Technology Tip #6 -
Using eSchool to Send Parent E-mails
This tech tip comes from Kim
Ross who would like to share some information about eSchool and using it to
send “group” email. Here are a few points that should help you with this
task:
eSchool is the best place to communicate with your
classes/parents.
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First of all eSchool is updated as changes take place.
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Secondly, all email addresses are readily available in
the eSchool product so that you do not have to retype them, group them, make
distribution lists, or otherwise “mess” with them!
How do you send a group email through eSchool
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Log into eSchool
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Choose Email Students/Guardians in the left
panel of choices
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Click the folder next to your homeroom to expand it
(Review which families have not provided the office with an email
address—they will need an alternate means of communication)
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To email the entire class, check the box next to the
folder icon you just expanded; to email one or a few families, check the
box(es) next to each parent
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At the bottom, type the subject and
body
of your message (Click “attach a file” if necessary)
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Click Send
Where is a record of this sent email?
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The email will show on your eSchool yhome page complete
with a list of the recipients. Additionally, you will receive a copy of the
email in your Outlook mail box and each parent will receive your email
individually—they will not see that you sent it to the rest of the class; it
will appear as if you sent it only to them. The return address will be
yours. It they reply, it will come back to your Outlook email (not eSchool).
How do I know the email was read by the parent?
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Technology Tip #7 -
Setting a Default Printer
Technology Tip
#8 - Shared Calendars and Scheduling on a Calendar via Meeting Request
Part 1- Opening Shared Calendars
Part 2 - Scheduling use of
equipment and/or rooms using the Meeting Request
Part 1 – Opening Shared Calendars (Screencast)
Why? To see appointments/meetings on calendars other
than the one you own
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Click on the
Calendar View button (lower left hand side of the screen)
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Click on the
Open a Shared Calendar
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Type the
name of the calendar or click on the “Name” button to search
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Highlight
the calendar and click okay
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If you do
not have rights to the calendar you can ask for permission
Part 2 – Scheduling use of Equipment and/or Rooms using
the Meeting Request (Screencast)
Why? To reserve resources to use
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Click on the New pull-down button
(the arrow to the right)
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Select Meeting
Request
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Select
recipients (calendars) to put into the “To”
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Add subject –
It’s best to include your name and/or class who will be using the
room/equipment
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Bonus Tip – In
the Meeting Request window use the “Scheduling Assistant” button to do a
busy search for anyone’s calendar.
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Click “send” to
send the request to the room/equipment.
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Technology Tip
#9 Distribution Lists
“How To” directions follow with
videos at the bottom of this email. First, a little information about
Distribution Lists:
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Distribution lists are
used when you send a message to several
people simultaneously and will do so more than once.
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We are used to referring to Distribution Lists as “groups”
since Groupwise termed them that—no longer the case!
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You create a distribution list and save it. The list resides
in your “Contacts” folder.
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Members of the list may come from the District Address List
and/or your Contacts. You can also type them directly into the Distribution
List.
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A Distribution List doesn't keep track of phone numbers and
mailing addresses, just email addresses.
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You may share a Distribution List with someone who emails the
same individuals (a co-sponsor of an activity, assistant coach, or
department/team member)
To
Set up a Distribution List
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Choose
File > New > Distribution
List (The Distribution List dialog box appears.) (Note: You will
find other ways to begin a Distribution List—all work!)
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Type the
name that you want to assign to your
Distribution List.
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Click the
Select Members button. The Select
Members dialog box appears displaying a list of available names.
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Double-click the name
of each person that you want to add to your Distribution List.
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When you’ve finished picking names, click
OK
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Click
Save and Close.
Other
options for Distribution Lists
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Remove
a member of the list—Click that name and click the
Remove
button
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Select a new member
from the names already in your Contact
list or Global Address list—With the Distribution List open, click Select
Members and follow the same routine that you used to create a list.
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Add a person whose email address isn't
listed in any of your
address books—Click the Add New button, fill in the person's
name and email address, and click OK.
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Send a Distribution list to others:
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Open a new
message
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Open Contacts
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Drag the
list to the body of the new message. (Note: If
someone sends you a Distribution List, drag it from the attachment
section of the message to the Contacts folder for later use.)
Rather see a video?
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Technology Tip #10 - Email Signatures
Signatures are used to quickly (and painlessly) include
your contact information at the bottom of an e-mail.
- Open a new email
- Click on the Signature button in the "include" tab
and select Signatures. If you do not see this button make sure your message
window is full-screen by clicking on the maximize button (next to the red X
box, upper right side of window)
- Type your signature in the Edit Signature text
box, change the font, color, etc. Click Save
- Carefully read and select the options in the
Choose
default signature section to make selections for new emails and replies.
- Click okay when done
Rather see a video?
Click here
Technology Tip #11 - Categories in Outlook
Today’s Tech Tip from Gail Drake, Technology Assistant, deals
with Categories in Outlook. She comments:
- Categorize your email – a great way to track emails you want to keep
open.
- In the top toolbar, select Actions – Select Categories, then select All
Categories, rename your categories to whatever you want them to be, select
OK. You can change colors, and add/delete categories
- In the email Inbox, right click on an email and select category – choose
what category you want this email to be and this will put a color code and
category name next to the date of the email.
- In the calendar, right click on any meeting or appointment and select
categorize and choose a category
- In the task list, right click a task, select categorize, and select the
category color/name.
- In the contact list, right click on a contact, select categorize, and
select the category color/name.
- For all of these (email, calendar, task list), there is a categorize
button when you are creating the item. That works as well!
My experience with categories:
- If you’re a “highlighter” user, you will love categories. Categories are
used to assign items to a group (category) mostly for the purpose of
sorting. You might think of it as color coding—you know, complete those red
items first then the pink ones, etc. OR all the yellow things are on the
same topic, the pink another topic, etc.
- I use categories in my calendar to color code appointments to highlight
the school at which I will be. That way, I can open the calendar and with a
quick look, see what my day is like. I also use categories in my task (to
do) list—same idea, color code for the buildings to which they refer. I
don’t use categories in my inbox since I like to sort items into the
cabinet. I do, however, flag items for importance (check out the follow-up
button in the email window.)
- How could you use categories?
The same idea as Gail and I wrote about . . . You might want to assign a
“category” to all items for your classes, another for your committee work,
another for team work, another for coaching responsibilities, etc. You will
want to set them up to meet your needs.
For more information on categories, here are some short videos:
Setting up categories for use in email, the calendar, and the task list.
Assigning categories to a new calendar entry or task.
Assigning categories to an email.
Using the View button when categories have been set up
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Technology Tip #12 - Busy Search
Want to know if someone is busy during the
time you want to talk with them? Check before you walk to
his/her office. Want to set up a meeting? Check for a
common time before you send the meeting request. This can
be done with the Scheduling Assistant in Outlook.
1. Open the calendar
2. Click a date (if it isn’t
today’s date)
3. Click the arrow beside
the New button and choose Meeting Request from the menu
4. Enter the name(s) in the
To field
5. Click Scheduling
Assistant in the Show group of the ribbon’s Meeting tab
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Outlook shows your schedule as
well as the individual(s) for whom you added names in
the To field.
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Notice
that YOUR calendar information shows in detail when YOU
open the Scheduling Assistant. As for the people you
are “checking on” . . . only a blue block denoting busy
is shown. The exception: If you add an individual to
the Scheduling Assistant with whom you share a calendar
and its details, their details will show in a blue box.
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If you log on to the web version
of Outlook (OWA), open a new meeting request, go to the
global address book and select an individual, the same
busy information is shown (not details . . . only a blue
box denoting the individual is busy).
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Disclaimer: This only works if
you are checking the schedule of someone who uses the
calendar.
Here’s a quick video:
Busy Search
Technology Tip #13 - Full-Screen
Viewing
- To view an internet page full screen
in Internet Explorer just press the F11 button. To
return to normal view, press F11 again.
- Why is this a Tip? When projecting your computer
image the purpose is to showcase the information on the
webpage rather than the menu.
Technology Tip #14 - Using Clip Art
in Word
Screencast
Clip Art in Word
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Technology Tip #15
- Quick Access Toolbar
Screencast
Technology Tip #16 - Power
Point
We wanted to add
slides from an already made presentation to a new
presentation. I figured it was the same as in the last
version of PowerPoint. Not true! PowerPoint 2007 has
changed the process a bit:
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With
the new presentation open
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From
the Home tab, click the down arrow on New
Slide
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Go the
bottom and select Reuse Slides
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Browse to the already made presentation
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Open
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Select the slides you want inserted
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(You
may have to go to the slide sorter to rearrange
them.)
If you are a fan of using already
made slides with few/no changes, this works well.
Here is a short video
Technology Tip #17 - Quick view of the Desktop
Do you
ever want to get to your desktop screen without having to
minimize several windows?
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Click on the “windows button” – D in any application
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The
“windows button” is on the same row as the space bar and
has a picture of the windows icon
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To
return to your last window click “windows button” – D
again
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Technology Tip #18 Why PDF?
What is a PDF?
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PDF stands for
Portable Document Format.
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·It is a format
developed by Adobe Corporation which allows electronic
information to be transferred between various types of
computers.
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·The software which
allows this transfer is called Acrobat.
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·In order to view
and print a PDF file you will first need to download and
install a copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is a
free application. (Our district computers are configured
with this software already on them.)
Why PDFs?
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PDFs are compatible across
platforms (PCs and Macs can both read PDFs) and are not
dependent upon the reader having Office software
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Smaller file size—usually
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Create from any source document
(Word, Excel, etc.
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Avoid modification—once the PDF
file is sent, the recipient cannot easily change
it—certainly not by editing in common Office
applications
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Safe—little to no chance of viruses
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Easy and quick to create—we have a
couple of choices to create PDF files on our computers
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Documents are viewable in most web
browsers
How Are PDFs Created?
|
In Word, Excel or
PowerPoint·
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Click on the
Office button—top left corner of
your application 
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Select Save
As
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Choose PDF or XPS
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The Save As
window appears
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Select the location
in which you want to save the file
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Click the Publish
button
|
In Publisher
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Use the File
pulldown
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Select
Publish as PDF or XPS
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The Save As
window appears
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Select the
location in which you want to save the
file
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Click the
Publish button
OR
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Upon
completion of the document:
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Office
button or File pulldown
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Select Print
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Use the pulldown
arrow to select PDF Creator as
your printer – then OK
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Save (on
the document information screen)
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Select the
location and name your
document
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Click save
|
If you’d rather see a video, click
below:
From the Office Button (Word, Excel or PowerPoint)
From the File Pulldown Menu (Publisher)
With the PDF Creator (Printer Option)
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