Introduction
Hello everyone and welcome to another school year at HAST and another tech report! If you are unfamiliar with these reports, I create them monthly to discuss the state of technology in the school. This includes any changes, problems we’ve seen, support ticket breakdown, and any other technology information I wish to share with the school.
Tech Issues for August
Google Classroom Issue
During the first week of school it was brought to our attention Google Classroom was not working correctly on iPads. The problem specifically affected the in app pdf editor, which allows students to complete assignments within the Google Classroom Application.
After checking if the issue was related to a specific iOS version, I found no correlation. I then checked our web filter to make sure nothing was getting blocked; however, the issue did not affect everyone so this was not likely. Restarts did not seem to help at all either.
I contacted Google Support and the issue was escalated to Tier 2 support after the original Tech I spoke with could not figure the issue out. Tier 3 support checked everything and could not come up with a reason why this was happening. They advised we delete the app off each device and log out of all google services. Reinstall and log back in to see if this fixes the issue.
I tested this on one students iPad and it worked. Another student tested and it worked on that iPad as well.
Even as I write, I am still receiving support tickets about this issue. Please remember if you delete the app, our server will resend it after your iPad checks in. This can take some time. If it doesn’t happen in a reasonable time, fill out a support ticket and I’ll try to push it to you.
For the most part the fix seems to have worked, though some students are still having issues. If the issues keep coming, I will forward it to Google’s development team.
iOS 12.2 Issue
Though everyone was asked to update their iPad to the latest iOS when iPads were distributed, a number of students still have not. Another issue we noticed was with iOS 12.2. Students running this version of iOS were experiencing random restarts and specific apps not functioning properly.
The solution to this issue is a simple one: update to the latest iOS.
End of Sangha/Investigation of Other Options
A good part of the spring and the summer was spent on setting up and learning the parent communication system, Sangha. Through this program we were able to communicate with parents through email, text, and phone. The goal was to use this to communicate weekly updates, emergency notifications, absent and tardy notifications, etc. A majority of schools already have such a system in place and use it for parent communication.
Unfortunately, I was notified at 8am on the first day of school, Edlio would no longer support Sangha as a product. All the hours put into Sangha were for nothing. Luckily, we were refunded for the service we never had the chance to use and I began searching for a new product.
After investigating several different school communication tools and talking to many districts, we decided School Messenger would be the best tool to do what Sangha could not. School Messenger has been around for a number of years and is used by one out of every two schools in the nation. It works well with PowerSchool and should greatly enhance our communication.
In the next few weeks I will be working with School Messenger to get the service implemented and working. We should roll it out sometime in the next couple months.
Keycard Reader Issue
Around May, the keycard software began malfunctioning on Mr. Funchion’s computer and we moved the keycard operation to the main keycard server in the basement. Unfortunately, we discovered this also was not functioning correctly despite appearing to create cards without issue. After having a tech come out to look at the problem and being unable to solve it, he believed the problem was our panel that controls the whole system. We have been waiting on a tech to come out with a functioning panel to see if the problem resolves this way. Hopefully this will resolve soon and anyone with a new card will be able to use it to gain access to the building. We are also looking into upgrading our card reader system.
Airdop Disabled on iPads
Aidrop is a wonderful tool available on Apple products. It allows users to send documents, pictures, etc. to nearby devices. Unfortunately, I had to disable it a couple weeks ago due to student neglect. Students in 7th grade and in 9th grade were sending unwanted images to other students during class. Therefore, airdrop is and will continue to be disabled. What some may find funny, is annoying to others. Do not abuse the tools you have available to you for learning.
Technology Store
This is just a reminder you can purchase chargers, screen protectors, and pay iPad deductible for broken iPads on the HAST Technology Store. You can access this store by going to the Tech Support Tab on the main HAST Website, hovering over Online Forms and selecting “Pay iPad Deductible, Purchase Chargers or Screen Protectors.”
All students are given a charger and screen protector when they start. Purchases made here are for replacement items.
New Web Filter
This year we installed a new web filter using a cloud based service. The service, known as Relay, filters student devices no matter where they are located. Additionally, it syncs with google emails so students are synced with their email accounts and we can see the traffic of each student. In previous years we could see internet activity when students were at home, but students would not be blocked from accessing inappropriate sites. Now, the web filter will block no matter where the device is connected. This saves us a lot of time and energy looking through logs.
Initially, the web filter was a little sensitive with some of the keywords it was blocking, but I believe this issue to be fixed.
Laptops and personal devices are still filtered using the on premise web filter server.
Relay Report
As you see above, Relay shows us all the traffic from student devices. In the report for August, you can see the top website is Google, followed by google accounts, and then IXL. Additionally, we have the ability to click on the local block and see what websites are blocked and who was attempting to go to those websites.
The two most blocked sites for August were yahoo and snapchat. A simple click of the users allows me to see who accessed the sites. Yahoo is blocked because it allows for unfiltered searching, a violation of CIPA law.
Support Ticket Breakdown
August is always the busiest time of year for us when it comes to support tickets; however, August 2019 was the highest level we have ever seen with 308 support tickets! The largest category was PowerSchool with 191 tickets, followed by Apps and Email. Most issues were related to needing specific apps, apps freezing, google apps not working properly, and email password resets.
Lost iPads
Had 6 total iPads go missing in August. All were recovered.
Broken iPads
Only one iPad was reported broken in August.
Reminders
- NWEA Testing is coming up this month.
- Please remember to fill out support tickets for support issues.
- Take care of your devices.
- September 9-13th is Digital Citizenship week. Incorporating some sort of lesson in your classrooms would be beneficial to students.