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  • The following guidelines are for staff use of e-mail to communicate with parents. 

     

    Response Expectation

    • Inform parents that e-mail is not confidential, nor is it expected to be
    • Let parents know that e-mail is not checked on an hourly basis, a 24-48 hour response is normal (let parents know what your normal response time is expected to be)
    • If there are emergencies, use the phone, not e-mail

    Content

    • Use e-mail for setting up appointments, phone or conferences
    • Use e-mail for sharing curriculum links
    • Treat content as if it could be received by another party
    • Do not include personal information about the student/child in the e-mail
    • Do not include student grade or assessment information in the e-mail
    • Do not use e-mail for parental authorization (field trips, picking up student for appt. etc.)

    Communication

    • Request confirmation on messages that are sent to parents
    • Send confirmation on messages received from parents

    Security

    • ID and passwords take on the next level of meaning; if staff have a negative habit of logging in and walking away from their system,students could represent themselves as staff on the station via e-mail reading/sending capabilities
    • Always log off when you are leaving your computer
      • Do not share your password
      • Change your password periodically
      • Use a combination of letters and numbers or characters in your password

Tips

  • Turning the PC On and Off

    It is important that you follow the proper procedure for turning your PC on and off. An improperly shut down PC will cause service calls.

    Start up

    On many of the newest PCs, the easiest way to start your PC is to simply push the power button most likely located on the front of the computer itself.

    The PC will take about 2 minutes to start up, and when it is done, you'll get a screen saying "Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to Log on." At this point you'll need to put in your USERID and password.

    If during the startup process you get a message saying that "this machine may have been improperly shut down, shall I run ScanDisk" say yes. Scan disk will check the PC for problems, correct them (most cases) and then return you to the "Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to Log on." screen.

    Shut Down

    It is important that you shut down your PC at the end of each day. By doing so you'll:

    • Save electricity 
    • Ensure that your files will properly back up on the server. 
    • Be sure that no one can access your files in your absence 
    • Receive updates to your PC across the network when you restart.

    It is important that you don't simply shut the PC off. By doing so, you will damage the hard drive and cause a loss of files. If you are getting a message that "scandisk" has encountered errors, then the system has been improperly turned off.

    To shut off your PC:

    1. Go to the "Start" menu in the lower left corner of the screen. Click on "Start" and then go to "Shut down."
    2. Click "OK."

    The PC will then shut itself down. You can leave the monitor on. It does not draw power when the PC is off. You'll notice that the monitor light in the right hand corner will go from green to orange. Orange means the monitor is in standby mode.

  • If you leave your workstation for an extended period of time, like lunch, you should log off of the network to keep any other users from accessing your documents. To log off, go to the "Start button" on the bottom left corner of your screen. Then click "Log Off USERID." This will log you off the network but your computer will stay on. When you return you'll need to log on to the network again to access your documents.

    At the end of your work day, you should also log off and shut down your machine to prevent unauthorized access to your data. If you do not log off, any open documents will not be backed up by the server. To log off simply go to the "Start" menu, and go down to "Shut Down." Choose "Shut down the computer". This process may take a minute, your system will shut down or you'll get a message indicating that it is safe to turn off your machine.

  • Tech Tips - Password Guidelines
    The following guidelines are offered to help provide better password security.

    1. Use complex passwords which:
      Complex passwords are more resistant to a dictionary attack, where an unauthorized user attempts to crack a password by sending a series of commonly used names and words.
      • do not contain all or any part of the user's account name
      • are more than 8 characters long
      • contain characters of at least THREE of these four categories:
        • English uppercase letters (A through Z)
        • English lowercase letters (a through z)
        • Base 10 digits (0 through 9)
        • permitted punctuation such as ! $ # % @ ^ & * ( ) ? . ,
    2. Do not write down passwords in an unsecured location.
    3. Change your password periodically. (Every 30-60 days).

    Complex passwords can be easy to remember. Similar to some of the interesting license plates, easy examples are:

    • 2dAyI$thedaY .........(today is the day)
    • Brn2RunFa$t ...........(born to run fast)
    • XqqsME2! ..............(excuse me too !)
    • H20uUP2? ...............(what are you up to?)
    • L00ny2nzz! ..............( looney tunes)

  • Tech Tips - Spyware Information
    While advertising/sponsoring is a common way to publish and promote a product for free, some software advertising systems do more than just show static banners, they make secret use of your internet connection. For example, to retrieve new banner ads from a third party's server or send various information about you. This information is collected and sold to third parties.

    Because of the secret behavior of these systems, they are also called advertising trojans. Most of these systems are installed with a (often popular) host application, which may or may not work without the snoopware components installed. Some attach themselves to your browser, some are completely invisible.

    To gain further information on adware/spyware and how to remove it from your system (for free) go to LavaSoftUSA and follow the links to download Ad-Aware.

    For additional tips on recognizing and avoiding spyware, refer to this article from The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT).

  • Tech Tips - Firewall Information

    If you have a computer at home and use the Internet regularly, you should look into having a firewall.

    The function of a firewall is to block "open ports" while you are on the internet. A firewall can be a physical device attached to your computer, or it can be software that is installed.

    There are many firewalls available. A free firewall appropriate for home use, Zone Alarm, can be downloaded from the Zonelabs website. Other commercial firewalls are available from companies such as Norton or McAfee. You can read further information on why to use a firewall from the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) here.

    Here you can use the ShieldsUp web page to safely test your computer for open ports.

  • Internet Safety Tips and other information are available from these sites:

    Email tech@homercentral.org with questions!