Tuesday, September 28, 2021

September/October 2021 Technology Update

   FMX: Report Summary for August 2021 is below.


Directions on using FMX:1. Go to https://loganelm.gofmx.com. 2. There are 3 login boxes. Click on the "Log In with AD FS" gray box. 3. Enter your email address (first.last@loganelm.org) and your password that you use to access your email. Click on the "Create Request" button in the upper right corner and choose the type of request you need to add. I have added the "Log on with Google" for students. They only have rights to create tech requests. They cannot complete maintenance or field trip requests.

Email attachments: I have created a rule that does not allow certain email attachments without my approval. The email attachments are: ZIP, XML, HTM and HTML. These attachments have the capability of releasing a payload that could delete files, send passwords through malware and other destructive procedures. When I receive an email that needs approval, I will reach out to the recipient to verify that the message is real and not some form of malware. So far, I have received 45 messages for approval. Of the 45, only 7 were legitimate.

Calendly/FMX: When you fill out a tech request for a desktop/laptop issue which will require remote assistance, you can go ahead and schedule a time for the remote session. Click here to access my Calendly page. Also, you can find the link on my technology page.

Clearing Chrome browser cache: There are times when you need to clear your browser cache in Google Chrome. Lately, Infinite Campus has experienced some issues where clearing the cache resolved some issues. Click on the following link to watch a YouTube video on how to clear your cache: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUsouNnVqww.

Broken chromebook procedures: If you have a student with a broken chromebook, take it to the following staff member:
High School: Katie Piacentini/Library
Middle School: Terry Borland/Library
Salt Creek: Ted Dille/Office
Laurelville: Katy Blubaugh/Room 205
Pickaway: Amie Bassett/Office
Washington: Aaron Landau/Room 4a
They will issue a loaner and submit a request for service in our One2One Manager. You do not need to fill out an FMX request.

Internet Outages: There are times when we may experience Internet outages. Power outages, equipment failures, storm damage and backhoe operators can take out our Internet service. The last outage was due to an equipment failure AND a backhoe operator. We do not have a redundant connection, so please plan accordingly in the event of an Internet outage. Most of the time, we do not have an ETA on when service will be restored, especially if a large fiber optic trunk is cut.

Clever: A student will  not show up in Clever because the email address is either missing or incorrect. The first email field in Infinite Campus should be the student email address. If you have a student who cannot login to Clever, check Infinite Campus for the email address. If it is missing or incorrect, please contact your building secretary or principal.

BitWarden: In the past, I have recommended LastPass for password management. LogMeIn purchased LastPass and is making changes to the free version, in which you must choose to use it on desktops or mobile devices, not both. In addition, they have increased the premium price from $12 to $36 a year. As a result, I have moved to BitWarden as my password manager. The free version does everything I need it to do and the premium version is $10 a year. For more information, go to https://bitwarden.com.