More Google Apps Training!

Google Apps team member Souvik Mandal.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of training for the Google Apps outreach team. Last Monday we headed out to Wilson High School to conduct several sessions at the substitute training. We also pushed out a Teacher Portal page to everyone using Chromebooks. This page displays when you login to the Chromebook and will only be active for a few weeks. The page has handy links that should be bookmarked along with a Teacher Survey. Please encourage your teachers to complete this survey. We'll use the data we receive from the survey to develop differentiated professional development options at the school level.

Chromebook & Google Apps Overview #3, Aug. 18, 2014

Here's the Hangout session from Maplewood.

Google Apps Coming Fall 2014

Check out our cool Google Apps announcement!

Chromebook & Google Apps Overview #2, Aug. 14, 2014

Here's today's hangout.

Chromebook & Google Apps Hangout on Air, Aug. 13, 2014

Here's our first livestream of a Chromebook & Google Apps overview. We're scheduled to do another one tomorrow, which we'll also post since we learned some tips and tricks along the way.

Chromebook Training!

In person training at Glencoe

Today we delivered our first Chromebook training at Glencoe with a live stream to YouTube, Irvington, and Maplewood. We trained 30 people in person and another 20-30 virtually. We'll be conducting another training tomorrow, the 13th, at Irvington. We hope to see you out there!

Training Begins!

Sit, observe, interact, learn. 

We are all experiencing the big push for the start of school. The Google Apps team will be spending much of our time working with individual schools and conducting training sessions. We've started off the week with the Common Core Best Practices Institute and Secretary training. We'll be at Glencoe on Wednesday for Chromebook training that will be live streamed here (will also be posted to the YouTube channel). We will also conduct a session for the Leadership Academy on Thursday followed by another Chromebook training at Irvington (also streamed live). I hope to see many of you out there!

Google Apps for Education is Live!

All PPS staff and students in the District now have a Google Apps for Education account! Google Apps for Education is a suite of tools including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Sites, and Google+. Google Apps gives everyone the ability to quickly, and easily, create and share documents on any computer or mobile device. It also allows for quick, adhoc, meetings with staff in different locations using Google Hangouts. For more information on the benefits of Google Apps click here.

To access your Google Apps account please go to the https://activategafe.pps.net/ and enter your PPS username and password. After you have activated your account, to begin using Google Apps for Education, visit the District domain at http://apps4pps.net.

Each student will also need to activate their Google Apps account at https://activatestudentgafe.pps.net/ by entering their PPS username and password. After their account is activated, they can begin to use Google Apps for Education by logging in at http://apps4pps.net.

Usernames will not be your normal PPS email address or username, it will be your PPS username followed by @apps4pps.net. Your staff username will not be your normal PPS email. It will be your PPS username followed by @apps4pps.net. For example, if your email is rsmitch@pps.net you would use rsmitch@apps4pps.net. Your password will be the same as what you entered on the activate page. Student usernames follow the same protocol. If the student email is rsmitch3255@student.pps.net or rsmitch3255 they would use rsmitch3255@apps4pps.net. Their password will be the same as what they entered on the activation page.

Students must log into Google Apps with their own individual account. To view information about student accounts and password complexity rules, visit our webpage at: http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/information-technology/6417.htm

If you have any questions regarding Google Apps for Education or have trouble activating your Google Apps account, please contact the IT Service Desk at 503.916.3375 or email itservicedesk@pps.net for support.

Chromebook Delivery Parties

Training for support staff on Chromebooks and Google Apps.

As part of the Tech Bundle Initiative, Chromebooks are being distributed to all teachers and administrators prior the start of the school year. These parties are voluntary events and designed solely to facilitate early distribution. More formal distributions are also planned during the weeks of Aug. 25, Sept. 8 and Sept. 15.

The Tech Bundle Chromebooks will be distributed to the following personnel:

• PPS Teacher defined as an employee holding a valid Oregon State Teaching License assigned to deliver at least.5 FTE of class room instruction within a PPS school campus within the 2014/2015 school year.
• PPS Campus Administrator defined as an PPS employee holding a valid Oregon State School Administrator’s  License and assigned to work at a PPS School Campus as a Regional Administrator, Principal, Vice-Principal, or Assistant Principal for at least .5 FTE within the 2014/2015 school year.

Unfortunately, teachers hired after July 15 are not included on the distribution list, but they will receive their device during the formal distributions. A list of personnel meeting these criteria have been distributed to principals for review and only those personnel on the distribution list will be issued a Chromebook.

To receive a Chromebook, you must present your PPS badge and agree to sign a receipt acknowledgement. As each Chromebook requires an signed acknowledgement from the assigned teacher, you will not be able to pick up Chromebooks for your colleagues. Please see the tentative details of the Chromebook parties below. Another location will also be added.

Campus	Dates & Times
Glencoe 825 SE 51st Ave. Portland, OR 97215	August 11, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 21 7-11A and 2-6P
Irvington 1320 NE Brazee St. Portland, OR 97212	August 11, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 21 7-11A and 2-6P
Maplewood 7452 SW 52nd Ave. | Portland, OR 97219	August 11, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 21 7-11A and 2-6P

The details of the distribution efforts during these Chromebook parties are as follows: 

• There will be 2 technical support staff on site to distribute the Chromebooks
• Technical support staff on site to answer basic questions on Chromebook use. (apps4pps.net sign-on, function keys and touch pad tips, accessing Google Apps, etc.)
• An optional basics overview for the Chromebook and Google Apps will be offered at the distribution parties. Stay tuned for specific times and places for the presentations!

If you have questions, please direct them to Dennis Swanson, dswanson@pps.net or 503-916-6022.

District Launch Update

We are on track to have all staff accounts created by this Monday, August 11th. Everyone, from janitors to the superintendent, will have a Google Apps for Education account. For those who do not currently have Google Apps accounts, you will have to go to an activator page and enter your credentials to sync your passwords between our current login system (active directory) and the Google Apps system. I will post detailed instructions later this week. Exciting times!