Insurance for your Google Data

It’s a terrible feeling to lose important emails or documents. We’ve all done it at some point, and the results can range from mildly inconvenient to truly devastating. I want to make sure that you are armed with the necessary information to keep your Google data safe. Here are some tips that you can start using immediately.

Protect your account

• Never share your password with anyone. Ever.
• Always log out or lock your computer if you need to step away. By keeping your account safe you help protect your data.

Delete + Empty Trash = Gone forever

In Google, it takes two steps to permanently delete a document or an email.

• First, you must click the Delete button or the trashcan icon. Your data is now in the trashcan, but you can still recover it for 30 days.
• The second step is to empty the trash. This action is permanent and cannot be reversed, even by IT.

It’s your choice whether to permanently delete emails and documents.

• Some users choose not to permanently delete because our Google Accounts have an incredible amount of storage—30 GB shared between Gmail and Drive. Most of us will only ever use a tiny fraction of that space.
• Other users like to keep things tidy by periodically clearing out the clutter. Remember that any documents or emails that go out with the trash are gone forever. IT cannot recover them.

Backup your Google data using the Takeout tool

Google Takeout lets you create a custom archive of of your Google data. The Takeout tool is very intuitive and easy to use, but if you need more information please visit Google’s support page.

Google Takeout is optional, but I encourage you to try it. The time it takes now may save you lots of anguish later on.

Do you have any thoughts on preventing data loss? Please chime in below.

Andrew

Green Printing @BVSD

Over the last year, BVSD has transitioned to a new model for supporting our printing, faxing, and copying needs. We moved away from workgroup printers to Ricoh multifunction devices.

This change was made in order to

• reduce costs by reducing paper consumption and printing costs
• simplify our processes
• eliminate excess waste as part of a “greenBVSD” initiative.

Since spring 2012, over 155 Ricoh multifunction devices have been installed. This centralized printing model will eventually eliminate the need for over 1800 printers in our buildings. The new Ricoh devices provide faster, less expensive, and double-sided printing. In addition, schools now have a single source for purchasing toner and requesting repairs, which further reduces cost, energy use, and complexity.

To further our “greenBVSD” initiative, many staff and students are taking advantage of the digital collaboration opportunities within Google Docs and other online tools—in fact, some teachers have even created paperless classrooms. 

Go to www.bvsd.org/green to find more information about this sustainable printing initiative and other BVSD sustainability programs.

Please chime with your thoughts on printing after logging in above.

Andrew

Google Groups Go Live at BVSD!

​One of the great collaborative features of Google is Google Groups. A Google Group is an online environment for discussing items related to a specific subject, such as high school football, or related to a group of people, such as principals or all BVSD staff (which I’m using to communicate this blog). 

Last week the ability to create Google Groups was enabled for everyone at BVSD. With this ability comes an assumed level of responsibility in regard to naming your groups. 

Naming Conventions

1. Names should be descriptive and specific, not generic like “Football Team” (think of how many football teams we have in BVSD).
2. Names should follow this format: descriptor.name of group
1. Some examples: A chess club at Monarch High would be MOH.Chess Club. A lacrosse team at Emerald Elementary would be EME.Lacrosse.

Below is a list of descriptors for each school or function. Most school name descriptors are constructed from the first two letters of the school’s name, with the third letter designating the level.

If the appropriate descriptor is not in the name of your Google Group, the Group will be automatically removed. With that in mind, if you have a Group that does not conform to this critical naming standard, please update it no later than Sept 7, 2012. 

You can find more information on BVSD usage/creation of Groups by clicking here. You can find more information about Google Groups from Google by clicking here.

If you would like to comment on this blog, don’t forget to login to the blog site in the upper right hand corner.   

Andrew

The BVSD Transition to Google Collaborative Tools

On April 23, 2012, BVSD will be transitioning to the Google collaborative tools known as Google Apps. I'm happy to be communicating the details of this transition since many of you have been requesting these very same tools for a long time.

The Basic Google Apps

Over the last few months IT and Monarch HS (staff and students) have piloted the transition to the basic suite of Google Apps: Gmail, calendar, and instant messaging. These tools have some immediate benefits.

Access

You will have immediate online access at any time and on any device (PC, Mac, iPad, Droid, etc.). 

Storage

Your inbox will increase from 200 MB to 25 GB, which is over 10 times your current storage space. You also get the power of the Google search engine to find archived emails. 

Instant Messaging (IM)

IM allows you to instantly communicate (or "chat") with any BVSD employee, student, or Gmail user who is available to start an online chat session. The IT staff and I use this feature all the time to quickly communicate in lieu of email or phone. Please IM me with you questions or thoughts anytime you see I'm online. (Google will show you when I'm available.)

Google Apps for Document Collaboration

As Google becomes part of the BVSD culture, I anticipate a steady transition to collaboration at new levels. Google has several Apps that allow multiple people to collaborate on documents at the same time. We've already experienced the benefits of document sharing and collaboration in IT and Curriculum.  

In the schools, teachers will be able to have students submit assignments within Google and provide feedback online when appropriate. Peer collaboration within the classroom becomes an easier experience when teachers can easily see who is collaborating and to what level on any assignment. 

Administrators will also be able to collaborate with their staff members in new, fluid ways. Surveys can be easily created in an App called Google Forms.

These Google Apps are just a portion of the entire suite of Apps that are available to BVSD Google users. You can find a complete list of BVSD-accessible Google Apps at the end of this blog.

Google Ninjas: Your School's Experts

The list of benefits in using Google is long, but a transition of this scale is rarely without some bumps in the road. To help with the rollout, Kelly Sain (Ed Tech Manager) has created a program that will put Google experts in each school. The experts, known as Google Ninjas, will be trained over the next couple of months in preparation for the April 23 rollout. Principals have provided Kelly with a list of the experts for each school who will become your resident Google Ninjas.

Your First Days in Google

You probably have a lot of questions about what to expect in the transition to Google Apps. I recommend taking a look at the Google Transition Site, which is specifically designed to address your first days as a Google Apps user in BVSD. If you are a Gmail user in your personal life, then you already know how to use some of these tools.

Feedback

Please chime in on this blog and let me know what you are looking forward to with the move to Google Apps and what concerns you most about the transition.

Thank you for your time!

Andrew 

Initial Google Apps Available at BVSD    

​Product	​Description
Aviary	Aviary is a powerful suite of browser-based design tools for people who create.
Google Contacts	Address Book
Google Gmail	Email
Google Calendar	Calendar
Google Docs	Word processing, Spreadsheets, Presentations
Google Sites	Websites
Google Talk	Chatting
Blogger	Share your life online with a blog - it's quick, easy and free
Bookmarks	Access your Bookmarks on any computer, and use Lists to share them with friends
Books	Search the full text of books
Finance	Business info, news and interactive charts
Google Groups	Create and participate in public discussion groups
iGoogle	Add news, games and more to your Google homepage
Maps	View maps and directions
Picasa Web Albums	Share photos with friends and family, or explore public photos
Reader	Get all your blogs and news feeds fast
Translator Toolkit	Get tools for translators to translate your pages and documents faster
YouTube	Watch, upload and share videos