An Emperor is much like a Dictator. Emperor sounds more appealing, but they are basically the same. One has a ring of dignity to it; the other.. well, you get the idea. Both end in or and experience has taught us that in both the or means . . . "It's my way or the highway."

A Facilitator is someone that facilitates. (I hate it when definitions use the same word to explain what it means.) It also ends in or, but a facilitator is a modern day term that also means one that assists others in accomplishing a goal or task.

As educators, we would all like to think of ourselves as facilitators', however, 99% of the time we are facilitating the learning of material using the same tools by which we learned important "Stuff." Students today often find this as boring and irrelevant as I did. Maybe you were different. Maybe you loved school so much you could not get enough of it to satisfy your needs, but unless you have a classroom full of Mini-Me's, you are not having fun and neither are your students.

How is a kid in the computer lab like a married man with a TV remote in his hand?

They both feel like they are in control.

If you are not using your computer lab for anything other than word processing, your cruise, like the S. S. Minnow, isn't going anywhere. Teachers at Wilson are using the computer lab to study probability problems in math, to develop problem solving skills in a variety of curriculums, to create Power Point presentations instead of your basic classroom oral reports, and they are investigating what lies ahead beyond the school years.

My compliments to those teachers at Wilson and all the other schools that are using technology in a way that reaches nearly every student in their classrooms. Initially it may take a little more preparation, but the results are well worth the effort and both you and your class will be having fun while learning.

If you would like more information about what we are doing, email me jreed@amphi.com. I'd be glad to share some ideas. Whatever you do, put down the remote, get out from behind that stack of papers, and play with the most powerful teaching tool in your classroom. Then take the kids to the lab and share your knowledge the modern way.

By Nancy Jimmerson

and Debbie Anthony

Donaldson fourth graders participated in A Day in Living History Program in Tubac, Arizona. Each student was given the name of a person who went to school at the Old School House in the 1890's. They were encouraged to research about this person on the Internet. They dressed in period clothing, prepared and packed a lunch in a pail, brought along their cross-stitch and marbles and headed back in time. In Tubac, Mrs. Sarah Black (alias, Donaldson teachers) taught them traditional lessons from that time period. Throughout the experience we used the school digital camera to capture the events of the day.

Back at Donaldson, the pictures from the digital camera were transferred to the computer and put together into a slide show using Kid Pix Deluxe. This slide show was transferred to five different computers in the computer lab to accommodate small groups. Each group worked together to decide who would narrate each slide and what they wanted their audience to know about their experience by looking at the pictures. The students used microphones to record their narration with the slide. They also designed their own title page and ending page by drawing their own pictures using Kid Pix.

The students then shared the presentations with the rest of their class. The kids loved hearing their own voices recorded as they provided a virtual field trip for those who did not go to Tubac in person.

By Patti Greenleaf

Many teachers in the district like to have students experience sending email either to a keypal or to an expert to receive answers to topics. Since our district does not have email accounts for students, the teachers have either had to manage the email through their email account or go to one of the free Internet email providers such as Hotmail.com. While both answers can cause problems, at least if you had the student email come to you in your teacher email account, you had a chance of monitoring it. With Hotmail and many of the other free Internet providers there is no way of monitoring your students' incoming or out-going email. However, there are now two places on the Internet you can go to set up email accounts for your students, and both sites allow you to monitor the email your students are sending or receiving. The two providers are ePALS.com and Gaggle.net.

The ePALS.com teacher-monitored email is part of the site where you can go to find keypals for your students. This feature has been in place for about two months, so it is in its infancy and you will occasionally experience minor glitches, but these are easy to work around. You first set up your email account through ePALS and then set up accounts for your students. Student email can be filtered and questionable messages will be routed through the teacher's email account. The teacher must then either hold, reject (delete) or approve flagged messages before they are delivered to their children or outside recipients. The teacher can adjust the filtering so that he/she views all the students' email or just the emails that contain profanity. Another nice feature of this site is that you can have the messages translated to many different languages with a click of a button.

Gaggle.net works similar to ePALS.com in many ways. First, you set up your whole school with an account and then individual teachers set up their own email accounts and then create student accounts. This site appears at first glance to give you even more control in deciding what to filter and not. It lets you customize your filtering needs where ePALS.com only gives you four filtering options. However, with this site, the way it is free to you is that it sells advertising to pay for the cost of operating - so you and your students will receive ads with your email. This site also does not have the translating feature.

On April 21, 2000 the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) will be implemented. This Act states that commercial web sites must obtain parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13. This Act impacts both of these teacher monitored email sites. The way Gaggle.net handles this is by making you, the teacher, responsible for setting up the accounts and monitoring the email of your students. Currently, at ePALS.com, the first time a student logs in to use his/her email account they must read and accept a user agreement. If they are under 13 years old, you must send their names and addresses to ePALS so they can send the parents a letter of notification. ePALs is looking at making their site even stricter because of the legislation but are still looking into it. Our present District policy states that before you have your students use any part of the Internet, their parents must have signed the Acceptable Use Policy. Email is covered under this policy.

Both of these teacher-monitored sites offer more advantages over the previous means that we had in the district to provide our students with email accounts. I would suggest that you go to both of these sites and determine which will work best for you and your students.

By Peggy Steffens

Are you looking for information on the Internet? Do you have to go to several sites to find news sources, reference resources, weather information, and homework help? Want to go to one site and find it all in once place? Then go to refdesk.com.

Refdesk.com has a wealth of resource links all in one page. You can search Webster's Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, Britannica, Reuters/AP headlines, stock quotes, current weather and more. The site has links to 260+ search engines, college rankings, 3D atlas, homework helper, newspapers, encyclopedia's, campaign information, quote-of-the-day, fact-of-the-day, help and advice, and so much more.

In a recent technology class on Research Tools on the Internet, this site was selected the favorite site of the participants. This site has so many rich resources you could spend days taking advantage of everything they have to offer. Check it out!

By Ron Shannon

The end of the year is almost here and it's time to look back and celebrate the accomplishments of the year. We now have multimedia computers in classrooms and labs all connected to the Internet. Everyone has telephones in their classrooms or work areas and can access voice mail from anywhere in the galaxy. And, the video networks are complete everywhere except the high schools; and we expect to complete them before the start of the 2000/01 school year.

Since January, the speed and security of the district network has improved significantly. The network staff has done an incredible job of planning and implementing these improvements. I always liken these types of upgrades to that of changing a flat tire at 70 MPH! You can read elsewhere in this issue of Tech Talk just what has been done to accomplish this and how it will effect you. At the same time, the Repair Technicians have continued to provide repair services for all the equipment that is in the District in as timely and cost effective manner as possible. Tom Gill has done an outstanding job supporting all of the phone and voicemail users, too!

And, most importantly, many of you have attended the Technology Classes offered by Peggy Steffens and Patti Greenleaf. They do an incredible job planning classes and workshops tailored to meet your needs. And you, the attendees, do a great job of absorbing all the information and then going back to your classrooms or offices and applying what you have learned. I see people working and teaching more effectively and efficiently with technology and hear of many student successes around the district. Working closely with Peggy and Patti are all the Technology Coaches and Tech Specialists. Without the efforts of these people we wouldn't be able to utilize technology the way we do. Thanks to all of you for your hard work!

Let's also not forget all the clerical efforts that it takes to support the Technology Staff and the technology users in the District. Margaret Harris, Sue Sledge and Chrissy Cox have responsibilities covering purchase order preparation, managing budgets, ordering spare parts, managing warranties and returns, and maintaining the Technology Home Page and the Technology Registration Pages on the Internet. Their efforts are what keeps everything working.

We continue to strive for improved customer service and value you as customers. It is the goal of the Technology Department to Support, Educate and Empower. If there is more that we can do for you, please don't hesitate to let me know.

By Peggy Steffens

Starvation kills approximately 24,000 people daily; you and your students can help with the click of a mouse button. According to the Hunger Site, someone dies of hunger every 3.6 seconds and _ of those deaths are children under the age of 5. You and your students can make a difference by simply going to the Hunger Site - http://thehungersite.org/ and clicking on the button Donate Free Food. This click will give one starving person a serving of rice, wheat, maize, or other food staple. You can only click on the site once per day, but you could make it part of your daily routine; go to the Hunger Site after your moment of silence or the Pledge of Allegiance. The site also provides information and links about hunger that you and your students could use for discussion purposes. In addition, it provides Donation Totals for the day and month that students could use for math exercises.

The Hunger Site was founded in June 1999 to help curb world hunger. The original goal of the organizer was to help educate needy children, but he learned that you can't educate children who are so malnourished they can't concentrate. Therefore, he modified his plan and created the Hunger Site. The sponsors of the site pay for the donations of food and the United Nations World Food Program distributes the food. During the first eight months of the program, more than 9 million pounds of food have gone to feed the hungry. The donations are used to purchase and transport food where the need is most immediate. Visit the Hunger Site today, and make a difference in the life of someone less fortunate.

By Patti Greenleaf

As many of you are aware, the Technology department is in the process of upgrading the district computers from Office 95 to Office 97. While the differences are not great, there are some things that have been changed or added. Below are a few examples of the changes. For a complete handout on the differences go to www.amphi.com/depts/technology/tutorials.htm and click on the Manual: Microsoft Office, the Differences link.

To Save a File Down a Version

On the menu bar, select File, slide down and select Save As.

Choose the location where you want to save the information (probably 3 1/2" Floppy), give the file a name, then in the bottom left where it says Save As Type, click on the down arrow and select the following for each of the different programs:

Program Choice

Word Word 6.0/95

Excel Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook

PowerPoint PowerPoint 95

Once you have made the selection, click Save.

Inserting Pictures (Clip Art)

In Word 97 you no longer have to insert a frame around a picture that you have inserted. You do have to spend some time with the text-wrapping feature to have your picture work with your graphic.

Go to Insert and click on Picture and pull to From File.

Change to the location the file is located (i.e. floppy, desktop, my documents, server, a folder you created, etc.)

Click on the picture.

Click Insert.

Wrapping Text around the Picture

To make the text wrap around the picture, do the following:

Right Click on the picture and pull to Format Picture

Click on the Position tab and check Float over text.

Click on the Wrapping tab and select choices for the Wrapping Style and Wrapping to the text to wrap. Click OK.

To Tell Which Version of Word A Computer Has

On the menu bar, select Help.

Slide down and select About Microsoft Word (or Excel, or PowerPoint etc.).

This will give you a window that tells you about the program that you are in and the first line of text should tell which version it is.

To Use Auto Text in Word

If you have a word or phrase that you type quite a bit, you can add it to AutoText so that as you type it the rest of the phrase will fill in for you.

Select Tools on the Menu Bar.

Slide down and select AutoCorrect.

In the AutoCorrect window select the AutoText tab.

Where it says to enter AutoText entries here, enter the phrase you would like to add to AutoText, then click the Add button.

Click OK.

To Run Auto Text

As you type the phrase you will notice a yellow box with the phrase in it. To have the computer finish typing the phrase for you press Enter or Tab.

Where Has the Thesaurus Gone in Word

The Thesaurus is now in the Language submenu of the Tools Menu. On the Menu Bar, click on Tools, slide down and select Language. The keystroke combination for Thesaurus is still Shift+F7.

Centering Headings across Columns in Excel

1. Enter your data into a cell in column A.

3. Click on the Merge and Center icon on the toolbar.

Once you have done this it makes the whole area you highlighted your A cell (or whatever cell you started with).

To Split Merged Cells in Excel

1. Have your cursor on the merged cells.

2. Select Format on the Menu Bar.

3. Slide down and select Cells.

4. Click on the Alignment tab.

5. Uncheck the box next to merge cells

by Peggy Steffens

Here are some Internet sites for you and your students.

National Geographic - the educational pages provide online adventures, printable maps, lesson plans, news story of the day and more.

magma.nationalgeographic.com/education/

Study Web - provides resource information on numerous topics for students and teachers. The categories are sorted according to the approximate appropriate grade level of students who could use the information.

www.studyweb.com/

Kids Almanac - Yahooligans provides resources written for students about animals, business, disasters, laws, sports, the environment, and more.

www.yahooligans.com/content/ka/index.html

Quia - provides subject oriented activities for students and allows teachers to create quizzes, and activities.

www.quia.com/

Gateway to Educational Materials - provides access to high quality lesson plans, curriculum units, and other education resources on the Internet.

www.thegateway.org/

Homework Central - provides educational resources for students at three levels: kids, teens, college and beyond. www.homeworkheaven.com/vsl_homepage.htp

World Wildlife Fund - provides information for students and teachers on biodiversity, endangered species, conservation and more.

www.worldwildlife.org/

Education World - a great resource for teachers, provide links and information on curriculum ideas, holiday centers, lesson planning, and more.

www.education-world.com/

Ad Access - provides images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II.

scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/

Britannica - provide links to the best Web sites, leading magazines, related books, and the complete Encyclop‘dia Britannica.

www.britannica.com/

By Michelle McCallum, Prince

It started one fine day when a group of adults belonging to The Family Literacy Group signed up for 20 minutes a week in the computer lab. I thought all was well, showing them how to get into Word and start a journal. It became clear that we spoke different languages. They weren't laughing at any of my jokes. Needless to say we continued with the journal but I wanted more. I wanted them to be able to use the computer in other ways to learn English. So off to the Internet I went. I started out looking for a no nonsense site for adults. My journey led me instead to many colorful interactive and fun sites. But would they like it. YES!!!!

Here are a few sites and a bit about them.

www.freeenglish.com

First you will need to sign up and that will be in the upper right hand corner. Then you can click on quizzes & games to read about the different choices.

home.earthlink.net/~kingofun

This site is geared for kids including a kid's page, teacher's page and cool links to explore. Again I find adults having fun and learning on the kid's page.

www.enchantedlearning.com

This is a cool site for kids too. When you get there scroll down and you will get a dictionary and games from various languages. I like the Literacy group to have this open and while they are at another site they can use the dictionary to translate words.

By Jim Davis

ACK! What am I talking about?! Proxy? What is a "proxy" and why do I want one? Will McCullen wrote an in-depth article in this issue that you should read. So, anyway, long story longer. By default you will be going through a "transparent proxy." That means that all computers on the Amphitheater network will have their Internet access go through the Proxy filtering without setting anything special on the computer. However, if you are experiencing trouble with on-line banking, stock services, or e-commerce and need to log into a secure web site you will need to manually set Netscape's proxy. This is how to do it:

* On the top menu bar, click on Edit

* From the drop-down menu, chose Preferences.

* You should now have a small window. On the left side, you should see a list of different items with little plus or minus signs. The last one should say, Advanced. Click on the little plus next to it or if you are on a Macintosh click on the arrow.

* You should now see three more items. The second one should say, Proxies. Click on it.

* This should have changed the window on the right side. You should have a choice of three items to pick from. Pick the middle one called, Manual proxy configuration

* Now click on the button that says View (on a PC) or Configure (on a Macintosh).

* That should have opened another smaller window. In the three "Types" (HTTP, Security, FTP) type: 206.210.134.9 and under "Port" for each, type: 8080

* Click on the "OK" button

* Click on the other "OK" button and surf on!

Our really cool high school student, Chrissy, has set up a web page with cool pictures to look at, in case you get lost. It is at: www.amphi.com/depts/technology/proxy/index.htm If you are in doubt, then, as always, feel free to call us.

By Jim Davis

Again, with the "proxy"? Well, it's that or not use AOL's Instant Messenger (AIM).. Again, refer to Will's article about the whys and whats of the proxy; I will just be telling you how to set up AIM so you can use it. Ok, right now, when you start up AIM, it is probably just sitting at the "1. Connecting." phase.

* At this point click on the Cancel button.

* This now gives you access to the "Setup" button. Click on it.

* This opens a larger window with a bunch of tabs. Find the one called, Connection and click to open it.

* About a third of the way down, you will see a check box that says, "Connect using proxy," click to check it.

* Now a bunch of boxes that were "grayed out" are now.not. In the Host box type, 206.210.134.9 and in the Port box type 8080.

* To the right of the Host and Port boxes is a list of three items, click to put a dot in the HTTPS button.

* Click OK

* Click Sign on and chat away!

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to call! Also, screen shots are on the technology web page at www. amphi.com/depts/technology/proxy/index.htm

By Seth Butler

There is a peculiar behavior with the Microsoft Office toolbar and SasiXP. If you put your tool bar on the top of the screen then you get some screen corruption that will not allow for the proper use of the mouse in the SasiXP program. Here is the work-around: move the tool bar to the side, or close it completely and access your Word and Excel files from Programs menu from the Start button.

By Will McCullen

Yes folks, the proxy/firewall is officially up and filtering traffic. I have attempted to install this service with as little disruption as possible. There have been a few glitches that have hampered some of the web traffic, but I believe they are now ironed out. Once again, I thank all of you for your patience. Now that the proxy is up and filtering content, we face the real test. Are we effectively meeting your needs without sacrificing the information that is required to promote an atmosphere that enhances education? First, let me start by once again providing a description of the proxy/firewall.

What are you talking about?

The proxy/firewall runs on a product from Novell called BorderManager. This device physically sits between the Amphitheater network and our connection to the Internet through the U of A. The proxy is designed to take requests from a web browser, like Netscape, and send them on to the Internet on their behalf. This intervention provides two major benefits: it provides caching and filtering. Caching stores the sites that are visited on the proxy so those subsequent requests do not have to go all the way out to the Internet. Instead, they are simply filled from the data that is stored on the proxy. This greatly improves performance for all the subsequent requests and cuts down on the load of data that has to pass through our limited connection to the Internet. The second advantage, filtering, helps to reduce access to sites that are deemed inappropriate for our educational goals. Figure 1 helps to demonstrate the data flow. As requests for web pages stream through the proxy, it appears to the rest of the world as if we only have one computer requesting information. Everything appears to come from the public address of 206.210.159.34.

The proxy asks for data on the browser's behalf.

The firewall portion is entirely different. The firewall determines what data is permitted to pass to and from internal machines and external machines. For example, AOL uses proprietary software to provide its email access. This software talks to the AOL servers in a different way that bypasses the proxy. The firewall is the element that is responsible for blocking access that tries to circumvent the proxy services. The firewall blocks most of the pathways that hackers use.

Normally for web browsers to use the proxy services, they need to be configured to specifically send their requests to the proxy server. BorderManager has the added feature of being a transparent proxy. This means that when an unconfigured browser tries to access a web site, the BorderManager will intercept the data and run it through the proxy. Unfortunately, this can have some drawbacks as well. Unless configured to go to the proxy specifically, sites that require secure logins will not work like they should. Examples would be on-line banking, stock services or e-commerce. If you need to access these sites, then you might want to configure your browser to specifically point to the proxy. Jim Davis has an article in this edition of Tech Talk that takes you through this process for both Netscape and AOL instant messenger.

So where does that leave us now?

Now that we have a proxy server and firewall, we are a lot safer then we were. However, we still need to keep our guard up. The filtering on the proxy is content-based. This means that there is a group of people (probably college students) that are hired to sit and analyze web sites. These listings are updated on a regular basis to our proxy. Since web sites change and move so frequently there is no way that these filters can be 100% accurate. Also, the firewall only protects us from hacking that takes place outside our network. Someone skilled in computers can still use many of the popular hacking techniques to hack from inside the Amphitheater network. Most security breaches come from usernames and passwords that are on post-its that are either stuck to the monitor or under keyboards. If you have such a post-it on your monitor please take it off. There is no system that we can install that will protect us from this kind of security breach. Our best defense is still monitoring students as they use the computer resources. The proxy is only an aid and not an overall solution.

Feedback

I would really like to hear your comments. I may not have time to respond to all of them, but would love some feedback on how you are impacted by the proxy, both positive and negative. Please email me with "Proxy" as your subject and wmcculle@amphi.com as the To: field. Thanks.

By Kathy Sheppard

The following are Pentamation query/selection commands. You can use these or display on screen in Display & Queries to select single or multiple items to print.

> Greater than

< Less than

>= Greater than or equal to

<= Less than or equal to

<> Not equal to

: A range

| Or

* Wildcard for multiple characters

? Wildcard for single characters.

In the examples below, I will be referring to warehouse requisitions and PO queries. However, you may use these query tools in any screen and field you can query or print from.

Examples:

> Greater than

Warehouse Inventory, Inventory Processing, Displays and Queries, Requisitions. To query and display all warehouse requisitions created after 2/1/00 you would advance to the Date Requested By field and type in

>2/1/00, then advance to the ship code field and enter your Ship Code, then press Esc. All warehouse requisitions created after 2/1/00 with your ship code will be displayed. You could use the same selection criteria in the Re-Print Requisitions screen and print all the requisitions.

You can use the < Less than, >= Greater than or equal to, and the <= Less than or equal to symbols the same way.

: A range

Warehouse Inventory, Inventory Processing, Displays and Queries, Requisitions. To query a specific group of requisitions you could enter 33221:33440, advance to your ship code and enter your Ship Code. Press Esc and all the requisitions between and including those two req numbers, with your shipping code should display on the screen. Again you can use this in Re-Print to print that selection of reqs.

|Or

Warehouse module, Displays and Queries, Requisitions. To query a range of specific reqs use the pipe character. Example: Enter 33221|33333|33360 and just those three reqs will be displayed on the screen. Again, if you use this statement in the Re-Print screen you could print just those three reqs. Note: The Pipe character looks like 2 vertical lines and is usually right about the enter key on the keyboard.

* Wildcard

You can use the asterisk in a query statement to replace several characters. Example: if you wanted to query an item, let's say you were looking for a PO for a trip to seminar in Phoenix. You could go to the Query Purchase Orders screen, select Item Query, advance to the description field, enter *seminar*. You'll get every PO with the word seminar in the description. Now, that would probably be too many PO's for you to go through - so to cut down on the responses to the query you could enter "seminar*phoenix* and you would only get the PO's with the description including the words seminar AND Phoenix.

? Wildcard

This wildcard can only be used to replace specific characters in a query company. Example: If you wanted to query a vendor named Fudruckers and you weren't sure how to spell the whole name you could type in fud???????. (Not the best example but you get the idea). You would replace the exact number of characters you were unsure of with question marks.

Any questions - call me at Ext. 5219.

By Chrissy Cox

Throughout the year, we have all had the opportunity to read great Tech Talk articles. Well, now we would like to hear your opinion about them. A survey has been created online with a few simple questions about the articles. We would really appreciate your response. To reach the survey, please go to the following site:

www.amphi.com/depts/technology/index.html and click on Tech Talk Survey.

We'd really like to know what articles you liked, and what you would like to see more articles about to help you in your job.

Contest

With this Tech Talk issue, all the people who answer the Tech Talk Survey will be placed into a drawing. Five people will be selected from that drawing to receive a prize - Free Amphi Technology Classes for 2000-2001 school year. Those five people can take as many classes they want for Free during the 2000/01 session!

So please stop by the Tech Talk Survey page and tell us how you feel about the articles. Who knows, you may be the next winner!

By Will McCullen

Have you ever been surfing the web and had one of those cryptic messages pop on your screen? It can be a common occurrence when you are trying to get data from a web site. We are currently working on improving our error web page to include links that will describe the errors in a little more detail. Just because you receive a proxy error does not mean that the site you are trying to reach is filtered. In fact, there is only one error message that states that the site is filtered. That error will display "403 Forbidden." The most common error, "Gateway time out," simply means that the server you were trying to contact took too long to respond. Gateway does not refer to the computer brand, but refers to the port to the Internet. Often you can get through with another try, by pressing reload.

By Patti Greenleaf

Are you one of those people who like to use keyboard shortcuts, or just like to do tasks faster? If so, you might find the following list of shortcuts for Windows to be helpful.

If you keep the SHIFT key pressed while dragging a file to the Recycle Bin, then the file will be deleted without placing it in the recycle bin.

The combination of keys Shift and F10 works just like a right mouse-click.

The F2 button will help you to quickly rename the folder or file in Windows Explorer or an open Windows window.

The F5 button will refresh a window in Windows Explorer or an open Windows window.

In order to quickly minimize all open windows you can click on a blank gray area of the Taskbar and then press Alt-M. Or you can right-click on any empty space on the Taskbar and select "minimize all".

If after "hanging" of some application Windows doesn't respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del and doesn't allow you to stop the offending program, try to press Ctrl-Esc. Sometimes Windows opens the Start menu and allows you to choose Shutdown...

You might know that the key with Windows logo (WB) opens the Start menu. But do you know that:

WB+"E" opens Explorer;

WB+"F" opens Find file dialog;

WB+"M" minimizes all windows;

WB+Shift+"M" maximizes

them back;

WB+"R" opens the Run menu;

WB+"Break" opens System window.

By Matthew Weber

As part of the continuing upgrades of the networks here at Amphi, we are ready to start implementing automatic and remote software installations. This will allow the technology staff to keep the software on the 3000+ workstations around the district up to date and standardized far faster than is now possible. The current method requires technology staff members to visit each site and work on every computer. We no longer have the staff to keep doing this and maintain timely updates to the systems. What this new system means to you is that it will soon be standard to receive updates to your software across the network when you log in if any are needed. It will also allow applications to be rapidly reloaded onto workstations if they become damaged or corrupted. The first phase of this will be the update of the NetWare client software across the district. You will be notified when work is ready to start at your site. When you log in you will see a message that your client software is being updated and several different screens listing the files as they are being installed on your system. Your system will then reboot and return you to the login screen. You can then login and continue using your computer as normal, the installation is complete. This process will continue as we update all of the core software that the district uses and will only take a few minutes when the computer is first logged in for the day. It will be possible to load updates on the computers across the district in a matter of days, instead of the months required now. This will allow you to have access to the latest software so that you can enjoy the latest features without the current wait.

By Joseph Thomas - 6th Grade student at Harelson Elementary

The small, four room interactive game of Hero's Quest was a tiny game with big potential. By utilizing Microsoft PowerPoint, a microphone, and appropriate Internet sites I have been able to create a text based game where it is possible to listen to characters that you make speak, see images, and move wherever you wish.

The way this game was created is very simple:

ú Start Microsoft Power Point.

ú Create a new file, with whatever slide background you wish.

ú Create several rooms (slides) by inserting a room name as the title, then adding any characters that could be standing in the room, and then what they are saying either by actually typing the speech, or, if you have a microphone actually recording sounds (click on insert, then click on movies and sound, and then record a sound).

ú Create a new slide, then go back to the previous slide and click on slide show on the menu bar. Go down to the action buttons, you want the custom button (it should appear blank). Now, a small button should appear on your screen, with four small, white boxes around it (it may also turn your cursor into a cross, in this case you can just click and drag to make a box). Just like a picture, you can move the white buttons around until you get the size you want. Now it will bring up a screen that should say something like "action on click." Now click on the bubble that says "hyperlink to." Then open the hyperlink options menu and click on slide. It will now bring up a window with a list of slides you've made. Select the slide you made in the step above.

ú And presto! The button will now take you from one slide (or room) to the other slide, like you were moving from room to room.

This was just one of the many lessons that we learned during our visits to the Harelson computer lab every Thursday. We have also been educated in Microsoft Word, Netscape Communicator, and are currently using a typing program.

Please note that if any of these instructions confuse you too greatly, the help files on Power Point will easily reconcile any of your questions.

By Gordon Larsen

The Voice/Video/Data (VVD) system installed in all schools includes two coaxial cables as part of the video portion of the system. One cable carries the signal from the Cable Company (Cox or Jones) and/or headend signals, and is normally hooked to all television sets in the school. The second cable is used to carry a live camera signal back to the headend or main distribution point. There it is coupled with the other signals from the headend, and then sent throughout the school.

The minimum equipment needed to do a live telecast from any location includes a camcorder, a camera tripod, an agile modulator (selectable cable channel), a distribution amplifier and the necessary connecting cables including extension cord and power strip. Optional is a CTV or monitor, TV lights and an external microphone. A playback VCR/VCP can also be incorporated into the system.

Suggestions on content, whether telecasts are done daily, once a week or occasionally, include a message or two from the principal or administrator; announcements of lunch menu, birthdays, reading a story, activities and upcoming events or live telecasts of special assemblies or plays.

Schools that are currently doing live telecasts include Harelson, AMS, Coronado, La Cima, Mesa Verde and Wilson. If you are interested in doing a live telecast, contact these schools or Gordon Larsen at 6200 for advice or suggestions.

The schools which do not have their camera networks interconnected include Copper Creek, Rio Vista, AHS and CDO. AHS and CDO also don't have the TV networks interconnected. We hope to have all these networks operational by the start of the 2000-2001 school year. The schools needing the camera network coupled into the headend or distribution point include Donaldson, Keeling, Nash and Cross. All other schools not mentioned in this paragraph have the capability of doing live telecasts, if given the minimum equipment listed above.

If you have any questions or comments concerning the VVD system, you may contact me at 6200 or e-mail at glarsen@amphi.com.

By Peggy Steffens

Many teachers in the district are making great use of the one computer in their classroom. They are using the computer in centers, or in small and large group activities. Classroom teachers are using CD-ROM simulations, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and the Internet with their entire class. Students are creating PowerPoint presentations, doing research, writing papers, creating Kid Pix and Tesselmania documents, making charts and graphs in Excel, practicing typing, and much more with the classroom computer.

One of the problems that arises when students are using the one computer in the classroom is supervision of what is occurring. Supervision is crucial when the students are online and it is difficult for the teacher who is conducting a reading group or other activity to be in the proximity of the computer. Several teachers in our district use the Averkey as a way to observe what the students are doing on the computer. The teacher can glance at the large TV monitor in the classroom and see what the students are doing or what site they are on at the Internet.

An Averkey or TV converters is a piece of hardware that will take what is on the computer screen and display it on the large TV monitor in the classroom. Many schools have purchased Averkeys for the classrooms so that they can use the one computer in the classroom with the entire class. Averkeys are great tools for class demonstrations, presentations, and simulations; but they can also be turned on when students are using the computer to monitor what students are doing. We will be offering a class on effectively using the Averkey this summer.

By Linda Grider, Wilson K-8

Are you looking for a creative and flexible way for your students to share their investigative learning, while at the same time advancing their thinking and technological skills? HyperStudio is just the vehicle to use! At the beginning of the school year my students did research on early explorers. They used data disks for recording their information. An explorer data disk is merely a circle the size of a standard sheet of paper divided into five equal sections: name of explorer/student's name, nationality of explorer, dates of birth/death and circumstances, explorer's claim to fame, and interesting facts.

Once the data disks were completed, we then went to the computer lab and used HyperStudio to make individual presentations that were then linked together as one class presentation. The following are the steps that we followed:

1. After opening HyperStudio, choose New Stack.

2. Fill in the color background and type each section of the data disk on individual cards. The typing should be done by selecting Objects and then selecting Add a Text Object. This way your students will be able to edit their work. Students should do all the typing on all the cards before doing anything else. Otherwise, they will never get done!

3. Return to each slide, and do the following: illustrate, animate, and add buttons to connect the slides.

4. Save to individual student disks, and then compile onto one computer.

5. Merge the individual HyperStudio presentations using the connect (Next) button to make one class presentation.

This process was very motivating and fun for my students. I'm sure it could be used with any project that can be broken into parts or main ideas.

By Peggy Steffens

The Arizona Technology in Education Alliance (AzTEA) will be presenting the 8th Annual Arizona Technology Conference (formerly the Mesa Technology Conference). The theme this year is Learning and Teaching in a Digital World. The conference will be held on August 1st and 2nd at Mesa Centennial Hall. The conference is for classroom teachers, technology specialists, support staff, and administrators to explore critical issues in technology and see the latest in hardware and software. The breakout sessions fit into the following themes: curriculum and instructional strategies, using technology to facilitate learning, current and emerging technologies, technology implementation, social and ethical issues, teacher training, and information literacy. The cost of the conference is free if you are an AzTEA member; membership costs $25.00 per year. You can get information about AzTEA at aztea.org or ask your Tech Coach or me for conference registration information.

By Raul Bejarano

The headline above is to get the attention of those who may not be aware that backing up files is important. The danger of not having a backup could be a very time-consuming issue to those of us who wish to spend our time completing other tasks.

Some of us have locations on the local server where Word and other such files can be stored. However, there are a few of you out there that do not have a network account and end up saving these files to your hard drive. You need to be aware that hard drives are not a secure means of storing your important files. The best choice is to save them on a floppy as well as your hard drive. Your computer could have no problems now, but without warning, your hard drive could crash. With the use of the floppy disk you can recover files that were lost if you can not recover them from the hard drive.

The time is now! Think "Back up my files!" It may seem like pain now, but when something is missing and you needed it yesterday, then the time that you spent will seem worthwhile.

By Richard Coca

As springtime continues its encroach on our beloved Amphitheater School district, we in the Technology Department continue to march on, in our quest to complete the system, applications and client software upgrades that are needed to enable school personnel to function prosperously.

At first glance, this may seem like a relatively simple procedure but as one investigates into the specifics of what this job entails, it can be seen that this is indeed a massive project that will take time, planning and a great deal of effort and patience.

As an example: A certain computer with only 16MB of RAM that needs to be upgraded to Office97, Netscape 4.7 and client 32 v.3.10, along with patches and also an update of Windows operating system "v. A" to "v.B", is assessed for an upgrade. We first determine if all system BIOS settings are accurate and then correct if necessary. We then check the integrity of the data on the hard drive. This means running Scandisk and Defrag on the hard drive. If a hard drive is fragmented enough to slow the system down, (anywhere over 4%), then "Defrag" has to be run in order to insure that upgraded software will be installed efficiently and without error.

To install software on a drive whose integrity is questionable is to invite disastrous results. All of this preparation takes its toll in time consumption. Then, if a Windows upgrade to OSR2 (v.B) is required, this is done as well, and is another investment in time consumption. But on the computers that did require a Windows upgrade, most of these also needed to have the memory increased to at least 32MB in order to run the Office Suite properly. Whew! Just think, all of this on a single computer - not to mention that this one is running.

Well, be that as it may, we here in the Technology department will continue to move on and complete this project no matter what it takes, while continuing to support our client's every need on a daily basis.

By Seth Butler

Recently you may have received an upgrade to your computer with the newest NetWare Client 32 for Windows 95, Version 3.10. This version has a different approach to setting up your context than the previous version (2.2). Here is what to do to allow your PC to come up in the correct context every time you start your computer.

Step 1. Right click on Network Neighborhood and select Properties. If this is not available, then contact one of our Technicians to assist you.

Step 2. Highlight the Novell NetWare Client and select the Properties button.

Step 3. Select the Advanced Login Tab and put a check mark by clicking with your mouse where it says Advanced Button.

Step 4. Click OK and OK again. Then you may be asked to restart Windows.

Step 5. When you have restarted Windows click on the Advanced button at the Login prompt.

Step 6. Put in your correct context and server, using Root as your tree.

Step 7. Log in as before without any additional naming except the 8-character login and password.

By Tom Gill

In an environment that is sometimes fast-paced, we look towards ways to slow it down without sacrificing our production. We do not want to scramble around trying to get our work done at the price of being too tired to enjoy our free time (a commodity these days). I believe practice and training to efficiently use the telecommunications at our disposal is key to streamlining our workload, which will lead to quality free time. So don't be intimidated by the technology. It may not be as easy as making smoke signals but has far more capabilities to help manage our time.

The district phone system is packed with features that make it easier to communicate information to where ever we need to. From the simple phone features to the multi-faceted voicemail services, there is something to aid everyone. You do not have to be a power-user to benefit from these features just a little knowledgeable. "How do I become knowledgeable?" you ask by taking advantage of training in the Technology Department, that's how. I offer support via the telephone and, depending on demand, teach phone and voicemail classes. I will also go to your site and help with any specific training or problem. I also welcome any suggestions that will improve the quality of the training. I just need some feedback from you- the people that make this district function.

You can reach me, Tom Gill, at extension 5220 or email me at tgill@amphi.com. If all else fails you can send me a smoke signal.

By Rosemary Beck, Holaway

Have you ever been looking for a graphic organizer to use with your students and had difficulty finding just the right one? Have you found graphic organizers that almost work and would be perfect if one little thing was changed? You can solve these problems by making your own! Joanne Shay, Title I Reading teacher at Holaway, uses the draw function on her word processing program to create graphic organizers that perfectly match the material she is using with her students.

Here are some examples of Joanne's creations.

(In Microsoft Word choose View-Toolbars-Drawing to show the drawing toolbar.)

Compare/Contrast

(Select the oval/circle tool. Hold down the shift key and drag the cursor to create a circle of appropriate size. Open the paint bucket menu and choose no fill. Copy and paste the circle. Move the second circle to create the overlapping organizer.)

Character Analysis

Section A Section B

(Use the rectangle tool to draw the center box.

CREATE SECTION A: use the oval/circle tool to draw one oval; copy the oval and paste two more in the appropriate location; in the auto shapes menu choose flow chart to find the oblong shape shown here; use the line tool to connect all the shapes.

CREATE SECTION B: hold down the shift key and click on each element in Section A; open the draw menu; choose group; with this group still selected choose copy/paste; move the copied shape into position for Section B; with this new group selected open the draw menu; choose rotate or flip; choose flip horizontally; reposition as needed.)

Once you have tried one of these original organizers you can use other draw tools to create just the right graphic organizer for your class.

By Peggy Steffens

CCS Presentation Systems and Proxima Corporation are interested in recognizing teachers who use technology in effective and innovative ways and have created a "Teacher of the Year" award. A prize comprised of $2,500 cash for each winning teacher and the loan of a Proxima Computer Projector to the winning teachers' school will be awarded. Prizes will be awarded in the K-8 and 9-12 categories. The cash prize will be awarded directly to the teacher for his/her personal use.

Educators and community members may nominate any Arizona educator; you may even nominate yourself. A nomination form must be completed along with a one-page description of how the nominee uses technology to provide an effective, innovative education to his or her students. They want specific information about the projects completed by students and how those projects were enhanced by the use of technology. In addition, they need a description of the portfolios, documentation, or artifacts that might be examined by a visiting evaluation committee. If you want a nomination packet contact your Technology Coach, CCS Presentation Systems at 1-800-329-8720, or me.

by Ron Shannon

You can now order specially priced Gateway PCs through a custom web site created just for the employees and faculty of Arizona K-12. You can access the site at: esource.gateway.com

Here are 3 quick steps to get you started on your Shopping!

You must create a new profile to access your personalized eSource Site. To do so, select "Create a New Profile."

Use the following username and password within the "Create a New Profile" Section:

Account Name: arizonak12

Account Password: arizonak12

Then, under 'login information,' you create your personal username and password to set up your personal account to gain access to your discounts!

If you prefer, you can also place your order by calling Gale Huddleston at: 877-485-1462 Ext. 55625

Call Your Repairs in Before You Leave for Summer Break!

If you are having problems with any technology, please contact your Tech Coach or Tech Specialist and have them look into the problem before the end of the shcool year. The beginning of the school year is always busy and it helps if we can fix the technical problems over the summer.