of software applications to support the needs of students and staff, it is important to know common security practices relating to software in order to stay secure and to prevent a data breach.

Managing Application Software Security

Among other things, by centrally managing a list of approved software, your district can keep programs updated with the latest security patches, and more  importantly, validate whether or not the responsible vendor is continually supporting the product. Unsupported products do not receive security patches, which is a significant risk.

During the summer of 2021, regional technicians are contacting administrators to compile a list of approved software for each district.

Learn More

Decisions regarding the use of software and apps by teachers and students lie with District Administrators. Teachers and administrators may review the Software and Apps Authorization Process to learn more about this important process that brings teachers, curriculum development teams, district administrators, instructional technologists, REMC22, and technical services together to ensure system and data security.

Source: Essential Cybersecurity Practices for K12
Goal 18: Application Software Security

Board Policy 2510: Adoption of Textbooks

 

How do I install Office 365 for my own device?

Why Office 365?

Office provides many products that are used ubiquitously and taken for granted. Many individuals pay for the service, and it can be expensive to get everything you need.

You can install it!

Each EUPSchools account, staff and student alike, have five (5) devices that they can install Office on.

It's not difficult or time-consuming

I have created a 46-second video displaying the method used to install Office through your account. You can also remove devices later that are no longer in use!

Walkthrough

1. Navigate to office.com
2. Sign in using your EUPSchools credentials
3. Click Install Office > Other install options
4. Click Install Office
5. Run the installer package

Video Tutorial

Install Office on a Personal Device

Almost every teacher utilizes a projector in their classroom to display educational content, and in almost every classroom, that projector screen displays the same desktop as the computer monitor at the teacher’s desk.  This display setting is known as duplication, which makes both the projector and computer monitor display the same content, making it simple for the teacher to display content from their desk.  While easy and practical, there is another way to operate both screens in a way that provides more efficient use of your computer while projecting and enhances the security of student and personal data.

Using extended displays makes each screen able to display separate windows of content, so that a user could be planning their next lesson or responding to important emails at their desk WHILE presenting an educational video or lesson on the projector screen.  This takes some getting used to and will take time to adjust, but once you have mastered working with this display setting, you will be able to use your computer for multiple purposes and ensure that your Email’s and student data stay on your desktop screen and off the projector.  All you need is a willingness to learn something new, and to follow the instructions I provide in this article to get started.

First, you will have to change your display setting.  Minimize all windows on your computer screen and right click in an open area on your desktop.  A menu will drop from your pointer, and near the bottom there will be “Display Settings.” A new window will pop up that looks like this:

The blue box in the center that displays [ 1|2 ] is telling you that both displays “1” and “2” are duplicated and showing the same content.  Scroll down in the menu until you find “Multiple displays” and look for the drop-down menu underneath the heading, as shown below:

You will notice that the Multiple displays setting confirms the setting represented by the the blue box above.  Select the drop-down menu and select “Extend these displays.”  If a blue window appears vertically across your screen asking you if you want to keep the display changes, click “yes.”

This is where things might get tricky, but only for a minute… 

You might have just a blank image of a desktop on your desk monitor, and your icons display settings window on the projector screen, but that is okay.  Your computer now needs you to tell it which screen is your desktop screen, and which is the projector.  If your icons and windows are on the projector screen, you’ll be able to drag your mouse pointer onto the other screen if you need to by trying to drag it off the edges of the screen it is currently on, either by dragging all the way left or right until it appears on the other screen.

Once you have your mouse pointer on the same screen as the “Display” window, scroll up until you see two blue boxes:

Click on the “Identify” button. A big number 1 and 2 should display in the bottom left corner of your desktop screen and projector screen.  This will allow you to select the screen you want as your main display by clicking on it (which should be your desk’s screen), and then scrolling down in the display window and finding the setting “Make this my Main Display.” Check the box.

Now that your main desktop is in the right place, let’s reference our blue screen images again.  Scroll to the top of the “Display” window until you find them:

In this example, if your mouse pointer is on screen 1, you can drag your mouse over to screen two by moving it all the way to the right of screen one and off the edge of the screen.  You can arrange the two boxes by clicking and dragging box 1 or 2, and your mouse pointer will drag off the computer screen onto the projector screen in the direction you place the projector screen’s box.  You might have to play with this to fit your needs. The boxes might be different sizes based on what the optimal resolution is on each screen.

How does this increase student data security?

Your email account and student information system is used frequently on your computer, and when duplicating your screen, you may accidentally open these windows in your browser and expose the information to your students.  Sensative information, such as grades and demographic data should not be shared with other students or specific staff members (i.e. Maintenance), and those windows should be closed when not in use.  Extending your screen helps ensure you keep your important data and emails on your desktop monitor, while only displaying educational content on your projector screen for your audience.  It also allows you to work with your email's, attendance, or assignments on your own desktop screen while displaying educational content from the projector. 

Below is a link to a brief Power Point presentation for a not-so-obvious means of adjusting the video camera brightness on a Surface Laptop.

Adjust Video Camera Brightness on a Surface Laptop

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Education Training Assistance Program (CETAP) equips K-12 teachers with cybersecurity curricula and education tools. Through the CETAP grant, Cyber.org, Bossier City, Louisiana, develops and distributes free cybersecurity, STEM, and computer science curricula to K-12 educators across the country. The curricula comprises the Cyber Interstate – a robust library of cyber-based curricula that provides opportunities for students to become aware of cyber issues, engage in cybersecurity education, and enter cybersecurity career fields. These programs focus on growing and educating the next generation cyber-literate workforce.

Project-driven Curricula

Explore and download lesson plans, assessments, and other materials for K-12 science, STEM, and computer science by requesting access to Cyber.org's Library of Curricula.

Programs

Involving students in cybersecurity can extend beyond the school year. Summer camp programs, like Cyber Discovery and GenCyber, provide hands-on cybersecurity learning activities to middle-school and high-school students.  Learn more about programs on Cyber.org's events page.

Student Resources

In addition to curricula for K-12 educators, Cyber.org offers resources for out-of-the-classroom settings. Activities and articles are available for students, parents, educators, and activity leaders looking to enhance students’ awareness and understanding of STEM, computer science, and cybersecurity topics.

DHS also offers cybersecurity career awareness resources including tip cards, fun educational posters, and informational one-pagers to share with students in the classroom, during extracurricular activities, and at home. Use these resources to introduce students to the cybersecurity field and spark an interest in cybersecurity as a career. Please download the resources below:

• Brochure: “5 Ways Cybersecurity is Like Gaming - but Better”
• Tip card: “How to Talk About Cybersecurity Careers”
• Posters: Cybersecurity Careers (Grades K-4 and 5-8)
• Handout: Cybersecurity Education Resources
• Handout: Cybersecurity Career Profiles

Source: NICCS: Cybersecurity in the Classroom

Essential Cybersecurity Practices for K-12
Goal 17: Security Awareness and Training Program

 

School year 2020-2021 is coming to a close and soon we'll be setting up for school year 2021-2022. Many teachers spent considerable time creating and manging online classes which now should be archived in order to perserve that instance of the class.

Google Classroom

1. Go to classroom.google.com
2. On the class card, click More > Archive
3. Click Archive to confirm.

Learn more options you have with Google Classroom, such as transferring ownership of a class, copy a class, and reordering your class cards at Classroom Help: Archive or delete a class.

Microsoft Teams Class

Archiving does not delete a team. In an archived team, all activity in the team is frozen. This includes the ability to add or edit channels, post messages, or create new assignments. However, team owners can still add or remove team members and update roles. The team will no longer appear with your view of active teams.

Contact the Help Desk at 906-632-5673 or helpdesk@eupschools.org to have your Teams Class copied for the new school year and archived for the past school year.

Learn more with Microsoft Education Center's Transform Learning with Microsoft Teams.